I Tested 8 Nut Milk Makers to Find the Best Ones for Homemade Oat Milk, Almond Milk, and More

It’s never been a better time to be a fan of fancy coffee and tea drinks. Social media has helped unleash a wave of creative options, from blueberry lattes to cortados made with cashew-macadamia milk. Gone are the days when your average coffee shop only offered a single type of cow’s milk. Now, it is standard practice to have five or six alternative milks on the menu. Oat, almond, soy, cashew, pistachio—the alternatives are seemingly endless. Whether you have dietary restrictions or prefer different flavors, there are plenty of reasons to enjoy a nut or grain milk.

At the grocery store, alternative milk can easily ring up for double or triple the cost of cow’s milk. Not to mention, many of them contain gums and stabilizers to improve their texture or keep the liquid from separating. Frequent drinkers of oat or almond milk may have considered making it themselves at home, but the process can be a hassle. Pull out the blender, soak the nuts, forget you’re out of cheesecloth, and run to the store…it’s a lot.

Enter nut milk makers, which aim to streamline the process at home with one simple countertop appliance. I gathered some of the leaders in this category to find out which could deliver great quality homemade alternative milk and which weren’t worth the splurge.

The Tests

• Almond Milk Test: I set up each machine and made almond milk according to the manufacturer’s instructions. I strained the milk, if instructed, and gave it a taste. I also dipped a spoon in to see how thin or creamy the milk was.
• Oat Milk Test: I also used each machine to make oat milk to see how each could perform making non-nut milk. I made the oat milk according to the machines’ instructions regarding ratios of oats to water, gave it a taste, and checked the thickness.
• Cleanup/Performance: For each machine, I also considered how easy or difficult the cleaning process was, if I had to strain the milk manually or separately from the machine, and if each machine had any features that made performance or usability any easier (or harder). 

What I Learned

Nut and Grain Pulp Can Be A Hassle

Once I had extracted all the liquid from a batch of oats or nuts, most machines left us with some dry pulp. The manufacturers realize that this presents a slight problem and many offered recipes for cookies, crackers, and even granola that could be made from the pulp to use it up. If you hate throwing food away, you might want to choose a nut milk maker like the Nama that gives you tools for collecting and storing the pulp. For example, that model includes a silicone storage bag that unfolds into a flat mat to corral the nut or grain pulp. It also comes with a small brush to dislodge some of that pulp from any tricky corners within the machine. Some machines, like the ChefWave, blend the milk so well that very little pulp is left over—what remains just settles to the bottom of the milk. 

Heated Machines Were More Versatile

While nuts and grains can be blended at any temperature, some ingredients must be cooked before being consumed. Soybeans can’t be consumed raw but become easily digestible once cooked. Those who plan to only make cold nut milk may not need this feature, but a nut milk machine with a built-in heater is more versatile. Some of the machines I tested can make soup, yogurt, and even hot chocolate. Not only do heaters open the door to more types of recipes, but the milk also comes out of the machine piping hot. Imagine starting your day by pouring a splash of steaming hot, fresh soy or almond milk into your favorite brew. 

Heating does affect time for some machines, as you can see on this graph:

Unheated machines or cycles took much less time to complete than heated cycles, which makes sense as only blending is needed. 

Extraction Method Affected Yield

The nut milk machines I tested extracted milk from nuts and grains with varying methods. All nut milk makers are designed to grind the product (nuts, legumes, or grains), and then mix it with water. All the machines, save the Chef'n Nut Milk Maker, have built-in blades to break things down. Some offer built-in strainers while others rely on a powerful motor to pulverize the ingredient so well that a strainer is unnecessary. All of the electric models I tested have a single compartment where you add water and ingredients. Only the ChefWave has a separate water tank reservoir that adds the right amount of water based on your chosen setting. The ChefWave uses a small amount of steam to break down the nuts and grains before mixing that pulp with more water to make the milk, which creates a much creamier result.

The Nama M1 Nut Milk Maker has spinning plastic paddles inside the strainer basket where the blades blitz the nuts or grains. This action forces the pulp against the small holes using centrifugal force, a design used by some juicers. This, combined with a two-stage run cycle, extracted the most moisture and fat possible from the ingredient and led to the creamiest nut and oat milk by far. To understand why this machine produced the best texture, I talked to Heidi Teoh, Vice President of R&D for SOWN oat milks. “Filtration removes solids,” says Teoh. “The size of the pores will impact final texture and consistency. Coarser strainers/filters will allow more solids in the final product and it can be creamier and thicker but may feel sandy. Finer filters can yield very smooth products but can feel ‘thin’ in taste and texture due to so many solids being removed. The magic is in knowing how much to filter.” 

