Homemade soy milk is a great alternative to cow’s milk. It’s delicious, so inexpensive, easy to make and only requires 2 ingredients: water and soybeans.
Soy milk is a delicious and healthy alternative to cow’s milk. You can find it at pretty much any supermarket and is so inexpensive, but homemade soy milk is much better than store-bought
It has a strong flavor, though, so it’s not my favorite milk for drinking plain (I prefer oat milk), it is my favorite choice for cooking because it’s higher in fat than other plant-based milk products and has a similar texture to cow’s milk.
Making soy milk at home is really easy. You just need 2 ingredients: water and yellow soybeans, that’s all! However, you need to cook the milk before drinking it, as soy is a legume and can’t be eaten raw.
You can also add other ingredients, like vanilla extract, cocoa or carob powder, some sweetener (dates are amazing) or anything you want.
Soy is pretty controversial, it has supporters and detractors, but soy products have been consumed by centuries in Asia and they’re super healthy people, so don’t be afraid and enjoy your super tasty homemade soy milk.
In addition, soy milk is better for your health, the planet and the animals than cow’s milk, so give it a try!
How to make soy milk – Step by step
- Soak the soybeans in water overnight.
- Drain the soybeans and remove the outer skins. Then blend the soybeans with 3 cups or 750 ml of water until well blended and almost smooth (photo 1).
- Strain the blended mixture using a nut milk bag, a cheesecloth, a napkin or a fine mesh strainer (photo 2).
- Pour the mixture into a pot or a saucepan and add 1 cup or 250 ml of water (photo 3).
- Bring to a boil, stir and skim foam (photo 4).
- Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes (photo 5).
- Let cool the soy milk and enjoy it (photo 6). You can add other ingredients such as vanilla extract or dates. Blend the mixture if necessary.
Pro tips
- Use yellow soybeans, it’s the best kind of soybeans to make soy milk.
- Add more or less water depending on how thick you like your milk
- Feel free to add any sweeter you want or don’t add any sweetener at all. Add it gently until the milk tastes good.
- Some recipes call for a tiny amount of salt, but I prefer my milk salt-free.
- Feel free to add other ingredients like cocoa powder or ground cinnamon.
How long does homemade soy milk last?
It lasts about 3 to 5 days in a sealed container in the fridge. The time may vary depending on the container you’re using.
If the milk smells, tastes and looks good, it should be okay. I usually keep it for 5 days or even longer in the fridge.
Can you freeze soy milk?
When you freeze soy milk it often loses its texture and some of its flavor. However, freezing does not affect its safety or nutritional value, and you can keep it in your freezer for 3-6 months.
As it changes in texture when thawed, it’s better to use it for cooking rather than for drinking it just by itself.
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Soy Milk
- Prep: 10 mins
- Cook: 25 mins
- Total: 35 mins
- About 2 cups (500 ml) 1x
- How To, Drink
- Vegan, Chinese
Servings About 2 cups (500 ml) 1x
Homemade soy milk is a great alternative to cow’s milk. It’s delicious, so inexpensive, easy to make and only requires 2 ingredients: water and soybeans.
Ingredients
- ½ cup dried soybeans (80 g)
- 4 cups water (1 l)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or a piece of vanilla bean (optional)
- 4 dates (optional)
Instructions
- Soak the soybeans in water overnight (ideally 12 hours or longer).
- Drain the soybeans and remove the outer skins. Removing the outer skins is optional, but your milk will have a better texture if you do.
- Blend the soybeans with 3 cups of water (750 ml) until well blended and almost smooth.
- Strain the blended mixture using a nut milk bag, a cheesecloth, a napkin or a fine mesh strainer.
- Pour the mixture into a pot or a saucepan and add 1 cup of water (250 ml). Bring to a boil, stir and skim foam.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes.
- Let cool the soy milk. You can add other ingredients such as vanilla extract or dates. Blend the mixture if necessary.
- Keep leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for about 3-5 days.
Notes
- Use yellow soybeans, it’s the best kind of soybeans to make soy milk.
