Vitamix almond milk is the smoothest and creamiest raw almond milk I’ve ever made! I’m never going to make it any other way!

I have tried to make raw almond milk in my Vitamix in the past and I was unhappy with how it turned out. Little did I know that the nut bag I was using made a HUGE difference in the final product! Because I wasn’t happy with my Vitamix, I bought an AlmondCow. I wrote a review here explaining what I think of that product.

But luckily, not all homemade versions of almond milk are bad!

I ended up ordering a new nut milk bag and took another try at the Vitamix method and realized it was the absolute best blender for nut milk. This time I added vanilla and dates and created a vanilla almond milk that was better than any I’d had from the store. I was shocked. It was amazing! This homemade almond milk tastes smooth & creamy. Full of body. Not watery. I was hooked.

I had finally found a homemade almond milk recipe that I loved. Today I’ll be sharing exactly how I make this delicious fresh almond milk – and you’ll never go back to store-bought almond milk again!

Why should you make your own raw almond milk?

For years, we drank the unsweetened vanilla Costco almond milk. It was yummy! One day I was shopping and ran into a coworker while I was pulling the Kirkland almond milk off the shelf. He proceeded to tell me that their family would never drink Costco almond milk because of all the junk in it. Um…..what? I had gotten out of the habit of reading ingredients so I flipped the box over and looked:

Ingredients in Costco almond milk:

ORGANIC ALMOND BASE (FILTERED WATER, ORGANIC ALMONDS), ORGANIC VANILLA FLAVOR, SEA SALT, SUNFLOWER LECITHIN, ORGANIC LOCUST BEAN GUM, GELLAN GUM, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, ERGOCALCIFEROL (VITAMIN D2), DL-ALPHA-TOCOPHERYL ACETATE (VITAMIN E), RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), ZINC GLUCONATE, CYANOCOBALAMIN (VITAMIN B12). Information taken from here.

I knew they needed to add ingredients for it to be a shelf stable almond milk and be able to be preserved for so long. But it was kind of humbling to look at the back and realize that I was drinking a “healthy” drink that was full of things I didn’t really want to ingest. I decided that the store-bought milks that were shelf stable were convenient, but it wasn’t for me. So the Costco almond milk went back on the shelf and that’s why we now make our own with this super basic recipe.

So here’s your step-by-step tutorial on how to make our vitamix almond milk recipe!

This post contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.

How to make Vitamix almond milk

This diy almond milk is so good and so easy! Just follow these simple instructions:

1. In a large bowl, soak 1 cup of almonds in filtered water for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
2. Drain and rinse whole almonds.
3. Add almonds to Vitamix with 4 cups of water (I use filtered water), 3 pitted dates, 1 tsp vanilla extract and a pinch of sea salt. (you could also scrape a fresh vanilla bean and use that in place of the vanilla extract). A pinch of salt doesn’t seem like a lot, but it really does bring out the flavor!
4. Start Vitamix on the lowest speed. Then raise it to the highest speed and flip the switch to high for about a minute, or until you see the almonds in tiny particles.
5. Attach the nut milk bag to a container with rubber bands to make sure it is secure.
6. Pour almond milk into nut milk bag and let sit 10 min to a half hour to allow it to drain.
7. Squeeze the remaining milk out of the almonds. (It should make about 3-3 1/2 cups of almond milk.)
8. Save leftover almond pulp in the refrigerator or freezer for other uses.
9. Store almond milk in refrigerator for about 5 days.

Step-by-Step Tutorial

Get ready to taste one of the best things you’ve ever had! Here we go!

You do have to think ahead a little bit when making raw almond milk. Almonds are super hard, so you’ll need to soak them for at least 6 hours or overnight in filtered water. I always buy raw almonds at Costco. It’s around $12 for 3 pounds. They aren’t organic but they work great.

Soaking:

Once they are done soaking, rinse off the soaking water a few times with a couple cups of fresh water. They will look like this when they are all soaked and plumped up.

Blending:

In your Vitamix 32 ounce container, place 3 PITTED dates. Don’t forget this part! You don’t want pits in your almond milk! Put a pinch of Himalayan sea salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 4 cups water (I use filtered water), and the cup almonds that you’ve soaked. Allow Vitamix to run on high on the kitchen counter for 1-2 minutes, until you see very tiny almond particles.

Straining:

While the Vitamix is running, attach the nut milk bag to a container, securing it with at least one rubber band to keep it tightly in place. Pour the raw almond milk into the nut milk bag and let it sit for 10-30 minutes, until most of the milk has gone through the bag. Detach bag from container and squeeze remaining milk out of almond pulp.

Leftover pulp:

Put the almond pulp into the refrigerator or freezer for future use. I use this in homemade granola, almond pulp pancakes, and almond pulp cookies. Sometimes I even save it up in the freezer until I have a bunch and dry it out in the oven. I give it another quick spin in the Vitamix, and make my own almond meal. It’s a great way to use the whole almond and not waste anything.

