About this oats and almonds horchata
This easy, delicious, and authentic Mexican vegan horchata made with oats and almonds is perfect with ice as agua fresca, coffee, or tea.
What is horchata?
Horchata is a Mexican drink, a Mexican agua fresca that you will find all over Mexico in taquerías, restaurants, and ice-cream parlors o paleterías. The original Mexican horchata is made with white rice, sugar, and cinnamon. It tastes delicious, but it does not have tons of nutritional benefits. There are even some horchata recipes that use condensed milk in them.
Mexican horchata originally comes from the Spanish horchata beverage made with Chufas (tiger nuts). In other places, horchata is made with barley, sesame, cantaloupe seeds, and many more. As you know, I am a BIG FAN of flavor and nutritional benefits. So, I decided to give this dairy-free drink a spin and make it healthier with oats and almonds.
Is horchata vegan?
The authentic Mexican recipe is not vegan; it has milk, and some people even add condensed milk. I developed this recipe for vegan horchata, to make it healthy and perfect and follow a dairy-free diet.
How to make a healthy horchata recipe?
- Soak the almonds and cinnamon sticks in a large bowl with two to three cups of water for three hours or overnight in the fridge.
- Rinse and blend with the oats and a sweetener with fresh water.
- Strain with a nut milk bag, cheesecloth, an old kitchen towel, or a fine-mesh strainer.
- Enjoy; pour into a glass with ice and sprinkle some ground cinnamon.
How difficult is it to make dairy-free horchata at home?
TRUTH? I’m going to tell you the truth, it’s straightforward to prepare, but you have to strain it to achieve the perfect creaminess. This is the only “difficult” part of this recipe.
But beyond that, all the other steps for making this vegan and healthy horchata recipe are SUPER EASY.
Which sweetener is best?
We like to sweeten this agua fresca with dates, agave syrup, or sugar cane in my household. My children like it more with cane sugar than with dates.
But if you are going to use sugar, try buying the best you can. I always purchase vegan, organic sugar. Yes, not all cane sugar is vegan.
Tips for making the best oats horchata
- Is horchata healthy? It all depends on the recipe you follow, if you make this one it will be.
- It is essential to soak them for at least three hours almonds this step will make your drink creamier
- Use whole rolled oats or regular oats. Do not use instant oats for an oat drink.
- You could or not soak the oats; if you decide to soak them, do not soak them for more than three hours.
- When blending, blend the almonds and cinnamon first; you don’t want to over-blend the oats. They will become slimy.
- You can do this oat drink in batches if you don’t have a high-speed blender like a Vitamix.
This is an authentic vegan Mexican recipe that pairs well with other Mexican dishes such as sopes, crispy potato tacos, chorizo tostadas, guacamole, and chips.
Oats Almond Horchata (a twist on a classic Mexican agua Fresca)
Equipment
- blender
- old kitchen towel, a very fine sieve, or a nut milk bag
Ingredients
- 1 cup oats
- 1 cup almonds
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/4 cup of agave or 3 dates pitted
- 3 cups of water + 2 cups of water
Instructions
- To make almond milk, first soak the almonds and cinnamon in water for at least three hours or overnight. Once they are ready, drain them and blend with oats and three cups of water. If you’re using dates, add them now.
- After blending everything, strain the mixture with an old kitchen towel, a very fine sieve, or a nut milk bag. Pour the mixture into a pitcher and add 2 more cups of water. Sweeten with agave or your preferred sweetener if you're not using dates.
Notes
Nutrition
information
Nutritional information of this recipe is only an estimate, the accuracy for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Tengo una Certificación Profesional en la cocina vegana; en el mundo de la cocina basada en vegetales, frutas, granos, leguminosas… en comida limpia, orgánica y vegana.
My cookbook is called Yo Cocino Latino..
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