Hi and Welcome to one of our most popular recipes! If you found us via Pinterest, you might also enjoy our recipe for Lazy Day Cinnamon Horchata as well.
When we go out for Mexican food, Kirk often orders Horchata, a rice based cold drink. He got our son Walker hooked on it as well, and now Walker expects that he should get a cup of it with his dinner. I decided to see how it was made, I didn’t even know what was in it! So after looking at a number of recipes I came up with this method. It takes some time, since the rice needs to soak overnight but is a fun project you can mostly ignore. A high-speed blender will make the job easier, as will a very fine mesh sieve (the same one I use for rinsing quinoa in). Homemade horchata is easy to make, and the ingredient list is clean compared to the overly sugary dry mixes restaurants use. It’s dairy-free, allergy-friendly and you can control how sweet it is.
Horchata
Ingredients:
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- 3½ cups filtered water
- 2 medium cinnamon sticks
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Directions:
Rinse the rice under cool water, shake dry. Add it to a high-speed blender or food processor, pulse until broken up. Scrape into a glass bowl, add the cinnamon sticks and cover with the water. Cover and let sit overnight.
Pour the rice mixture into the blender (with the cinnamon), add the sugar and vanilla, process on high for about 2 minutes or until finely purée.
Using a very fine mesh sieve or a cheesecloth lined sieve (or a nut milk bag), pour the milk through, pressing down to squeeze all the liquid out. Discard the solids. I ran mine through the sieve 3 times, rinsing the sieve each time, to remove any remaining pulp.
Chill for at least a couple of hours, stir vigorously and serve over glasses full of ice, and use plenty of ice, without it the taste isn’t as vibrant.
Makes about 4 cups.
If this is Kirk-approved, I’ll have to give it a try! It’s funny that I like horchata, because I don’t really care for rice milk. I’ve avoided making horchata at home for that reason. Maybe I should just get over myself and make it anyway. 🙂
I hadn’t been impressed in restaurants nor do I like rice milk either but this was good!! 🙂 Try it Cat! I am also thinking of trying it with agave nectar.
Hey Cat, out of wondering and not knowing how rice milk is made I researched it – so rice milk is made from cooked rice but Horchata isn’t. That would explain a lot!
So you blend the cinnamon sticks in with the rice??
Krissy, yes 🙂
If you don’t have a high speed blender, you can remove them before and discard.