Homemade Coconut Milk

Do you drink coconut milk?  Coconut water?  I LOVE LOVE LOVE coconut water...I could seriously skip real water for that stuff!  Coconut milk is great too, but not something I could see myself using on/in everything like I do regular milk.  That coconut flavor just doesn't go with certain foods, in my opinion, but is great in smoothies, baked goods, and probably makes a mean pina colada (ok, I don't know about the pina colada, but it sounds good!).

It is, however, all the rage these days...and for good reason.  There are a lot of benefits to drinking coconut milk.  It's awesome for those of us who are lactose intolerant, has lots of vitamins and minerals, and is chock full of antioxidants.  Like any other "health food", it can carry a hefty price tag at the store.  So, why not make some at home?  It's super easy and can be a fraction of the cost as the store bought stuff!

Coconut Milk

1 cup coconut (I used fresh, young coconut...however, it does have a different taste than mature coconuts.  You can definitely use shredded (unsweetened) or frozen also.)
2 cups water (since I had a fresh coconut, I just used the coconut water that was inside, but regular water is just as good)

This is the coconut and water I got from the one young coconut.  As you can see, the meat is much softer and can actually be scooped out of the shell with a spoon.  Young coconuts also have a lot of water inside...much more than a mature coconut.  I got almost 2 cups of water out of the one small coconut.  There was about 1 cup of the meat.

 

 

Add the coconut meat and water to the blender and blend for a few minutes until it becomes thick and creamy.

 

Pour the milk through a strainer, pushing the liquid around until all you have is the coconut pulp.  Then you will need to get a piece of cheesecloth, or even a thin cotton hand towel (what I used), and pour the milk in the cloth.  Squeeze the towel until you can't squeeze any more liquid out.  This takes a little bit of time...just keep squeezing. 

 

I was able to get a little over 2 cups of coconut milk out of just 1 coconut.  The coconut meat in the bowl was all that was left from the whole coconut.  You can also add more water (warm water works best) and do all the steps over again to get more milk out of the coconut.  Or you can use the coconut meat in any recipe that you'd like extra yumminess...I'm thinking some sort of muffins or even added to oatmeal.

Store the milk in the fridge and enjoy!  Your very own, homemade, fresh, nothing added, coconut milk.

 

Happily Homemade

Sandra