After testing these nut milk makers, it became clear that the creamiest, best-textured oat and nut milk came from machines in which the blended pulp is forced against a fine filter. I also liked nut and grain milks that were blended very, very finely and left unstrained. The remaining solids fell to the bottom, leaving the top portion thick and creamy. 

The Criteria: What to Look for in a Nut Milk Maker

Anyone can make great nut milk at home using a blender and a strip of cheesecloth, so if you’re going to shell out for a dedicated nut milk machine, it should streamline the process. The nut milk should be creamy and smooth, so a built-in strainer is a must. At the very least, it should come with one in the box or be powerful enough not to need one.

If you plan to make soy milk, you should choose a nut milk maker that heats up or else you’ll have to cook soybeans on the stove before blending. 

Making (and especially straining) nut milk is notoriously messy, so choosing a machine that is easy to clean and offers a simple way to deal with leftover pulp is ideal. After testing these, it was clear that fewer parts led to less cleaning overall.

Our Favorite Nut Milk Makers

The Best Nut Milk Maker

AlfaBot Nut Milk Maker

$110 $69 at Amazon

What I liked: For a machine the size of a water pitcher, the AlfaBot can do a surprising amount of tasks. Not only does it have an ultra-powerful motor that can blitz nuts and grains to oblivion, but it also has a built-in heater that can cook legumes such as soybeans. While there isn’t a built-in strainer (one does come in the box), both the oat and almond milk were blended so finely that there was only a bit of sediment that collected at the bottom of the pitcher.

Using the machine was simple, thanks to its clear menu that allows you to select between nuts, beans, yogurt, juice, and grains. As for cleaning, the AlfaBot houses everything in one simple unit. Forget about juggling multiple blades, strainers, baskets, and other parts. There is also a self-cleaning cycle that runs soapy water around the machine to eliminate the need for any scrubbing. 

What I didn’t like: The capacity is on the smaller end compared to some of the other machines I tested. (Some can make twice as much milk in a single batch.) It doesn’t come with a built-in strainer (though one is included in the box) so you have to manually pass the milk through for an extra-smooth texture.

Key Specs

• Material: Plastic and stainless steel
• Size: 5 x 7 x 9.75 inches
• Capacity: 4.2 cups
• Built-in Heater: Yes
• Built-in Strainer: No

The Best Splurge Nut Milk Maker

Nama M1 Plant-Based Milk Maker

View on Namawell.com

What I liked: There’s a lot to like about the Nama Nut Milk Maker but what made me a believer was the texture of the milk it made: It was the creamiest, smoothest nut milk of any machine I tested. The superfine strainer has teeny-tiny holes, so no fine grit could pass through. But the true magic of this machine is its double blend and centrifugal spinning method. If you start the Nama on a standard cycle, it blends your nuts or grains for a full minute, rotating ground pulp against the cylindrical strainer. Then, the machine instructs you to open the pour spout and let some of the milk out while it runs a second cycle that puts even more pressure on the pulp to squeeze every last molecule of liquid and fat out. Not only did this result in nut milk that was thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, it also produced a bone-dry pulp that was ready to be turned into cookies or crackers.

Speaking of pulp, the Nama includes a genius folding silicone mat that doubles as a pouch for storing pulp in the refrigerator. I found myself almost giddy with joy at the simple genius of this accessory, which none of the other nut milk makers came with. After processing multiple milks in eight different machines, I can assure you that anything that helps manage leftover pulp will save you a ton of frustration.

What I didn’t like: It’s about double the price of most other nut milk makers, so it might not be the best option unless you have deep pockets for your nut milk habit. It also doesn’t have a built-in heater so it won’t be able to make soy milk unless you cook it beforehand.

Key Specs

• Material: Plastic and stainless steel
• Size: 8.75 x 7.25 x 16.25 inches
• Capacity: 5 cups
• Built-in Heater?: No
• Built-in Strainer?: Yes

The Best Smart Nut Milk Maker

ChefWave Milkmade Dairy Alternative Vegan Milk Maker

$220 at Amazon View on Zoro.com

What I liked: The ChefWave is the Nespresso machine of nut milk makers. It’s a gorgeous, streamlined machine that makes creamy nut milk in less than 10 minutes at the push of a button. The simple, intuitive digital control panel took a lot of the guesswork out of the process, breaking down the operation to a few common presets like almond, soy, or oat. Just place a handful of nuts or grains into the clear-lidded hopper on top, choose the amount to make by filling the clear, labeled water carafe, and set it to run. There are also settings for customizing to your own preferences, like adding more time or heat. Unlike other machines I tested, the ChefWave uses a small amount of steam and water to cook and blend the nuts as finely as possible before adding more water to create the ideal texture. This cuts down on processing time and eliminates the need for straining. 

