Best nut milk makers 2024: tested by an expert vegan

Nearly half a year ago, I took the plunge and invested in one of the best nut milk makers on the market. It’s one of the best investments that I've ever made: I can make my own almond milk in a matter of seconds, it's free from additives and artificial chemicals, and it's cheaper than store-bought cartons.

I've been drinking plant-based milks for nearly ten years and a long time ago, I perfected the simple cheesecloth method (which works really well if you invest in one of the best blenders on the market and some fine cheesecloth). I wanted to make simple milks, quickly and in big quantities. 

That method works, but I used to be a barista. I'm used to working with the best espresso machines, so I needed high-quality milk, too. As brands like Nutr and Almond Cow launched seriously impressive nut milk makers, I found that I couldn't resist testing them. Some offer juicing functions, others will make smoothies, nut butters, and caramels too. Almost all of them have neat heating mechanisms which rival some of the best milk frothers on the market, too. 

With a wealth of plant-based milk opportunities on the market, I just had to get testing. Using almonds, oats, and coconut, I'm making my way though the best nut milk makers on the market. I've compared them against the best juicers on the market (almost all of them will make nut milks) as well as against my trusted cheesecloth method. The results of all these rigorous rounds of research and testing have culminated in this: the definitive list of the best nut milk makers on the market. 

The quick list

If you want a speedy summary of each nut milk maker, I'll give you the headlines here. For more detailed information, you'll need to keep scrolling (or use the 'read more below).

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The best nut milk makers we recommend in 2024

The best nut milk maker overall

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Everything you could possibly want in a nut milk maker is encapsulated in the Nutr. It tackles every ingredient, from hard almonds to softer cashews with the kind of effortlessness that I would expect from a commercial machine. 

The power and tenacity you'll read about in all reviews and buying guides doesn't quite marry up to its aesthetics. This is a modest, compact nut milk maker. It looks sleek and stylish, with a simple button interface, perfect for even the most compact kitchens. My biggest reservation actually comes down to size: you can't make a big batch of almond milk to last you through the week. You'll have to work on a day-to-day basis, or wait for it to cool between batches (if you run it back to back, it will overheat).

Whatever reviewers throw at it – almonds, cashews, coconut, hazelnuts, oats – it makes creamy, smooth, and silky nut milk. A few noted that this needed running through twice on tougher almonds, but that the results are always impressive. The super-fine mesh ensures there's no grittiness or texture to your milk and that it never tastes watery either. There's an integrated filter which is good enough for most milks, but if you want the very smoothest results, you can strain the milk again using a small sieve (which Nutr provides). The only downside to following the straining method is that it takes a bit longer, but most reviewers said that you didn't even need it.

Aside from making incredible nut milks, this can act as a milk steamer, getting your milk of choice ready for a hot chocolate or coffee whilst preparing the rest of your servings for the week. It's also useful for making rice or soy milks, both of which need prior cooking. It can do all the tough work that you might not want to, saving you time, hassle, and cleaning.

The smart screen lets you toggle between a range of pre-sets, which add to the effortlessness of the Nutr. When you're finished exploring, there's a neat option for self-cleaning, meaning you don't have to get your hands dirty.

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The best nut milk maker for almond milk

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I love so much about the Almond Cow. As a dedicated almond milk drinker, I wasn’t sure how well this would measure up against store-bought Almond Milk, but the Almond Cow has outdone itself. This is great for making quick milk in huge quantities. Plus, it comes with lots of useful accessories.

The big claim with this nut milk maker is that you don't need to soak your almonds in advance. Most nut milk makers use heat or a 24 hour soak to make creamy almond milk, so I was skeptical about the Almond Cow. However, I found that this amazing machine made creamy almond milk in just a minute. Over time, I learnt that the best results come from running this through a couple of times (the flavours get better and each time). 

I tried this out on oat milk and loved that too, but needed to adjust the ratios. If you’ll be using oat milk in your coffee, follow the creamer recipe, which requires more than a cup of oats to make much less than the Almond Cow's normal 48 oz of oat milk (it's more like 15 oz), but it’s really delicious. The coconut milk follows a similar story: it’s a little weak and needs pre-soaking, so that’s why I recommend the almond cow for almond milk. It’s this machine’s speciality.

It’s also really useful if you live in a large household or consume a lot of milk. My partner and I typically need a carton a day for protein shakes and cups of coffee, so we use this to make big batches of milk. We can make three days worth of milk in just one cycle, saving time and hassle. Almond Cow provides a fridge door-friendly carafe which you can fill with a full batch and then some.

The two things you need to know before committing to buying an Almond Cow are that this is a little less than beautiful to look at. It’s big and crafted from stainless steel. The exterior is really low maintenance, but it looks like a coffee carafe which you might see at a corporate conference rather than a stylish home appliance. 

