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Prepared with simple ingredients like roasted peanuts, water, and sugar, this delightful vegan peanut milk is creamy and packs a wonderful nuttiness. It can be enjoyed iced or hot, added to coffee, served with cereals, or used in baked goods!
⭐️ Why You Should Try This Recipe
- The drinkable version of peanut butter. Peanut butter lovers, you are going to get addicted to this milk. It’s literally peanut butter in a glass! With a hint of saltiness and the perfect amount of sweetness, this plant-based peanut milk is, without a doubt, a must-try.
- Thick and super creamy. Thanks to the healthy fats of peanuts, this milk has a silky smooth consistency and a rich mouthfeel without feeling too heavy, either.
- Made with just 3 ingredients. You will only need peanuts, sugar, and salt! Plus, an optional spoon of vanilla extract if you want more deliciousness.
📘 What is Peanut Milk
Peanut milk is a plant-based beverage prepared from peanuts, water, and sometimes sugar and salt. It’s a popular drink in Asia, especially in China and Vietnam, where it’s often sold on the street.
There are different versions of peanut milk. Some are prepared with raw peanuts, yielding a light color and a very subtle flavor, while others are made with roasted peanuts, yielding very nutty milk. In this recipe, we are going to prepare the latter.
🥜 Ingredient Notes
No fancy ingredients are required here. You will only need these pantry staples:
- Raw peanuts – I recommend starting with raw peanuts that will be roasted until golden brown. It yields a superior flavor compared to peanuts that are already roasted. Plus, it allows you to control the roast level. More about that in the Tips section.
- Sugar – I went with granulated white sugar, but coconut sugar, maple syrup, or agave will work as well.
- Salt – To enhance the peanut flavor. We all know peanuts and salt are a match made in heaven!
- Vanilla extract – Optional. It helps improve the overall flavor.
🥣 How to Make Peanut Milk
Making peanut milk at home in 4 simple steps: roasting the peanuts, blending them with water, straining the milk, and finally, cooking the milk.
Roast
We start by roasting the peanuts until golden brown. While traditionally, peanuts are slowly toasted in a wok, I prefer to roast them in the oven to make it easier. To do so:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (150°C).
- Spread the raw peanuts on a baking sheet and roast for 22-24 minutes. The peanuts should be golden brown all the way through, and the skin should be cracked.
- Next, remove from the oven and cool for at least 20 minutes.
- To peel the peanuts: simply rub the peanuts with your hands. The peels will come off very easily.
Blend
Once your peanuts are peeled (it’s okay if there are still some peels here and there):
- Transfer the roasted peanuts as well as the soaked raw peanuts to a blender and add the water.
- Blend on high speed for 1-2 minutes or until the peanuts are fully puréed.
Strain
- Add a nut milk bag over a bowl or saucepan.
- Place the peanut milk into the nut milk bag and squeeze with your hands to strain the milk.
- Once you have squeezed all of the liquid, discard the peanut pulp.
Cook
Finally, we will cook the milk for a few minutes. Cooking the milk allows the sugar to melt, as well as giving the peanut milk a creamier and thicker consistency. To do so:
- Pour the milk into a saucepan and add the sugar and salt.
- Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly until it comes to a boil.
- Let the milk simmer for 2 minutes and remove from heat.
☕️ How To Serve This Roasted Peanut Milk
We can use this vegan peanut milk in various ways:
- On its own: Serve with ice during summer or as a hot beverage during winter.
- Over cereals: Replace the almond milk with peanut milk and serve with your favorite cereals! Looking for homemade cereal recipes? Check out these Buckwheat Flakes, Cinnamon Cereals, or Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cereals!
- In smoothies: Use as a base to make nutty smoothies! It goes particularly well with blueberries and raspberries!
- In coffee or tea: Mix espresso with some peanut milk for a peanut latte.
📔 Tips
- Adjust the roasting level to your taste. Depending on how nutty you want the milk to be, you can roast the peanuts for a shorter or longer amount of time. The recommended time I am giving in the recipe gives a very nutty flavor. If you want a milder flavor, roast the peanuts for only 18-20 minutes.
- Regarding the color. The color of the milk will depend on the roast level of your peanuts.
