Have you ever wanted to milk a coconut?

Here’s your chance!

Today we’re going to learn how to make fresh coconut milk; a super ingredient that can be used so many ways in your kitchen. I like using coconut milk for tea or coffee, soups/stews, curries, overnight oats, porridge, smoothies, baked goods, with granola or cereal, chia seed pudding, and just plain sipping it on its own with a bit of cinnamon dashed on top.

Of course buying your coconut milk is the easiest way to do all these things, but sometimes it’s fun to get crafty in the kitchen. That’s why we are making homemade coconut milk with just two ingredients: a coconut and filtered water. This is a much cheaper and healthier alternative to buying coconut milk at the grocery store filled with extra additives, sugars, and preservatives. Yay!

Coconuts pack a lot of nutrition and health benefits into their hairy shells. The meat is full of fiber, B Vitamins, iron, calcium, selenium, and phosphorous. Coconuts also contain a beneficial fatty acid called lauric acid; a compound which is converted into monolaurin in the body. Monolaurin has many antibacterial and anti fungal properties and has been shown to destroy a variety of disease causing organisms including candida, fungal infections, herpes, and Hepatitis C. It is thought that regular consumption of lauric acid from coconut milk and coconuts can help protect the body from viruses and infections.

Want to try fresh homemade coconut milk for yourself? Here is what you will need:

1 medium coconut + its water
1 ½ cups filtered water
A high-speed blender
Cheesecloth or nut-milk bag

Method: First you need to get the water from the coconut. There are a billion YouTube tutorials on how to go about this, but I prefer to use power tools. Use a high-speed drill to drill 3 holes in the bottom of the coconut, where the three little eyes are. Once you pierce the coconut through its tough shell, drain out the water into a small bowl and set aside.

Now you need to crack open the coconut. I like to use a hammer, but once again, there are more than a bazillion ways to do this on YouTube if you prefer a different method. I place my coconut tucked between a tea towel on a hard exterior surface, such as bricks or concrete. Using a hammer, go crazy and hammer away until coconut breaks apart into nice small/medium pieces. Do not make pieces too small!

Once your coconut is broken apart into pieces you’ll need to get the coconut meat from its shell. I like to use a chef’s knife and slice into the meat, shifting the knife from side to side until meat is able to pry off. You can also use a butter knife to pry in between the meat and the shell as well. The coconut meat will have a thin papery brown skin once it’s pried away from the shell. Leave this on.

In the cup of a high-speed blender place coconut meat pieces, coconut water, and 1 ½ cups of filtered water. Blend on the highest speed for about 1-2 minutes, or until the contents starts to resemble milk. The mixture should look creamy, frothy, thick, and coconut milk-like with bits of brown speckles throughout.

Next use a cheesecloth or a nut-milk bag and pour in the contents of the blender over a large bowl. Squeeze with all your might to get all the coconut milk out and into the bowl. Pour your milk into a glass container and keep in the refrigerator where it will last for 3-4 days. Because there are no preservatives or anything gunky, your milk will separate in its jar. Just give it a quick shake before using and enjoy!