How to Blend Quick, Delicious Vitamix Almond Milk

Vitamix almond milk is for anyone who wants a healthy low carb almond milk or alternative to dairy milk. It is great for those who want to lose weight (fantastic for making weight loss smoothies), people on a ketogenic or low-carb diet, people with dairy allergies or food sensitivities, vegans, and people on a low vitamin A diet (who may have hypervitaminosis A). Also people on the Love Your Liver program by Dr. Garrett Smith might enjoy this food.

My Vitamix almond milk method makes having fresh almond milk a quick and easy task! Vitamix blender, a glass and jar of almond milk and a jar of nuts are pictured.

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Vitamix Almond Milk--why make it?

For one thing, many brands of pre-made almond milk have problems with them. When it comes to almond-based foods, you need to be especially careful. The methods used to pasteurize almonds are often less than healthy.

The spray used on many kinds of almonds is quite toxic. To avoid these toxins, it is best to stick with almonds that are certified organic, or use a brand that is highly reputable such as Wild Soil.

So making you own Vitamix almond milk allows you to ensure what your drinking is truly good for you.

Almond and Coconut Milk

Both almond and coconut milk make a great base for delicious smoothies. You could even mix them together.

Before I started making almond milk, I learned how to make coconut milk. Here's my coconut milk recipe.

I used to think coconut milk was one of the best foods that increase metabolism, but now I have had to reevaluate-- you can find my latest thought on this page: "is coconut milk good for weight loss?"

Top view of a glass jar of freshly-blended Vitamix Almond Milk with a plastic lid to the side.

Do commercial almond milks contain additives?

Also, many pre-made brands of almond milk use additives and thickeners such as carrageenan, which are controversial. Even organic brands may contain carrageenan!

According to the Cornucopia Institute^1., carrageenan may:

cause inflammation,
irritate the gut,
and has been called carcinogenic.

In other words it could possibly cause cancer in some individuals. After first giving some a stomach problem.

Who wants that?!

Can you save money by making your own almond milk?

Yes, yes you can! Another reason to make almond milk at home is cost.

It is simply more affordable to make your own almond milk at home.

Especially if you want organic almond milk, which you should if you care about your health!

Side view of someone pouring homemade Vitamix almond milk from a glass carafe into a clear drinking glass, with dehydrated almonds in the foreground.

Does home made almond milk taste as good as store bought?

Besides health reasons and price, home made Vitamix almond milk actually tastes better.

MUCH better than store-bought, in my opinion.

It also has a better consistency. You can make it thicker and creamier or a little thinner by adjusting the ratio of water to almonds.

Super simple.

Is making homemade almond milk a hassle?

If you're making almond milk for the first time, it might seem like too much work.

There are definitely some who are naysayers to making your own almond milk.

Pearl Barrett, who co-authored the Trim Healthy Mama books, even recommended against making it in the original Trim Healthy Mama book (which is surprising to me, because she takes great pains to make other recipes which seem [in my opinion] more complicated--but we're all entitled to our own preferences!).

Why?

Because when you make it for the first time, it can take a while.

But I have created some methods that allow you to have your own home made almond milk very quickly, anytime you want it, once you get started in the routine I will outline here. The first time you make it is the ONLY time it needs to take a while.

My method makes having home made almond milk super simple and easy!

My red Vitamix blender with a jar of soaked almonds, some fresh homemade almond milk in a glass carafe, a glass of DIY almond milk, and some soaked almonds in the foreground.

Can nut milk be made in a Vitamix?

Yes! The Vitamix blender is the best tool I have used to make almond milk. I highly recommend it! (I even use it sometimes to make small batches of things like rice flour that I use in recipes like my gluten free bread machine recipe).

What kind of blender do I need to make almond milk?

A regular blender will work to make almond milk, but it will take more time to blend, and other regular blenders will probably not blend the almonds as thoroughly as a Vitamix will.

The Vitamix almond milk is more creamy and you will likely get more milk out of the same amount of ingredients when you use a Vitamix.

Can you make almond milk in any blender?

Perhaps, but the less powerful the blender, the longer it will take. And again, you will not likely get as much almond milk with the same ingredients that you get when it is more thoroughly blended, as when using a Vitamix.