- Tweak the flavors! Feel free to add a couple of tablespoons of cacao powder for chocolate peanut milk or more vanilla extract!
❄️ Storing and Reheating
- To store: For ideal freshness, consume this peanut milk within three days. After that, it tends to separate and doesn’t taste as good. Store it in the refrigerator and give it a quick shake before using.
- To reheat: You can enjoy this milk chilled or hot. To warm, simply heat it in a pot over low-medium heat for 3-5 minutes.
💬 FAQ
Yes, you can start with roasted peanuts. Be aware, though, that you won’t have the same nuttiness.
I do not recommend using a sieve to strain the milk, as it would not result in a smooth texture. A nut milk bag works best.
If your peanut milk is bitter, it means you roasted/toasted the peanuts too long. They burnt, hence the bitterness.
Homemade Peanut Milk
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/3 cup raw peanuts
- 3 cups water
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract optional
- 1/8 tsp salt adjust to taste
Instructions
- Soak 1/3 cup of the peanuts in cold water for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Roast the peanuts. Preheat the oven to
300 °F( 150°C). Spread the remaining 1 cup of peanuts on a baking sheet and roast them for 23-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 20 minutes. - Peel the peanuts: Once the peanuts are no longer hot, rub them with your hands. The peels will come off very easily. Discard the peels.
- Blend the milk. Drain the soaked peanuts and add them to the bowl of a blender. Add the roasted peanuts as well as the water. Blend on high speed for 1-2 minutes or until the peanuts are fully puréed.
- Strain the peanut milk. Place a nut milk bag over a bowl or saucepan. Pour the peanut milk into the nut milk bag and squeeze with your hands to strain the milk. Once you have squeezed all of the liquid, discard the peanut pulp.
- Cook the milk. Finally, pour the milk into a saucepan and add the sugar, salt, and vanilla extract if using. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly until it comes to a boil. Let the milk simmer for 2 minutes and remove from heat.
- Enjoy this peanut milk warm or over ice! You can also pour it over cereals or use it in smoothies, lattes, and more! Peanut milk will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Adjust the roasting level to your taste. Depending on how nutty you want the milk to be, you can roast the peanuts for a shorter or longer amount of time. The recommended time I am giving in the recipe gives a very nutty flavor. If you want a milder flavor, roast the peanuts for only 18-20 minutes.
- Regarding the color. The color of the milk will depend on the roast level of your peanuts.
- Enjoy within 3 days. For ideal freshness, consume this peanut milk within three days. After that, it tends to separate and doesn’t taste as good.
- Tweak the flavors! Feel free to add a couple of tablespoons of cacao powder for chocolate peanut milk or more vanilla extract!
About the Author
Thomas Pagot is the founder, photographer, and recipe developer behind Full of Plants. He created the blog in 2016 as a personal cookbook for vegan recipes. Through years of recipe development, Thomas has successfully grown Full of Plants into a trusted resource for plant-based recipes.
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This is brilliant, Thomas!
Hi Thomas,
I am wondering if you could use these ingredients and make the milk in a Soymilk maker?
Regards
Ruth
Hi Ruth,
I am not familiar with how soy milk makers work so I can’t say for sure. If they blend + strain + boil, then it should definitely work!
Hi Thomas,
They blend and boil yes then I usually strain the milk at the end.
Thank you for your reply, I will give it a go
Regards Ruth
Hi Thomas, is there any reason it has to be boiled, bacteria risk for instance?
Hi Stephanie,
Boiling gives it a slightly thicker consistency, plus it prevents the milk from separating too quickly in the fridge. Usually, mine only starts to separate after 2 days.
This may be silly, but I just made almond milk into yogurt this past weekend. Do you think it’s possible to use this peanut milk to make yogurt also? I love peanuts. I was scrolling through your other milk recipes and hazelnut sounded good too for yogurt. Your thoughts?
I think it will work, but this peanut milk is very nutty so I am not sure about how it will taste as a yogurt.
If I can replace almond milk with peanut milk it’s excellent. It’s for the taste. Thank you for sharing.
Excelente preparação do leite de amendoim. Vou fazer seguindo sua receita que está muito bem explicada. Obrigada!
De nada!