Zero Waste Homemade Oat Milk (2024)

This Homemade Oat Milk requires only 2 ingredients and about 5 minutes of your time to prepare. Incredibly easy, it costs nearly nothing to make, on top of generating absolutely zero waste. It’s a no fuss, no mess and no straining needed recipe. Simply put: there’s nothing not to love about it!

I don’t know about you but in this household, we go through quite a few cartons of milk every week. Well, non-dairy milk, that is. Not only does it get fairly expensive, but it also produces a lot of waste… Lately, my favorite had been Kirkland’s Organic Almond Milk, but, COSTCO being the king of over-packaging, their milk only comes in cartons of 1 liter, packed in boxes of six cartons. Every week, I’d buy a new box and felt a tinge of guilt as I’d think of all the waste I’d be generating.

I had to think of an alternate solution. Cue this Zero Waste, Homemade Oat Milk. Not only does this milk taste great, it’s, ready in a blink of an eye, costs almost nothing to make and produces absolutely no waste! Well, save for a little bit of water, but that doesn’t really count as waste, does it?

You’re probably thinking yeah, but what about all the pulp that gets left behind. You HAVE to find a way to re-use that, else it qualifies as waste. Well, the beauty of this milk is that there is no pulp to leave behind. And that, in turns, means no straining necessary. So no wasted cheesecloth either.

And no, in case you’re wondering, this oat milk is not unpleasantly thick and filled with all kinds of chewable particles. It’s actually crazy smooth, thick, creamy and super silky.

Oh, and very yummy, too! It definitely is my new go-to!

One thing, though, is that to make this zero waste homemade oat milk, it is absolutely imperative that you use a high speed blender. So really, if you don’t have one yet and were looking for a valid reason to invest in one, this would be it right here!

Indeed, only a high-speed blender will be powerful enough to completely pulverize the oats, leaving behind nothing but very fine particles. So fine, actually, you can barely even detect them in the final product. They’ll only contribute to give the milk a bit of a fuller mouthfeel. Honestly, I’ve tried straining this milk through a nut-milk bag and nothing at all got left behind. The particles are so crazy fine that they passed right through the minuscule holes in the bag.

The only caveat, if there is one, is that since this milk is made with rolled oats and water and that the flakes fully remain in the water, heating the milk will actually cause those oats to thicken, just like if you were cooking oatmeal. As such, I strongly recommend that you use it strictly in cold things such as cereals or smoothies, or other cold drinks.

Another thing is that it might take only a few minutes to make, but you must soak your oats before you use them. For at least 30 minutes, but up to overnight…

Technically, you could skip this step if you really really had to, but then your milk might come out slightly slimy. Not the best… Soaking the oats greatly helps in releasing the starch and will help prevent your milk from getting slimy.

Once the are done soaking, you must drain and rinse your oats thoroughly under cold running water, until the water runs clear. This is a very crucial step as it will clean all the excess starch off the oat flakes, thus again, preventing your milk from becoming slimy.

If you haven’t been able to soak your oats, be sure to do this step extra, extra meticulously!

Once your oats are really good and clean, put them in the container of your high-speed blender, along with 4 cups of fresh water and a little pinch of salt. You don’t have to add the salt if you don’t want to, but I find it really helps enhancing the flavor of the milk.

For me, 4 cups is a good amount of water and I suggest that you start with that and later adjust to suit your own preferences. As you experiment, you can always add a little more, or try a little less until you get the flavor, mouthfeel and thickness that you are looking for.

Also, I always prefer to keep my milk unsweetened, that way I can use it in just about any recipe. However, if you prefer your milk on the sweeter side, feel free to add some kind of sweetener here, like pure maple syrup, coconut sugar or a few pitted medjool dates. If you’re a fan of vanilla flavored milk, now would also be a good time to add a little splash of pure vanilla extract.

Now blend your ingredients on high for a full minute. After that, let the milk rest for about a minute, and start blending again for another 30 seconds or so.

The little resting time will give those particles a chance to thicken up, settle at the bottom of the container and be ready for another session of intense pulverization.

And there you have it, it’s as simple as that; your oat milk is now ready to be enjoyed, no straining required. Simply pour it into a more suitable container and then place it in the fridge, where it will keep for up to 5 days.

Ideally, if time permits, I strongly suggest that you give your oat milk a chance to chill completely before you use it. Not only will it taste better that way, but the cold milk will have a thicker, creamier texture.

Plus, I don’t know about you, but I’ve always loved my milk ice cold…