Cashew Milk
Learn how to make cashew milk and what to do with it, as well as its health properties. Cashew milk is the creamiest and most delicious of dairy-free milks!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on October 5, 2024
Let’s talk milk. Do you like milk? Milk and I have a tumultuous past. As a kid, I boycotted milk for a solid ten years, during which time my mother fretted about my calcium intake and swore I’d turn into a decrepit, brittle old lady. May the record show that I have not once broken a bone.
These days, I’m still not much of a milk drinker. I like a splash of it in my coffee, but I accidentally stopped drinking coffee two months ago. I can’t say I’m a fan of store-bought milk alternatives, either. Soy milk, rice milk and almond milk all have a funky aftertaste that I can’t abide. Homemade almond milk is pretty good, but straining the pulp from the liquid mixture is more trouble than it’s worth.
Homemade cashew milk, however, is a different story. It’s my one exception. It’s easy to make and it’s absolutely delicious. Cashew milk is the creamiest of homemade nut milks and the most refreshing, in my opinion.
Since the nuts blend entirely into the water, no nuts go to waste in the process. That also means that the cashew milk retains all of the fiber and nutrients present in the cashews. Did I mention that you don’t have to strain the mixture? I’m a fan.
Cashew milk is full of redeeming nutrients, like magnesium, phosphorus, iron, potassium and zinc. The fat in cashews is mostly unsaturated and they are a good source of protein (source).
I’ve made this cashew milk recipe in my old blender and my new fancy pants blender (courtesy of Blendtec). Both blenders produced creamy milk that didn’t require straining, so don’t worry if you don’t have a fancy pants blender. Soaking the cashews first helps them break down in the blender, too. Generally, soaking nuts before consuming them helps release beneficial enzymes. I’m not sure that’s true for cashew milk, though, because even “raw” cashews have already been through two roasting processes to remove their inner and outer shells. “Raw” cashew milk/cream/cheese may be a misnomer.
A cold glass of cashew milk is super refreshing on a hot day. Add cinnamon and it reminds me of horchata. Mix some into Assam or black tea with spices for a riff on Chai tea. It would be great with muesli or cereal for breakfast. Apparently you can even make ice cream with cashew milk, though I admit I’m skeptical. Have you tried it?
Watch How to Make Cashew Milk
Please let me know how your cashew milk turns out in the comments! If you’re looking for more homemade milk alternatives, check don’t miss my pecan milk and oat milk.
Cashew Milk
Cashew milk is creamy and refreshing, nutritious and easy to make. You shouldn’t need to strain the mixture after blending if you have a decent blender. That means less hassle and less waste! Recipe yields about 5 cups cashew milk.
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 4 cups water, divided*
- 1 to 2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey or agave nectar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Dash of sea salt
- Pinch of cinnamon (optional)
Instructions
- Soak the cashews in water at least 4 hours, or overnight in the refrigerator. Drain the cashews and rinse until the water runs clear. Add the cashews and two cups water to a blender. Start on a low setting and increase the speed until the cashews are totally pulverized. This could take 2 minutes in a high-powered blender or longer in a regular blender.
- Blend in 2 cups more water*, your sweetener of choice, vanilla extract, sea salt and cinnamon (optional). If your blender can’t totally break down the cashews, strain the milk through a fine mesh strainer or cheese cloth. Store the milk in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days—stir before using.
Notes
*Water ratio: The ratio of water to cashews (4 to 1) in this recipe yields milk that is somewhere between 2% and whole milk in terms of creaminess. I think it’s just right as-is, but you can use less water for even creamier results.
Make it vegan: Use maple syrup or agave nectar, not honey.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Wow. I was buying Silk Cashew milk but after following this recipe, I will never buy it ever again. This is so rich and creamy and gives me all the dairy feels I yearn for. An absolute game changer!!
hi Kate!
which sweetener have you used and prefer personally ?:)
Maple syrup is a great option.
