How To Make Oat Milk
261 Comments
Aug 03, 2023
This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.
Oat milk is a delicious and creamy plant-based, dairy-free milk. All you need are oats, water, and a blender – it’s easy! But there’s one drawback, homemade oat milk is known to be a bit slimy. Watch the video below to see how to make non-slimy oat milk (with a secret trick!)
Oat Milk is a Dairy-Free Favorite
There are so many non-dairy milk options available nowadays, including almond milk, cashew milk (my personal favorite), hemp milk, and even homemade banana milk.
But oat milk has really taken the world by storm over the last couple of years and surged in popularity. You’ve probably seen it at your local market or favorite coffee shop. Which is no surprise given that this is one of the creamiest dairy-free milks with just the right amount of sweetness and perfect for those with nut sensitivities.
But when it comes to ingredients, commercial brands like Oatly undergo quite a bit of processing. Intensive heating may be used and there’s added oils or thickening agents such as xanthan gum, which help make it extra frothy with a longer shelf life. So if you want to avoid these additives, it’s time to whip up your own right at home.
Let me show you how to make oat milk with a few tips and tricks to create the perfect consistency.
What Type Of Oats Are Best For Oat Milk?
When it comes to choosing oats, rolled oats are your best option. Quick oats are too processed (which can create more slime) and steel cut oats are not processed enough. I describe the different types of oats on my oatmeal recipe.
But always make sure to buy certified organic, gluten free oats. Many commercial oats are processed in facilities that are contaminated by grains such as wheat, barley, or rye. And non-organic oats have been tested to have unsafe levels of glyphosate, an herbicide you definitely want to avoid.
How To Make Oat Milk
In just 3 easy steps you’ll have delicious oat milk in no time:
- Blend all the ingredients. Add the oats, water, and any additional sweeteners to a high powered blender. Then blend for 20-30 seconds (make sure not to over blend).
- Strain the mixture. Pour it through a nut milk bag or thin towel over a large mixing bowl or pitcher. You’ll want to double strain the mixture to make sure all the sediment is removed.
- Store the oat milk. Transfer the oat milk to a sealed container and store it in the fridge.
How To Avoid Slimy Oat Milk
The number one complaint of homemade oat milk is that it’s slimy. But you’re in luck. After testing more than 6 batches of oat milk, I have a few tips:
- Use ice cold water: heat can make the oats more starchy and gummy (just think what happens when you make oatmeal), so use ice cold water or swap a cup of water for ice cubes when blending.
- Don’t overblend: if you blend the ingredients too long they’ll start to warm, and you’ll run into the same problem I just mentioned above. Don’t blend for more than 30 seconds.
- Strain well: strain through a high-quality nut milk bag with a very tight weave. I hardly have any sediment in mine when I use this nut milk bag, but you could use dish towels as well. Just don’t use a strainer or cheesecloth as it’s not tightly woven enough.
- Don’t over squeeze: as you’re straining and squeezing the oat milk in the nut milk bag, be gentle. You don’t want to squeeze firmly like you do with almond milk as you’ll squeeze out more of the starchy compounds.
How to Make Oat Milk the Least Slimy
If you’d like to go a step further and make your oatmilk the least slimy possible, there’s one more trick: enzymes.
After reading how Oatly processes their milk with enzymes I decided to try the same concept with store-bought digestive enzymes. Here’s what I did:
- Added oats to a bowl and covered with an inch of water.
- Opened two capsules of digestive enzymes and stirred those in the bowl with oats and water, then let it sit for 15 minutes.
- Strained the mixture over the sink and rinsed it good with water from the faucet.
- Transferred the washed oats to the blender along with 4 cups of cold water.
- Blended the oats for 20-30 seconds.
- Strained the oat milk through a nut milk bag.
- Stored the oat milk in a sealed container in the fridge.
This was BY FAR the least slimy oat milk option. Why? It’s due to the amylase. Digestive enzymes are typically broad spectrum, with a variety of enzymes to break down many foods, including sugar (sucrase), fat (lipase), protein (protease) and carbs/starch (amylase).
It’s that last enzyme that’s most important to oat milk though. The amylase breaks down the oat starches and makes the oat milk non-slimy.
So then I got to thinking, is there a food with enough enzymes that could do the same thing? Well, there are many foods with natural enzymes, but keep in mind that they’d flavor the milk as well. I tried adding a banana in one batch and honey in another, which both contain natural enzymes. And most importantly, they wouldn’t make the milk taste gross, like if I were to add kimchi or sauerkraut.
