Homemade Oat Milk

This milk is not only cheap to make but it is also incredibly easy. It took me under 3 minutes to make a batch including clean up. Be sure to purchase your oats from the bulk section of your grocery store so you aren't purchasing unnecessary packaging that'll just end up in the garbage. Give yourself bonus points if you use a reusable bag intended for bulk foods (I made mine out of lightweight ripstop nylon).

Now, onto the cost breakdown. Steel-cut oats are 99 cents a pound in the bulk section of my favorite store, making this dairy-free, plant-based, milk alternative come in at 29 cents a quart (although I recently saw steel cut oats on sale for 69 cents a pound, making a quart of milk a mere 20 cents)! Even if you use a pricier variety of dry oatmeal such as 6-grain oats ($1.49 per pound), it still figures out to be only 43 cents per quart! A HUGE difference considering I used to pay $2 per quart for my favorite plant milk (almond milk to be specific) and the brand Pacific's variety of oat milk comes in at $3.49 per quart!

• 133 grams steel cut oats (or 6-grain oats from Sprouts' bulk section)
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of coarse salt
• nut bag, cheesecloth, or fine strainer
• optional: honey, maple syrup, or cocoa powder

Rinse oats in a nut bag, fine sieve, or cheesecloth then transfer into your blender. Blend oats with two cups of water until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend once more. Strain milk using the same nut bag/sieve/cheesecloth you did for the oats. Leftover pulp can be used in cookie and bread recipes, dehydrated then ground into oat flour, or froze for future use. Flavor the milk any way you'd like (or not at all) and store in an air tight container for up to 5 days in the fridge. Remember to shake before use.