This milk was delicious, especially over a hot bowl of Oatmeal with berries. I will never buy any processed milk again with hormones etc. This recipe takes 2 minutes and super creamy and smooth.
Really good. Thank you for the simple recipe!! Soooo much easier than almond milk :)
Great to hear, Nikki!
Hi. Tastes fantastic. Can I freeze it?
I haven’t tried it. Sorry!
I just made this. I used 1 T of monkfruit sweetener and added a bit of nutmeg along with the cinnamon. It’s quite good. I’m making a pot of coffee and I’ll be trying it in that next.
Can you share the nutrition content ? I would love to make this
Hi Whitney, The nutritional information is below the notes section of the blog.
Hello ! Do you use regular vanilla (with alcohol) or powder?
Regular liquid vanilla.
I made it, but didn’t have time to soak, and didn’t have agave, maple, or honey.. so used raw sugar. It tastes great. Next time I’ll soak the cashews.
Thank you for sharing, Elle!
Know it’s been a while but I just found the recipe and made a batch . Very tasty . Will try using with beverage and cereal later . Thanks for sharing.
You can do this with almonds too! To get the gross mold off, which is on many nuts, I first soak briefly in boiling water, then peel off the skin. Then I make creamer by adding 2 parts water to 1 part almonds. Cheaper than cashews, no straining.
If you haven’t seen the mold, just soak almonds for 12 hours on the counter in plain water. You’ll see a gross soot, which is mold from the almonds not being dried perfectly.
I do that with almonds too. After popping off the skins I put in coffee grinder. Then I place in the blender with half the amount of hot water, blend. Then add cold filtered with any other ingredients and blend second time. I have a hand held fine mess strainer
I put over my big measuring cup to strain. Use the pulp on salads, cereal, in vegan meals etc.
Hello!
I just made this but forgot to rinse the cashews after they soaked until the water runs clear. I just blended it with the other ingredients. Does this impact the milk? I would hate to waste it so I’m just curious as what is the purpose of this step.
Thank you!
I find the taste is better when rinsed. I hope you were able to enjoy it!
Kate, this is wonderful! I just tried it for the 1st time, making a 1/2 recipe with 1/2C soaked cashews and 2C water, and 4 split soaked degglet noor dates for sweetener – very good! I made a delicious discovery. I started with 1/2 C cashews, dates, and only 3/4C water, to be sure they would blend well. Nothing else. I tasted the cream before adding the rest of the water and it was amazing. I could see making a pudding from that, that would be incredible. I can highly recommend to other review readers that making a cream at 1:1.5 ratio (nuts to water) Is a fantastic way to start. It blends everything very thoroughly, then pour off cream before adding the rest of the water for milk, and get both!
I did need to strain because the dates didn’t blend completely. (Just a steel strainer, no messy bag). I’ll experiment with both no dates (this was very sweet) and a longer soak. This is SO worth it, and almost no mess! So much better than oatmilk!
(BTW, Aldi has organic raw cashews at very reasonable prices. Not many other options near me.)
Question- do you know if you can cook with this? I’m just wondering if it would curdle or separate.
I’m looking forward to making this!!!
Hi Gerry, You should be able to use this in most recipes.
Made this recipe and love the result. Used my Vitamix and the result was smooth and creamy. Thank you for the awesome recipe.
This milk is ah-mazing! I’ll never go back to drinking anything else.
That’s great to hear, Krista! I appreciate your review.
I do that with almonds too. After popping off the skins I put in coffee grinder. Then I place in the blender with half the amount of hot water, blend. Then add cold filtered with any other ingredients and blend second time. I have a hand held fine mess strainer
I put over my big measuring cup to strain. Use the pulp on salads, cereal, in vegan meals etc.
Hoe long can this be stored in the fridge?
Store the milk in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days—stir before using.
I used roasted cashews, and about a teaspoon of monkfruit sugar since I was a teaspoon short of 2 Tablespoons of maple syrup. It was good!
Made this today, and may never buy cow’s milk again. Immediately sent the link to all of my friends. Really delicious and easy!