Unfortunately, other than flavoring the oat milk, the banana and honey didn’t have much effect on the sliminess factor. But the effect of the digestive enzymes was quite dramatic. The only drawback was that this milk was not only less slimy, but also less creamy. It had a consistency more similar to skim milk. But some folks may prefer that.
If you’d like to experiment further in the kitchen with your oat milk, then give enzymes a try!
How To Store Oat Milk
After it’s blended and strained, pour the oat milk into an airtight jar such as these juice jars or mason jars. Then store it in the fridge for up to a week.
Note: without any stabilizers or emulsifiers the milk will separate in the fridge. This is normal. Just give it a good stir before drinking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Homemade oat milk works great in baked goods, smoothies or cold beverages.
Unfortunately, it’s not the best option for hot beverages as it may thicken up and become slightly slimy again. Because it lacks fat (unlike nut milks), it doesn’t froth well either. I did try adding a little coconut oil, but it still didn’t froth well (in my opinion).
I recommend a liquid sweetener like maple syrup or honey rather than a date. Because the blend time is so short, a pitted date may not fully blend into the liquid.
More Dairy-Free Milk Recipes
While homemade cashew milk is still my personal favorite, it’s always fun to try different options or make blends of these homemade milk recipes:
How To Make Oat Milk (Non-Slimy + Tips!)
Description
Video
Equipment
- Vitamix My favorite high-powered blender.
- Nut Milk Bag An essential for all homemade dairy-free milks.
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 4 cups ice cold water
Optional
- 1 to 2 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Add oats, water, and any additional sweeteners to a high-powered blender. Blend for 20 to 30 seconds. Make sure to not over-blend.
- Strain the oat milk mixture by pouring through a nut milk bag or thin towel over a large mixing bowl or pitcher. If you'd like, you can double strain the mixture to make sure all the sediment is removed.
- Transfer the oat milk to a sealed container and store in the fridge.
Lisa’s Tips
- This is my favorite nut-milk bag and the large glass measuring bowl I use (so helpful for pouring!).
Nutrition
©Downshiftology. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
Recipe originally published February 2020, but updated to include new information.
couldn’t you sprout some grains and add those? I believe sprouting creates amylase for the specific purpose of breaking down the starches. Come to think of it, diastatic malt is sweet and specifically made to do that.
That’s an interesting idea and would definitely need some testing. But keep in mind that malt is not gluten-free (and all of my recipes are gluten-free).
AT LAST!! A recipe for Non Slimy that works. Forget soaking! Forget Steel Cut! Forget blending for 40-60 seconds!. Follow this recipe!!!👍❤️
Do you use regular oats or quick oats for your recipe?
This recipe uses rolled oats.
Great, easy, recipe! Much cheaper and more delicious that store bought too!
The only thing I’m going to try next time is adding cocoa and/ or cinnamon.
About how much mil does this make overall?
This recipe will make about 2.5 cups.
Thank you. Ice water does the trick. I switched it up to oats as the price to value is so much higher than almond or cashew, not that I’m saying never. But at Whole Foods for $1.49/lb., that’s just a great value, and it allowed me to experiment without wasting good products. Also thanks for thr recco on the nut bags. Hard to find in stores. Nandi
Just saying, your saliva contains a lot of amylase in it, which makes starch thickened soups watery if the spoon that touched your mouth was put in the soup bowl. So if you are interested in trying out the enzymes method… :P
Also found that using a paper towel stopped the flow entirely and just a fine mesh strainer works fine enough for straining out the pulp.
Great tips and clear instructions! I made half a batch to test, and froze the oats for an hour as suggested by another commenter. I had some Oatly Barista blend on hand for comparison. The homemade version was indeed thinner – not as creamy, but not slimy. So I strained it once through a nutmilk bag, then added some sweet almond oil (1 Tbsp), put it back in the blender and blended again for about 10 seconds, and strained that through a fine mesh strainer. It did start to taste creamier, so the next time I try it I will adjust the oil a bit, until it’s more like the Oatly. Still, on it’s own, it wasn’t bad. I had also added a half tablespoon of malt syrup for sweetness. I will keep experimenting!
Sound interesting would like to try
Hope you enjoy this homemade oat milk!
Very clear !
Thanks
I was about to give up on making oat milk when I found your recipe. The quick blend and addition of nuts really makes a huge difference. The quick blend eliminates the slime so the purée goes through the sieve and the nuts add richness that might have been lost from a quick blend. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this oat milk, Tino!
Did you experiment with adding and amylase based powdered enzyme after making the oatmilk?
I did not.
Hi, I haven’t tried the recipe yet but I am going to buy the nut bag and have some oats shipping my way. Very excited to make it and so glad you were so thorough in your post!!
I was wondering, I have a mini magic bullet, would that suffice to blend the oats? Or should I get an actual blender?
