Oat milk is all the rage but purchasing the store-bought brands can be a bit pricey. So if you're trying to save a few bucks, or if you just prefer making things from scratch, today I'm sharing with you my Homemade Creamy Oat Milk (which includes a secret ingredient that makes it extra creamy)! This oat milk is so easy to make and takes just 5 minutes to whip up. Creamy dreamy goodness is just a blend away!
So what makes extra creamy oat milk? The secret ingredient to making creamy oat milk? Drumroll please... after testing I found that adding ¼ unsweetened shredded coconut made the oat milk extra rich and creamy! You do not taste the coconut flavor, it's just a quick simple hack that really takes this oat milk recipe to the next level. Need a sub? Swap the shredded coconut with ¼ cup softened cashews. Cashews will also make the oat milk creamier but you will need to soak them first by soaking them in water for 6 hours or overnight. For this reason, I prefer using the coconut as there is no planning or prep needed.
Common Questions:
Why is homemade oat milk slimy? When oats are heated, the starches thicken, just like when you cook oatmeal. It's the heat that makes oat milk slimy which can come from the friction in your blender. The key to ensuring your oat milk isn't slimy is to keep the ingredients cold. I have three tips for this. 1: use cold water. 2: add a handful of ice to ensure it's extra cold. 3: blend for only 30 - 45 seconds, any longer and the oat milk can start to heat up.
How long can you keep homemade oat milk? When kept in an air-tight container in the fridge it should keep for 5 days or maybe a bit longer.
Does homemade oat milk taste good? OMG yes!! While some homemade oat milk can taste thin or bland, my recipe is super creamy and flavorful with a smooth silky texture. I love drinking a glass of it along with a vegan chocolate chip cookie for dunking.
What to do with oats after making oat milk? You can save the leftover oat pulp and stir it into your oatmeal or overnight oats, add it to your smoothies, make my Almond Pulp Crackers (but sub the almond milk pulp with your oat pulp), or use it to substitute some of the flour in your baking such as making cookies or pancakes.
What happens if you boil oat milk? I do not recommend heating homemade creamy oat milk as it will thicken due to the starches in the oats.
How to make Homemade Creamy Oat Milk:
Add the water, ice, oats, shredded coconut, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt to your blender, and blend on high for 30 - 45 seconds. I recommend using a high-speed blender for the best result, but a regular blender should work fine as well.
I prefer using rolled oats for this recipe as no soaking is required but if using steel cut oats, you will need to soak them first for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
Do not blend any longer than 45 seconds or you run the risk of warming the oat milk which will make it slimy. If you are gluten-free make sure to use certified gluten-free oats.
Line a large bowl with a nut milk bag and strain the milk through the bag. If you do not have a nut milk bag you can use a thin tea towel or a strainer lined with cheesecloth.
Gently squeeze the bag until all of the milk is strained through. Make sure to squeeze the bag lightly, as squeezing it too much can make too much oat pulp leak through. Discard the pulp or use it in any of the ways listed in the recipe notes.
Transfer the oat milk to a sealable container and pop it in the fridge. Use as desired. The oat milk will naturally separate as it sits so just give it a shake before using. This homemade oat milk recipe will keep fresh in the fridge for up to 5 days or longer.
Flavored oat milk ideas:
- Add 2 tablespoons cocoa powder or cacao powder plus an extra tablespoon of maple syrup to make chocolate oat milk.
- Add a handful of fresh or frozen berries (such as strawberries or raspberries) to make a berry-flavored oat milk
This homemade creamy oat milk is...
- creamy
- easy to make
- takes just 5 minutes
- super tasty!
More vegan oat recipes:
Strawberry Oat Bars
Banana Bread Oatmeal
Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Easy Vegan Breakfast Sausage Patties
Homemade Dog Treats
For another favorite non-dairy milk recipe try my recipe for Strain-Free Cashew Milk. If you want to see more plant-based milk recipes from me such as almond milk, soy milk, or rice milk, let me know in the comments!
If you try this recipe let us know by leaving a comment, rating it, and don't forget to tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram.
Bon appetegan!
Sam Turnbull.
Homemade Creamy Oat Milk
Ingredients
- 4 cups cold water
- 1 handful ice cubes
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to your blender, and blend on high for 30 - 45 seconds. Do not blend any longer than 45 seconds or you run the risk of warming the oat milk which will make it slimy.
- Line a large bowl with a nut milk bag and pour the milk into the nut milk bag. If you do not have a nut milk bag you can use a thin tea towel or a strainer lined with cheesecloth. Gently squeeze the bag until all of the milk is strained through. Make sure to squeeze the bag lightly, as squeezing it too much can make too much oat pulp leak through. Discard the pulp or use it in any of the ways listed in the recipe notes.
- Transfer the oat milk to a sealable container and pop it in the fridge. Use as desired. The oat milk will naturally separate as it sits so just give it a shake before using. Oat milk will keep fresh in the fridge for up to 5 days or longer. I do not recommend heating homemade oat milk as it will thicken due to the starches in the oats.
Notes
- Add 2 tablespoons cocoa powder or cacao powder plus an extra tablespoon of maple syrup to make chocolate oat milk.
- Add a handful of fresh or frozen berries (such as strawberries or raspberries) to make a berry-flavored oat milk
Nutrition
More dairy-free milk recipes you might enjoy...
Charissa says
How does this do frothing for coffee? My coffee machine heats and froths my store bought oatmilk so I am curious if the texture of this would come out slimy heating and frothing it. TIA!
