This Creamy Homemade Oat Milk is quick, easy, non-slimy and cheaper than store-bought oat milk. It works in smoothies, protein shakes and over granola or cereal for breakfast. You can also add a dash to coffee or tea instead of creamer. Plus, there are no added oils, stabilisers or preservatives.
For the best homemade oat milk that is creamy, but not slimy, there are a few key tips to follow. I go through them all below. Then you will have a bottle of healthy oat milk in your fridge in a matter of minutes.
How to make oat milk that is not slimy
- Use old-fashioned rolled oats. Quick oats will break down too much giving a slimier texture. Steel cut oats won’t break down enough so the oat milk won’t be creamy. Rolled oats are therefore my preferred option.
- Do not blend for too long. Only blend the oat and water mixture for 20 seconds. Blending for too long creates a finer pulp that will get through your strainer, giving a slimy texture.
- Use a fine mesh sieve to strain the oat milk. This is the kind of sieve used for dusting desserts with powdered sugar. The fine mesh holes are no wider than the tip of a toothpick. You can also use a muslin or cotton cheesecloth if you prefer.
- Do not push the oat milk through the sieve. Let it drain naturally until it stops flowing through. You can swirl it gently to speed up the process (like I do in the recipe video below). Pressing, squeezing or forcing the oat milk through the sieve will push the pulp into the oat milk.
- Double strain the oat milk. Pass the oat milk through the sieve twice to remove as much pulp as possible. I strain the oat milk from the blender cup into a bowl, rinse out the sieve and blender cup, then strain it back into the blender cup. I do this because it’s easier to pour the oat milk from the blender cup into my glass storage bottle. However, if your storage bottle or jar has a wide opening, you could just do the second strain straight into the bottle or jar.
How to make oat milk without a blender
If you don’t have a blender, you can make oat milk with a food processor instead. In fact, less fancy food processors and blenders can actually be an advantage when making oat milk. This is because they aren’t as powerful. They won’t break the oats down too much, therefore avoiding a slimy texture.
Can I heat this homemade oat milk?
No, please do not try and heat up this oat milk. I made this mistake. Heating homemade oat milk that doesn’t contain stabilisers and oils will turn it into a thick gel. This is because the water evaporates and the remaining oat pulp cooks and thickens like oatmeal.
However, you can add the cold oat milk to hot tea or coffee. Adding a dash of cold oat milk will help to cool your hot drink slightly and take the edge off any bitterness. The oat milk also works really well in low sugar smoothies, vegan milkshakes or poured over crunchy granola and cereal.
How long does homemade oat milk last
Homemade oat milk should last up to five days in the refrigerator. Make sure you store it in a clean, sealed container. I store mine in a glass bottle or jar with a screw lid.
Since no stabilisers are added, some separation will occur while the oat milk sits in the fridge. This is because the creamy part naturally settles at the bottom of the container. However, you can just give it a shake before using.
More healthy breakfast recipes
- Baked Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Chocolate Brownie Batter Chia Pudding
- Orange Ginger Carrot Smoothie
- Banana Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal Protein Bars
- Savory Sweet Potato Muffins
Check out the Breakfast Recipes page for more ideas.
Creamy Homemade Oat Milk Recipe
Serves
About 1 cup
Prep time
5 mins
Cook time
0 mins
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup / 45 g rolled oats (see Note 1)
- 1 1/4 cups / 280 ml / 280 g water (see Note 2)
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp maple syrup (optional)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Method
- Add all of the ingredients for the oat milk to a blender.
- Blend for 20 seconds. Over blending will make the oat milk slimier.
- Strain the oat milk through fine mesh sieve into a bowl (see Note 3). Do not push the oat milk through the sieve. Let it drain naturally. Rinse the pulp out of the sieve, then strain the oat milk a second time for best results.
- Chill in the fridge until ready to serve (see Note 4).
Notes
- Oats – Old-fashioned rolled oats work best. Quick oats will give a slimier texture and steel cut oats won’t be as creamy.
- Water – Filtered water is ideal for the cleanest taste. I filter my drinking water with a water filter jug. If you want to enjoy chilled oat milk straight way, use chilled water in the recipe.
- Straining the oat milk – I recommend double straining the oat milk through a fine mesh sieve. A muslin or cotton cheesecloth should also work. I talk more about this in the post above.
- Serving the oat milk – Enjoy this homemade oat milk cold. It’s great in smoothies, protein shakes, over granola and cereal, or to make a vegan milkshakes and iced coffee. It also works well added cold to hot tea or coffee like regular milk or creamer. However, do not heat the oat milk up. Heating homemade oat milk that doesn’t contain stabilisers and oils will turn it into a thick gel.
- Storage – Store the oat milk in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to 5 days. Since there are no stabilisers in homemade oat milk, some separation will occur as it sits in the fridge. However, you can just shake the oat milk before serving.
- Increasing the recipe – You can easily double or triple the recipe to make more oat milk. Just make sure your blender can fit all the liquid without going over the maximum line. Otherwise you can blend and strain the oat milk in batches.
Nutrition Facts
- Serving size: 1/2 cup (with maple syrup and vanilla extract)
- Energy: 53 Calories / 223 Kilojoules
- Total Fat: 0.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.1 g
- Total Carbohydrate: 9.7 g
- Dietary Fiber: 1.2 g
- Sugars: 2.1 g
- Protein: 1.4 g
- Sodium: 148 mg
- Potassium: 8 mg