Excited for you to try this recipe Sarah! As for blending, I believe a high powered blender would be best for this.
Nice recipe. I feel like date syrup could be subbed one for one for the maple syrup. Its also a natural sweetener and very delicious. I think I’m going to try it.
Let me know how it works with date syrup!
What is a serving of this oat milk and how many calories in a serving? Also, what does kcal mean. I am transitioning to a 100% Plant Based Diet. Any suggestions for help with this process? Thank You
Hi Valerie – this recipe makes about 2.5 cups, and each serving is about 1/3 cup.
Very helpful, gives me food for thought!
Thank you.
Glad this was helpful!
I gave it to my toddler who has nut allergies and he loved it! The organic store bought oat milk still gave him hives, but this one didn’t I’m so happy i could cry. Thank you so much for sharing :)
Oh wonderful! I’m so happy to hear that Noemy – yay!
I looked up the recipe here to get the right proportions. I avoid the messy straining bit, just leave it for a minute to settle and it’s fine. I should add, I don’t use it for coffee, so maybe it’s not quite smoothe enough for that. I do a half recipe – 2 cups cold water from the fridge, half a cup oats, a bit of salt, a spoon of good carob syrup and whizz it with the stick blender. Yummy and no fuss . The sludge left over makes great pancakes.
Happy to hear your oat milk turned out perfectly Evelyn!
This worked great! I used 2 capsule of enzymes and then after rinsing added 1 tbsp of avocado oil so that I could get a good foam for lattes. I probably need 1 more tbsp of oil but my coffee this morning is perfect otherwise. Thank you for taking the time to sort this out for everyone!!
Glad your oat milk turned out great Renee! :)
I’m surprised you forgot the most important ingredient, the emulsifier. I prefer sunflower lecithin, a wonderfully healthy ingredient we can always use more of in our diet. The emulsifier helps things mix together and stay combined.
I’ve had good results adding about a heaping teaspoon. It totally makes the nut bag unnecessary. Just use a fine mesh strainer.
Also, blend your oats dry first to turn them into flour. That reduces waste significantly.
Hi Richard – I don’t use emulsifiers in any of my recipes, as that can be gut irritants to some people. But glad you love the recipe!
Very easy to make and delicious. I use 3 cups of water and half of all the optional ingredients per cup of oat. The linked nut milk bag works like a charm and is very easy to clean too.
Glad this method worked out perfectly Bowie!
where does one find the bag to strain the oats milk?
Hi Barb – you can find it linked in my tips down below in the recipe card. Otherwise, it is also linked in my Shop page :)
Tried the recipe. works good.
Glad this turned out great!
I saw another recipe for making oat milk which made the process seem so simple, but I like your added tips and reasons why having v. cold water will prevent slime, or even adding ice cube. (Honestly the straining part was not easy and simple but after trial/error I’ve developed a better process) I don’t think I’ll invest in adding enzyme powder, but I’m glad that you found it works. Obviously the store oat milks use enzymes to break down the starch and bring out more natural sugars.
1 cup is not 80 grams; it’s 200 grams!!! big difference.
Hi Eva – We double checked the manufacturer label (Bob’s Red Mill GF Rolled Oats) on our U.S. packaging, and it’s approximately 80-90g for 1 cup of dry oats.
My first try was sadly not a success. I soaked the correct style oats with the powder of two enzyme probiotic capsules, rinsed as directed, added to a blender with 4 cups of ice water, maple syrup and vanilla. Blended for 25sec, then strained through a double thickness cheesecloth over a mesh strainer (as I don’t currently have a nut milk bag). It turned out very watery (even after shaking). I will try a second time as it was very easy to make but any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
Hi Kim – if it’s too watery for your liking you can adjust the ratio of oats to water, as mentioned in the post. Hope your next try is better!
Can I soak the oats overnight in cold water with lemon to make it easier to digest for my toddler? She is allergic to dairy so I am looking for alternative non-dairy milk for her. But she often has constipation so I want to help her digestion as much as possible.
She gets her fat from different animal and plant sources.
Hi! What can I use aside from maple syrup? It’s quite expensive from where I am from. Thank you!
You can use any liquid sweetener you’d like, or dates.
Can I use honey or stevia?
Yes, that’s fine.
Thank you so much for this recipe I have been lactose intolerant for a few years now and I cannot always afford to have the more expensive milk so one day I decided to try my own oat milk the store bought ones are just not that great and I was hoping the homemade ones are better. It turns out that this recipe is totally amazing! And I’m so happy about this recipe it makes me realize that being vegan is not boring.
Glad this recipe came in handy!
