Homemade walnut milk recipe (5 ingredients)

Luckily, walnut milk is simple to prepare at home. It uses just 5 pantry-friendly staples, and very little hands-on work. (Making non-dairy milk from scratch always feels like magic!)

Best of all, homemade walnut milk is wonderfully creamy with background notes of that rich, walnut flavor. If you like, you can add vanilla extract to round it out, or you can enjoy it on its own without any added flavors.

In this post:

Here are the ingredients you will need to make this recipe.

Walnuts: For this DIY walnut milk recipe, choose raw walnut halves and pieces (shelled, unroasted, and unsalted).

Look for them with other nuts in the center aisles of your grocery store or online. I buy mine at Trader Joe’s.

Water: You’ll need water to soak the walnuts until softened. Then you’ll drain it off (discarding the water), and add fresh, clean water to blend into milk.

Agave syrup: Although it isn’t strictly necessary, a touch of sweetness makes walnut milk even more delicious. Agave syrup is convenient to keep on hand, but pure maple syrup, date syrup, or fresh dates also work well. (If you’d prefer not to use a sweetener, simply leave it out.)

Vanilla: A little splash of vanilla extract brings it all together. Depending on your preferences and how much you add, you can make the vanilla more or less pronounced.

Salt: A pinch of salt adds balance and makes the flavors pop.

Here’s how to make this recipe at a glance. For complete ingredient amounts & instructions, keep scrolling to the recipe card below.

1. Put raw walnuts in a bowl. Cover with water and soak for 4 to 24 hours.

If you’re in a pinch for time, put hot water over the walnuts and soak for 15 to 30 minutes. (Even microwaving walnuts in water until hot & then soaking them works.)

Once you’re ready to make the nut milk, drain the walnuts using a fine mesh strainer.

2. Add the drained walnuts to a high-speed blender. Then add clean, fresh water, agave syrup, vanilla, and salt.

3. Blend until completely smooth. (You’ll know it’s ready when you don’t hear any cracking noises in the blender.)

4. Put a nut milk bag or double-lined cheesecloth over a tall jar. Slowly pour the nut milk through it. Then lightly squeeze the bag/cloth to get out all of the liquid, leaving the walnut pulp behind.

You can add an airtight lid to store the nut milk in the jar, or transfer it to a smaller glass milk bottle.

Store walnut milk in the refrigerator.

You can make this dairy-free walnut milk your own by varying the ingredients.

Vary the amount of walnuts or water

If you’d like a thicker walnut milk, either increase the amount of walnuts, or decrease the amount of water.

Vary the sweetener or amounts

Agave syrup can be replaced with maple syrup, date syrup, or dates.

If you’d like sweeter walnut milk, increase the amount of sweetener. If you’d like it to be less sweet, use less sweetener or omit it completely.

Increase or omit the vanilla

Vary the amount of vanilla, depending on your preferences. For more vanilla flavor, increase the amount. For less, decrease or omit it. (When adding vanilla extract, be careful to start small. It’s easy to go overboard.)

Tip: If you’re planning on using walnut milk in a savory dish, I recommend omitting the vanilla extract.

Add seasonings

To amp up the flavor, add a sprinkling of cinnamon, or for chocolate walnut milk, add a Tablespoon of cocoa powder along with the other blender ingredients. (If you’re making chocolate milk, you may want to add more sweetener as well.)

This vegan walnut milk recipe is super tasty on its own by the glassful, but it also can be added to other drinks and recipes.

Here are some ways to use it:

• Add a splash to a cup of green tea
• Use it as the non-dairy milk in a pumpkin smoothie
• Add a splash to finish peanut butter banana oatmeal
• Use it in pancake batter

Store homemade walnut milk in an airtight jar or container in the fridge.

Homemade walnut milk only lasts about three days. That’s why I recommend making a smaller batch (like this 2-cup recipe), unless you know you’ll be able to use a lot of walnut milk in a short time.

Because it doesn’t include any gums or emulsifiers, you may notice some separation in the milk after storing in the fridge. Just give the bottle a little shake to reincorporate the water.

Here are more recipes with walnuts that I think you’ll enjoy:

• Raw tacos with walnut filling
• Baked farro with tomatoes & herbs
• Lentil balls with zesty rice
• Vegan lentil burgers

📖 Recipe

Homemade walnut milk recipe

Author: Cadry Nelson

5 from 1 vote

Walnut milk is wonderfully velvety with a rich, delicious flavor. It's easy to make homemade walnut milk with just 5 ingredients and a high-speed blender.

Makes about 2 cups of walnut milk.

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes minutes

Soaking time: 4 hours hours

Total Time: 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 people

Course: Beverage

Cuisine: Vegan

Keyword: non-dairy milk, nut milk, vegan milk

Ingredients

• ▢ ½ cup raw walnuts shelled, unroasted & unsalted
• ▢ 2 cups water + more for soaking
• ▢ 1 teaspoon agave syrup or date syrup or 2 pitted dates
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract optional

Instructions

• ▢
  Pour raw walnuts into a bowl. Cover them in water. Then put them into the refrigerator to soak for 4 hours to 24 hours.

  If you're soaking the nuts on the longer end of the spectrum, I like to drain off the water and add more half way through to freshen them.

  (Short on time? Pour hot water over them instead, and let them soak for 15 minutes to half an hour.)

  Once you're ready to make the walnut milk, drain the walnuts in a fine mesh strainer.
• ▢
  Pour the drained walnuts into a high-speed blender along with two cups of clean, fresh water, agave syrup, salt, and vanilla (if using).

  If you'd like a slight vanilla flavor, add ⅛ teaspoon of vanilla extract, for a more accentuated vanilla flavor add ¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract, and if you'd prefer no vanilla flavor, simply omit it.

  Blend for a minute or so, until the sounds of walnuts cracking can't be heard.
• ▢
  Use a clean spoon to taste the walnut milk. If you like, add more sweetener to taste.
• ▢
  Put a nut milk bag (or double-lined cheesecloth) into a large jar or pitcher. Fold the edges of the bag over the sides to secure it.

  Then slowly pour the walnut milk through the nut milk bag and into the jar or pitcher. Once it's three quarters full, use your hands to gently squeeze any additional milk from the bag into the jar.
• ▢
  Cover the jar or pitcher with a lid, and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 or 3 days.

Notes

Storage instructions

Store walnut milk in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It has a relatively short shelf life. Try to use it within three days. If it separates within that time, simply give the bottle a shake to reincorporate the water.

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Nutrition

Calories: 104kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 79mg | Potassium: 65mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 3IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 0.4mg