Vitamix Weight Loss Smoothies

I use my Vitamix to blend up almond milk and smoothies more than any other food. Vitamix weight loss smoothies are quick, smooth and delicious! And this almond milk is an ideal base for them.

A glass carafe of delicious, fresh homemade Vitamix almond milk next to a glass of almond milk, with almonds in the foregroudn.

What is almond milk?

Almond milk is simply a blend of pre-soaked almonds and water, which is blended and then strained. The resulting liquid is called almond milk.

What is Vitamix almond milk?

Vitamix almond milk is almond milk made in a Vitamix blender.

The procedure is similar to making it in a regular blender, but it works faster and better in a Vitamix in my experience.

In fact, the Vitamix is so much better at blending the soaked almonds into the water, it kinda makes straining optional.

You can actually leave the fiber from the almonds in if you’d like a higher-fiber, whole almond beverage. If you do this, you may want to blend the milk a bit longer so the pulp is finer.

Where can you make Vitamix almond milk?

At home in your kitchen, of course! But I suppose you could also make it

at work,
in a camper with a sink, or
any place with table or counter and an electrical outlet.

When should you start to make Vitamix Almond Milk?

The first time you make it, you can start the soaking process the day before, to get the almonds ready. If you're short on time, you can start the almonds soaking in the morning, and blend the milk __ hours later.

Soaking is absolutely necessary for making almond milk, but if you want more detailed information about the benefits of soaking almonds, check out my almonds nutrition page. There's also a video there that demonstrates the soaking process, too.

Be sure to follow the steps I will give you and you will be able to either whip up a fresh batch or defrost some you have frozen any time you want some almond milk!

How to make Vitamix Almond Milk

Now we get to the good part—how to make Vitamix almond milk!

1. First, get some good quality raw almonds, either organic or a very reputable brand like the one pictured.

How to soak almonds for almond milk

2. Soak at least one cup (one per batch of almond milk) in enough filtered water to cover the almonds. Seal with a lid, and let the almonds soak overnight (8 hours), or at least 4 hours.

Pouring filtered water into a mason jar filled with organic raw almonds.

Two jars full of organic raw almonds and filtered water sit near a clock.

3. Drain the almonds, discard the soaking water (or use it to water plants, a garden, or a tree).

Soaked almonds being strained in a colander and bowl set.

4. Next, blend one cup of soaked almonds with 4 cups of filtered water till the almonds are liquified, about 2 minutes (longer if using most other brands of blender).

This is a close-up shot of the lid of my Vitamix, with an arrow indicating where the lid should be latched on so it stays in place while blending.

Latch each side of the Vitamix lid securely to prevent spills when blending.

Soaked organic raw almonds being blended with filtered water to make Vitamix almond milk.

Blending Vitamix Almond Milk

5. Strain the almond milk.

How do you strain Almond Milk?

A simple method using items that you may already have uses:

a 12” square piece of unbleached muslin fabric,
a wire kitchen strainer,
a canning funnel, and
a mason jar, measuring cup, or bowl to catch the strained milk.

A canning funnel sits on an empty mason jar.

A wire strainer sits atop a canning funnel and glass mason jar.

A square unbleached muslin cloth is draped over a wire strainer that sits on a canning funnel over a glass mason jar, ready to strain the Vitamix almond milk.

Once the items are layered together (fabric on top, resting on the wire strainer, which rests on the funnel, which sits on the jar or bowl), pour the blended water and almonds through the fabric until all the almond pulp is caught in the fabric, and the liquid has settled into the jar.

Pouring almond milk into a muslin cloth strainer with a mason jar underneath.

Straining Vitamix Almond Milk

Then squeeze the pulp inside the fabric to get the last bit of liquid from the pulp.

Squeezing a muslin cloth full of wet blended almonds.

Squeezing almond milk out of the pulp in an unbleached muslin cloth.

6. You can either dehydrate the pulp to use in other recipes, add it to a compost pile or garden bed, or simply discard it. It is no longer needed for this recipe.

7. Use and enjoy your new batch of almond milk.

But to get the most out of this article, keep reading!

