This creamy and delicious homemade oat milk recipe is made with 2-ingredients, ready in minutes, and delicious in tea or coffee or poured over cereal.
It’s so easy to make your own homemade oat milk!
It has a lovely neutral oaty taste that is delicious to drink as is or to use in smoothies, over cereal, or in your coffee and tea.
All you need is some rolled oats in your cupboard and you’re good to go. Rolled oats blended with water = oat milk!
You can also add a little maple syrup, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt for some optional extra flavoring, but the main ingredients are simply rolled oats and water.
How To Make Oat Milk
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Add all the ingredients to the blender jug and blend for around 1 minute until well blended.
- Strain it through a nut milk bag and you have a creamy and delicious homemade plant milk to use as you please.
Tips For The Best Homemade Oat Milk
- Don’t soak the oats first. A lot of recipes recommend soaking your rolled oats first and then rinsing them very well to remove any sliminess before blending. Yes, oats get slimy. It’s weird. But I actually found in experimenting that the best results came about from not soaking the oats at all. It’s also quicker this way. So just add your oats and water to the blender (plus optional flavorings) and blend!
- Don’t over-blend. Over-blending can also cause the oat milk texture to feel slimy. So you just want to blend it well enough and then stop blending. Usually 1 minute of blending will be more than enough.
- Strain your oat milk. I strain it through a nut milk bag (also sometimes called a nut mylk bag). This is the nut mylk bag I have and am very happy with. To get really smooth oat milk you may even want to strain it twice. You can also strain it through a thin tea towel.
- Don’t heat your oat milk. This homemade oat milk is great in tea or coffee or over cereal. However, it’s not great heated as it tends to get quite thick and clumpy when you heat it. So you can add it to hot drinks and that’s fine, but don’t heat it up before adding it to hot drinks.
What To Do With Leftover Oat Pulp?
A reader commented that they add it to pancake batter to create a nuttier tasting version (awesome idea, thanks Susan!).
You can also use the pulp to make cookies. I found a great recipe for Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pulp Cookies that does exactly this.
This recipe doesn’t result in a huge amount of leftover pulp so you’re also fine to just throw it away unless that is something that goes against the grain for you. If that’s the case then bake some cookies or throw it into some pancakes.
Storing Tips
Keep it stored in the fridge where it will stay fresh for up to 5 days. Shake it up before use as it tends to separate in the fridge, don’t worry this is normal, give it a good shake and enjoy.
More Easy Vegan DIY Recipes
- How To Make Almond Milk
- How To Make Cashew Milk
- Vegan Buttermilk
- Vegan Condensed Milk
- Homemade Vegan Butter
- Vegan Heavy Cream Substitute
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Homemade Oat Milk
Ingredients
- 1 cup Rolled Oats (90g)
- 4 cups Water (960ml)
- ¼ teaspoon Salt Optional
- 2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup Optional
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract Optional
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to your blender and blend until well blended. Don't blend for more than 1 minute.
- Strain through a nut milk bag or a tea towel.
- Store the milk in the fridge where it will stay fresh for up to 5 days. Shake it well before use.
- Use in your tea or coffee or pour over cereal.
Video
Notes
- Don’t soak your oats first, I found this caused sliminess, no matter how much they were rinsed.
- Don’t overblend as it can also cause the oats to become slimy. You shouldn’t need to blend for more than a minute.
- Don’t heat the milk as it causes it to get very thick and clumpy. It can be added to hot drinks like tea and coffee though.
- This recipe is gluten-free as long as you use gluten-free rolled oats.
I fell in love with an oat milk latte on vacation recently and after spending a fortune at Starbucks that week and going through two expensive cartons on my own the following week, I was about to purchase a bulk order when I came across this recipe. I tried it immediately and it came out great! I wanted extra creamy (and was limited by the liquid capacity of my Ninja smoothie maker, too) so I used 3 cups water and just under 1 cup sprouted rolled oats. I’m not sure the maple syrup/vanilla ratios are exactly what I want – I think I’m rare in that I really like to taste the oats – so I’ll play with that and other varieties/none – but overall, very, very good! I did get great results using a tiny handheld strainer (did a second pass for good measure) and will be storing in my airtight smoothie making cup that goes with the Ninja for anyone that’s wondering if they need special tools. Can’t wait to put in my coffee tomorrow!
Awesome, thanks so much for posting Marni!
Best ever !!!! Me and the 3 boys all love it so easy and cost effective and good for u😍
Can you recommend what type of milk to make if you wish to heat it? I forgot about the advise not to heat this and it became so thick it was unusable – my own fault! I eat a lot of porridge so need a milk I can heat. This oat milk is great on cereal and in coffee though! Thank you
Hi Victoria, you could rather try cashew milk or almond milk. Cashew milk does tend to thicken when heated, but that’s not necessarily bad, so you could see how it works for you. All the best! 🙂
What do you do if you do not have a blender? Can you recommend a blender I can purchase? It does sound good.
