Make Non-Dairy Milk for Self-Reliance

How to Make Your Own Non-Dairy ‘Milk’

Do you wish to eat a plant-based diet or are you looking for ways to increase self-reliance and reduce waste? Learning to make your own non-dairy milk is a great way to achieve these goals! Now, I’m not vegan (or even vegetarian) but I do enjoy foods that are free of meat, dairy, and other animal products. I also have some health concerns that require making changes to my diet. So I started making my own plant-based non-dairy ‘milk’ for drinking, pouring on cereal, and using in recipes.

Now, I love dairy products! Unfortunately, dairy isn’t always the best choice for me. While there are plenty of options at the grocery store for soy, rice, almond, oat, and other non-dairy milk substitutes I really hate purchasing products with all of that packaging. (I use about 2 gallons of milk a week!) In addition, these plant-based types of milk are mostly water, they are shipped long distances, and they cost a lot of money.

So, instead of buying these products from the store, I started making my own. It’s great to just make the amount I need for a couple of days from dry goods I keep on hand. All I need are a few ingredients, a blender, and tap water!

If you’re interested in reducing waste and saving money on your groceries, keep reading for my easy instructions!

As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a commission on qualifying purchases.

Choose Your Favorite Non-Dairy Milk

I remember when our local grocery store started selling soymilk and it was only available in shelf-stable packaging. These days there are so many options for non-dairy milk that it can be confusing to choose one. I’ve tried purchased soymilk, rice milk, almond milk, and flax milk. There are also several varieties of oat milk at our store.

I’ve also made almond, oat, and coconut ‘milk’ at home and I like each of them for different reasons. My favorite is a blend of almond and oat, so I’ve shared my recipe below. Here are the basic instructions for making these 3 options…

• 4 cups water
• 1 cup of oat flakes, almond meal, or coconut flour
• Place in a blender and combine on high for about 1 minute
• Pour the milk through a nut milk bag to remove the solids
• Add a pinch of salt and vanilla or sweetener, if desired
• Refrigerate extras and use within 2 days for best flavor

I haven’t tried making soymilk or flax milk, but I think I’ll try adding some flaxseed to my next batch of almond-oat milk to increase the nutritional content. I’ve found that the oat milk has a creamier texture that I really like.

As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a commission on qualifying purchases.

Recipe for Almond-Oat Milk

Here’s my go-to recipe for making a tasty alternative to cows’ milk that has protein and a creamier flavor and texture compared to plain almond milk.

Make Your Own Economical Non-Dairy Milk!

Making your own plant-based milk for home use is a great way to save money and reduce waste. You can whip up a batch of almond or oat milk quickly instead of running to the store. It’s also easy to have these ingredients on hand in case of emergencies or supply disruptions to the stores.

Depending on where you live, you can reduce your carbon foot print by using locally grown products to create non-dairy milk. If you raise your own almonds or oats you can increase savings and sustainability even more!

I haven’t tried making soymilk from scratch but I’m hoping to give it a whirl soon. To make your own soymilk, check out the instructions here.

Although I do eat meat and other animal products, I’m trying to increase sustainability and create more of my own food and products at home. And although I love dairy products, milk has a higher carbon footprint than any non-dairy ‘milk.’ In addition, the almonds and oats are shelf stable and I can make up just what I need each day.

If you have your own dairy animals you are certainly providing a delicious food source with a much lower environmental cost than purchased milk. Great job! Since I no longer have goats and the doctor says I need to lay off the saturated fat… this recipe for plant-based milk is a great alternative for me. It also means a lot less plastic in our recycling bin each week!

As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a commission on qualifying purchases.