Making Your Own Oat Milk at Home Is Easy and Cheap—Here's How!

Oat milk is the hottest new thing in the refrigerated aisle these days. With a lightly sweet, neutral flavor, it's a fantastic pairing for coffee. It's also one of the more sustainable nondairy milk options available, and great for people who are allergic to tree nuts but looking to avoid dairy products.

But if you would like to save a few pennies and avoid many of the additives and preservatives found in packaged oat milk, here's how to make oat milk at home.

Related: Is Oat Milk Healthy?

If you've ever tried to make your own nut milk but been put off by the time required for soaking and straining, you'll be happily surprised by how easy it is to make your own oat milk.

There's no pre-soaking necessary—in fact, soaking your oats ahead of time can give your oat milk a slimy texture, so there's no need to prep at all!

Plain old-fashioned rolled oats are best for making oat milk. Steel-cut oats have too coarse a texture, and quick oats have already been mechanically chopped, so they're too finely textured, but rolled oats are just right.

How to Make Oat Milk

To make about 2 1/2 cups oat milk, measure 1 cup rolled oats and 3 cups water, and add to a high-speed blender.

Related: The Best Blenders, According to Our Test Kitchen

Casey Barber

If you'd like a slightly sweetened oat milk, you can add 1 pitted and roughly chopped date and 1 tiny pinch kosher salt now to enhance the flavor, or add other flavorings after you strain the milk.

Blend on medium-high speed for about 30 to 45 seconds—just enough to completely pulverize the oats without making them gummy.

Casey Barber

Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a large measuring cup or bowl. Don't press on the porridge-like solids in the strainer; just stir gently to help extract the liquid. Some oat solids will make it through, so you can strain the oat milk once more if desired.

Casey Barber

If you'd like to add any other flavors to your homemade oat milk, try whisking in one (or a few) of these options after straining the milk:

• vanilla extract

• almond extract

• maple syrup

• ground cinnamon

• pumpkin pie spice blend

Store homemade oat milk in a sealed container (such as a mason jar) in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Separation is natural, so just gently shake the jar before pouring it into your coffee or over your granola.

Related: How to Make Homemade Almond Milk