The second thing to know is that the pulp can be quite wet and therefore takes more effort to clean up neatly. To be fair, Almond Cow provides baskets to help minimize mess, but it inevitably sneaks through, which can be a hassle to clean.

You can read more in my Almond Cow review

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The best nut milk maker for oat milk

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There are plenty of people with a ChefWave shaped hole in their kitchen. This isn't as attractive as the Nama or as small as the Nutr, but it makes big batches of close to flawless milk (as well as nut milks, caramels, and smoothies).

If you want a do-it-all appliance, the ChefWave has you covered. It gets technical without overcomplicating things, thanks to a range of presets. Lots of reviewers enjoyed mixing up their milks, because this supports combination recipes: coconut and cashew (delicious), oat and tigernut (also delicious), almond and soy (a little less than impressive). You get the idea. 

Not only does this cover a range of functions, it works quickly and to a reasonable capacity. Reviewers could make 20 ounces of milk in less than 15 minutes. Even better, it could be hot and steaming, if you want it to be, because the ChefWave uses steam whilst grinding to extract maximal flavors from your ingredients.

You'll have to be confident in the kitchen, because this responds differently to recipes every time you use it. Adding ingredients to suit how the milk looks to your eye takes some skill, which beginners might find intimidating. Whilst some loved the pre-sets, they were aware that this could be overwhelming. Even though this made the creamiest oat milk that some reviewers had ever tested, if that's all you want from a nut milk maker, this could be a little too much to take in. In short, this is impressive, but complicated.

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The best nut milk maker for coconut milk

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They say that your first love is the deepest and I know that’s true because I have an unhealthy attachment to this juicer. It’s the appliance I would carry out a burning building with me. 

The Nama strikes an impressive silhouette on the countertop, the covetable curved edges and subtle and the modern style looks really luxurious. The only thing to note appearance-wise is that this is tall, so won't clear wall cupboards.

Whilst this is technically just a juicer, the Nama makes incredible oat, almond, and coconut milk. It’s really a coconut specialist (you won’t taste anything creamier), but it can do it all. In our tests, my almond milk was creamy, but a little grainy (I’d give it 9/10) and my oat milk was smooth and rich, but had some sediment (another 9/10). However, the true star of the show is the coconut milk. I’ve never tasted better, fresher, smoother coconut milk. 

My best Nama hack is with coconuts. The Nama, as a juicer, can juice fresh coconut, which no other options in this guide can. It’s incredible and like nothing I’ve ever had before. The pulp is effectively desiccated coconut (useful for cooking) and the milk it makes is smooth and rich. It doesn’t separate or curdle and I used it in everything from protein shakes to curries. 

The juicing process for all the ingredients is really easy. It takes a matter of minutes, is a quiet process, and produces a high yield. You can make 34 oz at a time and you won't need to add more than a cup of any ingredient. The collection carafe can be used to measure your water and store your milk, making minimal mess. 

The only thing you need to know before investing in the Nama is that you'll need to be ready to do some prep work. The Nama recipe book suggests soaking almonds overnight, which will give you perfect results. However, after over four months of using the Nama, I’ve gotten lazy. I pour hot water over my almonds and give them three hours at most. I give my oats and coconut the same amount of time too. This doesn't compromise my results at all. The oat milk is creamy enough to add to coffee and tea without curdling.

Our team has also tested the Nama on a range of juices and it’s incredible. If you want to read more about that function, you can see detailed information in our dedicated review.

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The best nut milk maker for seed milks

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If you love a hot beverage on the regular, this is perfect for you. It heats, cooks, and blends as it works, meaning you can have chai in no time and matcha in minutes. 

The heat function works incredibly quickly (after the lengthy 20 minute preheat) and can make more than milks, offering specialist drinks, soups, and stocks. Reviewers marvelled at this machine's versatility across an entire cookbook's worth of recipes. However, whilst a little heat is useful for making quick milk that's full of flavor, if you want raw milk from your oats, nuts, and seeds, you can opt for a cold-press function, which works really well. Customers seemed particularly impressed at how this handled seeds and hemp in both hot and cold conditions. You could even grind up dry ingredients and make your own flax meal.

The only criticisms people had were that the fine and coarse filter screens could leave the milks tasting a little gritty. After a lot of research, I've found that people who ran their cycles through a few times made the smoothest, silkiest milks of all the reviews. That seems to be the hack.

The biggest criticism of the Soyabella is how long it takes to assemble and clean. Everything needs to be hand-washed and this comes in lots of parts. You'll also need to leave things to cool if you've used any heat, so, even though this is incredibly capable, it requires enough work to create enough frustration to put people off using it entirely. 

I'm currently testing the SoyaBella, so this is a combination of research and initial thoughts. I'll let you know more from my experience when I'm finished testing.

