Learn how to Make Oat Milk! It’s easy, affordable, and takes only a few minutes to make! I’ll also give you my key tip to make sure it is not slimy!

Homemade oat milk in a milk jar with a container of oats in the background and a larger jug of oat milk in the background.

My name is Jessica and I LOVE oats. I can’t remember when my love for oats started, but I’m glad it did. When I’m not eating oatmeal, I’m making oatmeal chocolate chips. Or making it into oat flour. To say I love oats is truly an understatement!

So naturally, my next step was making oat milk. After a few tries, I realised that this wasn’t exactly like making cashew milk or almond milk. That being said, I love a good challenge and was determined to make it a go-to of mine, and an easy recipe for you to follow! Here we are!

Oats in a measuring cup.

What is oat milk?

Oat Milk is a vegan milk made from blending oats with filtered water. It’s one of the simplest plant based milks because you don’t need to prep anything ahead of time (except, maybe cold water?). You can add your own sweeteners if you want, and any flavourings. I love adding a liquid sweetener to mine as well as vanilla extract.

It got pretty popular within the last two years, and making it at home is easier than it seems. There’s one catch: oat milk can get slimy if not made “properly”. After all, oats are used to make oatmeal. Once you get that part right, this is a dream.

What does this taste like?

Oat milk tastes kind of like oats, kind of like the flavouring you give it. So, you do have control over how you want it to taste. When it’s used in a baked recipe though? There’s no distinct taste. I’ve used it to make a single mug macaroni (yes, my love for mug recipes is off the chart), and in banana bread and didn’t taste any distinct oat flavour. It does taste yummy though!

A measuring cup with rolled oats, and a blender and a jar.

How to make oat milk not slimy

Importance of Very Cold Water

Here’s the number one tip to not making oat milk slimy: use very cold water. You want to ensure that your water is very cold because the entire point is that we don’t want to heat up the oats, or we want to heat it as little as possible while making it. Your high-speed blender will slightly heat it while it’s blending it, so to combat any slime-producing factors, start with very cold water! You can pour it from a very cold fridge or you can add a lot of ice to water for about 10 minutes, then remove the ice and measure out your 3 cups of water.

How to make oat milk

You make oat milk by blending dry old fashioned or rolled oats, very cold filtered water, and your sweetener and flavour of choice. You’ll need a high-speed blender. This part is kind of non-negotiable because you need a machine that’ll blitz the oats quickly, so it isn’t blending for too long (so it doesn’t get slimy). 

After it’s all blitzed, you’re going to strain the oat milk through a fine mesh strainer. If you want to speed it up, you can lightly press on any milk that’s not straining through because of the pulp. Or, you can just let it drip for a few minutes by itself.

After that, you’re going to add another cup of cold water. You’re adding it now because you lost water in the draining process, and this brings you up to about 4 cups of liquid. You’ve made oat milk! These tips help with not making the oat milk not slimy.

Tips for making the best oat milk

  • You want to blend for as little time as possible. Oat milk, unlike pretty much every other plant based beverage, is very susceptible to getting slimy. I blitz the mixture for like 30 seconds. After testing it several times I found that this was the best method.
  • Don’t soak your oats before. I tested this and after and it definitely contributed to the slime. It’s best to start with dry oats.
  • Use as cold water as possible to start. I like to make ice cold water.
  • Add sweetener and vanilla extract! I loved mine best with these additions.
  • I actually preferred straining it using a fine mesh strainer instead of nut milk bags, and plus, it’s less messy!

Oat milk in a blender.

How best to use homemade oat milk

Anything cold? Perfect. Hot recipes? Let’s get into that.

When homemade oat milk gets heated up in certain recipes, it’ll get slightly slimy. So if you’re making a hot breakfast beverage for example, it wouldn’t be the best option. I do find that where the milk is just an ingredient in a recipe that’ll be cooked/baked out, it works perfectly. So, I would say make it and test it to see where it works for you! 

These are some of my favourite recipes to use this in:

Whipped Coffee

Whipped Matcha

Blueberry Pancakes

Vegan Cheese Sauce

Baked Mac and Cheese

Plant based milk from oats in a weck jar birds eye view.

Side shot of homemade oat milk in a milk jar with a container of oats in the background and a larger jug of oat milk in the background.

How to Make Oat Milk Recipe

Learn how to Make Oat Milk! It's easy, affordable, and takes only a few minutes to make! I'll also give you my key tip to make sure it is not slimy!
4.86 (from 7 ratings)

Ingredients

  • 3 cups filtered very cold water, almost ice cold
  • 1 cup old fashioned oats, or rolled oats
  • pinch sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon of maple syrup, or two tablespoons if you want it sweet
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup of cold water, this is extra water

Instructions 

  • Add the 3 cups of water, oats, sea salt and sweeteners into a high-speed blender and blend for 30 seconds until oats are blended completely. Don’t blend too long because you don’t want it to heat up the oat milk.
  • Pour the oat milk into a fine mesh strainer over your jug or large-mouthed bowl and let it drain through. You may need to lightly press on the mixture with a spoon to get it through the pulp and into the bowl. You can discard the pulp or use it in smoothies, cookies or other baked goods.
  • Transfer the oat milk back to the glass bottle or jar. Now, add in your extra cup of water, stir to combine and store in the fridge! Shake before use and enjoy! It lasts about 6 days in the fridge.

Notes

Importance of Very Cold Water
You want to ensure that your water is very cold because the entire point is that we don't want to heat up the oat milk, or we want to heat it as little as possible while making it. Your high speed blender will slightly heat it while it's blending it, so to combat any slime-producing factors, start with very cold water! You can pour it from a very cold fridge or you can add a lot of ice to water for about 10 minutes, then remove the ice and measure out your 3 cups of water.
Calories: 92kcal, Carbohydrates: 17g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 2mg, Potassium: 85mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 3g, Calcium: 16mg, Iron: 1mg

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