Smooth, creamy and naturally sweet, this dairy-free Cashew Milk recipe is a fantastic milk substitute. It’s also super easy to make. Unlike my almond milk recipe, and other nut milk recipes, it does not require a nut milk bag. To make it, you simply whip it up in the blender. There is no need to strain out the pulp. Because it’s so easy to make, this dairy-free milk is one of my all-time favorites!
I keep a quart of this cashew milk on hand in the fridge for the boys. We love using it in my smoothie recipes or pouring it over a bowl of my homemade Paleo Granola.
Cashew Milk
Ingredients
- 1 cup cashews, soaked overnight
- 3-4 cups water
- 1 pinch celtic sea salt
Instructions
- Discard soaking water and rinse cashews thoroughly until water runs clear
- Place cashews, water, and salt in a vitamix
- Process on high speed 30 seconds
- Serve
Equipment
This cashew milk has the viscosity of regular whole milk. If you want to make milk with the consistency of 2% cow milk, add another cup of water. To make this into half and half (perfect in my Dandelion Coffee recipe), use only 2 cups water. Cashew milk can be very foamy when first removed from the Vitamix. It will settle nicely after sitting in the fridge overnight.
Dairy-free Cashew Milk is amazing served with any of these healthy paleo drink recipes:
Riley SFS says
I have been drinking Silk Vanilla Soymilk for as long as I can remember. Recently, Silk has started selling cashew milk. I was wondering if anyone has tried the Silk Cashew Milk and this recipe and how they compare. This is because I don’t want to buy a whole half gallon of it and end up hating it…
Stephanie says
Silk cashew milk is my new favorite. I was a bit iffy about buying at first but once I tried it I fell in love.
Roving Punster says
REGARDING LACTOSE INTOLERANCE: I thought I’d share this, on the off chance it may help others. In my experience, not everyone who thinks they’re lactose intolerant are actually lactose intolerant – sometimes something else can be the cause. For example, my Wife has been unable to drink milk since she was a teen, and has missed it terribly. When we met and got married, I became determined to help her. The first thing I determined is that she is not in fact lactose intolerant … I tried her on goat milk (naturally lactose free) and regular cow’s milk with lactaid added, and also getting her tested for common food allergens by an allergy specialist. All three came up empty, and the fact that she can eat many forms of cheese, but not ricotta, left me scratching my head, but the question of lactose had been settled.
Next up was trying her on milk substitutes. I tried every type of commercial nut milk available in cartons, refrigerated or otherwise, and all of them gave her problems. I even tried casein protein powder, radiation stabilized parmalat, and egg protein powder … the last of the three was well tolerated, but didn’t taste very much like milk.
At long last, an epiphany …acting on a hunch, I taught myself how to make soy milk from scratch, and surprise surprise she tolerated it, even though I’d previously tried and failed with several different brands of commercial soy milk. Next I tried homemade coconut milk, homemade cashew milk, and homemade almond milk, and she loved all three, even though I’d already tried and failed with every commercial brand I could find. At that point, it became clear that a key part of the mystery was that rather than lactose or casein intolerance, my Wife was apparently sensitive to one or more of the additives commonly used in non-dairy milk substitutes.
I went through them all, and narrowed the field down to Carrageenan (aka “Irish Moss” or kelp extract) and Guar Gum – one or the other, sometimes both, are used in the majority of milk replacements as a thickener and stabilizer, to prevent seperation and improve mouth feel. I already knew my wife was unable to eat seaweed salad, and it’s presence as a stabilizer in commercial nut milks, and it’s absence in my homemade nutmilks, was a critical clue. I still havent finished working the dairy milk angle, but I’d solved the mystery behind her issues with non-dairy milk replacements.
Bottom line – it pays to be thorough, because when it comes to food allergies, the real root cause is sometimes not what you think.
Elana says
Thanks Roving Punster!
Yvonne Garback says
My son had a “milk allergy” and we could not figure out why he did not react at all time he might get milk like shelf milk that did not have to be refrigerated. Talking with my doctor about this resulted in a feasible answer. Sometimes the cows have to be treated for ailments with pencillin or sulfer which he is highly allergic to. If they are not separated from the milk giving cows for a long enough period, the drug can get into the milk you and I buy on the shelf. I thought pasturizing and homogenizing would take care of this, but the doctor said it would not. Food for thought.
