How to Make Creamy Oat Milk (NOT Slimy!) – Easy Recipe
Oat milk is one of my favorite non-dairy milk options. However, a lot of store-bought oat milk varieties have unwanted ingredients. You may have tried to make your own oat milk at home, but have wound up with a good-tasting product that has an undesirable, slimy texture. With the addition of one simple ingredient – digestive enzymes! – you can easily make your own non-slimy oat milk! This post tells you how to make creamy oat milk at home that is not slimy!
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Non-Dairy Milk Options
There are a number of plant-based milk options on the market these days. Almond milk and cashew milk are readily available. But, because these products are derived from nuts, they pose a problem for people with nut allergies.
This is why I think oat milk is the best option for a cow milk substitute. Oat milk is a good nut-free, dairy-free milk alternative. However, there is one significant problem with store-bought versions of oat milk: the presence of heavily refined seed oils (like rapeseed oil).
Most store-bought oat milk contains highly inflammatory seed oils. My husband has IBS and I have severe endometriosis, . We both try to avoid highly refined inflammatory foods whenever possible. My husband is also sensitive to dairy (including raw cow’s milk). So, I like to keep oat milk on hand for him. I tried a number of different techniques, but the result was always slimy. I kept buying store-bought oat milk, but I also kept trying different methods to get a satisfactory homemade oat milk.
What Makes Oat Milk Slimy?
I really wanted to find a way to create creamy homemade oat milk that didn’t get slimy. So I kept looking for ideas. Somewhere along the way of my internet research, I read that soaking oats in water and digestive enzymes might help reduce the slime factor.
Oats contain starch. Using warm water or over-blending causes the oats to release starch. Too much starch is what gives oat milk a slimy texture. Some people recommend using ice-cold water, being careful not to over blend, and not squeezing the oats during straining. I tried these steps, but the result was never very good. The result was always watery and often got thick and slimy when added to my morning coffee. Using digestive enzymes help break down the starch in oats that cause homemade oat milk to be slimy.
Digestive Enzymes Experiment
I bought a bottle of NOW Foods: Gluten Digest and gave homemade oat milk yet another attempt. After so many failed batches, I wasn’t overly hopeful the digestive enzymes would work. But, it is important to me to have as much control as possible over the ingredients that go into our food. Eliminating seed oils wherever possible is extremely important in my home. So, I tried making oat milk yet again.
First, I measured out the oats into a half gallon mason jar. Gluten digest comes in capsule form, so I opened the capsule and dumped the contents on top of the oats. Then, I added water to the mason jar. Next, I used my immersion blender to quickly blend the oats, digestive enzymes, and water. Finally, I covered with a towel and left the oats to soak for a while***.
***When you first make creamy homemade oat milk with digestive enzymes, it is important to know when the oats are ready to strain.
The easiest way to know the enzymes have worked is to sample the liquid right after you’ve blended the water, oats, and digestive enzymes. Use a clean spoon to remove a spoonful of the liquid and taste it. The liquid should taste like, well… like oats and water. Cover the jar with a loose-fitting lid, tea towel, or nut milk bag and wait at least 30 minutes. Using a clean spoon, sample the oat milk liquid again. When the liquid is slightly, but noticeably sweet, you know the digestive enzymes have done their job. If in doubt, cover and wait another 30 minutes before sampling again.
Finally! Non-Slimy Homemade Oat Milk!
Once the oat milk liquid is slightly but noticeably sweet, it’s time to strain! I have tried a number of different straining methods, and each lends itself to a slightly different result. Some methods are more time consuming than others. I’ve found that the fastest way to strain oat milk is to strain it twice. Be sure to save your oat pulp to use for baking, as a treat for your chickens, or even just composting! Leftover oat pulp would be a delicious, healthy addition to these Chocolate Chip Cookies!
When I first tried making oat milk with digestive enzymes, I experimented with different straining methods. I found that it works best to strain the oat milk twice – first through a fine mesh strainer and then a second time through a fine mesh strainer lined with a cheesecloth or tea towel. Unlike oat milk recipes that don’t use digestive enzymes, it is OK to squeeze the oats a little during the straining process. After I finished straining the oat milk, I added a pinch of salt and blended again. Finally, it was time to try!
Much to my surprise and delight, the result was creamier than I expected, and it wasn’t slimy! But, I knew the final test would be trying it in coffee. Heat is part of what causes oat milk to get thick and slimy.
I was thrilled to find that this homemade oat milk using digestive enzymes worked very well in coffee. The oat milk was NOT slimy, didn’t thicken perceptibly, and didn’t leave too much sediment in the bottom of my cup. The only thing that disappointed me was its lack of rich creaminess. It wasn’t bad. But it wasn’t as good as my favorite store-bought oat milk. All in all, I deemed the experiment a success and knew that this was a great starting place for homemade oat milk.
