I recently got myself a nut milk bag. I sprout constantly, have attempted a sourdough culture and I really love making coconut milk kefir. But my own non-dairy milks? Now that I hadn’t done. Nothing much happened with my new purchase at first. As excited as I was, I couldn’t decide what I wanted to make. Now? I’m thoroughly addicted.
Quinoa milk isn’t a beverage I’ve bought or tried before but I was already cooking a batch of mixed ancient grain (coloured) quinoa to go with lunch today. I ended up with the quinoa in my stirfry and a glass of Cinnamon Quinoa Milk to wash it down with. The leftover pulp from milk making? Perfect with my morning muesli or oats – no wastage here if I can help it.
So, if you’re like me and have only drunk your nut, seed or grain milks from a package I have incredibly good news for you – making your own milk is ridiculously easy! They taste better – fresh, delicious and clean with no oils or additives. Yum!
- 1 cup quinoa grain
- 2 cups + 5 - 6 cups water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp agave syrup (optional)
- Either soak quinoa overnight in water and drain on the day of cooking OR rinse quinoa under running water to remove bitter saponins.
- Cook 1 cup of quinoa with 2 cups of water.
- Add cooked quinoa to blender with 2 cups of water. Blend on high until smooth
- Add water to the desired consistency, blending the mixture after each addition. Up to 6 cups total of water may be needed for the consistency of store-bought non-dairy milks. Add vanilla extract and cinnamon and agave if using
- Pour milk into nut milk bag, hold over a bowl or large jug. Massage contents until all liquid has passed through the material - leaving only the 'pulp' behind.
Do you make your own nut milk? What’s your favourite variety to drink?
Comments 13
This sounds really delicious!!! I have had a store bought quinoa-hazelnut milk and it was pretty good. I like making homemade milks. I have tried to make my own oat milk and almond milk and both were kind of a success 🙂
Author
Oh yum! I’ve definately got oat milk and almond milk on my list to try soon 😀 I did hazelnut the other night, but maybe I should combine quinoa and hazelnut again in the future too mmmm
Wow! I make my own nut milks but have never thought to use quinoa to make milk! Awesome.
Author
Thankyou for the comment 🙂 I really loved using the quinoa for it, it has such a distincty slightly nutty taste and worked really well with the cinnamon 🙂 What nut milks do you make most often?
Mostly almond. But sometimes cashew, sunflower seed or walnut 🙂
Author
Ooooer sunflower seed milk sounds delicious! Maybe I’ll try that soon 🙂
Help!
Very little of the blended mixture went through the cloth. Its frustrating. Haha.
I never knew cloth could hold up so much liquid.
Is the mix too thick? Should I add more water?
Author
Oh no! The mixture may be too thick, you might need to blend it again wih more water or really massage and press the bag to get all the liquid out. Did you blend it or use a food processor? A blender is the best bet as it makes really fine particles depending on the quality of the blades.
Thank you so much for this! My son has a rare food allergy called FPIES and the ONLY safe food he can eat is quinoa. I had no idea I could make quinoa milk for him to drink until a friend said he’d heard about it; your recipe was the first one I clicked on when I searched for a “how to”!
I wrote about my experience making it to share with other FPIES families if you’d care to look (don’t worry – you get credit!!)
Thanks again for expanding my sons small dietary world such a considerable amount. Hugs!
Author
I’m so happy to read your message Carrie, and so glad you’ve found a recipe suitable for your son. I can only imagine how hard it’s been finding suitable foods for him with such a restrictive diet. I’m looking forward to reading your article, thanks for the feedback and letting me know about this rare food allergy.
Sorry for the lateness of my reply also, I’ve been away for the holidays and only catching up on my contacts now. Cheers!
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Hi there! Just found your site!
I am thinking out loud but, since quinoa is a complete protein, couldn’t we use this instead of expensive powders?
Author
You could use quinoa milk as A source of protein in your diet Lynn, but there is only about 1-2g of protein per serve of 250ml. Much like the fibre content, the protein mostly will stay in the pulp left behind after straining. Thanks for the comment and question 🙂