Storing:

And that’s homemade Vitamix almond milk! I think if you try it that you’ll agree with me that the Vitamix is the best blender for nut milk! It really is the dreamiest raw almond milk – so rich and creamy! It can keep in the fridge for about 5 days. It’s good to keep it toward the rear of the fridge in order to keep it from experiencing temperature fluctuations as you open and shut the fridge throughout the day. That makes it stay fresh longer.

FAQs

Do I have to use a nut-milk bag to strain it?

The short answer is no! The long answer is that while it’s super easy to do with a nut-milk bag, there are other ways to do it. You could line a fine strainer with either a thin cotton cloth tea towel or a few layers of cheesecloth. Set the fine mesh sieve over a container with a spout (like this batter bowl). You could use a large mixing bowl, but it will be harder to pour into the storage container.

Slowly pour the finished milk into the lined fine strainer. You may have to do it in batches. Once all the homemade nut milk has gone through the fine-mesh sieve, gather the edges of the tea towel or layers of cheesecloth and squeeze until all the liquid is out of the nut pulp.

Now, just refrigerate the leftover nut pulp and wash the tea towel or layers of cheesecloth. Pour the plant-based milk into a mason jar and store tightly sealed in the fridge.

Do I have to add the vanilla and dates?

Absolutely not! It is not a big deal to leave them out. In fact, some people love to use plant milk as a dairy substitute instead of cream in savory dishes when they are cooking.

What temperature should my water be?

Honestly, it doesn’t matter that much. You can use cold water or room temperature water. When I was using the Almond Cow, they said to use hot water to make it creamier. So I think it’s just a matter of preference. Either way, you’ll end up with the best almond milk you’ve ever had!

Can I use a food processor or a regular blender to make this?

I am not sure how this would turn out in a basic blender, without the help of a high-speed blender. I haven’t tried it that way. However, I suspect it won’t grind it as finely and that is what I believe makes the Vitamix almond milk the creamiest almond milk. If you read my post about the Almond Cow, you’ll see that I felt like theirs was a bit gritty and that may be because it isn’t such a powerful blender like the Vitamix.

However, if you don’t have a vitamix blender or another high-powered blender, I’d encourage you to try it and let me know how it goes! If you want to try to make it creamier, instead of using cool water, you could try Almond Cow’s trick of using hot water to make the almond milk and see if that helps.

Can I use almond butter instead of soaking almonds?

While I have seen that you can make almond milk with almond butter, I’ve never done that. Because of that, I wouldn’t even know the ratios of almond butter to use in place of almonds and salt. If you try it using nut butter, I’d love to know!

How do I use Vitamix almond milk?

You can use this creamy milk in anything that you would normally use dairy milk for. If you’re using it in a savory way, you’ll want to leave out the vanilla and dates, as mentioned above. We use ours so many ways, but some of our favorite ways to use it are:

*make a smoothie with ice cubes, almond milk, fresh or frozen fruit, a handful of spinach, and a scoop of vanilla protein powder

*make overnight oats with 1/3c. of oats, 2t. chia, a bit of honey or maple syrup and enough homemade vitamix almond milk to cover. Mix and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

*my daughter loves to use this in iced coffee, or frothed in a hot latte.

*it tastes great with cold cereal too!

*use the vanilla and date free version to make hot soups creamy

*bake with it when it calls for cow’s milk

*use it in any way you would normally use store-bought nut milk

*mix with chia seeds and maple syrup or honey to make a chia pudding

Variations on Vitamix almond milk

Making your own nut milk means you can make so many variations!

*Add cacao powder and a little bit of agave nectar to make chocolate almond milk

*Boost the flavor by adding powdered freeze dried strawberries for strawberry almond milk.

*Put a ripe banana and cinnamon in the Vitamix container for banana almond milk.

The options are endless! Use this easy almond milk recipe as the base and make your own variations!

Can I make other non-dairy milk in my Vitamix container?

Honestly, I’ve rarely tried other plant-based milk in the Vitamix. My son has nut allergies, so we try to stick to just almonds. However, I did try oat milk in the Vitamix and it did not work well at all. I’m sure there’s a trick to it, but I think that because the Vitamix high-speed blender heats up as it blends, it kind of turned the oat milk into a thick, gloopy mess.

I do think it would probably work to make cashew milk or coconut milk or other alternative milks in the Vitamix. The great thing about a high speed blender is that it really pulverizes the coconut or nut so I don’t see why it wouldn’t work the same way as Vitamix Almond Milk!

So that’s it! I hope you’ll try this delicious almond milk. And I hope that after you do, you’ll always want to make your own almond milk and never want to purchase the preservative laden grocery store variety again!

Pin for Later!