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Charissa, I haven't tried this yet, if you give it a go let us know how it turns out. I know that a lot of store-bought oat milk brands add oil to their milks to make them steam better. So if you try it, you might also want to try add a touch of neutral tasting oil (such as canola or vegetable) to your oat milk. That might work 🙂
Steffen says
This is ok. The texture/creaminess is bang on for how I like it, but it just tastes too much like coconut. It works well for oatmeal, but it really doesn't go well in cold brew coffee..
CM says
I only have sweetened shredded coconut, would that be okay to use..? I'm assuming if the coconut is already sweetened, that would just mean use less sweetener but I'm wanting to make sure. I'm getting ready to try this recipe today, as I've officially ran out of my Chobani Extra Creamy Oatmilk lol!
Sam Turnbull says
Hi CM, yes you are correct, that will work fine but it will sweeten you oat milk quite a bit. So omit the sweetener and only add to taste if needed at the end. Enjoy!
Catherine Gilmour says
Re the coffee. I like my coffee extra hot so using oatmilk from the fridge would cool it down. You said do not boil but can the oat milk be gently heated and not turn slimy?
Melyssa says
Is it possible to omit the maple syrup? Would I need to make any other changes to "make up for it"? I love oat milk but find it to always be too sweet (even the unsweetened!). Seems this recipe would be perfect if I can remove that extra sweetness. Thank you!
A. Kafi says
How do you use the “leftover’ oats? Can it be used in another recipe?
Sam Turnbull says
I included that info in the notes of the recipe: "How to use leftover oat milk pulp: stir it into your oatmeal or overnight oats, add it to your smoothies, make my Almond Pulp Crackers (but sub the almond pulp with your oat pulp), or use it in your baking. " 🙂
Rhiannon says
You should try making oat pulp cookies! It sounds weird but they are surprisingly yummy. We always demolish the batch in one day. Do not expect your typical cookie texture haha.
Sam Turnbull says
I'll look into it, thanks!
Joseph says
I just made this. Best recipe for my oat milk so far and I've been making iat milk for years. I love the suggestion to use cold water or ice. I think I will use less cashews next time as I don't need it that creamy.
Thank you, as a beginner vegan yours is a go to website for me.
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you loved it!!
Joseph says
I just made this and I used the leftover pulp to which I added chia seeds, chopped almonds, salt, and raisins, for my morning breakfast poridge/pudding.
Sam Turnbull says
Yum!
P Thomas says
I can't wait to try this recipe, but I'm curious, does the addition of the shredded coconut make the oat milk taste like coconut? I'm not a coconut fan. Is this addition to sweeten the oat milk or produce a thicker/creamier texture? I read another recipe that used dates. Would that be a substitute for the coconut for the same purpose?
Sam Turnbull says
I don't find there is a strong coconut taste, but I love coconut, so it might not work for you.
Kurt says
Heating oat milk thickens it...I recently research whether oat milk could be substituted for milk in rice pudding recipes and I found a number of them. So for rice pudding, you want the oat milk to thicken. I haven't tried using oat milk for rice pudding yet though.
nil says
To make rice pudding you get short grain rice maybe 2 cups and boil it with 4 cups of water and a lemon peel, then when the rice is cooked you add the milk, sugar, butter and the vanilla until it thickens. you don't really need an exact recipe. You can sprinkle cinnamon powder on top.
Merci says
Came out creamy and delicious...thanks!
Sam Turnbull says
Yay! Happy you enjoyed 🙂
Stan says
Have you tried freezing a cup of the water in an ice cube tray then using that in the recipe for extra cold while blending? It seems like it would either not blend correctly OR it could make blending for longer periods of time possible for that extra creamy texture.
Bronwen says
Most commercial oat milks have added calcium. As a 60 year old lady with FODMAP issues, how can I add calcium in to keep my bones strong?
Sam Turnbull says
Personally, I get my calcium from foods, soy, beans, lentils, almonds, tahini, seaweed, and spinach are all good sources 🙂
Bronwen says
Unfortunately I cannot tolerate soy, beans, lentils which are all high FODMAP. I even have to watch how many almonds I eat. So I feel more confident if I can get a bit of extra calcium in my oat milk.
Sue says
Thanks for educating me Sam. I only made oat milk once, and now I know why it was yucky slimy. I will try your recipe next time, and not let it get warm in the blender. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Sam Turnbull says
You're most welcome 🙂
Stan says
You could try flavorless calcium powders or crushed Tums/Rolaids if you can find a way to mask/integrate their flavor? I've never made this so no promises but seems like it could work (perhaps an extra tbsp or two of water to make up for the dry powders?)
Bronwen says
Worth looking at...if calcium powders are sourced from plants. Fingers crossed.
Lisa says
Have you tried this recipe in the Almond Cow?
Jennifer N Dean says
I am curious too!
Sam Turnbull says
Yes, it works wonderfully!
Haverwench says
I keep seeing that the secret to keeping oat milk from going slimy is to keep it cold, but I like milk mainly in hot drinks. So this advice does not work for me. Commercial oat milk does not turn to slime when heated, so is there a way to make homemade oat milk that doesn't? An article in Popular Science said adding amylase would help; have you tried this?
Sav says
You can actually use digestive enzymes from a capsule and spilt it open when soaking your oats! I heard that oatly does something like this to help with the slime.
Sam Turnbull says
This oat milk is lovely in coffee or tea. I just wouldn't recommend boiling the oat milk.
Sandra says
This sounds wonderful -- thank you! Would it work to strain with a coffee filter?
Sam Turnbull says
Yes you can! 🙂