Homemade Coconut Milk
April 23, 2012 in Beverages, Essentials
Coconut milk is an absolute staple in my house. I use it in baking and in curries. I like to let a can of full-fat coconut milk sit for a while then scrape the creamy top half of the can out and use it as a pudding or whipped cream substitute. I use coconut milk in smoothies and I use it to make my own homemade coconut milk kefir and yogurt (recipe coming Wednesday!). But coconut milk is expensive! The cheapest canned full-fat coconut milk that I have found is 365 Brand at Whole Foods for $1.99 per can. And it’s not organic and has guar gum as an additive. Guar gum can be a gut irritant and given how sensitive my digestion is, I prefer to avoid it (I get a stomach ache if I have regular full-fat canned coconut milk). I tried the light coconut milk that Trader Joe’s cells for $0.99 per can that is guar gum-free, but light coconut milk is just not the same and definitely not worth my money. So, given that I average a can a day, an alternative was desperately needed in my house.
As I started to play with homemade coconut milk recipes using organic, unsweetened finely shredded dried coconut
This recipe is perfect for the large cup of my Magic Bullet
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup organic finely shredded unsweetened dried coconut (I like Tropical Tradition’s or Let’s Do Organic
- 1 ¼ cup just boiled water
1. Place coconut into the large cup of a Magic Bullet
2. Add freshly boiled, very hot water to coconut.
3. Blend on high for 5 minutes (with the magic bullet, I blend for 45-60 seconds at a time, give the motor a few second break, and then repeat).
4. Pour pulp into a Nut-Milk Bag
5. You can either let gravity do its thing or you can squeeze the pulp through your bag or cheesecloth to release to coconut milk (I suggest waiting for the pulp to cool a little before doing this).
6. If not being used immediately, store coconut milk in a glass jar in the fridge (the jar is great for shaking up later). Enjoy!
One of my followers suggested using hot unsweetened coconut water instead of regular water in this recipe for an even better tasting coconut milk. Definitely worth a try if you plan on drinking this milk or pouring on paleo granola!
Interesting. I never even occurred to me to try and make my own. Thanks for sharing your results!
I have question. How do you blend the hot water in the blender withought the pressure exploding out the top?
Everytime I try to do anything with hot liquid, the second I hit start on the blender the pressure pops the lid off and showers everything within a couple foot distance creating quite the mess. I would love to try this homemade coconut milk but am afraid of the mess it will creat.
I don’t have this issue with my Magic Bullet because it is sealed, but I do have to be careful not to tighten it too tight, or else it can be hard to open after. It’s a quite thick pulp, so it should be fine as long as you aren’t filling your blender too full. I would suggest using a tea towel or hot mitt to hold the lid down when you turn it on (my standard for doing anything hot in my old blender before it died).
what about an immersion blender? Then you can do it in a pot.
Ooh, good idea!
Do you think I could just strain it through a bag sewn from muslin? I have unbleached, cheap muslin I have been using to strain yogurt, and wonder if it could be repurposed for this too.
Yes, I think that would work beautifully.
Thank you so much for doing the work for me on this! I cannot wait to try it!
Thanks for the recipe, I ordered the finely shredded coconut and will make this as soon as I receive it! Looking forward to your coconut milk yogurt recipe too!
So glad I will be saving money from not having to buy the canned (and my health from BPA and guar gum) anymore
Steph
Thanks for the great idea. I’m so glad I found your blog! Congratulation on making such a great life style change!
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I’ve been making my own coconut milk instead of buying canned for a long time now. I’ve been wanting to make a coconut milk whipped cream, but my homemade coconut milk just doesn’t seem to have enough fat to do it. I’m going to give your method a try and see if it works better than mine. I really don’t want to resort to having to buy canned to make the whipped cream.
If I want to make coconut milk whipped cream, I first let the milk sit at room temperature until it’s fairly well separated (at least a few hours), then carefully put in the fridge and again give it several hours. It’s slightly trickier to spoon the cream off the top compared to a can without leaving some behind (I’ve been wondering if it would be easier if I was patient enough to let it sit longer), but since I usually use the leftovers for my husband’s smoothies, I’m not much fussed if I don’t quite get everything. Let me know how you like it!
I can’t wait to try your recipe! It is difficult to find organic canned coconut milk without additives. This recipe looks simple and easy on the budget.
Have you ever made coconut flour with the leftover shreds?
I just received the food dehydrator that I ordered this evening, so the next time I make coconut milk (probably tomorrow), I’m going to try.
Did you try it? I’m curious how it worked out.
Yes, I did! My blender couldn’t grind it as finely as the Tropical Traditions coconut flour I normally buy, which means I use more of it in my recipes (so, I only use it for cooking for my family and not for developing recipes for the site).
