Creamy and delicious oat milk! This homemade oat milk recipe is 5 easy 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!
All you need is some rolled oats in your cupboard and you’re good to go.
Add some maple syrup, or other syrup of your choice, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt for some optional extra flavoring, blend it all up and strain it through a nut milk bag!
It has a lovely neutral oaty taste that is delicious to drink as is or to use in smoothies or over cereal or in your coffee and tea.
To soak or not to soak?
A lot of recipes for how to make oat milk recommend soaking the 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.
When I soaked them first and then rinsed them, the result was really slimy. But when I just blended them without soaking, there was minimal slime. Okay I know that still sounds gross, minimal slime? So there’s still slime? Haha yes, a little, not in the end result, but when you’re straining them through that nut milk bag, it’s going to feel a little slimy.
I have heard that over-blending can cause sliminess as well, though I did not experience this at all, but just beware of this as a possibility. Blend only as much as needed, which tends to be around a minute to get everything nicely blended in.
Straining your oat milk
If you’re straining through a nut milk bag, (often also called a nut mylk bag), then it’s super quick and easy to do. If you don’t have a nut milk bag you can strain it through cheesecloth placed over a strainer.
However, if homemade milks are something you plan to make regularly, then investing in a nut mylk bag is very worthwhile.
This is the nut mylk bag I have and am very happy with.
Delicious in tea, coffee or over cereal
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 do you do with the 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!
You will love this oat milk recipe, it is:
- Creamy
- Delicious
- Great in coffee or tea or over cereal
- So easy to make
Keep it 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 vegan recipes
What do you think of this homemade oat milk recipe? Let us know in the comments and rate the recipe too please. Thanks so much!
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Homemade Oat Milk
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 4 cups
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Creamy and delicious oat milk! This homemade oat milk recipe is 5 easy ingredients, ready in minutes, and delicious in tea or coffee or poured over cereal.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (90g) Rolled Oats
- 4 cups (960ml) Water
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to your blender and blend until well blended. About a minute.*
- Strain through a nut mylk bag or place cheesecloth over a strainer and strain it through that.
- 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.
Notes
*Don’t soak your oats first, I found this caused sliminess, no matter how much they were rinsed.
*Don’t overblend as apparently it can also cause the oats to become slimy though I have not personally experienced this. About a minute of blending is usually sufficient.
*Don’t heat the milk as it causes it to get very thick. 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.
- Category: Beverage
- Method: Blend
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 114
- Sugar: 6.3g
- Sodium: 150mg
- Fat: 1.4g
- Saturated Fat: 0.2g
- Carbohydrates: 21.9g
- Fiber: 2.2g
- Protein: 2.9g
Keywords: oat milk
I was desperate… forgot to soak almonds overnight! ugh… kiddos were hungry and my eldest said, “can’t we just make OAT milk!?” I thought, “surely you have to soak the oats… which means we’re back where we started. I check THIS website, which is what I used to make a couple vegan birthday cakes this year… which were a hit… and the recipe was a SAVIOR! It didn’t require soaking, and it was SUPER easy. Follow the recipe exactly and it will be perfect. Not too thick not too thin. Just know that it will be a little slimy, even if you don’t over blend. I did one minute in a Ninja and still a little slimy as I strained in the nutbag but nothing much. It was great. Loved it. More accurately… the kids ages 10-3 loved it! They had second.
PS: Sweetened with Coconut Sugar.
So glad it was a success! Thanks so much for sharing. 🙂
Thanks Alison! I still can’t beleive how easy to make this receipe is!.
And the taste is super good!.
I just moved to Tokyo and was struggling to get any kind of vegan milk. I mean you can find them but they are more expensive than usual.
I just found that 90g of Rolled oats did not correspond to “a cup”.
I followed the quantities Indeed.
Today I made it again but just measuring with a cup and it was also yummy!;
I just prepared a cup of golden milk with it, but forgot you said not to heat it because it made lumps, so next time I would just add it to my hot drinks.
★★★★★
Hi Mariana, so happy you enjoyed it! Yes a standard cup can differ from place to place, we use US cup measures, but for a recipe like this it doesn’t really matter so I’m glad to hear it worked both ways. It’s usually only in baking that things have to be really precise. Thanks so much for posting and for the awesome review! 🙂
Can I use a food processor ? to make oat milk, and quick oats?