- Add more or less water depending on how thick you like your milk
- Feel free to add any sweeter you want or don’t add any sweetener at all. Add it gently until the milk tastes good.
- Some recipes call for a tiny amount of salt, but I prefer my milk salt-free.
- Feel free to add other ingredients like cocoa powder or ground cinnamon.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup (250 ml)
- Calories: 95
- Sugar: 2.1 g
- Sodium: 16 mg
- Fat: 4.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 4.2 g
- Fiber: 2.1 g
- Protein: 9.5 g
Update Notes: This post was originally published in Mayo of 2014, but was republished with new photos, step by step instructions and tips in January of 2020.
Hey there! If I want to make chocolate soy milk, at what point should I add the cocoa powder? Thank you for your advice!
Great milk.
Is there anything i can do with the left over soya pulp?
Add to cake or bread mix perhaps?
Hi Sophie! Feel free to add it to your cakes or breads! Also, we have a recipe with pulp: https://simpleveganblog.com/chocolate-hazelnut-truffles/ 🙂 In this case, we use hazelnut pulp but you can use soy pulp 🙂
Pro Tip – buy a soy making machine on ebay – you can find for 100 aud and buy borasilicate glass bottles from a laboratory supply store -about 13 aud for a 1 litre bottle – so easy to pour the hot milk straight into the bottle ( just remember they are hot) – I have two bottles and I make soy milk once a week – one after the other less cleaning up . I actually add cream to my soy milk for coffee because I am more interested in taste and less packaging and transport and keto then being vegan – but thats me . I even planted some of the beans this week because apparently one plant will yield enough soy beans for a litre of milk so why not see if I can grow enough for 2 litres a week ( 104 plants to grow in a year) , Don’t forget to use the okara in cakes. I never bother with removing the skins the machine grinds them up – you can make other stuff in the soy milk machine as well
Thanks for your suggestion! Have a nice day 🙂
How do you remove the soybean outer skins?
Hi Bonnie! Here is an article: https://tempebumbung.wordpress.com/2020/07/21/tempeh-making-process-how-to-dehull-soybeans/ that explains it in an easy way 🙂 Hope I have helped you a bit!
Can we boil again after keeping cooked soya milk in the freezer.
Hi! Feel free to boil it again 🙂
Hi Losune, thank you for sharing your brilliant vegan recipes especially the soy milk. I have tried preparing mine and it was wonderful but I discovered my milk cuddles after it cools down. Is there a way I can prevent my soy milk from cuddling?
Lastly, I prefer using dates as my sweetener, but can I blend the soy beans and dates together during the initial stage of preparation or anh better advice?
Hi Adams! Don’t know why your milk curdles after it cools down. Have you followed the recipe to a T?
I recommend you not to blend the soy and the dates together!
Hope I have helped you 🙂
It doesn’t say the quantity of soya beans in the recipe.
½ cup dried soybeans (80 g) 🙂
I haven’t made it but am confused by your nutrition numbers. They don’t jive with the ingredients you used.
You put in 80 grams of soy which literature says is 39% protein at most. It’s in 1000 grams of water, so how does less than 32 grams protein total become 9.5 grams per cup (236.5 mL) when that would be 32 g protein/ 1000g water = 0.032g protein /mL water. So 0.032 g protein /mL water x 236.5 mL water = 7.568 g protein/cup. But your nutrition info says 9.5 g protein per cup. You didn’t put that much in. Where did the extra come from?
Maybe some of the water boils off during the boil step, which would concentrate the protein. Not sure if it would concentrate it that much though.
Can you fortify the soy milk, like the store bought brands; I want to make sure to get my calcium etc? Also, I have a soy-milk maker. Would I still need to boil the milk afterwards to get rid of the beany taste? Lastly, can you make oat milk in a soy milk maker?
yes you can, you just need to shake it up like you would store-bought, and yes, and no
Thanks for your help, Billiebean 🙂
Hi Susan, I have never try to fortify it but I think you can do it. If you use a soy-milk maker you also have to boil the milk, this will make it more digestive. Lastly, soy-milk maker is only for soy milk!
Have a nice day 🙂