Almond milk is a great paleo substitute for cow’s milk. I find I use it mostly in smoothies, sauces, purees, and coffee or tea. It’s not nearly as complicated as you might think. I bet you can even make it right now with all of the tools you have in your kitchen. All you need is water, almonds, a blender, a large bowl and a clean kitchen towel. Let me show you how!
First, why would you want to make your own almond milk? Store-bought almond milk is a good choice if you’re transitioning into a paleo diet. It’s most definitely a better choice than cow’s milk if you’re trying to see how your body reacts to a whole foods diet. However, there’s actually a lot of ingredients in store-bought almond milk (and coconut milk for that matter) that aren’t paleo.
Store bought almond milk will have one or more of the following ingredients: guar gum, locust bean gum, gellan gum, carrageenan, sunflower lecithin, potassium citrate, and calcium carbonate. Most of these things are added as thickeners. Manufacturers want to emulate the mouth-feel and viscosity of traditional milk to make their products most appealing to consumers. Some of these things are emulsifiers. Emulsifiers keep all particles evenly suspended throughout the liquid so it doesn’t separate out into layers… homogenous if you will. Lastly, some of these things are preservatives that keep the product stable for longer, allowing you to open it and keep it in the fridge for weeks without spoiling.
The most offensive of these is the thickeners. Most of these are made from legumes, and thus aren’t paleo. Is it the worst thing in the world? No. Is store-bought still a better choice than cow’s milk for paleo? Yes. Is store-bought almond milk okay if I’m just using 1 cup a day in smoothies? Yes. It is strict or clean paleo? Unfortunately, no. Is homemade almond milk the best choice that should be used whenever possible? Yes.
Just like most cases, when you make things yourself you control what goes in it and sometimes more importantly, what doesn’t. When you make your own almond milk, the only two ingredients are water and almonds. Sounds good to me!
This almond pulp is what remains after you squeeze all the water from the almond milk.
- 3 cups water, cold or room temperature
- 1 cup almonds, raw
- blender
- large bowl
- clean kitchen towel
- Fill your blender up with the water. Add the almonds.
- Place lid on blender and puree on high until almonds are pulverized and no large chunks remain, about 1-2 minutes. (If using a Vitamix, turn on to "smoothie" setting.)
- Line a large bowl with a clean kitchen towel. Pour the almond-water mixture into the towel-lined bowl.
- Gather the four corners of the towel and twist the towel, squeezing the water out but capturing the pulverized almonds or almond pulp. When you're done, you're left with almond pulp and your glorious homemade almond milk!
- Pour almond milk into a storage container and store in the fridge.
How do you enjoy your almond milk? How does it fit into your paleo diet?
How long does the milk stay good for?
Hi Lynn! Generally keeps about 2 weeks in the fridge. The cooler it is, the longer it keeps. If your fridge is on the warmer side, it may only keep a week to a week and a half. Another hint, the back of the fridge is generally cooler than the door. Hope that helps!
Love these steps! Do you have any suggestions or ideas that you can do with the left over almond pulp? I would hate to just toss it.
Thanks, Racheal! I usually end up using the almond pulp in place of almond meal in recipes. Even though it’s wetter than almond meal it seems to work just fine as a substitution in recipes like paleo banana bread, brownies, muffins, etc. It would also work well added to ground meats (along with spices) for a meatloaf or meatball recipe.
I take the left over almond meal, spread it out on a cookie sheet and dry it in the oven. When it’s dry I throw it in the food processor and make almond flour!
Thanks, Christina. That is such a good idea!
Hi,
What temperature do you set the oven and approximately how long does it take to dry the almond paste? I realize that the time will depend on how much pulp there is…
Great recipe! A little idea I came up with- you can use French coffee press to filter the mild with zero mess 😉
What a great idea for anyone with a French coffee press!! Thanks for the idea!
My boss(‘s boss) was just talking about how much he spends on almond milk per week. I showed him this recipe and he’s thrilled! I hope he makes some (and shares it)! YUM!
I hope so too!! Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
My daughter likes the vanilla and dark chocolate flavored almond milk by Silk. What “clean” ingredients would you recommend for flavoring? Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Mel! Here are some additions to make flavored almond milk with “clean” ingredients.
For chocolate flavored almond milk use cacao nibs, raw cacao powder, or cocoa powder. For cacao nibs, add 1/4 cup at step 1. For raw cacao powder, use 2 tablespoons and add a step 6; Step 6 is to rinse out the blender, add the squeezed almond milk back in, and blend in your flavoring. So here, you would add cacao powder to the strained almond milk and blend until smooth. For cocoa powder, use 1/4 cup and also add step 6.
For vanilla flavored almond milk you can use a vanilla bean or pure vanilla extract. If you’re using vanilla bean, add step 6. Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape the “caviar” into the blender. If you’re using pure vanilla extract, add 1/2 teaspoon at step five and shake it up to combine.
If you’d like a little sweetness to either the chocolate or vanilla milk, I suggest dates. At step one you would add half of a fresh medjool date or 2-3 dried, pitted dates then proceed with steps 2-5.
For other flavors, consider adding 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract at step 5 and/or 1/8 teaspoon of ground cinnamon at step 6. I hope that helps!
Hi,
Thanks for the recipe I’m going make my own almond milk. I was just wondering do I need to soak the almonds overnight? Or I can I just blend it all immediately? Thanks a lot 🙂
Hi, Nuha. I do not soak my almonds overnight, I just blended all immediately. Soaking them overnight certainly wouldn’t hurt anything but you do not have to. Hope yours turns out delicious!
Why do other recipes for making almond milk say soak the almonds before processing and yours does not? Does it matter?
Laurie
Hi Laurie, I have tried it both ways and there doesn’t seem to be a big difference in how the almond milk turns out for me. So not soaking the nuts is just easier! Soaking nuts does make them easier to digest but since they are strained off anyway I don’t find the need to soak them. You certainly could, it won’t hurt anything! I usually only soak nuts before blending when I’m not going to be straining them out like in the case of my Tropical Strawberry Smoothie recipe. Happy cooking!