How to Make Zero Waste Homemade Oat Milk

By Julian Bahati Axmann 13, April 2020

Oat milk is simply delicious. Making it yourself connects you to your food and reduces waste. I live in a shared house and between the five of us we went through at least one tetrapak of oat milk a day. Now we go through a 3.75 Litre bottle every couple of days. And it takes less time to make oat milk and clean the kitchen than going to the store takes (even though the store is just around the corner). Also, this way we know exactly what’s in our milk.

I love making soybean milk and nut milks. Soy milk is time-consuming because you have to soak the beans, boil the milk and so on (but it allows you to also make tofu). Nut milks are also awesome but prohibitively expensive if you live faraway from the tropics (and often also require soaking.)

My friend Hannah and I came up with this simple oat milk recipe to make quick, inexpensive smoothies using my superfood blends Green Dream and Rhinocolate. We tried different oat to water ratios and found that 8 cups of water to 1 cup of oats was the most inexpensive but delicious balance. It doesn't matter whether you use instant, rolled or steelcut oats. What matters more is trying to get local, organic oats. This recipe makes around 13 cups (Imperial) of oat milk.

Time: You’ll need 15 minutes of your day (yes, that takes cleaning time into account too). So, let’s get blending.

Equipment you need:

A blender

A cheese cloth or strainer

A big bottle or several jars

A funnel (not necessary but helpful)

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of oats

12 cups of water

Spices and sweetener [OPTIONAL]. I like to add a pod of cardamom with a pinch of salt, a pinch of cinnamon powder, a pinch of ground nutmeg and a teaspoon of local honey or a handful of date.

Directions:

1)     Put 8 cups of water and 1 cup of oats in blender (I use a Ninja and 10 cups is the max capacity)

2)     Add your choice of sweetener and spices [both optional but delicious]

3)     Blend for at least a minute

4)     Pour the milk through the cheesecloth and funnel it into your bottle (do NOT squeeze the solids unless you want a slimy texture at the bottom of the bottle)

5)     Return solids into the blender and add the remaining 1/2 cup of oats and 4 cups of water

6)     Blend for another minute

7)     Repeat step 4 and put the solids aside

8)     Enjoy! Refrigerate and consume within 4 days

You can use the solids to make porridge, thick smoothies or as a filler in baking. Note: this recipe does not make a milk that froths up for lattes. However, it is delicious in cereal and with cake or cookies. We also find our simple, zero waster, homemade oat milk is ideal for making Green Dream and Rhinocolate smoothies.