So you’re wondering which is healthier, homemade or store-bought plant milk. I know it’s super confusing which is better for you and worth your money, so I’m going to lay out the pros and cons of both. Plus, I’ll answer some questions I get asked all the time!
Get your pencils out peeps, because I’m going to take a deep dive into this whole question of “is making your own nut milk healthier?” Short answer, yes, long answer read on!
Store-Bought Plant Milk
The Good Stuff
It probably comes at now surprise, but store-bought plant milk has become more and more affordable. Gone are the days of buying overpriced almond milk. Additionally, you can buy it right off the shelf and store it in your pantry for months – so convenient. And of course, these plant milks taste absolutely delicious – macadamia vanilla milk? Sign me up!
To recap, the positives of buying plant milk is that it’s affordable, convenient and delicious!
The Bad Stuff
However, all the positives of store-bought plant milk are precisely why it’s so bad. Yep, I said it, store-bought nut milk is not good for you! However, there are a few brands that are actually very healthy which I will share later in this post, but most nut milk brands tend to not be healthy.
So let’s get into why store-bought plant milk are bad.
- Processed Oils: Most grocery store nut milks have tons of added oils, the main ones used are sunflower oil and safflower oil. Both of which are HIGHLY processed oils, meaning that they are stripped of their nutrients. Yikes!
- Added Sugar: While most brands have unsweetened versions of nut milk, cane sugar and corn syrup can be sneakily added into the milk without you even realizing it.
- Thickeners and Emulsifiers: this is perhaps the main reason why I never buy any nut milk from the grocery store. I can guarantee that your favorite oat milk, soy milk, almond milk, cashew milk etc. has guar guam, xantham gum, gellan gum, sunflower lecithin and phosphates. These help thicken the nut milk up to replicate the creaminess of cow’s milk. However, despite making the texture of the nutmilk amazing, these gums and thickeners have been linked to poor gut health and sub-optimal digestion – in other words they harm the gut microbiome.
Homemade Plant Milk
The Good Stuff
One of the best things about making your own plant milk is that you get to control how rich you’d like it to be. Most store-bought nut milks have only 2.5% nuts and the rest is water, which means that the nut milk isn’t really that nutritious. However, if you make it yourself, you will not only get creamier richer milk, but also more nutrient dense plant milk!
In the recipe below I’ve listed out two options for cashew milk. One super rich and decadent version that is similar to half-n-half. While the other version is less thick and more of a lower-calorie cashew milk.
Additionally, since you’re making your own homemade nut milk, you can add in any flavors or sweeteners you like.
Essentially, homemade plant milk is richer, creamier, much more versatile and nutritious than any store-bought plant milk!
The Bad Stuff
However, I want to be fair. There are a few negatives to making your own nut milk.
Homemade nut milk tends to only last 4-5 days in the fridge – so you do have to make it quite frequently. Although in my opinion it’s worth it. Additionally, nuts are quite expensive and oftentimes the store-bought version is cheaper.
But, other than those two points, there really are no other negatives to homemade plant milk!
Your Plant Milk Questions, Answered!
- Is making your own nut milk healthier? Absolutely. Not only is it healthier, but it’s also much richer, creamier and more nutrient-dense.
- Is it cheaper to make your own plant milk? Yes and no. If you’re making nut milk and using a ton of nuts to make only a few cups of milk, then yes, it’s quite pricey. However, if you’re making oat milk, it would end up being even cheaper than buying it from the store.
- Is it worth making your own almond milk? Definitely. The flavor, richness and texture is so much better than the store-bought version.
- Is homemade almond milk healthier? Which non-dairy milk is healthiest? Honestly, any type of homemade nut milk is healthy. There is no “healthiest” plant milk. However, if I had to choose I would go with a homemade almond OR cashew milk as they are the most nutrient-dense nuts!
- What is the healthiest brand of plant-based milk? Elmhurst, MALK and Three Trees are the healthiest nut milk brands out there.
Still Want to Buy Plant Milk?
I get it. It’s just more convenient! So I’ve put together a few of my top three personal favorite brands below that are just as healthy as the homemade stuff.
