How Do You Make Oat Milk?

Oats are one of those amazing ingredients that can be used in so many ways. You can make oatmeal, oat flour, oat milk, and the list goes on. Oatly Oat Milk is a great dairy-free option for those who are lactose intolerant or simply trying to reduce their dairy intake. It's also great if you're vegan because it provides some important nutrients that aren't found in other plant-based milk. In this post, I'm going to show you how to make oat milk at home. It's really easy and only takes a few minutes! So let's get started.

Oat milk is a great dairy-free alternative to cow's milk. It's high in fiber and has a nutty flavor. Making oat milk is easy, and it only takes a few minutes.

Here's how to do it.

We use milk every single day of our lives, from our morning granola to the bechamel sauce. Homemade Oat Milk is by far the cheapest and fastest plant-based homemade milk option.

We like that this oatly recipe is super adjustable and perfect for your smoothies. You can make it creamier, sweeter or flavor infused. We love using the unsweetened version for recipes such as Vegan mashed potatoes and Vegan Bechamel Sauce.

This dairy-free milk is perfect for your Superfood Green Detox Smoothie, also on this site, to complement your weekly breakfast meal plan.

Jump to:

• 🧾 Ingredients
• 🔪 how is oat milk made
• 🫙 Storing: how long does it last?
• 👨🏻‍🍳 How to use it
• 🥛 Why should you do your own DIY oat milk?
• ❓FAQ
• 📋 Recipe
• 🌡️ Food safety
• 💬 Reviews and Comments

🧾 Ingredients

It requires 2 ingredients, 5 minutes, and a blender.

• Rolled Oats (whole grain oats)
• Water
• Dates (optional)
• Salt (optional, omit if adhering to a Whole Foods Plant-Based diet)

Note: keep your oat milk unsweetened if you are planning to make vegan buttermilk with it and make a vegan apple cake, or vegan mashed sweet potatoes. See our post explaining the details and the best combinations to make the best vegan buttermilk, easily made with soy milk, this oat milk, or even homemade almond milk.

🔪 how is oat milk made

So, how Do you Get Milk from Oats?

Well, it is much easier than getting cow's milk and definitely healthier than dairy milk!

The first thing you need to do to make your own oat milk is put your oats to soak overnight in water. If you don't have the time and want to make it quick, you can also soak them in warm water for 5 minutes and proceed.

I find that making them overnight gives the milk a creamier texture, more similar to commercial oat milk, but better!

You can optionally add a pinch of salt and your preferred sweetener such as maple, syrup, or dates; or flavor enhancers like cocoa.

Oat milk is typically a little sweet, but you can add one or two pitted dates if you want sweetened oat milk. Remove the inner stone from the dates, as the stone can break your blender, or use homemade date paste.

Then it would be best if you strained through a nut milk bag or fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth. Or even better, a clean t-shirt or canvas fabric bag, then squeeze out as much liquid as possible.

I like using a piece of fabric for Oat Milk because it is thinner, and nuts milks strains more pulp out of it.

Liquify, blending for 40 seconds.

Suggested sweeteners: dates, raisins, agave syrup, or maple syrup.

Add in ideas: cocoa powder, vanilla extract, banana, strawberry, or hazelnuts.

Soaking your oats

• Soak the oats at room temperature or in the fridge.
• If a day has passed and you forgot or didn't get to make the oat milk, they are at room temperature, change the water, and put the soaking oats in the fridge. If you leave them longer, they will become gooey. In that case, we recommend placing them in a colander under running water for a couple of seconds before continuing with the process.
• If you need to make it the same day, pour warm water into the oats to accelerate the process and leave them soaking for 5 minutes.

🫙 Storing: how long does it last?

It depends on whether you sterilize your equipment and how fresh are the ingredients you use. In general, we have found it lasts about 2-3 days.

We often use oat milk for our morning smoothies or Homemade Granola and overnight oats, so one batch only makes it to the third day. If you are like us, you don't need to sterilize your ingredients as it reaches the 3^rd day without any problem.

If you find that it goes off before expected, easily sterilize your bottles either:

1. Pouring boiling water inside, ensuring the jars are not cold so that they won't break.
2. Then, put them in the dishwasher.

If you have unexpectedly left home or didn't use your milk soon enough and want to prevent it from going off.

You can freeze it in ice cube trays and save them to add to your morning smoothies.

👨🏻‍🍳 How to use it

I like to drink oat milk as it is, as unsweetened oat milk is naturally slightly sweet, just like rice milk.

