Homemade Unsweetened Coconut Milk
Homemade, rich, creamy coconut milk with no preservatives. Just pure taste.
If you are accustomed to paleo diet, or even a beginner, you may find that coconut milk is often used and a staple ingredient. It’s a wonderful rich, creamy beverage that can be used in many recipes–soups, desserts, entrees, and more. Store bought either comes in a carton and is more drinkable, or comes in a can and is very rich and thick. The cartons often have preservatives, and cans sometimes have thickeners. While these are both viable options, there is nothing quite like the taste of making your own. The process is very similar to almond milk, but with coconut shreds.
How to Make Homemade Unsweetened Coconut Milk
First you want to soak the unsweetened shredded coconut in hot water. The water does need to be hot, otherwise the result will be more like coconut oil. After soaking for about 30 minutes, blend together for 2 minutes or until there is a smoother consistency.
Squeezing out the liquid
After sufficiently blended, pour into a bowl through a nut bag. If the nut bag is too hot to touch, let the bag sit in the bowl until it cools down. Once it is cool enough to handle, squeeze out the liquid by pressing all around the bag. Twisting the bag a little also helps. Continue until no more liquid releases.
Storing your Homemade Unsweetened Coconut Milk
To store, pour into 3 pint sized jars and cover with an air-tight cover. It will likely develop a hard surface on the top. When ready to use, stir or use an immersion stick blender to break up the hardened top until it is smooth and creamy. Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Enjoy!
Homemade Unsweetened Coconut Milk
Equipment
- 1 High-powered blender
- 1 Nut bag
Ingredients
- 3 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- 5 cups hot water
Instructions
- Soak shredded coconut in hot water in the blender for a minimum of 30 minutes.
- Blend for 2 minutes.
- Pour ground coconut water through a nut bag into a large bowl. Squeezing the top of the nut bag together so the liquid doesn't escape, gently press around the bag to squeeze out the coconut milk. Continue squeezing the nut milk bag until all the liquid has released and the nut bag is only filled with the shredded coconut.
- Pour into an air-tight containers, such as 3 pint canning jars, and store in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. The coconut milk typically solidifies at the top when refrigerated. Before use, blend the coconut milk with an immersion blender (break up the solids with a fork or knife before using the immersion blender to keep from spilling) or in a regular blender. After the solid and liquid has been blended, simply shake the jar prior to use. If not using within 4-5 days, store in the freezer in a freezer safe container. Take out of the freezer and put in the refrigerator a day before use.