Homemade Horchata — This easy horchata recipe requires some planning, but it’s so easy to make! Just soak your ingredients overnight, then blend them up!
Creamy Homemade Horchata
One of my favorite things to do in the spring and summer is go to the farmers market, walk around and take it all in, and drink freshly made horchata. At the farmers market, I load up on a ridiculous amount of seasonal fruits and vegetables. My eyes are always bigger than my stomach and my refrigerator storage drawer.
The treat of the day is usually homemade horchata. The local vendors offer more free samples than Costco. They make everything from hibiscus punch to watermelon juice to mango salad, along with their fabulous homemade fresh horchata.
When I was in Mexico City last summer, I also had some amazing horchata from the markets and street food vendors.
This was a life-changing day. So incredibly powerful; a day I will never forget as long as I live. Some of the things I saw, oh boy. There was so much to see and so much food to eat.
I started researching recipes and came across a Rick Bayless recipe for horchata. It seems that most people make horchata with almonds, but I generally prefer cashews to almonds because cashews are creamier, they’re more neutral-tasting, and they blend much better and more easily.
The blending part is key because I didn’t want to be bothered with straining this or bothering with a cheesecloth, which is why I used cashews. The vanilla flavor was very pronounced and there was a hint of cinnamon present. The horchata was sweet, creamy, milky, and I had to restrain from drinking about 19 ounces of horchata at once.
It’s that good and this is going to become a staple. And try not to drink the whole batch at once. Refrigerate excess (if you mange to have any and haven’t drank it all directly from the Vita-Mix canister).
But I was classier than that. I used a straw and a mason jar.
What’s in Horchata?
For this easy horchata recipe, you’ll need:
- Raw cashews
- White rice
- Water
- Cinnamon stick
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
How to Make Horchata at Home
Put the cashews into the Vita-Mix or blender canister along with the rice, water, and a cinnamon stick and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, remove the cinnamon stick and add in the sugar and vanilla.
Blend the mixture until it’s as smooth as possible. If needed, you can strain the homemade horchata through a cheesecloth to remove any lumps. My Vita-Mix blended everything up perfectly, but depending on how strong your blender is you may want to strain it.
Can I Use Almonds Instead of Cashews?
Yes, you can make this easy horchata recipe with raw or blanched almonds. Just make sure they don’t contain any salt!
Ways to Enjoy Horchata
There are SO many ways for you to enjoy homemade horchata, besides drinking it straight. A few of my go-to ways to use up horchata are:
- Use over cereal, in oatmeal, and in smoothies.
- Make ice cubes with it for iced coffee.
- Bake with it in place of recipes calling for nut or rice milk.
- Use it as coffee creamer.
- Add chocolate sauce for chocolate “milk.”
- Freeze it for 2 hours (or until barely frozen) for a slushy-esque treat.
- Make it into a cocktail! Just Add 1 ounce of Baileys, Kahlua, or Vanilla Vodka to 4 to 6 ounces of horcahta and ice cubes, shake/stir and serve.
Tips for Making Horchata
I used traditional recipes (here and here) as reference for the amount of sugar to add to this horchata recipe (and they use more than I did). You may wish to start with 1/3 cup sugar, and increase from there if you prefer something sweeter. You can also use another form of sweetener, to taste.
All amounts are to taste. If you are serving over ice, it will also water down and become less sweet, something to keep in mind. This is a sweet beverage; it’s not supposed to be “barely sweet,” it’s supposed to be sweet.
If you prefer a thinner horchata, increase the amount of water, to taste, or strain it. Whatever blender you use, blend, blend, blend. Depending on type of blender used, and taste preferences, strain if desired.
Lastly, make sure you’re using raw unsalted cashews in this recipe. If your cashews are salted, the flavor of your horchata will be way off!
More Easy Drink Recipes:
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- Flavored Water — I’ve shared two of my favorite flavored water recipes in this post — a cucumber water and a berry water — but the flavor options are endless!
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Homemade Horchata
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews, or use raw or blanched almonds
- ⅔ cup white rice, uncooked (medium or long-grain preferred)
- 2 ½ cups + 3 cups water
- one 3-inch cinnamon stick
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar, or to taste*
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, increase to 1 teaspoon if you love vanilla
Instructions
- In a large blender canister, Vita-Mix canister, or large bowl combine cashews, uncooked rice, 2 1/2 cups warm tap water, cinnamon stick, cover and place in the refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours.
