How to Make Walnut Milk

Shake up your breakfast time with this easy walnut milk recipe! It’s creamy, delightfully nutty and easy to make.

Walnut milk might not be as common as other vegan nut milks such as almond and cashew, but it’s really simple to make at home. 

We first discovered how amazing walnut milk is when we did our Food Waste Challenge. For a whole month we lived on only food that would have gone to waste, in order to raise awareness of the huge environmental impact of food waste.

This of course meant we had no soy milk or plant milk on hand.  But we did have a load of walnuts leftover from a foraging trip, so we thought, why not try making milk from them? So we got cracking and discovered how delicious and creamy walnut milk is! 

There’s two ways you can make walnut milk. With both methods the key is to remove the natural tannins which can create a bitter flavour. So that you are left with a velvety and fresh tasting nut milk.

Jump to:

• Raw Method
• Quick Method
• Variations
• Straining tips
• How to use leftover nut pulp
• Storage
• Use it in…
• 📖 Recipe

Raw Method

Soak the nuts in water overnight, or for at least 8 hours. Discard the water (which by that point will be dark brown), and rinse the nuts.

Then blend with water in a high speed blender for 1 minute. If your blender isn’t so powerful you might want to blend for longer. 

Quick Method

Skip the soaking, and instead boil the nuts for 5 mins in a pan filled with plenty of water. Rinse, and continue to blend as above.

Variations

You can vary the amount of water, to create your preferred texture:

• Use more water for a milder taste and to get more milk from the nuts (makes it cheaper too)
• Or use less water for an even thicker, creamier texture

You can sweeten your milk if desired. Blend in 1 tsp of sugar, agave syrup, a date or other sweetener to your liking.

Straining tips

To get the smoothest milk you’ll want to strain it well. You can use a nut milk bag, a fine mesh strainer or a sieve lined with cheesecloth. Gently squeeze the bag to get all the creamy goodness out. Or, if using a mesh strainer, press it through using the back of a spoon. 

Depending on what you want to use your homemade walnut milk for, you might not even need to strain it. 

How to use leftover nut pulp

When you’ve made your yummy vegan milk, there’s no need to waste the walnut pulp that’s left behind. We’re big fans of zero waste! You can store it in the fridge for a few days or freeze it in a covered container.

You can dry the pulp in an oven to make walnut meal. Spread it out on a baking tray and bake at 100°C for 1 – 1 ½ hours until it is fully dry. Let it cool, and then grind into meal in a food processor. Sprinkle your walnut meal on to oatmeal, salads, smoothies…. Whatever you fancy!

Nut pulp is a great ingredient to use in baking, cookies and energy balls. Try these yummy recipes that use leftover nut pulp:

• Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies by A Virtual Vegan
• Chocolate Cherry Bliss Balls by Unconventional Baker
• Leftover Almond Pulp Brownie Balls by Sweet Simple Vegan

Storage

Walnut milk will keep in the fridge for 3-5 days. To make it keep for longer, use very clean utensils and sterilise your bottle before filling.

It’s natural for homemade nut milks to separate, because they don’t have any stabilisers added. Simply give the bottle a gentle shake before using.

Use it in…

This deliciously nutty milk tastes great with granola for breakfast. You can use it to make porridge, mix it into smoothies or milkshakes, use it in baking, put it in your coffee…

It also makes incredibly good custard! Just use it as the milk in your favourite custard recipe, add a dash of cinnamon and serve with our Vegan Apple Strudel. 

📖 Recipe

Hope you enjoyed our recipe! With love from,

Sophie and Paul