How to Make Tiger Nut Milk (Easy, Nut-Free, Dairy-Free)

Tiger nut milk is a delicious nut-free alternative to other plant milks. Naturally sweet and creamy, it requires only two ingredients: tiger nuts and filtered water. Drink it cold or hot, use it in coffee, cacao, or matcha, pour it over cereal or granola, or use it as a nut-free and dairy-free milk for baking. Tiger nuts are rich in fiber, magnesium, and potassium, as well as naturally occurring resistant starch.

What Are Tiger Nuts?

Tiger nuts are sometimes spelled as one word — tigernuts — but both spellings refer to the same food. I previously used the one-word spelling in many of my recipes and posts, but I use tiger nuts here because it is the more common spelling.

Despite their name, tiger nuts are not nuts. They are small tubers from yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus), a plant cultivated in Southern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent.

Also known as chufa or earth almonds, tiger nuts can be eaten raw, soaked, or roasted, and they can be ground into flour. Because whole dried tiger nuts have a hard, dry texture, they are usually soaked before eating.

Why Are Tiger Nuts Becoming So Popular?

There are many reasons tiger nuts are considered a nutritious and versatile food:

• They can be eaten raw or cooked, whole or ground into flour.
• They are a source of plant protein.
• They contain nutrients such as magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamin E.
• They are high in fiber and contain resistant starch, which supports the microbiome.
• They are keto-friendly.
• They have a naturally sweet, fruity, and nutty flavor and are compatible with many diets.
• When soaked and blended with water, they make a delicious nut-free and dairy-free milk.
• Tiger nut flour is excellent for baking.
• They provide minerals such as magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus.

Soaking Tiger Nuts

Like many plant foods, tiger nuts contain naturally occurring compounds such as phytates, tannins, and oxalates (but no lectins). Processing methods, including soaking and toasting, can reduce some of these compounds.

For homemade tiger nut milk, soaking also serves an important practical purpose: it softens the dried tubers so they can be processed and blended more easily. Soak them overnight at room temperature, then discard the soaking water and rinse them before continuing with the recipe.

Where to Find Whole Tiger Nuts

Tiger nuts may be available in the gluten-free section of some supermarkets or in health-food stores. You can also find several options on Amazon US:

• Anthony’s Organic Peeled Tiger Nuts, 12 oz
• Organic Gemini Tiger Nuts, 12 oz, 2-Pack
• Premium Organic Tiger Nuts, 12 oz

Ingredients and Tools for Making Tiger Nut Milk

Although ready-made tiger nut milk is still difficult to find, it is easy to make at home. You only need whole tiger nuts, filtered water, a food processor, a blender, and a nut milk bag or fine-mesh sieve.

For additional flavor and sweetness, you can add a sweetener, one pitted date, vanilla, warming spices, or a pinch of sea salt. However, tiger nuts are naturally sweet and have a pleasant fruity, nutty flavor, so the milk doesn’t need much to taste delicious.

Although adding caloric sweeteners such as maple syrup is common, I don’t think they are necessary in tiger nut milk.

I used peeled tiger nuts for this recipe, but whole unpeeled tiger nuts work too because the pulp will be strained and discarded.

How to Make Tiger Nut Milk

Here are the step-by-step instructions for making tiger nut milk at home. You can follow the accompanying photographs for each stage of the process.

Soak the whole tiger nuts in filtered water overnight at room temperature.

The following morning, drain and discard the soaking water. Transfer the soaked tiger nuts to a food processor and process until finely ground.

Add the ground tiger nuts to a blender, pour in the fresh water, and blend until the mixture looks like milk. If you are using a smaller blender, such as a Nutribullet, blend the tiger nuts and water in batches.

Strain the milk through a nut milk bag, separating the liquid from the pulp.

Transfer the tiger nut milk to a glass bottle and refrigerate it for up 4 days.

Horchata de chufa

Horchata de chufa is a Spanish drink made with tiger nut milk, sugar, and cinnamon and served chilled. The ratio of tiger nuts to water is often around 1:2, which I find unnecessary for everyday tiger nut milk. My homemade version uses a ratio closer to 1:4.

You can experiment with different ratios and decide which consistency you prefer. Tiger nuts are quite expensive, so the 1:4 ratio works perfectly for me. The milk is still creamy, thick enough, naturally sweet, and flavorful.

Traditional horchata contains sugar, but I find it unnecessary because tiger nuts are already naturally sweet.

How to Use Tiger Nut Milk

This recipe makes approximately 1 liter, or about 5 cups. Tiger nut milk can be used in many ways:

• Drink it cold, warm, or hot.
• Heat or boil it for hot drinks and other recipes.
• Use it to make coffee, cacao, or matcha lattes.
• Serve it with granola or cereal.
• Use it in baked goods or homemade ice cream.
• Substitute it for almond milk, oat milk, or another plant-based milk.

Serve it with Sugar-Free Crunchy Granola with Green Plantains or Low-Carb Granola.

You can also enjoy it with Gluten-Free Almond Biscotti with Tiger Nut Flour.

For another nut-free plant milk, try my Hemp Seed Milk Recipe. If you tolerate nuts, Macadamia Milk is another delicious option.

More tiger nut recipes

If you love tigernuts, check out our Tigernut Flour Guide (20+ Recipes to Get You Started).

This post contains affiliated links, which means I get a small commission if you choose to purchase something via one of my links, at no extra cost to you.

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