Thank you for the informative video! I’ve made oatmilk before & it was OK however after watching your video, I realize that I overblended it.
Also, why didn’t you add the amylase to the finished product instead of going through the soaking process?
Happy to hear both you and your boyfriend enjoyed this recipe Deanna!
Watched your video (so informational & done so well!!) and read thru the recipe … question … do you think adding hemp seeds (for extra protein) would work in this recipe without changing the texture too much? I’d add cashews but am trying to avoid too much fat due to a medical condition. Thanks!!
You can add a bit of hemp seeds in there if you’d like!
My previous comment was a misclick but I was wondering what you’d consider a serving size, would it be a cup? And if so is that only 19kcal!! Pretty neat but thank you for the recipe!
Hi Leon – It’s going to be a little less than a cup.
Made this for the first time this evening. I used cold water from the fridge and no sweeteners and it was good, suppose some people might like to add the sweeteners though. Not slimy at all.
Glad this turned out perfectly!
I look forward to trying this! Do you know how much milk it makes per batch?
Would it be good for acne prone skin as I’ve cut dairy off my diet and was wondering if Oat milk can be replacement as for dairy milk.
Hi there – it should be fine as there is no dairy in this recipe. But, I would also conduct with your doctor as well!
Excellent. You actually really investigated this thoroughly!
There was lots of testing happening during that week! But finally nailed down the consistency.
Excellent oat milk!
Thanks Lori! Glad this turned out great :)
This is a good recipe for a thin oat milk like you might want alone or in a cereal.
I mainly use mine in coffee. I use 3 cups of water and a small handful of cashews to make it a bit thicker and creamier, then add it into espresso.
Do not add coconut oil! I know you said you tried it for frothing purposes, but I added it to my most recent batch and it solidifies, making little chunks, which looks kind of gross.
Hi Megan – This is more of a thinner oat milk, not like the store-bought ones. But I hope in the future to make one more creamier so that it will work for warmed up drinks.
I have been drinking OAT LY! For awhile
Your recipe is a great sub and I love the lack of additives
I’m low sodium so I left the salt out. I’m a believer.
Not buying another box of oat milk.
😍
Hi Sharon – Glad this oat milk was a success!
What speed do you use on a vitamix?
The highest speed for this!
Hi,
Do you have a suggestion to which Amylase enzyme did you use? Such as a brand or was in just only Amylase and no other enzymes
Hi. Can you use a food processor instead of a blender?
Hi Megan – for this recipe it’s best to use a blender.
How many calories per cup?
Hi Heidi – about 40 calories per cup.
What a great recipe! I love oat milk but it is so expensive that I decided to make my own and I invested in a nut-bag. It was the best decision ever! So much money saved and the quality of the milk is excellent following your recipe! Thanks to the many tips you gave us, I managed to get a nice, non slimy milk!
Happy to hear this oat milk recipe was a success Alba!
Tried it and loved the recipe! Thank you for sharing. But do you have any recipe to use the leftover oat pulp? Either for skin care or anything else; I believe in no wastage. :)
Unfortunately I don’t just yet, but I hope to make one soon.
Thank you that was great and you have a very clear easy to watch manner the video thank you
Glad the video was helpful Gillian!
Hi! How many ml does this recipe make? Just want to know how big my storage container should be
Hi Liandra – I would say around 600ml.
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for taking the time to make wonderful and healthy videos. I really enjoy them.
I have been making dairy free milks for quite some time after nearly going to the hospital with severe intestinal pain after eating a milkshake many years ago. Now that I’ve purchased my larger Vitamix, I’m making batches that don’t explode through the top of the machine! (I previously had the personal sized Vitamix)
I have a meeting with a local coffee shop to sell my oat milk and was wondering if there were any tricks to get the oat milk to froth. According to articles, the fat in dairy milk is what allows for the froth.
Also, the packaging is a concern. I would like to use sustainable glass bottles, but they are expensive for me and heavy for the baristas. I wondered how the milk men used to do it. Deposit?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks so much!
Hi Fayliza- Happy to hear you’re enjoying all the videos so far! As for re-usable glass bottles, you don’t have to use Weck jars. You can use any glass ones that works for you price point wise. But, they are all going to be a bit heavier than plastic.
I love almond mild but too $$$$. I tried to make oatmilk on my own and it was disgusting. I tried this method and IT WAS AMAZING!!!!! Affordable, yummy, and works in almost all applications!! THANK YOU!!
Glad this was a success Cathleen! Now you can have homemade oat milk all the time :)
Great recipe. Can I use a tea strainer/infuser instead of nut milk bag?
Hi Han – you could certainly give it a try!
I use tea strainer and it works just as good. Thanks for the recipe.