We have a Vitamix 5200 and love it. But it is an investment so it’s worth it if you’re planning to make your own nut milks and cheeses etc.
This was my first attempt at making oat milk and it definitely won’t be my last. This recipe is a keeper it’s yummy!
Awesome! Thanks so much Leslie!
Fantastic recipe! Many thanks. I’m a very recent convert to home-made oat-milk, after making just two batches. For the second batch, I added 2 Canderel sweeteners at the blender stage, which gives (to my taste) just the slight sweetness of dairy milk. I also squeezed out the hanging bag both times I filtered the milk, and this gave a much better, tastier and creamer result. Next time, I plan to grind the dry oats to flour in the blender before adding the sweeteners and water. At present I’m filtering the milk through a single layer of cheesecloth, tied with string, and hung over a bowl from the handle of a kitchen unit. However, I’ve sent for 2 nut-milk bags, to see how well these work. Finally, I’ve sent for a Lock and Lock drinks shaker to store the milk in. These containers are watertight, and have a special fitting inside. When shaken, this fitting should re-blend any separation that has happened while the milk was in the fridge. I’m so excited to be making my own milks!
Awesome Ruth, that sounds fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi Ruth, did you try grinding the oats first and did it change it much? Also was there a difference between the cheese cloth and nut bag?
Many thanks
Thank you for posting this! It’s so simple and inexpensive. I’ve been consuming plant milk for about 18 months. While there is a range of good and bad versions out there, the associated packaging has troubled me as tetra-paks cannot be recycled where I live, and I’ve read some dubious things about the protective layers in its composition. I can’t believe how easy this is to make. I added no sweetener or vanilla, as I like a plain taste myself. A pinch of salt though definitely a must. I just used a spare piece of light cotton I had in my sewing scraps as I don’t have a nut milk bag. I strained once through my kitchen sieve to clear most of the oat bulk, and a second time squeezed through the cotton. This was probably necessary as the cotton I used is a bit fine and the liquid was taking ages to pass through. All in all, it turned out great. Finally, I really appreciate that you provide both grams and millilitres in your recipes as well as cup measurements – it’s very helpful!
So happy you enjoyed the recipe Anna! Thanks so much for sharing!
I’m excited to try this as I’ve never made nut milk before. Hoping it’s creamy enough to replace the actual cream in my coffee. Where do you buy your glass containers?
Hope you enjoy the recipe! I’m not sure where I got the glass containers.
If you increase the ratio of oats to water, would you end up with a slightly thicker, creamier milk?
Yes, that’s certainly how it works with nut milks so I assume the same here.
I’ve got very good results from your recipe which equates well with the ‘ordinary’ for sale commercial oat milk. However it does not froth like the Oatly Barista oat milk.
Can you kindly let me know what additive should be added to make it froth like the Oatly Barista oatmilk?
I look forward to your kind reply.
Many thanks,
Sean Franklin
Love this recipe. straight forward and easy. stoked with the result. thank you x
Awesome Karina, so glad you enjoyed it!
It’s certainly a lot cheaper than oat milk from the supermarket. I am very happy with the end result. Will sure make more. Thank you!
So glad it turned out well! Thanks for the great review Heather!
I’ve made this with and without the syrup and vanilla and it’s yummy either way over cereal etc, but it always sinks to the bottom of my coffee 🙁 I’ve tried putting the milk in first and last and I’ve tried adding it reeeaaaally slowly, I’ve tried soaking and not soaking but it still does it, any ideas for how to fix it? Thanks 🙂 I use instant coffee by the way and I use a nut milk bag to strain.
Hi Katie, you can also try letting your coffee cool a little before adding the milk. This can be a common issue with plant milks, as the acid in the coffee can interact with them causing them to separate from the coffee. Letting it cool a little before adding the milk can help.
I often add a small pinch of salt to my coffee to help cut the acid. (Table salt is generally considered neutral, not basic, but still helps cut the acid because it is *less* acidic than coffee.) I have never tried it with oatmilk specifically, but it may help prevent separation? Maybe try adding a small pinch to your cup before adding the oat milk.
Any hints on how I’ve ended up with a bitter after taste? Is that normal for oat milk or something I may have done? Many thanks!
Hi Virginia, sorry no I have no idea why that would be. Did you soak your oats first? I’m just taking a guess at a possible cause, we don’t soak the oats first as it’s our preference for taste and texture.
Can you use honey instead of maple syrup?
Sure!