Homemade horchata that is simple to make, extra creamy, refreshing, with just the right amount of sweet and spice, and an amazingly nutrient-dense ingredient that will both surprise and delight you!
Mexican food is a Curry household staple! Growing up, Meg’s loved going to the local hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant right around the corner from our house, and she would always order the #2 with horchata. That creamy cinnamon milk was so rich and decadent! However, as she got older, she found it harder and harder to fit some of her old favorites as they were into her diet. Horchata being one of them.
That is what inspired us to create this recipe. We wanted something we knew was healthy, yet no less tasty then the horchata Megs grew up on. Something close to the authentic horchata we know and love in taste, yet simple and approachable for every day. That’s what we were looking for. So we decided to experiment with this nostalgic recipe until we found the perfect one! The perfect balance of creaminess, sweet, and spice made from super healthy ingredients. A horchata so simple, so amazingly delicious and good for you that the only bad part about it is when it’s gone! We think we succeeded.
This is Meg’s “better-for-you” horchata recipe that has an ingredient that will surely take you by surprise~ it did Peg’s!
Making our homemade horchata…
Scroll down for the full, printable recipe or watch our recipe video here!
If you haven’t already guessed by the pictures, our surprise ingredient is cauliflower! You read that right! Cauliflower. We’ve talked about all the wonderful benefits cauliflower has to offer before (see this recipe for tons of info), but let’s talk about it again for just a moment.
Cauliflower is truly one of the healthiest vegetables you can stuff in your mouth! Cauliflower is anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant rich and full of vitamins and minerals. In addition to it being great for you, its super versatile too. You can eat it raw, roast it, make it into rice, steam it. You can even add it to drinks and smoothies like we’re doing here! And while cauliflower doesn’t seem like the most conventional ingredient to use in horchata, we promise it totally works!
Beyond cauliflower, this homemade horchata recipe is full of great ingredients.
We use:
- Dates (which promote heart health, bone health and are full of healthy fiber)
- Coconut cream (gives the horchata a beautiful texture and flavor)
- Homemade almond milk
- Pure vanilla extract
- A scoop of vanilla protein powder, and of course, a healthy dose of cinnamon!
Blend it all together and you’ve got yourself the yummiest feel good horchata! Full of wonderful benefits yet oh so tasty, striking that perfect balance that all food should! It’s so good and so easy to make you might just make another batch! (or 4) And you can totally indulge yourself because this recipe is about as guilt-free as horchata gets!
Authentic horchata is naturally dairy free, but we do know of some recipes that use cow milk, sweetened condensed cow milk, etc. We wanted to create a version that you could be sure was 100% dairy free and still truly delicious!
Vanilla protein powder is optional, but it adds a nice little nutritional boost, ups the creaminess factor, and lends even more of that wonderful vanilla flavor. If you’re not sure which protein powder to use, here are a few to try from some of our favorite brands: Primal kitchen, Green Foods, Nutiva.
This recipe is not only 100% dairy free and vegan, but it is paleo friendly as well!
If you gave this super delicious, almost completely guilt-free horchata recipe a try, please let us know what you thought in the comments! We love hearing from our audience.
And because we appreciate you guys so much, allow us to suggest a couple other recipes we think you’d enjoy. Our homemade chai tea and made from scratch dairy-free whipped cream would make excellent additions to your recipe collection! (don’t be afraid to add a dollop of the whipped cream on top of our horchata for a little extra indulgence)
PrintHomemade Horchata
A horchata so simple, so amazingly delicious and good for you that the only bad part about it is when it’s gone!
- Total Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup cauliflower, frozen or raw, rough chopped
- 1 cup almond milk (homemade is best)
- 1/4 cup coconut cream
- 2–3 dates, pitted
- 1 scoop favorite vanilla protein powder (optional)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 handful of ice
Instructions
Once you have your ingredients, all you have to do is blend them together, pour, and enjoy what is probably the greatest-for-you horchata you’ve ever had!
- Prep Time: 10