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How to Make Cashew Milk

I have seen the future and it is cashew milk. This non-dairy milk has been the biggest surprise of the year for me. Last year, no one was talking about it, but the chatter has been slowly building over the last few months. I’d see a mention here, a recipe there, and it all culminated last month when the So Delicious brand introduced their own version in stores. I didn’t know what all the fuss was about until I made some for myself. After the first sip, there was only one thought on my mind: this must be what heaven tastes like.

There’s a reason this milk is uniquely delicious. Cashew milk is fundamentally different than almond and other nut-based milks. With those, you blend the nuts with water, then strain out all the pulp from the nuts, and hope some of the flavor remains in the water. Not so with cashews. After soaking all night, the cashews become so soft that you can pinch them and they fall apart. Because of their softness, there is no pulp after blending and no need to squeeze through a filter bag. The whole nut is blended into a thick, creamy, pure-white liquid that is beyond delicious.

As if that wasn’t enough, we’re also adding two Medjool dates (hat tip to Wholesomely Homemade for that idea) which don’t make this milk “sweet” but add a hint of sweetness and push the creaminess over the top.

Cashew Milk

Makes 5-6 cups of milk

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups raw cashews
  • 4 1/2 cups filtered water
  • 2 Medjool dates
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Step One

Soak the 1 1/2 cups cashews overnight in the refrigerator. You may be able to get away with as little as 5 hours of soaking, but the longer you soak, the better they will blend in the final milk. I usually soak for about 12 hours and this works perfectly.

Step Two

After they have soaked, drain the cashews and add them to a high-powered blender like a Vitamix with 4 1/2 cups of water, 2 pitted Medjool dates, at least 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. Blend for 2+ minutes (much longer than you would a smoothie, for example) to ensure the cashews have been fully pureed.

Step Three

Pour into a pitcher or decanter and chill before serving. As I mentioned, this milk does not need to be filtered when using a high-powered blender. This was a surprise to me. I actually tried filtering it like I would almond milk and everything went straight through the bag with no pulp remaining. Perfect.

It goes great by itself, in lattes, on cereal, in smoothies, or anywhere else you want a thicker, richer non-diary milk. Why are you still sitting here? Go get some cashews and start soaking! 🙂

Cashew Milk Pouring

Cashew Milk Top

48 Comments

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  1. Thanks for this post, Andrew! I’m “cleansing” a bit for the next 5-10 days and was going to switch to unsweetened milk altogether (I’m hooked on Original almond milk for everything) but will plan on trying this. I’ve always strayed away from making alternative milk because of the straining process, so this is fantastic. Thanks again!

    • Thanks, Jared! If you wanted this to be truly unsweetened you could omit the dates and it would probably still work well. And yes, not having to strain makes this milk much easier 🙂

  2. Cashew milk is one of my favorite beverages, especially in my daily cleanses. I cleansed 2-3 times a week with my partner. I would add pumpkin spices to my cashew milk to make it as a winning dessert for the end of the day after several green juices. I love the pouring motion shot.

    • I just ran to the kitchen to try this milk with pumpkin pie spice, haha, the combo sounded so delicious and it was! It’s the perfect dessert and I can imagine it would be *really* good after only having green juices all day 🙂

    • Hi Dan, mine is about 4 days old right now and I’d say it has reached its limit. So probably 3-5 days if covered in the refrigerator.

  3. Hey thanks for the pingback.
    Love your site and love this post. It’s amazing how easy it is to make such a delicious milk!

  4. Andrew,
    I made this tonight, and I must say that once again you have hit the spot. I love my almond milk, but it falls short with making my coffee creamy. I made this cashew milk to just use for my coffee. I am impressed how creamy it is. My coffee is no longer greyish brown! I appreciate your ability to bring such great recipes to the table.

    • Thanks, Michael! This is definitely more rich than almond milk and it works perfectly as a replacement for cream whereas almond milk is more similar to skim milk. I rarely drink coffee, but I had some of this in a little coffee and it was so good I might have to start drinking more coffee! :p

  5. Andrew,
    I just made this cashew milk tonight and mine wasn’t as pure white as yours seem to be. Also, I can still micro specks of the dates in my milk. I blended it for about 3 minutes and 2 of them on 8 in my vitamix. This is my first recipe from you and I want it to go with my chocolate quinoa cereal that I can’t make until tomorrow because I didn’t have coconut butter!