Elana says
Thanks Yvonne! I’m sorry to hear this but really appreciate you letting us know about it. I’m so lucky to be on this healing journey with people like you :-)
Jenny says
I did almost the same thing and it came down to carageenan that is added to so many foods. It’s in most yogurts, cottage cheese, whipping creams etc.
SMS says
I love that you trusted your gut and worked through all that!
FYI- it happens with people who think they are allergic to shellfish too! It’s tge preservatives used they are allergic to…not the fresh shellfish in many cases!!
TZ says
Silk cashew is good, but this recipe is much much more delicious. Healthier and more economical.
Susan Evatte says
Commercially manufactured nut milks (Blue Diamond, Silk, etc) contain more water than nut nutrition. They also contain additives such as synthetic vitamins and thickening agents. One cup (8oz) of raw cashews = 600 calories. If we follow the recipe above, we should end up with @4 cups (32oz) of finished nut milk. That would equate to @ 18.75 calories per ounce. Silk’s Unsweetened Cashew Milk is @ 3.125 calories per ounce. There is significantly more nuts and nutrition in the milk made at home.
Bill Eberle says
I tried it and was surprised that I loved it. That’s why I’m here getting a recipe!
Elana says
That’s great Bill :-)
Kim says
Do macadamia nuts work? If so do they require straining?
Elana says
Thanks Kim, I will be testing and posting a recipe for Macadamia Nut Milk soon :-)
Laura says
Hi,I, too, have been drinking Silk Soy Milk for many years. However, when I went Paleo I had to find an alternative as soy beans are legumes ( a no-no on the Paleo diet). I have since been buying the unsweetened Silk Cashew milk. I love it and it works in most Paleo recipes. Besides being. Lactose Intolerant all of my life, as I’ve gotten older, nut milks like almond don’t agree with me, nor does Coconut milk. I’m so happy for these suggestions on this website, because so many Paleo recipes call for Coconut everything. I did learn recently that when using Cashew milk for recipes that require “high fat coconut milk” the best thing is to make my own which is thicker than the Silk variety. Though cashews tend tend to be pricey, I spend so much less on the Paleo diet because I no longer buy any packaged items. So it is not prohibitive in cost. I use cashews in so many recipes, like cashew yogurt, cashew sour cream and cashew Alfredo Sauce. They are so versatile.
Elana says
Thanks Laura!
Cindy Naughton says
Incredible milk. I’ve been making all nut milks for years and have never found one is great is this. This is fantastic. Thank you.
yvonne says
I think it is hilarious that you wrote this post years ago and I read it one day after Colorado was slammed with another winter storm on May 1st. Thanks for the recipe. I was getting tired of almond milk and wanted to try cashew. When my shipment of cashews get here, I will dive right in. :-D
yvonne says
I have made this milk twice now and made ice cream with part of the first batch. I made the half & half version. I used to drink raw milk and this version is much closer to the consistency I am used to than the 4 cups of water version (or almond milk, which I also make). Love that this milk makes my latte creamy. Love it.
I have tried this strained and unstrained. Yes, it is thicker if unstrained, but cashews have a silty quality (unlike, but much nicer than the grainy quality of almonds). So if you don’t mind that silt, leave it unstrained. I can only drink a cup or two this way and then I have to strain it. Unlike almond milk though (but more like soy milk), the straining is better if it is passive. At least for me, my Soyajoy milk machine breaks the cashews down so finely that the silt goes through even a doubled nut milk sack. The most effective way is to just let it sit and strain on its own (occasionally replacing the used cloth with new to get more out). That does not remove ALL of the silt, but it will remove a sizable amount.
That being said, the more silt you remove the less thick the milk gets so you’ll need to play with what is the right amount of straining for you. To me, that makes this the best milk ever. It is very customizable and, depending on the recipe, that is an absolute plus. Some recipes would be just fine with the unstrained version so in this second batch of milk, I am keeping some milk unstrained to use for specific recipes. I also did not need to sweeten or salt this milk. It is just fine plain (better than plain almond IMO).
