How to make Nut Milk and Seed Milk

How to make almond milk? How to make hemp milk? Is soya milk raw?

I often get asked these kind of questions, including if shop bought soya milk or almond milk is raw. The answer is unfortunately no. To make soya milk, the soya beans are first cooked, and other milks are usually pasteurised.

Making hemp milkThe good news is that it is relatively easy to make you own milk with most kinds of nuts or seeds. Hemp milk is particularly nutritious with good quantities of omega 3 fatty acids, but it doesn’t keep too long. Almonds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds and mature coconuts all make good milks.

Instructions to make your own milks:

  1. Soak your nuts or seeds, preferably for about 8 hours, but less will do if you don’t have time. Mature coconut doesn’t need soaking, and chia seeds can be soaked for 20 mins (or longer if you want).
  2. Drain the nuts or seeds and rinse in clean water.
  3. Add to blender with enough water to cover plus about half as much again. (The more water you add, the thinner the milk will be. The less water, the thicker the milk, but if you make it too thick, your blender might have difficulty blending.) If you are using coconut, you can use the coconut water which adds a delicious sweetness to the milk.
  4. Squeezing hemp milk through bagBlend until relatively smooth.
  5. Optional for most nuts and seeds, necessary for hemp seeds: strain the milk through either a nut milk bag, cheesecloth or sieve.

If you prefer sweeter milk, you can add some dates or other soaked dried fruit or a few tablespoons of lucuma or other raw sweetener.

Once you have your milk, you can either drink it as it is, or use it to make a milkshake or smoothie.

8 thoughts on “How to make Nut Milk and Seed Milk

  1. Hi,

    Just wanted to check, when making the almond milk, the water that the nuts are soaked in overnight – is this just disgarded? Also what almonds should you use, whole, skinless, chopped etc?

    Many thanks – great site,
    Amy x

    • Thanks, glad you like the site! Yes, discard the water that the nuts or seeds were soaking in – it’s not good to use for anything.
      It’s best to use whole almonds with skin – these will keep better and as they are whole (and if they are raw) they will start the sprouting process during the soaking which will make the nutrients easier to assimilate.

      Rob

  2. Hi Rob,
    Great information for the raw food beginner, thanks! I just have a quick question about the cheesecloth – is it essentially the same as a purpose-made nutmylk bag, under a different name? I also need something to sprout with and i wonder if a cheesecloth can also be used for that?
    Emmy

  3. Hi Emmy

    It’s very similar. I think cheesecloth would be a single flat piece of material whereas a nut milk bag is a similar material sewn into a bag shape so it is easier to use.

    I’ve never used a cheesecloth but it might work for sprouts but it’s not the easiest solution, much easier when sewn up into a bag.

    Rob

  4. Hey, so glad I found this site, I have MS & I am big on diet to help, great ideas for mee to incorporate into my diet at the moment it is kind of paleo/Dr. Terry Wahls think stuff on here might convince the rest of the family to join me 🙂

    • I don’t use the remains from hemp milk, it’s very rough and you’ve got all the nutrition in the milk (but good for the compost). In general, I don’t strain other milks because I don’t like to waste anything!

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