    • Sorry to hear that, Missy! Yes, mine was super white, I’m not sure why yours would have been different. And I can’t say why there would still be specs of dates, mine seemed to completely blend. It would be fine to use another kind of sweetener like 1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup instead of dates in the future if you’d prefer. I hope you like the chocolate quinoa cereal!

  6. OMG…This quite possibly made my week!! No longer do I have to be a slave to the crap-laden non-dairy milks from the grocery store!! And SERIOUSLY…this WORKS in coffee! YA-HOO!!!! Thanks!!!

    • Yes! I’m so happy for you, Em 🙂 I remember this is fantastic in coffee. It emulsifies (unlike soy milk, which separates) and makes coffee super creamy and delicious.

  7. Oh wow! This looks AMAZING! I was hooked on the Dream blend cashew, almond and hazelnut milk, but just found out it has carrageenan. My question is what is the calorie and carbohydrate count in this?

    • Thanks, Jilian! I honestly don’t know… but it’s very easy to figure it out as you’re putting the ingredients together. Since you don’t filter anything out, simply add up the nutrition info for the cashews and dates you put into the blender.

  8. I just made this tonight and it tastes DIVINE. I tried using it for hot cocoa and it is so creamy, I’d say it’s better than any milk out there, dairy or non! I’m also glad I can just make this from scratch rather than buying almond milk which has these weird additives in it. Thank you very much for sharing!

  9. Hello Andrew,

    I have started making cashew nut milk but have one problem with it.

    I do strain it through a nut milk bag but when I add it to my coffee it separates out from the coffee within seconds and won’t stay mixed in.

    Is this to be expected? I don’t understand why it won’t stay mixed in, in the same way that dairy milk does.

    Regards,
    Barry

    • Hi Barry, I haven’t seen cashew milk separate much myself… It may depend on the type of blender you’re using and I also do not strain mine (my Vitamix blends it completely and it’s just not necessary).

  10. Can I leave out the salt? I need to cut down on my sodium intake? One cup is more than 10% of my daily sodium intake? If my recipe calls for skim milk how can I thin it down?

  11. At $4 per quart it ought to be heavenly. And that price is based on a big sale on raw cashews in the local health food store. Of course I live in Humboldt Co., CA where everything is EXPENSIVE. (Except pot of course.) OK OK I put my cashews into the refrigerator this evening but I could never afford this on a daily basis.

  12. Thanks for the recipes. We don’t need to boil the cashew milk? Direct consume it raw? Please advice. Many thanks karleen

    • I would estimate it last for about 4 days in the fridge, but your results may vary. The salt helps to boost the flavor, it’s a little bland without it.

  13. Hi! So I’m making this and I’ve just out my cashews in to soak. As for my dates, I’m also soaking them. That way I can use the water from them to put in the blender with the cashews. I’d imagine this would be useful to those who don’t have a Vitamix or high powered blender, as they would blend better because their softness would be enhanced.
    Food for a thought; or should I say, cashew milk.

  14. Why can’t the cashews be blended in the same water they are soaked in? I’ve been soaking mine now for about 6 hours and I noticed the nuts have released oil into the water and I think I want to preserve that natural oil. Would blending in the same water they were soaked ruin the flavor?

    • I think that could work. I like using fresh water to give the milk a fresher taste, but there’s nothing wrong with using the soaking water either.

  15. I tried this and it was DELICIOUS! When I finished consuming the first batch I decided to make almond milk. I could not even compare it to this cashew milk recipe. This recipe is creamy and delicious! There is something about cashews that makes recipes so creamy! This is an awesome recipe One Ingredient Chef…I’ve made it twice and won’t go back to anything else! Side note: I used figs instead of medjool dates because I simply couldn’t find them….I look forward to making the recipe as it was intended when I come across medjool dates. Thank you for enhancing my diet! I look forward to trying your other recipes.

    • Very cool, Katherine! I agree – cashew milk is in a league of its own. I’m so glad to hear that you liked it (and that figs work in this as well). Thanks for sharing! 🙂

    • I wouldn’t suggest using roasted cashews, as they don’t blend as well and have a different flavor. You can try it, though!

    • I’ve never tried freezing cashew milk, but I assume it work work, depending on what you’re planning on using it for (i.e. cubes for smoothies).

  16. Hello.please tell me .shall we use row cashew or rosted? A friend gave me some row dried cashew.and the milk is white .very smooth but taste like row beans.so Im confused if it is row or roasted cashew I should use.

    • Well… Yes, they should be raw. Obviously the cashew milk will taste like cashews themselves. If you don’t like the taste of raw cashews, you might be able to use the roasted kind but I haven’t tried it.

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