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The best budget nut milk maker

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Sometimes, you just don't need all the technicalities that the other appliances in this buying guide offer. In those instances, you want simplicity. Enter, Chef'n. This super straightforward approach is a streamlined, slightly elevated version of the cheesecloth method. It takes just seconds to work, can be done almost anywhere, and produced excellent results. There's no fuss, no premium price tag, just simply good milk.

Before you read more about the Chef'n, you should know that it doesn't grind nuts, seeds, or oats itself. You need to invest in one of the best blenders on the market to do that for you. Make sure you don't skimp here, because you'll be able to tell in the results. The Chef'n then works by resting a straining device on a borosilicate glass carafe. You put pureed nuts into the filtration system, which turns them into smooth, creamy milk. Plenty of reviewers experimented making homemade horchata and ricotta as well as impressive nut milks. For under $30, that's an impressively versatile range of functions. 

Of course, this lacks the heating, automation, and grinding that all other machines have, but it still boasts a 4.2 cup yield and tiny price tag. Plus, if you already have an excellent blender, why not use it?

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How to choose the best nut milk maker for you

Choosing a nut milk maker to suit you or your whole household hinges on a few key factors. Before jumping into any purchase, I’d recommend considering the following:

Milk Type
Different nut milk makers specialise in different areas. Whether you drink almond, coconut, or oat milk, there will be a better appliance for handling the textures of your chosen ingredient. If you like to mix up your nut milks, you’ll want one which isn’t a specialist in any of them, instead, it will need to be good all-round. 

Method
Some nut milk makers work like masticating juicers, others blend and strain, others incorporate heat into the process too. If you opt for a no-heat, raw option, you’ll need to soak your nuts well in advance (possibly overnight). If you use heat, the flavors and nutritionals will be slightly different. It’s all down to personal preference.

Space
As with any appliance, you’ll need to think about where you’ll put this in your countertop and how it will look. Plenty of these are a little less than beautiful, so I would recommend storing them somewhere subtle. However, there are also options, such as the Nama which look more modern, attractive, and stylish. 

Extra features
Whilst I use my nut milk make the time, often just for almond and oat milk, if you want to make the most of your appliance, you can look for models which double up as juicers, blenders, nut butter makers, and some will even make caramel. If you want these features, they’re worth paying a premium for. If you don’t, you can save hundreds by opting for a more simple model.

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How I tested these nut milk makers

At Homes and Gardens, we always want our reviews to reflect real life. That’s why we test every appliance we can before recommending them to you. We have a team of experts who follow a series of set tests, allowing us (and you) to directly compare each plant-based milk maker. 

Our first test is almond milk. It’s one of the most popular plant-based milk options on the market and almonds have a really tough skin to break down. It’s a mean one to start testing a nut milk maker with, but it’s important. If an appliance can’t handle almonds, it’s not worth a second glance. 

Some appliances need a helping hand with almonds. This is fine, but worth noting. It might be in the form of pre-soaking almonds, heating them, or running a few cycles on the nut milk maker. Whatever it takes to make the best milk, we’ll let you know. We also measure how many almonds we need to make a bottle (42 oz) of almond milk. We expect to use one to two cups of almonds. Any less and we might expect the milk to taste watery any more and we will question its efficiency. We check the waste and how much almond pulp is left behind and in what condition. How this looks is a great indicator of the thoroughness of extraction. Of course, the most important factor we measure is taste and texture. We want a smooth, silky, grain free drink. The flavours should be creamy and almond-y, often stronger than the kind you could buy in the store. 

Our second test is oat milk. Dry oats can be tough, leaving thick sediment, tough sheaths, or no flavor at all behind. Again, in some instances you’ll need to prep the oats by soaking them for a few hours prior to making nut milk. This isn’t always the case, but is worth noting. 

We’ll measure all the same factors as we would with almond milk, looking at the yield, taste, and texture of our results. Oat milk can leave a lot more sediment and will occasionally curdle in milk. That’s why we leave it to sit and settle before testing it in coffee and tea. 

Our final core test is on coconut milk. We start with dried coconut flakes and will often have to soak these in advance. If it’s within an appliance’s repertoire, we’ll also try making coconut milk from fresh coconut. We make the same notes as we would on our other tests: taste, texture, process, and yield. This can be one of the trickiest to get a full and creamy flavor from. 

If a nut milk maker offers other capabilities, including heating and grinding, our experts will test that too. We’ll let you know if it can make nut butters, caramel, smoothies, and juices, testing all of those functions too.

Aside from the basics, we also make notes on usability, cleaning, and aesthetics, so that you can get a holistic idea of what a nut milk maker is like to use. You shouldn’t have any surprises when using one of these: we find out everything there is to know.

If we can’t get our hands on one of these milk makers, we will spend hours researching and reading through all the reviews for the appliance. We will check and cross check any features or criticisms of every appliance that we can come to confident conclusions about every feature of each aspect of the plant based milk makers. We always try our best to test these as soon as we can, so these insights are often simple placeholders for real-life reviews, but they are nevertheless rigorous. 

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