All in all, I like this milk so much, I can’t see making almond milk anymore. BTW…the cashew milk ice cream was by far the best non-dairy ice cream I have ever made. The texture and creaminess far surpasses almond and coconut milk ice cream. I used to eat Haagen-Dazs and this is the closest I have ever gotten to copying it. It isn’t the full fat dairy version, but man it is awfully close. I highly recommend it. :-)
deb culmer says
Are the proportions the same for the SoyaJoy machine (1:3or 4)? Well, I’m going to try it tomorrow at any rate :-)
Angela says
Thank you for this recipe! I made it to use in coffee -used the 2 cups instead of four! Yummy!!
Tonight my husband used it to make strawberry-rhubarb frozen dessert. A definite crowd pleaser.!
Melissa says
Thank you for the recipe it was delicious. I added it to my corn chowder and it turned out great. Also I didn’t have any of the agave syrup so I used honey, it tasted wonderful.
Melissa says
I’ve been experimenting with nut milks a lot lately since I can’t have dairy, soy or coconut (or gluten). I noticed a lot of questions here, though old, about using regular blenders. If you are going to use a regular blender for nut milks, you really need a nut milk bag. I found mine on Amazon for around $8. You won’t be sorry, and you will get a very smooth, creamy milk with no grainy bits. Apparently Vitamix blenders are a whole different breed and I’ve now added one to my wish list.
Thanks for the great recipe! I’m enjoying “cream” in my coffee for the first time in months. It has such a mild flavor. I’m looking forward to experimenting with the cashew cream in other recipes as well.
Janet says
Why is it, whenever I think, “This sounds good! I’ll google around to see if anyone has made this yet!” Your site always pops up? Beet hummus? Coconut milk masterpieces? And now Cashew milk? Your site is amazing. I’m off to soak some cashews.
Desi@thepalatepeacemaker.com says
Elana! LOVE this recipe. I made a few adjustments and made a cashew cream out of it. I posted it here:
http://thepalatepeacemaker.com/2010/11/05/cashew-cream/
It’s so exciting because now I can make creamy pasta dishes again! Hooray!
Thank you so much!
:)
Cindy says
You might want to look into green, leafy vegetables. I’ve read this before, but research it yourself, PLEASE! You should know for sure. My rule of thumb is to find at least three sources that are legit, and that are consistent in their info, before acting on anything when it comes to anything as serious as health.
But I wrote a paper on calcium in college, and my findings showed dairy is supposed to be a poor source because it has a diverse affect since protein leeches it out of our bones, and supposedly western diets get overloads of calcium as is. American women, with our huge dairy intakes, have an incredibly higher rate of bone disease than areas that don’t eat as much dairy.
Do be aware that the need for calcium, while important, has been overblown by the dairy industries influence over our government to get us to buy more of their product. This is debatable, so realize I’m biased. But I’ve also heard that just eating fruits & veggies provides us with plenty of calcium, and even protein, and that Americans get way too much calcium as is, to the point beyond healthy. I read a report a surgeon gave that he had to cut through arteries, that should be supple, but that instead crunched because they were coated with calcium the body had been overloaded with.
I’ve also heard some calcium supplements won’t absorb in our bodies. I don’t know how to tell if one is good or not, so other than researching that as well, I do know that regular supplements should be tested in water ahead of time. If they don’t dissolve, DON’T use them. Many elderly people have serious problems with their systems being overloaded with supplements that haven’t dissolved.
Of course, getting our vitamins, minerals, protein etc. is best done through food. It’s not always possible to do. SAD! But do realize that one of the reasons you want to eat food before supplements is because if it’s in the food, your body has to work to get it out. If it’s just given to your bod in a supplement, it’ll take the easy way out and become weaker in the long run. Force it to do the exercise!
I hope I didn’t overwhelm you, and good luck to you!
Rukayat says
I’m wondering why the water from soaking gets thrown out? I know a lot of folks do it but I’m wondering what the logic is behind it? Thanks
p.s. I made a batch last night with out throwing out the water and it tasted great.