How to Make Extra-Creamy Oat Milk
Making my own homemade oat milk is great option to replace store-bought version. It’s an easy way to eliminate highly inflammatory ingredients like rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, or other seed oils. But, it took some trial and error to get an extra creamy oat milk.
It is possible to get a creamy oat milk using just 3 ingredients: old fashioned oats***, water, and digestive enzymes. However, I get the best, most creamy results by adding an additional 3 ingredients: organic sunflower lecithin (emulsifier), organic avocado oil, and a pinch of sea salt or Redmond salt. At the end of the day, my final result still uses only 6 clean ingredients. Adding avocado oil is a great way to add a rich creaminess to oat milk without adding any unwanted flavors.
***Old fashioned oats or rolled oats are what I use. There’s no reason I’m aware of that quick oats wouldn’t work. Your results may vary slightly depending on the type of oats you have on hand. I don’t recommend using steel cut oats. If you have celiac disease, be sure to use certified gluten-free oats.
How to Strain Homemade Creamy Oat Milk
It’s important to strain your oat milk twice. I’ve tried a number of different single-strain methods, but they just don’t work. The first pass through the fine mesh strainer is to remove the larger pieces of oats from the oat milk. But there will still be smaller sediment-type pieces in the oat milk after the first pass. For the second straining, line your fine mesh strainer with a cheesecloth. I’ve found that it’s best to strain through 4 layers of a loose weave cheese cloth. You can use a nut milk bag or tea towel in place of a cheese cloth, but I’ve found that doing so takes much longer to strain and requires a lot more hands-on time.
Extra-Creamy (NOT Slimy) Oat Milk Ingredients
- Old Fashioned Oats or Rolled Oats (I always use these organic rolled oats)
- Water (I use room temperature home-distilled water, but some recommend using ice-cold water)
- Digestive Enzymes (I use Now Foods: Gluten Digest)
- Organic Sunflower Lecithin – acts as an emulsifier to help bind the avocado oil and water
- Organic Avocado Oil – the key ingredient for extra creamy oat milk
- Sea Salt or Redmond Real Salt – just a pinch of salt will do!
Optional Ingredients:
- Vanilla Extract – Elevate this creamy oat milk to the next level by adding just a hint of vanilla!
- Monkfruit Extract – If you like a slightly sweet oat milk, a little monkfruit extract works well
- Coconut Oil – This is a good alternative to Organic Avocado Oil. Do NOT use olive oil as it will have a negative impact on the flavor.
Tools you may need
You don’t need any fancy equipment to make your own creamy homemade oat milk. A simple blender and strainer will do. But it can be helpful to have the following tools:
Extra-Creamy Homemade Oat Milk (NOT Slimy!)
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Read through each step carefully to familiarize yourself with the process before beginning.
- Place 2.5 cups rolled oats into half gallon mason jar, pitcher, or blender.
- Add contents of 1 gluten digestive capsule to the oats. Discard the capsule.
- Pour approximately 5-6 cups of distilled water – you may get the best results by using ice-cold water – on top of the oats and digestive enzymes.
- Blend for about 30 seconds with immersion blender or high-speed blender.
- Cover blended liquid with tea towel or nut milk bag and let rest for at least 30 minutes. ***If this is your first time making oat milk with digestive enzymes, taste a spoonful of the blended liquid before resting for 30 minutes. Use a clean spoon and try the liquid again after 30 minutes. The digestive enzymes have done their job when the liquid has a slightly sweet flavor.***
- Once the blended oats and digestive enzymes have rested for at least 30 minutes, strain the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into another half-gallon mason jar, pitcher, or bowl. I recommend setting the leftover oat pulp aside to use as an addition in cookies, or to feed to your chickens.
- Next, it's time to strain your oat milk a second time. The first straining will remove the bulk of the oat pulp. The second time is to remove most of the sediment. Trying to strain both the coarse oat pulp and the sediment at the same time will clog up your cheesecloth and take much more time. To strain your oat milk the second time, line your fine mesh strainer with a cheesecloth. I recommend using a looser weave cheese cloth folded into quarters so that the oat milk passes through 4 layers of cheesecloth and the fine mesh strainer during it's final straining.
- Finally, add the remainder of the water, a pinch of salt, 1 cup of avocado oil, 20 grams sunflower lecithin, and any optional ingredients to your oat milk. I use an immersion blender for this step. Blend about 60-90 seconds or until well combined. Cover with an airtight lid and store in the refrigerator. Oat milk should last about 5-7 days. Give a quick shake before serving.
This has become my go-to recipe for homemade seed oil free oat milk. It’s easy, isn’t slimy, and it tastes good.