Happy to hear you enjoyed it, CC!
Delicious recipe! Thank you for sharing this with us! Even my 17yo son and his girlfriend liked it.
That’s great to hear, Lisa!
Soaked nuts overnight. Used filtered water. Using for potato soup so didn’t add vanilla. Is faster minus soaking than the way I make almond milk. I used Himalayan salt and less real maple syrup. I did strain it in fine mess stainer with handle over big measuring cup. I saved the nutmeat in freezer to use instead of tufo in probably vegan meatballs or something later. Tastes great! Thanks for the recipe. Wasn’t sure of ratio of nuts to water.
Thank you for sharing, Leah!
I made it! I really like it. However question- is it possible to over mix it? I love that it is so creamy, but I always have this like smoothie type of cream on the top. Am I over mixing it?
Hi Amanda, are you straining it?
Gorgeous recipe. Given that cows milk contains a percentage of blood and pus from infected over milked sore udders (the dairy ind, don’t want you to know this), and the fact that the cattle industry is the most inefficient use of land on the planet, cashew milk is a win win for the environment, your health and the health of cows globally!
I love this recipe. I made it with 1 cup water and then added more until it was the consistency that I want- I use it in my coffee and to make my smoothies. I am one to experiment with all recipes and wondered if you have ever tried roasting the cashews before soaking. I am thinking that it might might the flavor even richer.
Can I freeze it? I made too much!
Oh no! I don’t know how well this will freeze. What did you decide to do?
I do freeze all the time in pint size glass, lid loose until freezes. I use medjool dates to sweeten.
I made the cashew milk for the first time as I couldn’t find any in the local stores, and it turned out great. I used our Vitamix blender so no need to strain anything.
I used the 4 cups of water and the consistency was nice. I also used a dash of cinnamon, not overpowering but nice as a background flavour.
Thank you!
Did I understand that it’s a total of 4 cups of final cashew milk?
Recipe yields about 5 cups cashew milk.
Thank you for posting this recipe. I use the 2:1 ratio recommendation for creamer and it will last me four days. It’s helpful and cost effective as the options are limited in my area.
It definitely needs to be filtered! Idk who wants gritty milk. I made it and literally couldn’t drink it until I filtered it.
Hi Angela, I’m sorry to hear that. Did you pre soak your cashews? What type of blender did you use?
Hi Kate,
Do you think a nutrabullet will pulverize the soaked cashews enough?
You could try it. I don’t have experience with them so I can’t say for sure. Sorry!
I make 1.5 litres cashew nut milk from 80ml, or 42g cashew nuts. It’s great!
Such a great recipe! Perfect! Enjoying a green smoothie now using the cashew milk as the base! Delicious and creamy!!
Great to hear, Karen! I appreciate your review.
So easy and delicious! I used it as the base for my chia pudding and I feel so much better knowing what’s actually in my milk! Thanks Kate!
I made this milk today and you are completely right Kathryne, it is so creamy and delicious and my favourite part…EASY! Thank you so much for all of the suggestions. I added honey and cinnamon and it created such a lovely flavour. I don’t think I can ever go back to the store bought Cashew milks! This recipe is so tasty and there’s no preservatives! Love it!
I just came across this recipe and made it with the roasted, salted cashews I had on-hand already. It was surprisingly tasty and I’m curious to get raw cashews to try it with next. Even if I don’t sit down and drink this with cookies, it’s perfect for smoothies and would be nice with granola. I love the nutritional aspect of it, too. I hate all store-bought plant milks (I’ve tried all the ones in Northern Virginia!) and miss regular dairy so much, but this milk at least makes me feel like I’m not paying for a bunch of additives in the plant milks and seems more wholesome to my mind. It’s quite tasty, too, and doesn’t have any weird artificial flavor since it’s just cashews and a bit of sweetener. Happy to have this alternative! Thank you!!
Super easy to make, very creamy. I used it to make hot chocolate for my girls, they didn’t notice the milk as it was super silky and frothy. I will definitely be using this in my coffee from now on.