You can use it the same way you would use regular milk: in smoothies, in your morning granola or breakfast fruit bowl, in bechamel sauce, or in baking.

Below are some recipes where you could use your oat milk:

• Post-Work Out Smoothie
• Easy Strawberry Banana Smoothie
• Vegan Cauliflower Wings
• Creamy Vegan Sauce for Everything

Lastly, you can also make vegan chocolate milk with oat milk.

🥛 Why should you do your own DIY oat milk?

Convenience

1. This plant-based milk alternative is effortless to make; it only takes us 5 minutes.
2. You can make only the quantity you need.
3. It is dairy-free milk, so it is apt for people with lactose intolerance.
4. Can be used in a number of recipes
5. This vegan alternative is fully adjustable in flavor, thickness, and sweetness.
6. It's nut-free, in case you have nut food allergies.
7. It has no added sugars as most commercial brands do.

Economy

Making it is super Cheap, out of 1 cup of rolled oats you get 4 cups of delicious plant milk.

150 Tetra Packs saved per year: 3 per week!

If you are on a budget, Oat Milk is the most suitable of them all, including cow's milk. It is also the most sustainable plant-based milk alternative, including almond milk and coconut milk. You can either let it in or make it part of your smoothies in terms of the very little remaining pulp.

In general, plant-based milks are more sustainable than dairy milk (cow's milk, goat's milk, and sheep's milk).

✅ Health: 9 oat health benefits

Is oat milk healthy? Let's dive into the health benefits of milk and why it is an excellent dairy alternative.

1. Low in Calories: if you are looking into keeping your waist, this easy oat milk should be one of your allies. Although all vegetable kinds of milk are significantly lower in calories (46kcal per cup) than regular milk, homemade oat milk is lower than its peers (even lower than Homemade Almond Milk (88 kcal per cup) and Homemade Soy Milk (138kcal per cup)).
2. Skin: oat milk's benefits for skin come from its anti-inflammatory properties, which help reduce acne flare-ups. Oat milk is a humectant that helps skin retain water and is widely found in moisturizers. Oat milk contains Vitamin D, which is great for your skin.
3. Bone Strengthening: oat milk contains potassium, magnesium, and zinc, which are potent minerals and are essential for forming and strengthening bones.
4. Fats: oat milk has a zero count of saturated fats and three times less fat than whole milk.
5. Dairy-Free: oats are low in fat and dairy-free, so they are an excellent lactose intolerant choice. It also has a naturally sweet taste.
6. Cholesterol-Free: it contains zero cholesterol. Regular consumption may even lower LDL cholesterol (the bad one) in the blood. This is not the case with dairy milk. Dairy products like butter, cheese, and cow's milk are high in cholesterol.
7. High in Fibre: oat milk has twice the dietary fiber as cow's milk making it an excellent choice for adding fiber to your diet for a healthy gut and digestive functions. Soluble fiber plays a role in strengthening the immune system, so regular consumption can prevent infections and also helps the body to heal itself naturally. If you want to keep more from its dietary fiber, you either avoid straining your oat milk or use a mesh that is not fine.
8. High in Vitamins: oat milk has our beloved B vitamins folate and thiamine, which support the normal function of red blood cells and the breakdown of carbohydrates, respectively.
9. Helps Regulating Blood Sugar Levels: this good friend for people with type 2 diabetes slows down the absorption of carbohydrates in the gut, providing a slower and steadier supply of sugar into the bloodstream. This property is brought to us thanks to its content of soluble fiber.

Read on:

Vegetable Juice for Diabetics »

Low-sugar Strawberry Juice »

Pomegranate Juice (diabetic-friendly juice) »

Oat milk is perfect for your needs if you’re looking for plant-based milk that doesn’t have any added sugar. It provides the same creamy texture as dairy milk, but oat milk benefits include the same array of health benefits associated with consuming oats.

❓FAQ

Oat milk benefits are vast, but let's answer some of the common questions about the occasional drawbacks.

⭐ If you try this recipe, let us know! 💬 Leave a comment, rate it, and don't forget to tag us @ourplantbasedworld on Instagram. Cheers!

📋 Recipe

🌡️ Food safety

• Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Use oils with high smoking points to avoid harmful compounds
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice. See our full Nutritional Disclosure here.

Please note that some of the links here are affiliate links, and I will earn a commission if you purchase through those links. I recommend all of the products listed because they are companies I have found helpful and trustworthy.