Back To Basics- How To Make Homemade Coconut Milk Recipe

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Chuck out those cans of coconut milk! Learn how to make homemade coconut milk using Hello Creative Family's quick and easy recipe

Coconut is one of my very favorite flavors in the whole wide world. There is nothing in the world like cracking open a fresh coconut, scooping out the flesh and drinking the coconut water that’s inside. It is HEAVENLY. I love adding coconut milk to my smoothies, to my tea and drinking it plain. I also love cooking with coconut milk. Earlier this week I made a thai chicken coconut soup that used my homemade bone broth and homemade coconut milk. I poured it over a bed of barley and sweet potato cubes. It was SO DELICOUS. While I was eating it, the thought came to me that not everyone knows just how easy it is to make coconut milk at home! So I decided that I would share my recipe with you today. 

I don’t know if you’ve ever looked at the nutrition label of cartons of milk substitute, but shockingly, many of them are filled with ingredients that you can’t pronounce… usually to help stabilize the product and to keep it from separating. By making this at home you can keep those icky chemicals out of your food. Just make small batches of your milk at a time, and shake before use when it separates!

Last week I started my course with the Academy of Culinary Nutrition to get my Culinary Nutrition Certification. Our first assignment is to develop our food philosophy. I’m still working on mine, but I think it will go something like this:

Eat real food.

Know where it comes from.

Cook from scratch.

Feed your family homemade, handmade, heart-made food.

Share it with the world. 

On October 6th I’m teaching a course in New Westminster, BC called Nuts About Nut Milk. In the course I’m going to teach why soaking nuts before consuming them is so important, how to make almond milk, coconut milk and hemp milk,  how to put a spin on these classics by adding vanilla, strawberry, chocolate or other flavorings and how to make raspberry chia seed pudding with coconut milk. 

I’m sure that these are all skills that you’d love to know for your daily kitchen life too, so over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing posts on each of these subjects with  you.

In the meantime, read on to learn how to make homemade coconut milk. 

Back To Basics: How to Make Homemade Coconut Milk Recipe

What you need:

Instructions:

  1. Measure 2 cups of coconut, pour in a bowl and top with 4 cups of water. Let sit for 2 hours. Alternatively if you are in a rush you can use boiling water and soak coconut for 5-10 minutes instead of for 2 hours. 
  2. Pour the coconut and water into your blender and blend for 1 to 2 minutes.
  3. Pour mixture into nut bag or into your fine mesh strainer. Strain into a bowl until as much liquid as possible has been removed. This liquid is your coconut milk! 1 part coconut to 2 parts water makes a pretty concentrated coconut milk, perfect for cooking with. If you want a coconut milk that is a bit less concentrated add your coconut back into the blender and add 2 more cups of water. Blend and strain. 
  4. Pour your coconut milk into a glass jar and cover tightly. Will last in the fridge for 3-5 days. Shake well before use as coconut fats and coconut water will separate. 

Note: Don’t throw away the coconut milk! This can be dried and blended to make coconut flour!

Print or save for later: 

Back To Basics: How To Make Homemade Coconut Milk Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • -2 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut unsweetened, I try to use organic when possible. You can also use coconut flakes
  • -4-6 cups of water
  • -Large bowl
  • -Nut milk bag or fine mesh sieve
  • -A high powered blender We have a Blendtec and love it.

Instructions

  • Measure 2 cups of coconut, pour in a bowl and top with 4 cups of water. Let sit for 2 hours. Alternatively if you are in a rush you can use boiling water and soak coconut for 5-10 minutes instead of for 2 hours.
  • Pour the coconut and water into your blender and blend for 1 to 2 minutes.
  • Pour mixture into nut bag or into your fine mesh strainer. Strain into a bowl until as much liquid as possible has been removed. This liquid is your coconut milk! 1 part coconut to 2 parts water makes a pretty concentrated coconut milk, perfect for cooking with. If you want a coconut milk that is a bit less concentrated add your coconut back into the blender and add 2 more cups of water. Blend and strain.
  • Pour your coconut milk into a glass jar and cover tightly. Will last in the fridge for 3-5 days. Shake well before use as coconut fats and coconut water will separate.

Notes

Don't throw away the coconut milk! This can be dried and blended to make coconut flour!
Love this recipe?Follow @hellocreativef for even more fun party ideas!

Tell me… Have you ever made coconut milk at home? What would you like to see next in our Back To Basics series? 

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7 Comments

  1. I like your food philosophy – simple & clear. Have made some nut milks but haven’t tried coconut, this intrigues me to try.

  2. Great idea for coconut milk without all the additives

  3. Anne Taylor says:

    I’ve never even thought to make my own coconut milk! Thanks for this…I”ll be trying to do this very soon!