I have found that if I put the dehydrated leftover coconut in my sifter and sift it into recipes it takes it that final step– as fine as the flour you can buy. I have bags of coconut meal in my freezer that I previously either fed to my chickens or used only in Vitamix-related recipes– but now that I’m sifting it into my mixing bowl I can use it like purchased coconut flour.
I made this recipe and it was so easy, I mean it was STUPID easy! So easy I found myself asking why the heck I hadn’t thought of doing it sooner. I strained mine through a cheesecloth I bought at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. When I was done I toasted the leftover coconut in the oven on 350 for 15-20 minutes and will use this to cook and bake. What a huge savings of money and product!! The milk is delicious. The only problem I have is that the fat solidifies to the top when it is in the fridge thus making it hard to drink without heating it up. How do you deal with this? I am assuming this is not coconut oil as it tastes different. Thanks!
I toss it in the blender if we want to drink it straight, but I mostly use it for either kefir/yogurt or actually spoon the top off to make coconut milk whipped cream or pudding.
I’ve been making coconut milk now with your recipe and love it, however I feel like I am being so wasteful dumping the coconut pulp, so next time I make it I will try dehydrating the pulp and use it as coconut flour. Anyone try this already?
I’ve been meaning to, but I’ve been so busy lately (and strangely well stocked up on coconut flour). I’m curious to know how it turns out for you!
I mix a little honey in the pulp and just eat it.
I put the left over pulp in the oven to dry then put it in the blender to break it up and maybe make it finer. Then I use it for Coconut flour. Easy!
Have you ever tried making a second batch from the shredds? I wonder if you let it sit even longer the second time if it would make a lowfat type milk. Or maybe a good liquid to use on the next batch like a coconut water of sorts. Make sense?
I haven’t. I have tasted the pulp and find it to be quite flavorless (which probably means that a second batch of milk wouldn’t have much flavor either). I have made homemade coconut flour with it though, and it’s worked very well.
Have you ever tried making a second batch from the shredds? I wonder if you let it sit even longer the second time if it would make a lowfat type milk. Or maybe a good liquid to use on the next batch like a coconut water of sorts. Make sense?
Can I use this same recipe to make full-fat coconut milk?
Yes, this recipe makes the equivalent of full-fat coconut milk.
I’ve been meaning to try this for quite some time now. However, I do have a few questions. First what is the difference between coconut milk and coconut water? Second, how long of a shelf life does this have? I thinking about making a couple of cans of this on the weekend and using them throughout the week to drink.
I’ve had mine in the fridge for a week and it’s been fine. I’m planning on making a big batch tomorrow morning and freezing in mason jars. I’ll let you know how that works.
Coconut water is the liquidy stuff in the middle of a fresh coconut. Coconut milk is the juice when you grind up the meat of fresh coconut and filter out the pulp.
Is your blender glass? I would be concerned pouring hot water into a plastic blender and leaching stuff out of the plastic?
oh thank god for this post, I have been trying to find a guar-gum free coconut milk for a while and have had no luck where i live. I was just thinking 1 second before stumbling upon this blog “what if i made my own” and i scrolled further down your recipes and there it is!!! This is just perfect, thank you so much!
I make coconut milk from fresh coconuts. I shred the shelled coconut meat and then make the milk the same way as the instructions above.
[...] Sarah’s coconut milk recipe [...]
[...] Sarah’s coconut milk recipe [...]
I’ve been tinkering with getting my coconut to water ratios just right – depending on whether my coconut is finely or loosely shredded/flaked. I’m glad to see you recommend the hot water to bring out the fat! What I’ve been doing is taking whatever the package deems as a single serving and adding 8 oz hot water per serving. Does this make sense? Should I add more or less coconut? (I’m trying to make sure I keep track of how much I’m consuming for my Autoimmune Paleo plan.) THANK YOU!
When you look at a can of full fat coconut milk, it usually has something like 400 calories per 8oz. So, ou could figure out what volume of shredded coconut is 400 calories and use that?
GREAT site!
Great recipe, THANK YOU!
Ok so 400 calories is 9 tablespoons of shredded coconut which is approx .6 of a cup. So according to 400 calories per 8 oz. of full fat I am guessing you need .4 of a cup of water per .6 of shredded coconut.
So a ratio of 3:2 coconut to water. Or something like 1.5 cups coconut to 1 cup water.
Does this sound right? Do we need to take the desiccated coconut which is left over when we strain the milk through cheese cloth?
I’m sorry, I’m not following you. What?
In reply to your question of how much coconut and how much water you need to get the same as the commercially available coconut milk
What I do is go by “1 serving” of the finely shredded organic coconut (2.5 TBSP) + 8 oz HOT water (-per serving) and soak for 2+ hours then strain. This is 110 calories per cup.