- Elmhurst – I love their Almond and Cashew milk.
- Three Trees – the Vanilla Bean Almond milk is divine.
- MALK
I have a Nutr Machine so I can make a cup at any given time, hot or room temp. My question is: I use 4 ingredients in my plant milks, so why are the calories (excluding oat) higher? I used to drink almond milk that was around 100 calories a cup store-bought, but mine is 169. Can you help me?
Hi Alyssa!
So great that you have the Nutr machine too, love how convenient it is!
Totally get why you’re wondering homemade plant milk has such a high calorie count compared to the grocery store version. Hope this breakdown of almond milk as an example helps:
– Grocery store almond milk: Uses 1 cup of almonds for every 6 or 7 cups of water. Which means that 1 cup of almond milk would have about 90 calories. However, since there is so much water and very little almonds, the almond milk becomes super watery and thin. To counteract this, the grocery store almond milk brands add in emulsifiers and thickeners to replicate that creamy texture. Which is horrible for your gut-health down the line!
– Homemade plant milk: Uses 1 cup of almonds for every 3 cups of water, making the milk super creamy, thick and nutritious without adding any thickeners. However that also makes the calorie count way higher — around 183 calories per 1 cup of almond milk.
If you want to reduce the calories per cup, I recommend using a ratio of 1 cup of nuts to 5 cups of water — this way 1 cup of milk will be around 110 calories.
Hope this was helpful!! 🙂
I was looking up which is more “worth it” to make from scratch, Almond or Soy. I guess the answer is Soy because soybeans can be gotten “bulk” for as low as 38¢/pound if you get them from those “livestock feed and supply” places and not just the $6.99/4lb bag that seems to be the “going rate” for the prepackaged “basic” ones even in the Chinese food supermarkets. In fact today I was a bit surprised that the store I was checking out, didn’t have bigger bag quantities of soy beans given that probably at least half of what they sell in the store is MADE from soy. Go figure. Anyway, and almonds are way more expensive even on sale. I was only even considering it because I’ve gotten given for free about 5 lbs of “raw” almonds that I can’t do anything else with, because I have no front teeth. And I’m trying to lose weight. Plus “dairy” milk has gotten soul-crushingly expensive, meaning that what used to “cost more” than dairy milk, these days the prices are more on-par. It’s only saving money if you happen to get the nuts or beans for free somehow, anyway.
Hi. I use the cashew milk for my coffee, but I don’t like the “sediment” that’s left behind. In straining the milk (taking out the non liquid portion) would you happen to have a rough idea as to what the macros would be? I have looked and looked but can’t seem to find anything. Unfortunately I don’t have a nut milk machine, but I do use my blendtec.
Hi Michele! One note on the “sediment”, unless you’re using a high-powered blender like a Vitamix, you’ll have to strain your cashew milk through a nut milk bag to get it silky smooth.
Regarding macros, I don’t share nutritional info for my recipes. But outlining below how I’d roughly estimate macros for my cashew milk recipe.
Using my recipe (1 cup of cashews for 4 cups of water) I roughly estimate that once the milk is strained, there’d be about 25% less calories. So 1 cup of cashew milk would be around 167 calories per cup, with 14g of fat, 14g of carbs and 7g of protein.
Hope this was helpful!
The only problem in making homemade milk is that it is not fortified with calcium etc
True, but if you’re eating a well-balanced diet, there’s no need to rely on fortified milk!
Thank you for this article! Still using my blendtec until I make a decision on a nut milk machine, but this article is very helpful!!
So happy you found this helpful!!
Thank you being so detailed on the breakdowns.
I am not liking how watery the almond milk from Malt or Elmhurst which is making my coffee taste like dirt water. Just been spoiled with the others that have bad ingredients as it makes the coffee creamy.
Would making my own almond milk resemble more of crows milk on the creaminess?
Thank you!
Loved the article! This is an entirely new concept for me as I don’t drink milk, but am looking for a healthy base for my protein drinks. I am wondering if anyone else uses their homemade milk for this purpose. If so, which do you prefer. I would use 8 oz, a day. Looking to do a 3-5 day liquid cleanse.
Thanks for the info!
Amanda