This is the most incredible cashew milk! I used a vitamix and didn’t need to strain. I used honey and did add cinnamon. It’s a wow!!! Thank you!
Really like this simple cashew milk recipe. I do put it on my bowl of nuts and seed in the morning. When I add it to my cup of tea it looks like it is sour milk. So I don’t add it to my tea anymore. Should it look like sour milk when added to tea?
I only soaked my nuts for 15 minutes and this still turned out great! I used 3 cups of water as I was worried it’d be too think but now that I’m drinking the hot chocolate I made with it, it could have been a bit thinner. Excited for this quick and easy preservative free milk alternative while I can’t have dairy due to my baby’s allergy!
I make ice cream: blend 2 c raw cashews w/ 1 1/2 c cashew milk. add 1 tsp salt 2 tbsp vanilla extract large pinch of nutmeg 1 1/2 c sugar and another 1 1/2 c cashew milk blend all together and put in ice cream maker
I was looking for a meal to make with cashews when I noticed your cashew milk recipe. It was getting late so I tried this. I am so thankful I did. It’s wonderful! I had been buying non-dairy milks and was noticing some ingredients that I was wondering what they were. With your recipe there are ingredients we know and can pronounce. Thanks again. I may add carob to make “chocolate milk” sometime.
Absolutely delicious! Just made this cashew milk. I used one Tbs of maple syrup. Thank you Kate!
I am not sure if I commented in the past but this is sooooo yummy! I followed the link from your chia seed pudding that really does taste like an orange creamsicle! The first time I made this, I didn’t have raw cashews, but it turned out wonderfully. Thank you so much for the delicious and super easy recipe <3
Cashew milk turned out great. Left one cup in the blender and made hot chocolate.
It’s so easy and clean to make.
I’d love to know what this cashew milk is like in tea. I’m looking for something that has the consistency and taste as close to cow’s milk as possible and haven’t found anything yet. A comment below mentioned it tasted like sour milk in tea – has anyone else tried it. Thanks.
Because it has no additive stabilisers, it can separate when heated or added to hot tea. It doesn’t taste like sour milk, it just separates and looks like sour milk. The answer is to shake it in order to remix it.
Want to make this but don’t have shakable pourable container help where to buy?
Wow Kathryne I was looking for a recipes for nut milk that was simple and good.
Well you nailed this one!! Excellent!
Never made nut milk before but will keep making this one for sure!
I will be trying your other recipes too!!
Thanks for this!
I have been wanting to try making nut milks and I always loved the cashew milk. This recipe was so easy and delicious! I only added 1 tablespoon of the maple syrup and did not add the vanilla or cinnamon. This is my go to recipe now for milk. This recipe will last us about 3-4 days for our lattes in the morning.
This recipe turned out amazing and will be my new go to. I made it yesterday and did about 3.5 cups of water to make it a little creamier and shared my pic with my aunt who is also dairy free. I love that the small batch only requires a cup of raw cashews. So easy to make and perfect for my golden turmeric lattes that I make Before bed. I also use your pumpkin spice dairy free 90 calorie latte recipe and make that all of fall. Thank you so much for taking the time to post these recipes and videos for us to utilize at home.
I have been using this recipe and really liking it. We went on a trip and I bought cashew milk and it was really gross.
I changed the order of the steps and I find it works better. I will blend 2 cups water cashews, vanilla, maple syrup, and salt in the blender for 3 minutes.
I then add the left over water to the container I’m storing the milk in and add the cashew blend. It stops it from having lots of foam on top.
I did this with 1.5 cups cashews to 2.5 cups water because I wanted it to be much more creamy (about a ratio of 1 cup cashew to 1 + 2/3 cups water). SO scrumptious. I cannot wait to try this in my coffee. Honestly, tastes similar to my store-bought oat milk (taste + consistency), but with way more protein and way more customizable!
I just made mine with 1:3.5 ratio with maple syrup. I am in love. I am not going back to buying store brand!