Today while I was staring at the absurd amount of rice in my pantry, trying to think of what to do with it, it hit me: make rice milk! Why would anyone want to make their own rice milk when you can just buy it at the store? Because it’s fun and it’s dirt-cheap. One cup of rice will yield about one gallon of rice milk, depending on how thick you like it. It’s also extremely easy. If you can make rice, you can make rice milk.
Rice Milk Ingredients:
- 10 cups of water
- 1 cup of rice
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp Salt
- Sugar to taste
Equipment:
- Blender
- Strainer or cheesecloth
- Large pot with lid
- Plastic bottles
Step 1.
In a large pot, bring 10 cups of water to boil.
Step 2.
Add the salt and the rice, then cover and turn the heat to low. I only use 2 tsp of salt because rice milk isn’t exactly something you want to be salty, but you can add more if you like. Let the rice simmer for 1 hour.
Step 3.
Take the lid off and check on your rice. It should look like rice soup at this point. If it doesn’t, let it cook a little longer. I used white rice for my last batch because that’s what I had, but you can use any kind of rice you like. If you use brown rice, it will have to simmer for about twice as long. When you have a nice rice soup, add the sugar and vanilla and remove the pot from the heat. Place the lid back on it and let it cool. I only use 1 ½ tbsp of sugar because I don’t like to put much sugar in mine, but I suggest using at least twice that much if you want it to be sweet.
Step 4.
Pour the rice mixture into a blender. You’ll probably have to do this in batches unless you have an enormous blender. I have to do it in two batches. Blend the mixture on high for about 30 seconds. It should now look like a milkshake.
Step 5.
Pour the rice milk through a strainer into a plastic bottle. I use two half-gallon bottles. The rice milk should not be pulpy at all; it should just be kind of thick. If you want thinner rice milk, you should use a cheesecloth to strain it or add more water to dilute it.
Rice milk is a great alternative to cow’s milk and is good on cereal, in a smoothie or just by itself. Now that you know how to make it, put that rice in your pantry to use and enjoy some fresh, homemade rice milk.
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