An authentic vegan horchata recipe made with almond milk. This Mexican vegan horchata is dairy free and therefore suitable if you are vegan or lactose-intolerance.
Horchata is a traditional drink in Mexico, which is made out of white rice, cinnamon, and milk. It is served on every corner in Mexico, but just the one which is made fresh and with high-quality ingredients taste the best. I love to drink vegan horchata to a spicy meal, as it helps to neutralize your mouth if there was too much chili on your plate ?
Traditional Horchata Recipe
The traditional horchata is made with evaporated milk, which makes it super creamy and rich in its taste trough the high amount of fat and sugar in the evaporated milk. It also helps to conserve it, which is essential in a hot country like Mexico. As there are already several excellent recipes for the traditional Mexican horchata, I did one for the vegans.
Vegan Horchata Recipe With Almond Milk
My recipe for this vegan horchata is suitable if you are vegan or lactose-intolerant. It’s made with unsweetened almond milk. If you don’t find unsweetened almond milk in the supermarket, buy the normal one and reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe. Or you can make your almond milk by yourself, therefore have a look at my recipe for homemade nut milk.
Vegan Horchata
Ingredients
- 60 g basmati rice
- 1 liter water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 250 ml unsweetened almond milk
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 1 pinch clove powder
Instructions
- Add the rice, one cinnamon stick and one-liter water into a large bowl and leave it on your countertop overnight.
- The next morning, pour the mixture into a blender and mix on high speed for 3 minutes.
- Put a nut bag (or laundry bag) over a big pot and pour the mixture through the bag. Squeeze and press it to get as much liquid out as possible.
- Wash out your blender and pour the filtered mixture back into it.
- Add all other ingredients from the unsweetened almond milk until the clove powder and blend for 2 minutes until everything is well mixed and the sugar is dissolved.
- Pour your vegan horchata into a glass bottle and store it in your fridge for up to one day until you serve it on ice cubes.
Aline's Suggestion
Nutrition per Serving
About 10 y/a when I started exploring with different Arroz con Leche flavors I decided to only use Basmati rice because 1. It’s my favorite rice, & 2. It gave a nutty, heartier rice flavor. The same for Horchata! It makes the drink thicker, in my opinion : )
Since that time I have developed vegan recipes for both due to dietary restrictions but I only use Basmati rice because it’s just so darn good with that deep, rice flavor.
Another spice I like to bounce around in my creamy Spanish rice drinks and desserts is Cardamom and/or cloves. The essence is soooooo amazing. Rose water is really good as well and it’s similar to Persian tapioca pudding but obviously on the creamier side.
You can also get a little frisky by grinding dried cranberries, orange zest, and cloves together then adding to Arroz con Leche or heating Horchata like Hot Chocolate during colder months! Trust me you can play with these and rarely make a mistake!
Lovely Michelle, thank you very much for your delicious ideas. In my opinion, basmati rice is also the best to choose for this tasty horchata. All your spice suggestions sound so delicious – I will try to add some cardamon the next time I make it.
All the best,
Aline
I can’t wait to make this recipe! Love the dairy-free spin on this classic!
Happy that you like it Laurel ❤️