Homemade Coconut Milk
Ingredients
- 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- 4 cups water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 drops stevia
Instructions
- Soak coconut in water for 1-2 hours (do not discard water)
- In a vitamix, combine coconut and water, along with vanilla and stevia
- Process on high speed for 60 seconds
- Strain liquid through a nut milk bag, discarding solids
- Serve
I first came upon the idea of making homemade coconut milk from shredded coconut when I was flipping through Sarma Melngailis’ book.
Coconut Milk is easier to make than some of my other homemade dairy-free milk recipes. With this Coconut Milk recipe there is no need to change out the soaking water. You simply blend it into the dried coconut. This is different than my Almond Milk recipe. Almonds contain phytic acid. Soaking the almonds releases their phytic acid into the water. I rinse the almonds thoroughly and discard their soaking water to get rid of the phytic acid because it’s an enzyme inhibitor that can interfere with digestion. That’s why some folks soak all of their nuts and nut products (I do not find it necessary to do so for myself and my family).
With this coconut milk, there is no need to discard the soaking water because, as far as I’ve been taught, coconut does not contain enzyme inhibitors. This recipe only takes a few minutes to make. It’s much easier than cracking open a fresh coconut and scooping out the coconut to make milk. Making fresh coconut milk also helps avoid canned products.
Here are some of my other incredible dairy-free milk recipes:
jonathan says
shelf life? storage tips?
FYI…I buy the Native Forest canned coconut milk, no BPA.
Joseph says
also how many cups of milk does this recipe make? I’m trying to figure out the fat content per cup of this homemade milk…..but from what I’m guessing it’s probably a lot of fat because the coconnut i have is like 5 grams of fat for just 1/8 cup of the stuff and this recipe calls for 2 cups….I winder if there’s such a thing as lite or fat-free shredded coconut
Nikki says
Joseph,
Why on earth would you want a low-fat coconut? The fat is where all the goodness is…
Elana, just stumbled over your website, I’m going to enjoy reading it!
Joseph says
thank you for this recipe!!!!
I’ve been considering going vegan once I have a job and a place of my own but have always been put off by the high cost of vegan-friendly milks…so it’s good that I can save a lot of money and make i tmy self from shredded coconut
Kara says
Is this coconut milk good for drinking, or is it mostly just for cooking with?
sas says
You can do so much with coconut milk! My husband uses it in his oatmeal in the morning (instead of “regular milk”) I use it all the time in my baking (I have a casein allergy) as a substitute for cow’s milk…it is so versatile and wonderful.
Angie says
Is the stevia a must or can it be omitted?
Rachel @ Rediscovering the Kitchen says
The stevia is to make is sweet, so it depends how much of a sweet tooth you have. I personally like it fine without it, as coconut is quite sweet on it’s own.
Kelly says
Awesome! I love that it doesn’t have soy lethicin in it. Thanks so much for this recipe, can’t wait to try it out.
sarena says
Thanks for this recipe. I just wanted to add that the organic canned coconut milk I buy is in BPA free cans.
Christie says
Thank you so much for posting this recipe. I’ve taken my 13 month old off cows milk and didn’t want to use soy or almond milk, so we’re doing a combination of coconut milk (for the protein and fat) and rice milk (its fortified with calcium and vitamins).
Does this recipe retain the fat and protein from the coconut? That’s my primary concern for him right now.
Thanks!
Rachel @ Rediscovering the Kitchen says
I don’t know about the protein, but when I made this recipe it definitely retained at least some of the fat; it floated to the top and solidified in the fridge like all coconut oil does below 76oC. You can see pictures here;
http://rediscoverthekitchen.blogspot.com/2012/05/recipe-review-diy-coconut-milk.html
Heating the milk up a little allowed it to be mixed right back in, though of course the milk would no longer be chilled. Hope this helps!
Cathy says
Hi Elana,
Do you know if this homemade coconut milk would freeze well? I like the idea of making it, but would prefer to make a large batch and freeze it in use-able portions for later recipes. Love your website and I own your cookbook…yum!
Cathy from Severance, CO
jennifer says
I use my juicer to strain the coconut water mixture. Really fast and easy – I’d rather clean the juicer than squeeze and then clean the bag.
I also use hot water to soak coconut which softens it a lot faster and keeps the fat emulsified.
Thanks for this recipe!