How to always have quick homemade almond milk on hand

Here's the best part!

If you want to get the VERY MOST out of what I am sharing with you, you can take any extra almonds you have and dehydrate them at about 105 degrees F until thoroughly dry, the time will depend on the humidity in your area.

Soaked, raw, organic almonds on a Nesco food dehydrator tray.

Dehydrate soaked almonds

My very old Nesco Food dehydrator, it is still working great after about 20 years!

My decades-old Nesco dehydrator, still working!

Almond pulp left over from blending almond milk. I use a solid Nesco tray to dehydrate the pulp to use in other recipes (instead of composting it or discarding it).

Optional: dehydrate almond pulp

Once fully dehydrated, save them in a jar.

A top view of a jar of dehydrated almonds ready to make into almond milk at a moment's notice, with dried almonds in the background on a dehydrator tray and plate.

When you want to make your next batch of fresh almond milk, you will not have to wait for your almonds to soak!

Just add one cup of dehydrated almonds into a blender with 4 cups of filtered water and blend just as you would with freshly-soaked raw almonds.

It's super quick and very convenient!

You can simply add a cup of dehydrated almonds to four cups of water and blend, just as in the original recipe, above.

When you notice your soaked and dehydrated almonds are starting to run low, just pre-soak and dehydrate more before you will want to make another batch.

How to freeze almond milk

Another great option is to blend more Vitamix almond milk all at once than you will want to use right away, then freeze it.

Three ways to freeze & defrost almond milk:

1. You can freeze them in ice cube trays, then once frozen, put the frozen cubes in a ziploc freezer bag to have handy in your freezer.

Pouring homemade Vitamix almond milk into ice cube trays to freeze.

Frozen cubes of homemade Vitamix almond milk ready to save in a plastic baggie for making quick smoothies and other recipes.

When you want to defrost some cubes, just toss them in a saucepan and warm for a few minutes on the stove over medium heat, while stirring.

But with the Vitamix I am actually skipping the step of melting the cubes, and instead just throw them in my blender for smoothie recipes.

They blend up and defrost immediately. It works so well!

2. Or you can do what I most often do, which is measure out one cup of almond milk into quart size freezer bags. I like to lay them flat in a stack on a plate in my freezer, so the liquid is super-thin in the bag and thus defrost very quickly.

Almond milk in a plastic freezer quart baggie ready to lay on a plate to freeze so that the liquid will be thin and easy to defrost quickly.

A side view of the frozen baggie of almond milk. Nice and thin, easy to break into pieces and place in a Vitamix blender or saucepan.

When I want to defrost the almond milk, i just rinse the baggie under warm tap water, dry the outside of the bag, break the frozen liquid into a few pieces, and dump them into a saucepan.

Or, as pictured, I just put the thin broken pieces of frozen almond milk into my Vitamix blender with liquid smoothie ingredients and they immediately blend into the recipe beautifully.

Pouring warm water over a bag of frozen almond milk, in order to defrost it quickly.

Breaking frozen almond milk into pieces inside the plastic baggie.

Broken pieces of almond milk thinly frozen in a baggie in my Vitamix blender, ready to add smoothie ingrients.

It just takes a very short few minutes for them to melt on the stove, and then my almond milk is ready to use!

3. Or other times, when I know ahead of time that I will want to use some almond milk, I will just lay the bag of frozen almond milk on a plate either in the refrigerator or at room temperature, and the milk melts in just a few hours and is good to go.

Easy!

Joi Almond Milk Concentrate

While doing research for this article, I came across another convenient-looking way to make your own almond milk quite quickly. It is a product called Joi Almond Milk Concentrate.

The company also makes Organic Joi Almond Milk Concentrate.

From what I can tell, the company uses blanched almonds as its only ingredient. It seems they grind it into a paste, and then you mix up some of the paste with water whenever you want to have some almond milk.

Looks like you can make other foods with it too, such as ice cream, sauces, soups and other desserts.

It seems to be very well reviewed by those who have tried it.

As of this writing I have not tried it yet, but if you have, please let me know what you think of it!

1. The controversy around carrageenan

Love recipes with almonds?

Check out my paleo apple crisp recipe with almond flour topping.