Thank you.
Hi Georgia, not as far as I know. A food processor (at least all the ones I’ve used) wouldn’t work for this as they don’t blend fast enough to break it down properly.
Hi Alison, great recipe…ps I’m a big fan of your site, especially the cake section!!
We’re vegan because my toddler and baby have dairy intolerance…but we’ve been recommended to buy shop oat milk as it has added calcium to be the same as Normal milk. Any suggestions where I can get this if I make their milk myself?
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Hi Lisa, sorry I can’t advise on this as it’s not my area at all. So glad you like the cakes! 🙂
Do you have any guidance on blenders? I’m wondering if I can use my regular home blender. Not ready to spend $400 on a vitamix. How fast does it need to be? Thanks so much!
Hi Deborah, I don’t think a high powered blender is a must for this recipe and your regular blender should work fine. Just blend as long as needed so it looks well mixed. 🙂
The “sliminess” is simply the soluble fiber in the oats thickening up as it is mixed with the water. It’s also what makes chia seeds thicken “puddings.” It may seem gross, but actually that fiber is good for you. THAT’S what makes your cholesterol go down when eating oats on a regular basis. I like this method better than those that rinse away all that good soluble fiber. It’s there for a reason…why not include it! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
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Good point, more fiber is always a good thing. 🙂 Thanks for sharing Judi!
Hello, I’m going to try making this very soon. I’m surprised store bought oat milk actually costs more than store bought cashew milk. This looks super easy. My question though is, do you have a recipe for the cereal / mix you’ve put in the bowl for the photos with the oat milk, it looks very good!
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Hi Jim, we just used a store bought granola and put bananas and coconut flakes on top. 🙂
Thanks for the info, it looks quite good. What’s in it if you don’t mind? Want to start making my own to save $$$.
Hmmm, no idea sorry! I don’t have that brand to hand right now. There are some great granola recipes around though, here is a selection of recipes from Minimalist Baker.
I tried pasteurising the oat milk to make it keep for longer. I placed the glass bottle with the oat milk in (with the lid on loose, or totally off) into a pan of boiling water and heated the milk to 65/70 degrees celsius for a few minutes, checking the milk regularly with a thermometer. I just opened the bottle 10 days later and it is still in perfect condition. The heat didn’t make it separate either, as it was only heated to 65 degrees. You can also put the lid in the boiling water to sterilise it whilst the milk is heating up. If you put the lid on whilst the milk is still hot, as it cools it creates a slight vacuum, which helps the milk last even longer!
I’ve also been drying the oats out in the oven afterwards and then blitzing them in a coffee grinder and using the ground oats to make a really gentle face mask/scrub for sensitive/eczema prone skin!
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Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Amazing taste & so.easy to make.
My Favourite milk substitute so far.
★★★★★
Fantastic! Thanks so much for the great review! 🙂
Made it and it came out delicious, loved the recipe! Thank you for all tips. I was wondering, did you ever add the leftover oats to any recipe? cookies? I was looking forward of doing something with it so it wont go to waste.
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Hi Paola, yes we have a section of the blog post that has ideas of what to do with the leftover pulp and a link to some cookies you can make with it! 🙂
I don’t have a high speed blender, can I use an immersion blender instead?
I don’t think that would be powerful enough to break down the oats unfortunately.
I just made this, but I halved the recipe. I used my immersion blender and it worked just fine. Delicious!
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Awesome! Thanks for sharing Laurie! 🙂
Delicious and easy just as described. I found it a bit bland so next time I’ll add more maple syrup and salt per Allison’s suggestion. I might even try some chocolate syrup.
★★★★★
Oooh chocolate syrup might be very tasty! Thanks for sharing Guy! 🙂
Can you bake with this, or make a “cream” sauce?
Hi Jennifer, as mentioned it tends to clump when heated, so it’s not ideal for that.
Thank you! I’ve tried both soaking the oats and not, and this works best, without all the waste of water and nutients lost to soaking. I was having trouble reliably finding store bought Oat Milk in my store and also not impressed with the additives, so glad to now be making my own!
★★★★★
Awesome Linda! So happy to hear this! Thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
Hello Alison. Made your oat milk. Very easy and delicious. I did find it a bit bland. Any suggestions for perking up the flavors? More maple syrup?
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Sure, a little more maple syrup and a little more salt should take care of that.