How To Make Soy Milk at Home

Making your own soy milk is fast, easy and most importantly delicious. We’ve found dried organic soy beans on sale for as little as $.99 a pound so it makes a lot of economic sense too.

The hardest part when making your own soy milk is knowing at least 8 hours before you want it. Otherwise, it’s simply a matter of soaking the beans, tossing them in a blender with boiling water, and separating the okara (Japanese for bean curd) from the filtrate (this is the soy milk).

Once you’ve got the soy milk, you can add a little sugar and enjoy it over cereal or by itself. We recently returned from a pick-your-own blueberry farm, so we’re adding our homemade soy milk to blueberry smoothies. Perfect for a quick breakfast, so long as you remember to soak the beans.

Ingredients
1 cup dried organic soy beans, rinsed and picked over
Water to cover beans
Sugar (optional)

Equipment
1-quart Mason jar
Large saucepot
Blender
Medium or large mixing bowl
Strainer
Cheese cloth or muslin for straining

These instructions make about 2 cups of soy milk, enough for two smoothies. You can easily double this recipe.

1. Fill mason jar with 1 cup dried organic soy beans, cover with water and leave soaking over night. Beans will have doubled in size.

2. Rinse hydrated beans, place in blender and cover with boiling water. You should have about 2 cups. Blend until a thick paste forms, about 3 to 4 minutes.

3. Move paste to large sauce pan or dutch oven. Add 6 cups boiling water and heat over medium high until simmering. Reduce heat and simmer 15 to 20 minutes.

Strain bean mixture through cheese cloth suspended in strainer over a mixing bowl. After filtering five to 10 minutes, you’ve got soy milk. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar to taste.

Refrigerate immediately, keeps up to 3 days.

Fresh Blueberry Smoothie
Makes 2 10-ounce smoothies

8 ounce fresh soy milk
About half a banana
8 ounce fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons oat flour (optional) (See our take on adding oatmeal to your morning smoothies)

Add all ingredients to blender. Blend on low for 30 seconds, increasing power to half. Blend another 30 seconds. Increase power to high and blend 1 minute to fully integrate all ingredients. Serve immediately.

Jarad Petroske is a professional writer and editor based in Eureka, California.

Related: What’s the Difference Between Soy, Rice and Almond Milk?

(Images: Jarad Petroske)