Home Made Soy Milk Recipe

Soy is a fairly easy plant to grow. A single packet of seeds can produce enough soy beans at the end of the season to process into several liters of pure home made soy milk. For a short cut, you could use certified organic soy beans for sprouting, and follow the recipe below, but we encourage you to take this homesteading challenge, and produce the beans yourself. Turn one packet of seeds into a huge bowl full of beans. Using certified organic seeds, or growing your own organic soya beans is a good way to ensure that no GMO ingredients are used. It also excludes the preservatives and stabilizers that can be found in commercially produced soy milk.

In this simple recipe, the seeds are soaked and then the skins are removed. Then it is just a matter of processing with water and optional flavours and sweeteners.

First of all, plant soya bean seeds into warm soil from late May to the middle of June in full sun. The plants need time and lots of summer heat to mature, so the timing is key. Learn How to Grow Soya Beans, and we’ll see you in September! Or go with good organic store-bought beans.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (about 80g) soya beans
4 cups (1L) water
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (optional)
4 dates (optional)
sugar to taste (optional)

1. Soak the beans overnight, or for at least twelve hours. They will become noticeably fatter and softer as they absorb the water.
2. Drain the beans and remove the loose skins. This is the only fussy part – try to be sure to get them all!
3. Using a regular kitchen blender, combine the peeled beans with 3 cups (750mL) of water. Pulse and then blend to a smooth consistency.
4. Strain the mix through a fine sieve or a colander lined with cheesecloth. Squeeze out as much moisture as possible.
5. Pour the strained liquid into a medium saucepan and add the last 1 cup of water. Heat over medium-high, and bring to a boil. Any foam that rises can be skimmed off.
6. Reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about twenty minutes.
7. Take off the heat and allow the milk to cool. Once it has cooled down, taste it and adjust with the optional ingredients to taste. If using dates, run them with the milk through the blender again to infuse the flavour and sweetness.
8. Store your home made soy milk in a sealed container in the fridge for up to four days. On the evening of the fourth day, soak some more beans.