Making Soy Milk: 6 Easy Steps

Homemade soy milk is excellent high-protein plant milk. Soy milk became our milk of choice for our morning coffee, no more to say. Making soy milk is easy, cheap, and ensures you have a non-GMO product.

We like that this recipe is super adjustable. You can make it creamier, sweeter or flavor infused. You can also make it plain if you need it to make a vegan bechamel sauce, vegan mashed sweet potatoes, or vegan cheese.

It is way cheaper than store-bought and super easy to make. It requires 2 ingredients, 30 minutes, a filter of any kind, and a blender.

Why should you do your own

Health

If you look into the ingredients list of most commercial Soy Milk, it's full of strange ingredients such as guar gum, lecithin, and the list gets longer.

Soy has many detractors. It is no secret that most of the soy products we consume regularly are full of GMOs.

Using your own Soymilk Recipe with organic non-GMO soybeans gives you the peace of mind that you need to take care of yourself and your loved ones.  

This is also the highest protein plant milk!

Convenience

It is effortless to make; it only takes us 30 minutes.

You can make only the quantity you need.

It's fully adjustable on flavor, thickness, and sweetness.

Economy

As a former Engineer, I needed to do my math. And I am living in Northern Italy, where things are pretty expensive. I found that making our Organic Soy milk is 25% cheaper.

That's not a lot, but we use a lot of milk, and the number quickly adds up, and we are in complete control of what is in there. This is the cheapest soy milk!

The Environment

All those Tetra Paks and plastics are gone!

150 Tetra Paks saved per year: 3 per week!

Ingredients

• Dry soybeans
• Water

Optional: sweetener, flavorings such as vanilla extract.

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

Instructions

The first thing you need to do, it put your soybeans to soak overnight in water.

Optional: Some people remove the outer skin; I have done it countless times and can't notice any critical difference in texture. If you choose to do it, plan for additional 20 minutes.

You then need to drain them and add them to the blender for 1 to 2 minutes along with water.

You can optionally add a pinch of salt and your preferred sweetener or flavoring as for flavor enhancers.

If you chose to use dates as your sweetener, now is the time to throw them in.

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

Then you just need to strain through a nut milk bag or fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth, squeezing out as much liquid as possible.

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Pour the mixture into a saucepan and add 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, and immediately bring it down to low heat.

Stir occasionally and skim foam.

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Let it cool. If there is any need to skim it again, do so before storing it in a sealed container in the fridge for about 3-4 days.

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

Soaking your Soybeans

• Soak the soybeans at room temperature or in the fridge.
• If you need to make the soy milk the same day, pour boiling water into the soybeans to accelerate the process and leave them soaking for one to two hours.

How to Thicken it

We find the perfect thickness for our taste is 1 cup of soybeans / 6 cups of water + 2 cups when boiling.

Suggested thick soymilk options:

• 1 cup of soybeans / 5 + 2 cups of water, if you don't mind sacrificing final volume.
• 1 ¼ cups soybeans / 6 + 3 cups of water, if you want the same volume.

If you want thinner milk, reduce the number of soybeans to ¾ cup or increase water by one cup.

How to make Soy Milk taste better

If you don't love the taste of plain soy milk, most likely and just like us, you have been drinking flavored soy milk. The most common flavorings, sometimes not even well disclosed, is vanilla extract and sweeteners.

The solution? Do just that: add organic vanilla extract and your favorite sweetener; you will find it tastes just as good and better. Remember, you can also add other flavorings like cinnamon and cocoa powder. Get creative!

How Long Does Soy Milk Last

How long does homemade soy milk last depends on whether you sterilize your equipment and how fresh are the ingredients you used. In general, we have found it lasts about 3-4 days.

We often use soy milk for our morning smoothies, overnight oats, and coffee, 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.

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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, putting them in the dishwasher.

If you have unexpectedly leave 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.

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Can you Cook with It?

Yes! You can. Just use it as you would use regular cow's milk; it is entirely interchangeable.

Just make sure that you make plain soy milk. Don't add any of the suggested sweeteners or flavorings.

Recipes using Soy Milk

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

FAQ

Does soy milk give you gas?

Some people experience bloating or flatulence when they drink soy milk. This is because the body lacks the enzymes to digest soy. Soy should be fermented at least 6 hours before it's consumed to break down sugars that are difficult to digest, thus reducing gas and bloating in sensitive individuals.

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

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

Make sure you also check these Easy to Make Plant Milk Options: 5 minutes Almond Milk.

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #ourplantbasedworld on Instagram. Cheers!

Food safety

We sometimes take for granted that we have years (or decades) of cooking experience that the average visitor may not. Add to, or remove from, the list below with health and safety tips.

• 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 point 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.

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