How to make Oat Milk

Homemade Oat Milk can be a great way to save some bucks if you love the store-bought stuff.

But before you go about your from scratch routine, read up!

Jump to:

• 📕 What is oat milk?
• 🥛 Why drink oat milk?
• 🥛 How to make oat milk without goo?
• 🔪 How to make it?
• 📜 Flavor variations
• 🍱 Storage
• 📖 Recipe

📕 What is oat milk?

Oat milk is prepared by blending oats and water together.

The blended milk is then strained and that's called oat milk.

It's a vegan, non-dairy, plant-based (and usually gluten-free) milk alternative.

You can use it as a milk substitute, or instead of other healthy milks such as coconut milk and almond milk, as a beverage or in food.

🥛 Why drink oat milk?

I have listed some plus and minus points, which will help you to understand the advantages and disadvantages of consuming homemade oat milk.

That way you can decide if oat milk is good for you.

Advantage

• like any other plant-based milk, it's dairy-free. Great for those suffering from lactose intolerance. It should be your choice too if you have a nut allergy.
• you know what's in your homemade oat milk. Store-bought stuff is rich in sugar. You can use certified organic oats too.
• Good source of dietary fiber and that's great news for your gut and heart health.
• Neutral taste - you can add it to other foods. i.e breakfast bowl, coffee, cake.
• it's cheaper than the store-bought stuff.

Disadvantage

• High in calories and carbs, this milk is not your best choice if you are following a low carb diet or any other weight loss diet.
• Not all oats are gluten-free. Look out for certified gluten-free oats if you are gluten sensitive or you have celiac disease. It needs to be clearly mentioned on the package.
• doesn't contain many proteins and fats compared to other plant-based vegan milk varieties. That means you will feel hungry faster again (this can be an advantage if you want to gain weight).
• it's not as thick and creamy straightforward compared to other vegan milks.
• the stuff you make at home won't turn out the same as the one you get in stores (read more about that below -> "advanced options".
• homemade oat milk can turn out slimy.

🥛 How to make oat milk without goo?

The first time I made oat milk I was confused by the slime during the straining process. But of course, it made sense, cooked oats are thick too!

Here is what you can do to minimize the formation of slime.

• use cold water - the warmer the water the slimier it gets.
• use ice-cold oats - that useful trick comes from a reader (thanks Beth!)
• try to avoid using instant oats, those tend to make it worse. Also, try using another brand, this might help.
• don't soak, just grind it directly without delay. Soaking just seems to make it worse.
• give it a quick blend - don't over blend it with water
• use a cheesecloth or nut milk bag to filter but don't squeeze it at the end to avoid slime

Some folks will tell you to rinse the oats and soak them to get rid of slime but I tried that a few times and it just didn't help.

For full transparency, I do use instant oats most of the time because it's hard to get anything else in stores. I usually use quaker oats and the slime is less but I had better results with old fashioned rolled oats.

Avoid steel cut oats as they are not that suitable for non-heat applications.

Advanced options

Keep in mind that a simple homemade 2 ingredient oat milk won't taste the same as a barista oatly milk.

It takes much more to make a creamy thick and sweet oatly milk. On the package, they mention the use of enzymes.

If you are adventurous and ready to do some experiments, I recommend this read. It will blow your mind and get you closer to a commercial oat milk product!

🔪 How to make it?

This is how you can make simple oat milk. Just follow the steps.

The recipe card to print with details is located at the bottom of this post. Video is on top or in the sidebar when you scroll down, and on mobile it's a pop-up.

Step 1

Place oats and water into a blender jar and blend until it turns to a milk consistency.

Step 2

Strain oat milk with a cheesecloth and collect clean oat milk in a bowl.

Flavor your milk to your liking.

📜 Flavor variations

This homemade version of oat milk is unsweetened but you can make it sweet to your liking!

You can add the following flavorings to this DIY oat milk recipe:

• use honey or date syrup to sweeten. Flavored syrups are a great idea too!
• regular plain sugar and stevia are an option too
• flavor with cocoa powder or dry frozen berry powder such as strawberry.
• or use extracts such as vanilla extract for vanilla-flavored milk.
• I like to flavor mine with pomegranate molasses.

🍱 Storage

You can keep your strained and filtered oat milk for up to 2-3 days in your fridge. Keep it any longer and it might turn bad!

Store in a container with a lid in your fridge until further use.

The milk will separate and that's normal. Just give it a good shake before consumption.

📖 Recipe