This is EXACTLY what i was looking for! Can’t wait to try it. Thanks!
So probably silly but do I have to strain it? I want to make kefir with it and use in soups and such. Is it just for texture or will the pulp keep it from making kefir?
No, you don’t have to strain it if you just want the kefir.
I just tried this. I found that it made an absolutely LOVELY coconut milk, with delightful flavour and texture. My only problem was that I followed your directions to blend it for five minutes and the coconut became so finely ground that it was very difficult to extract the liquid from it. I let it sit on the strainer over a bowl for about an hour and almost nothing came out. I had to squeeze it very hard to extract more liquid, and the yield was considerably less than your recipe states. I’m thinking that I over-processed it. I am using a Blendtec blender, which I think has a lot more power than a Magic Bullet. I am thinking of trying it again, but only blending for two or three minutes rather than five.
What texture is your coconut pulp like when it comes out? Mine is so fine that it feels like wet flour.
Well sheesh, you made me want a blendtec even more! no, my pulp is not that fine (I have to blend it again after drying it to make flour). So, blending for a shorter period of time makes sense to me!
Does it really matter if its finely shredded? Or do you suppose I could use unsweetened coconut chips just as well? I have a huge bag that I want to use for more things, so if I could use it that’d be great! What do you think?
I think it would work, but it doesn’t measure as densely as finely shredded, so you’ll probably need to use a little more.
I found this recipe really helpful, have you considered extracting/shredding you own coconut straight from the meat, i’d imagine you would get a lot more milk because it’s fresher not to mention cheaper.It may also be a pain in the arse without the right equipment, what do you think?
Sorry it wasn’t a reply to your previous comment, hit the wrong button.
So easy, the first batch worked well so I am doing a double batch in my vita-mix, Enough to make ice-cream for the kids. The left over coconut is in the dehydrator so I can use it as flour. So happy about this, coconut milk was the only thing I was buying in cans.
OK, I did a single batch and a double batch in my blender. This is going to be wonderful! I didn’t have anything to strain it with, so I went to the hardware store for the paint straining bags. They only had plastic ones with a bit of mesh at the bottom, but the clerk who helped me said you can just use old pantyhose…most women have them laying around; thinking I was going to use it for paint. Well, that gave me an idea…I used a NEW knee hi nylon and it worked great!! You do see that I emphasized NEW.
Also I toasted the pulp out of the first batch, but it was kind of tasteless. We’ll see if my son still likes it on his oatmeal. I think I’ll try dehydrating the bigger batch and blending it into flour. Thanks for the recipe Sarah and everyone else for the ideas for the pulp!!
Ok so I am working on a recipe that has coconut milk in it and I am trying to find ways to be cost efficient with also having fresh and excellent quality of ingredients. I like the idea of creating my own coconut milk, so I was thrilled that you posted this article. I have been using your blog as a reference to cooking Paleo style and knowing what is safe and not safe. Could you tell me what you are paying per ounce of the finely shredded coconut? The Tropical Traditions was the cheapest between the two that you mentioned at $0.266 per ounce for 2lb bag at $8.50 (listed on the website). If I am using 3/4 cup (6 ounces) that comes to $1.59 for an output of approximately 1 cup (8 ounces) which is half of a can in the store. So I was wondering if there was some where else that you where getting your shredded coconut or if I am just totally messed up on the way I am calculating everything?
Thank you for all of your posts, they have been very helpful.
So I think I realized my mistake I was calculating dry ingredients directly to liquid, so I am imagining if it is costing about half the price that you are actually using about 3-4oz (weight wise) of the coconut to fill 3/4 of a cup.
Last time I calculated, it worked out to about $1 per can. I figured out how many cups of coconut there was in the tub I was buying and divide by the cost of the tub rather than calculating by weight.
Hiya, stumbled upon this while on the search for guar-gum free coconut milk! How long should the milk last in the fridge? Wondering if we can make a load up in advance to grab as needed through the week.
Thanks for sharing!
I’ve had it in the fridge for a week and its been okay. Usually when I make it, I put it in pint size wide mouth canning jars and freeze what we’re not going to go through quickly.
I’ve made my own coconut milk for several years but was temporarily without a blender and decided to try a case of canned. When I ordered a case of Natural Value coconut off Amazon, in every can the milk was a greyish color and had the consistency of paper pulp. Not smooth and white like other brands I’ve tried shaking or mixing but it did not smooth out. I emailed Natural Value asking if this was normal and they promptly replied and sent me another case at no charge, which is great customer service, but they never did answer my question. And the one can I opened is also grey and pulpy. Did you ever have a problem with any cans of this brand? Just wondering if it’s old?
I’ve seen it be a little off-white in color and not as white as other canned coconut milk, but never pulpy. And it’s always tasted fine, so I’ve never really thought much of it.