Name: How to Make Coconut Milk
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 2 Cups Coconut (shredded + unsweetened); 4 Cups Filtered Water

I’m bubbling over with excitement to share one of my favorite low carb recipes with you guys: how to make coconut milk!

Homemade milk is simply the best, after all, how many drinks could you make while stranded on a deserted island?

Similar to how to make almond milk, making this milk os oh-so-EASY! Plus, the luscious and refreshing taste can bring you a moment of tropical paradise, even if you’re sitting at your cubicle on a Monday afternoon.

BONUS: the byproduct of homemade coconut milk is flour, which you can use in all your coconut flour recipes!

Let’s get cracking!

Jump To…

Why It’s Great!

Recipe Notes

Recipe Variations

How to Use

What I Love About This Homemade Coconut Milk

Of all the homemade milks, coconut milk is my favorite to make, because:

It’s ridiculously creamy and refreshing — SIGNIFICANTLY more than storebought
Adds a touch of delicious coconut flavor to all your recipes
You’ll feel like a DIY champ, even though it’s so easy!

How to Make Coconut Recipe Notes

Soak, blend, squeeze, let me show you how to make coconut milk, in your (almost) sleep!

One thing to mention before diving in is that you want to soak the shredded coconut between 2-4 hours. Any longer and your homemade milk may have a bitter flavor!

Ingredient Notes

You can keep the ingredient list for homemade milk as simple as you like (I’ll share the upgraded variations below), you really only need two things: water and shredded coconut.

For the creme-de-la-creme of homemade coconut milk, I recommend using unsweetened, shredded coconut, which is widely available at health food retailers.

You can use sweetened if you don’t mind the added sugar.

Tools To Make

Blender. Any blender will do here, as coconut is really easy to breakdown (especially compared to breaking down nuts for milk).

Nut milk strainer bag or cheesecloth. If you see yourself making a lot of homemade milk, I strongly suggest grabbing a nut milk strainer bag. This keeps the pulp neatly inside the bag and is (bonus points!) reusable.

If not, cheesecloth will do the trick! Simply fold it over itself a few times to keep the pulp inside.

Large bowl to squeeze the milk into.

Storing Tips

Since there are no preservatives in this milk recipe, it’ll separate in the fridge (the fat floats to the top and the milk will settle below). Simply shake or stir before drinking for the perfect sip!

It also doesn’t last as long as storebought. We try to drink this within 3-4 days.

Recipe Variations

This how to make coconut milk guide yields the most refreshing treat EVER! I like it plain, but if you’d like to add some pizzazz, here are a few ideas for flavored coconut milk:

Add some sweetener, such as honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, or (if you’re sticking to keto sweeteners like me!) erythritol.
Make chocolate coconut milk! With sweetener, some cocoa powder, and a pinch of salt.
Strawberry coconut milk anymore? Mix in sweetener and strawberry powder, or freshly sliced strawberries (make sure to blend these thoroughly).
Spices. I love to make a “chai” version with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Extracts are always an easy upgrade. Add a bit of vanilla, lemon, orange, whatever you’re going for!

*If you’re adding any goodies to your coconut milk recipe, place the strained milk back into the blender with whatever you choose to add. Blend the ingredients together at a low speed to thoroughly mix.

How to Use It!

Use this homemade milk in/on EVERYTHING! Ok, fine, maybe not everything. But here are a few coconut milk recipes that come to mind:

Regular or low carb smoothies when you want a touch of tropical flavor!
Cereal and granola are always better with some coconut flavor (for sugar-free versions check out my low carb cereal and low carb granola)
To dunk your cookies! The added coconut flavor with my low carb chocolate chip cookies is absolutely divine.

What to do with That Pulp?

As mentioned, the byproduct here is coconut pulp. If you’re feeling like a DIY queen/king, then spread that out on a dehydrator tray and dehydrate until bone dry, for homemade coconut flour!

But, TBH, I found making coconut flour from coconut milk yields very little for the amount of work it takes…

So instead, I recommend using the coconut pulp in recipes for some added flavor. Smoothies, yogurt bowls, granolas. Let us know what you try!