Does Horchata Have Dairy? (Is Horchata Vegan?)

It’s traditionally served cold, either straight out of the fridge or chilled in ice cubes. It’s delicious and refreshingly sweet.

Horchata is a traditional Mexican beverage made from rice milk, cinnamon, vanilla bean, sugar, salt, water, and sometimes almonds or raisins. It can also be made without dairy and with sugar substitutes.

However, there are plenty of vegan alternatives available. You can try making your version using rice milk, vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks, sugar, salt, and water. Or, you can buy a bottle of rice milk and add your favorite toppings.

Does Horchata Have Milk?

Most horchata sold in grocery stores in North American Countries is made using cow’s milk. However, several brands are made using rice milk instead. These include La Chaya, Leche De Oro, and El Rey del Horchata.

How Is Traditional Horchata Made?

Traditional horchata is made using rice and vanilla. However, if you’d rather not add those two ingredients, there are plenty of other options available. You can try substituting tiger nuts, sesame seeds, melon seeds, squash seeds, vanilla seeds, coriander seeds, almond meals, etc.

Is There Dairy in Store-Bought Horchata Mix?

Horchata is made from rice and milk. Some store-bought versions may include dairy ingredients in them.

But if you decide to make your version at home, there’s no reason not to add dairy to it. You can easily find a dairy-free horchata mix online. Just search for “dairy-free horchata” and you’ll find plenty of options.

Some store-bought versions of horchata may include dairy ingredients in it. But if you decide that you’d rather make your version in your kitchen instead of buying it, you can simply omit the dairy from your recipe.

Is It Possible to Make Dairy-Free Horchata at Home?

Horchata is made using almonds and cinnamon, two ingredients that are common in Mexican cuisine. While it may be difficult to locate an authentic horchata dish at restaurants, it’s not that difficult to make at home.

However, it does require a bit of time and effort. You’ll need to soak the almonds overnight, grind them up, add water, vanilla extract, brown sugar, salt, and a sprinkle of cinnamon, mix well, let sit for 5 hours, strain out the solids, pour through cheesecloth, refrigerate and serve cold.

Vegan Mexican Horchata

Horchata is a traditional beverage from Mexico. It’s made with rice, almonds, and fresh water, plus a cinnamon stick and vanilla pods. It’s naturally sweetened with dates, making it a great alternative to sugar.

Key ingredients

Some of the Key Ingredients used in the Horchata Recipe are listed below: 

Long-grain white rice

White rice has a mild, starchy taste. This makes up the basis of a Mexican horchata recipe, so don’t skimp on it! In the drink itself, it gives off a slightly sweet, rice pudding flavor.

Almond milk

You can add a little bit of vanilla extract to almond milk if you’d like. Vanilla adds another layer of sweetness and complexity to the overall flavor profile.

Cinnamon sticks

You can add cinnamon sticks or flavors of cinnamon to any recipe that calls for cinnamon, including sweet treats like cookies and cakes. Cinnamon also has a lowering effect on cholesterol levels. It has many other benefits as a primary ingredient as it controls Blood Sugar Levels.

Not only does cinnamon provide antioxidants, but it can also lower cholesterol. Add cinnamon to your next batch of baked goods and enjoy the delicious results!

Cane sugar

Horchata is traditionally served warm, although it can be enjoyed cold as well. Sweetened with cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup gives it a richer taste and makes it more authentic.

Fun fact: Mexican Coke uses cane sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup like the rest of the world.

Instructions

Horchata is made out of rice, almonds, cinnamon, and cane sugar. It’s delicious and refreshing, and it makes a great beverage base for cocktails.

However, if you’ve ever tried making it yourself, you’ll know that it takes quite a bit of work. Horchata requires soaking the rice overnight, blending it, adding the almond milk, cinnamon, and sugar, and letting the mixture reduce down. Even though it sounds simple, it isn’t.

Strain

First, you’ll need to grind up some almonds. They can be processed in a food processor by pulsing them several times.

Then add 1/2 cup of uncooked white rice and pulse until combined. Pour the mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 20 minutes.

After cooking the white beans, drain them. Transfer them to a col­lador. When they’re cold, chill them overnight. Then remove the almond and white bean mixi­ght from the freezer and allow it to thaw for 30 minu­tes before using.

Next, put the colander into another large mixing container and pour the rice mixture through it. Press down firmly with a wooden spatula to remove any excess liquid.

You may not need to do this step if your rice is already very dry. Transfer the drained rice to a serving dish and let cool completely before storing.

Storage

You’ll find that most recipes call for letting the mixture sit overnight to infuse its flavors. However, if you’d rather not wait, there are plenty of alternatives. You can simply refrigerate your horchata right away, or you can add the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Either method works well.

Fridge

To keep your horchata fresh, store it in a glass container in your fridge. Glass containers are easier to clean than plastic ones, and they won’t react negatively to horchata.

Freezer

Freezing the Horchata, this method works great for making horchata and iced coffee. Just portion out some horchata in ice cube trays, freeze it and enjoy it later as ice blocks. Or, if you prefer, you can freeze the entire recipe and thaw it at night when you want some horchata.

Tips

You can add any number of ingredients to make your horchata unique. Some common additions include almonds, chocolate chips, peaches, strawberries, bananas, coconut milk, honey, and vanilla bean. Experiment with different combinations until you find your favorite!

Let your horchata soak overnight. The longer the rice stays soaked, the more flavor it will develop. Soaking it overnight gives you plenty of time to infuse the flavors without making it overly sweet.

Use real vanilla. Cheap vanilla extracts tend to be artificial tasting. Use only pure vanilla extract instead.

Adjust the sweetness. Adding sugar isn’t necessary, but if you prefer sweeter drinks, feel free to add in your preferred amount.

Try adding nuts. Almonds are a great way to add protein and fiber to your horchata. Just remember not to overdo it because nuts can cause stomach issues.

Add fruits. Try adding fresh fruit like peaches, plums, mangoes, berries, or even pineapple chunks.