5-Minute Cashew Milk (No Soak + No Strain!)

Name: 5-Minute Cashew Milk (No Soak + No Strain!)
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 1 cup raw cashews; 3 ½ cups water; 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup; 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

by Robyn Conley Downs on Jan 18, 2015 (last updated Sep 27, 2022) 15 comments »

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5 stars (6 ratings)

With just 2 ingredients and less than 5 minutes you can whip up a batch of homemade cashew milk, no soaking or straining required! Making your own dairy-free milk at home just got easier.

Glass jar pouring cashew milk into a clear glass.

About This Easy Cashew Milk Recipe

This super-fast cashew milk is a sweet, creamy treat that’s ready in a matter of minutes.

The best part? There’s no soaking or straining required!

I’m telling you, this creamy dairy-free milk is going to get you addicted to making your own nut milk at home.

It’s so much better tasting than store bought, plus when you make it yourself you can control the ingredients and the flavor profile as well.

My own adventures in making nut milk at home started started with almond milk, but the extra steps of soaking and straining often prevented me from making it.

Enter this fabulously simple cashew milk recipe!

For this recipe I lean on a high-speed blender to grind the raw cashes into a powder before blending, thus skipping the time-consuming soaking step, as well as the tedious straining step.

Now you can have this simple homemade nut-milk on hand for smoothies and more in a matter of minutes.

So simple, so good!

Overhead shot of raw cashew pieces in a clear blender.

Overhead shot of raw cashews ground finely in a blender.

Overhead shot of cashew milk in a blender.

How to Use Homemade Cashew Milk

Use it as a dairy-free coffee creamer and I promise you’ll never go back to store-bought!

Make a creamy coffee or tea & cashew milk latte.

My personal favorite way to use cashew milk is in smoothies!

Honestly, it makes everything from this pumpkin spice protein shake, to this Nutella smoothie, to this pear smoothie super rich and oh-so creamy.

Budget Tip: Look for raw cashews pieces (rather than whole) in the bulk section of your grocery store. They are usually less per pound than whole cashew pieces. You can also find raw cashew pieces at Trader Joe’s if there’s one near you.

Clear glass mason jar filled with cashew milk.

Recipe Notes, Substitutions & Troubleshooting

A high-speed blender is necessary if you want to skip the soaking step for this recipe.

Be sure to blend the raw cashews into a fine powder for best results, but stop short of blending the cashews into butter!

Depending on the size of your blender you may need to work in batches to avoid overflow.

The sweetness level of this dairy-free milk is completely up to you.

Leave it unsweetened if you want to use it in savory dishes, or simply to keep the sugar low.

Alternatively, while cashews lend a slight natural sweetness on their own, but you can bump it up with maple syrup or soaked, pitted dates as well.

If you know you have trouble digesting cashews or if you don’t have a high-speed blender, soak the cashes first for 8 hours, then rinse, drain, and proceed with the recipe.

Storing Homemade Cashew Milk

This dairy-free milk will last about five days in the fridge.

Note that the milk will separate, so be sure to give it a good shake to recombine before serving.

Flavor Variations

Chocolate cashew milk: Add 2 tablespoon cacao powder.

Cinnamon date: Add 2 teaspoons cinnamon and 2 soaked, pitted dates.

Vanilla sea salt: Add the optional vanilla extract and sea salt as noted in the recipe.

This Recipe Is…

Dairy Free Gluten Free Paleo Vegan Vegetarian Whole30

Side shot of a glass mason jar filled with cashew milk with blue lid.

5 stars (6 ratings)