Homemade Horchata
Horchata is a traditional Mexican drink. Homemade Horchata is as simple as pouring a glass of milk. Homemade Horchata is made up of white rice soaked in water. It’s flavored with cinnamon and its sweetened with granulated sugar. Everything is minced up together in a blender and later strained to remove solids. Some versions are dairy free while others contain milk. Some versions contain nuts or added flavor like vanilla or coconut.
What is Homemade Horchata?
Horchata (pronounced or-CHAH-tah) is a popular Mexican drink that is often described as a sweet rice milk beverage. Horchata is made out of rice, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon and is served in many Mexican restaurants. There’s an important balance to the creamy rice and cinnamon flavors found in horchata. I think you will find that this homemade Horchata recipe is the perfect balance.
I’ve tried several recipes using different ratios, different types of rice, I’ve tried adding nuts or leaving them out, and also experimented using whole cinnamon sticks or ground cinnamon. After all the tasty trials this one was my favorite.
It’s incredibly easy to make and it tastes just as good, if not better than the horchata you’ll get from Mexican restaurants! Everyone will love this simple, satisfying drink!
How to Make Horchata
- Blend. Blend the rice, water, and cinnamon sticks until the rice and cinnamon sticks are roughly ground. Add the remaining water and blend again.
- Let Sit. Pour the contents into a pitcher or container with a fitted lid and place on your countertop overnight (or for at least 8 hours).
- Strain. Pour the rice mixture into a fine mesh strainer, into a pitcher and discard the rice.
- Add. Stir in the milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar (to your preference). Chill until ready to serve. Stir well before serving and serve over ice.
Ethan’s Horchata
Equipment
- Blender
- Fine mesh sieve
- Pitcher
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup long grain white rice (dry, uncooked)
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 2 cinnamon sticks (appox 2 1/2-inches each)
- 4 cups cold water
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar or more to taste
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups whole milk
Instructions
- Add rice, almonds and cinnamon sticks to a high speed blender. Blend about 30 – 60 seconds on high speed or until finely pulverized, stopping occasionally and shaking blender if mixture sticks to the bottom.
- Pour in 2 cups water, sugar and vanilla. Blend an additional 30 seconds. If your blender can fit the additional liquid pour in remaining 2 cups water, and milk, otherwise pour into a large enough container to fit along with water and milk.
- Cover and chill 8 – 12 hours.
- Strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a pitcher. Serve with ice if desired, garnishing each serving with ground cinnamon or cinnamon sticks.