- Remove canister from the refrigerator, remove the cinnamon stick, and blend the mixture for 2 to 3 minutes on high speed, or until blended as smoothly as possible.
- Add sugar (to taste), vanilla extract, 3 cups more water and blend again for 2 more minutes, or until mixture is as smooth as possible.
- If desired, strain horchata through a sieve or cheesecloth (I did not find it necessary as the cashews blended incredibly smoothly in my Vita-Mix). Serve immediately as is, over ice, or refrigerate and serve chilled, shaking before if mixture has separated. Horchata will keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days; use common sense.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Thank you for posting the horchata recipe! I made it yesterday with almonds and we LOVE it! It’s perfect for me since I dislike a full breakfast meal and the almonds are quite filling. So excited to find this, thanks again!
Thanks for the report back! Yes, I have made almond milk like this (but without the rice) before, too. Glad to hear you had success with the almonds + rice!
I’ve never had horchata before. It looks delish! And those are some awesome looking pineapple! Wow!
I’ve never had horchata but I’m really intrigued after reading your post! I think I need a better blender before I tackle it. And wow, is your farmer’s market ever awesome, I’m jealous :)
Yes, I will admit, that without a Vita, not sure how smooth this gets, but with the Vita, it’s….heavenly!
For some reason i thought horchata was made with cooked rice. anywho it looks delish! I need to invest in a nut milk bag because my non-dairy milk consumption is getting out of hand (and quite expensive!)
And I didn’t even strain this; no nut milk bag for me required on this one. To each her own, of course, regarding straining.
I LOVE horchata! We grew up with it and I crave it every summer. We make ours with rice and it could be quite the process. I just might have to try your variation when I don’t want to grind up rice and strain ;)
Your photos are beautiful and that farmers market looks amazing!
Thanks, Yvette, and if you do try my version, would love to hear about it!
Hi, I found your blog through foodgawker. I have never heard of horchata before. I make almond milk myself and it is bit tedious as I have to strain each time. But yours is a very easy recipe. It will be a keeper for me. Thanks a lot for sharing. Navi.
Thanks for saying hi!
I love horchata!!! Thank you for sharing!
My kids love horchata. I call it liquid crack ;). Great post!
LOVE this – my favorite recipe of yours so far – would love to run into you at one of our local Farmers Markets. Which is your favorite?
Usually H.C. but sometimes M.H.’s
Haven’t been in ages though…been too chilly and bad timing. But spring/summer is right around the corner! Once we get past the dreary weather today.
I apparently am the only person in healthy-blogger-land who’s not tried this. I need to try it! Thanks for sharing an easy recipe.
I want to make this so bad, but first I have a dumb question. Is the rice cooked or raw? I’ve made nut milks before, but they don’t have rice. Think I have all the ingredients on hand, but don’t know about the rice. I’ve never heard of this drink at all, but it sound delicious. Love all your recipes and the pictures are spectacular. Always makes me hungry!
raw and then soak it overnight with the cashews like I indicated in the recipe and pictures, then blend the next day.
Can I just start by telling you how amazing you are? I had no idea that you could make horchata at home. I’ve always thought that I needed some super secret ingredients or something but that’s not the case at all! I don’t even like horchata but I am stoked to make this because Jason (the boyfriend) is obsessed with horchata. He’s going to be thrilled when he comes home to homemade horchata! And best of all, I just got a new blender and a box of Mason jars.
I really think it’s fate that I came across this recipe today :)
Wow that’s a pretty cool twist of fate and please keep me posted if you make it!
Remember how you said we could switch kitchens cause we are on the same wavelength so often? Well, this morning, my oldest said “We should make our own Horchata. I’m sure it would be healthier and less expensive.” I kid you not. SO…..I bought all the ingredients after I was done tripping out about your post! Recipe on the agenda for tomorrow! :-)
Ok keep me posted and that’s beyond trippy!
My daughter told me yesterday she wanted dinner to be grilled. I said honey we don’t have a grill. She said, but people in Mexico do. I said yes, they probably do. She said, well we should go to Mexico then! lol
I’ve always steered clear of horchata, because I’ve only seen it kind of chunky from the rice. I’m a texture person, so I thought I wouldn’t like it, but I think I need to try your version if it is smooth!
Well the Vitamix got it SUPER smooth but of course, your mileage may vary based on blender used :)
I swear, it’s never a good idea to look at your blog when I’m hungry. Haha, it always feels like a tease! ;)
I’ve never heard about horchata, but I HAVE to make it and try it out now that you’ve mentioned it! :)