How to Make Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
How to make make creamy tasty unsweetened vanilla almond milk at home. It’s super easy to make.
I never thought that I would see the day when homemade almond milk would be a staple in so many homes. For so many, it is.
While raw cow’s milk is a healthy superfood, it’s not always easily accessible, and others may not be ready to take the plunge.
Benefits of Making Your Own Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk at Home
Making almond milk at home is an option for people that are dairy free, or not ready to venture out into the raw milk space just yet. But, buying store bought almond milk can get expensive. In addition, the ingredients in store bought almond milk are often watered down.
Be that as it may, vanilla almond milk was a staple on my family’s grocery list for a long time. I never realized that almond milk was so easy to make at home.
However, years ago, I was doing some reading on gut health when I came across an article on phytic acid. After successfully healing my own gut issues, I was intrigued. Phytic acid is a compound found in foods like nuts, legumes and grains that can bind to needed minerals and decrease their absorption.
Many properly prepared ancestral foods are first soaked, soured (fermented) or sprouted to decrease phytic acid content. By the way, although this recipe calls for soaking the almonds you can opt for using sprouted almonds (and still soaking them), in this recipe.
Different seeds have varying amounts of phytic acid. But, from all the seeds listed in this chart, guess which seeds have the most phytic acid listed? You guessed it… almonds.
Now there are bigger nutritional issues than phytic acid, but the fact that people use almonds everyday in everything from smoothies, to grain-free cereal means that there is room for some improvement. Not to eliminate phytic acid from the diet totally, but rather decrease the amount ingested. By the way, raw almond milk also tastes wonderful in molasses milk.
I was also surprised to find out most varieties of almond milk have way less almonds per bottle than you think. So essentially, you’re paying for fancy water. Of course brands vary, but the really good stuff is even more expensive. What you get in the end is a watered down product with synthetic vitamins added back in.
And I don’t know about you, but I want my natural vitamins.
So I set out to make my own almond milk and was pleasantly surprised. Not only was the homemade almond milk more affordable, contained less phytic acid, healthier and creamier…homemade almond milk is much tastier too.
Apart from phytic acid, gums, fillers and additives like acacia, guar gum and carrageenan come with their own set of problems too. Guar gum, carrageenan and additives can also be found in store bought almond milk. Especially for people that already have or are prone to gut issue, this is something to be mindful of.
When you make your own almond milk at home, you have none of that to worry about plus you know exactly what’s in it.
Benefits of Making Homemade Almond Milk
- Less phytic acid
- More affordable
- Easy to make
- More nutritious
- Knowing the origin of your food
- No artificial flavors or synthetic vitamins
- Creamier
- Tastier milk
Why You Should Make Homemade Almond Milk During Crisis
During a crisis, whether it be a natural disaster or a viral disaster, it may not always be possible to go the grocery store. Not everyone has their own farm to go out back and get unadulterated raw milk from happy cows.
And while I love supporting small farmers for meat, dairy and other real food staples, in today’s world, having a backup plan is a necessity.
In addition, panic buying can make it increasingly difficult to come by staples like milk, eggs and even toilet paper.
Shelf stable raw almonds are easily available even when other items like milk is running out at the grocery store and you need an alternative. Make it a practice to keep raw almonds in your pantry, you can limit trips to the grocery store and make raw almond milk any time you like.
Homemade Almond Milk
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup almonds (unsalted & raw)
- 2-3 dates (pitted)
- 3 1/2 cups water (for blending)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
- Soak almonds in minimal water to cover them for 24-72 hours (max) in the fridge. The longer it soaks the creamier the final product will be.1 cup almonds
- Drain the water and rinse the almonds.
- Add the almonds, water, salt, dates and vanilla to a high powered blender and blend twice.3 1/2 cups water , 1 tbsp vanilla extract, 1/8 tsp salt, 2-3 dates
- Pour milk into nut milk bag or sieve.
- Gently squeeze and reserve the almond milk.
- Can save the pulp for later use.
- Store any almond milk in glass containers for use in the refrigerator. Use within 3-4 days.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Original Post: June 23, 2018. Updated March 21, 2020
Updated for content: March 17, 2025