The high-quality thick-walled glass milk carafe comes with a lid so the whole thing can transfer seamlessly to the refrigerator. I could envision this machine making its home next to the coffee or espresso machine of a serious latte enthusiast. In about the same amount of time it takes to brew a cup of joe, the ChefWave will dispense hot, frothy, fresh nut milk that’s ready to pour into your mug. 

But perhaps the best aspect of the ChefWave is its built-in self-cleaning cycle. This cycle starts automatically and dispenses the wastewater into a dedicated catch basin that easily slides out to be poured into the sink. Beyond that, just give the milk and waste water tanks a quick rinse and you’re ready for future vegan milk creations.

What I didn’t like: Overall, the machine is fairly bulky to pull in and out of a cabinet frequently and would be better suited to staying in one spot. Despite the large size, the capacity is on the smaller side at 2.5 cups, which means you’ll have to run multiple cycles to get more milk. The price may be prohibitive for some, at about double that of our winner.

Key Specs

• Material: Plastic and stainless steel
• Size: 8.75 x 7.25 x 16.25 inches
• Capacity: 5 cups
• Built-in Heater?: Yes
• Built-in Strainer?: No

The Best Budget Nut Milk Maker

Chef'n Nut Milk Maker

$32 at Amazon View on Chefn.com

What I liked: This is by far the most affordable nut milk maker I tested and is the best option for those with limited space and budget. Choose your own method of blending nuts or oats with water, then pour it through the fine-meshed sieve into the glass carafe. The carafe comes with a silicone lid for storing in the refrigerator. Beyond that, there’s not much else to this nut milk maker. It doesn’t need to be plugged in and it neatly strains the nut-water mixture. It has a simple, streamlined design that stores easily and can strain a variety of foods and beverages, like horchata or ricotta. 

What I didn’t like: This isn’t so much a nut milk maker as it is a nut milk strainer. Most likely, you’ll need to use a spoon or spatula to force the pulp against the strainer to extract every last drop of milk, which can get tiring.

Key Specs

• Material: Plastic and glass
• Size: 3.5 x 3.5 x 3.5 inches (filter), 3.5 x 3.5 x 11 inches (carafe)
• Capacity: About 4.2 cups
• Built-in Heater?: No
• Built-in Strainer?: Yes

The Competition

• Tribest SB-130 Soyabella: This maker has both a built-in heater and strainer, but when I opened up the strainer basket I found that some almonds didn’t even fully break down and some were still almost whole. The resulting almond milk was thin and watery.
• NUTR Machine Automatic Nut Milk Maker: This was almost a winner for best overall but it didn’t come with a strainer (and I ordered two machines to make sure it wasn’t a fluke), so the almond milk was a bit gritty.
• SoyaJoy G5 8in1 Milk Maker: It’s difficult to handle all the pieces of this maker when cleaning without making a huge mess. The machine was not powerful enough to break down the nuts or oats completely and it left some texture in the milk.
• Almond Cow Milk Maker Machine: This pricey machine does not come with a built-in heater but could be a good choice for those looking to make raw milks only. I found that this design was trickier to handle during cleaning than others and tends to make a mess.

FAQs

What is the best way to clean a nut milk maker?

The answer to this question will depend heavily on the design of your nut milk maker. Always consult the manufacturer’s instructions for best cleaning practices. In general, nut milk makers tend to combine an electric blending component with a plastic or stainless steel carafe in which the nut milk is made. As such, most of the machines I tested required hand-washing.

Can you use a nut milk maker to make soy milk? 

Yes, you can use a nut milk maker to make soy milk. However, soybeans have to be cooked to be digested so you will either have to use a nut milk maker that comes with a built-in heater or boil the beans before making the milk.

Can you use a nut milk maker to make oat milk?

Oat milk is one of the best things to make in a nut milk maker. While the price of oat milk has skyrocketed, oats remain incredibly affordable, so making it yourself can save you tons of money in the long run. Using a nut milk maker to make your own oat milk also gives you the opportunity to have full control over the ingredients that go into it, as well as the final taste and texture.

Can I use a blender to make nut milk?

Any standard blender can make nut milk, though the more powerful the blender, the less straining is required on the back end. Straining nut milk tends to be the most arduous part of the process and can require some real elbow grease to get the creamiest final product.

Why We’re the Experts

• Taylor Murray has worked in food and food media for over 10 years, including in award-winning restaurants like Eleven Madison Park. She has written extensively for Serious Eats (including reviews of carbon steel pans and carving boards).
• Taylor tested eight nut milk makers, using each to make almond and oat milk. During testing, she evaluated each machine’s performance, usability, and design. 
• We tested nut milk makers before and added a few more models to this roundup, two of which unseated previous picks.
• Taylor spoke to Heidi Teoh, Vice President of R&D for SOWN oat milk to get more context for what makes a great non-dairy milk.