XXL Silicone Bag
One gallon, leakproof, lies flat in the fridge. A whole week in one bag.
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Big-Batch Horchata
Horchata is rice, cinnamon, water and time, and it costs about two dollars to make a gallon of something a taqueria charges four dollars a cup for. The whole recipe is a long cold soak followed by a blend and a strain, which means the vessel you soak in decides how easy the job is. A gallon bag holds the full batch, seals shut so nothing spills when you shake it, and lies flat on a fridge shelf instead of taking up the space a stockpot would for eight hours.
Ingredients
- 2 cups long-grain white rice, uncooked
- 4 cinnamon sticks, broken up
- 10 cups hot water, for soaking
- 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
- 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- Ground cinnamon, to serve
Directions
- Rinse the rice once under cold water and drain it. Put the rice and broken cinnamon sticks into the gallon bag.
- Pour in the hot water, press out the air and seal. Lay the bag flat and leave it on the counter for 4 hours or in the fridge overnight. The rice softens and the cinnamon gives up its oil.
- Pour the contents, cinnamon and all, into a blender in batches and blend each on high for a full minute. One minute is the number that matters. Thirty seconds leaves grit.
- Strain through a fine sieve lined with a double layer of cheesecloth into a large bowl. Press the solids with a spoon to get the last of the liquid, then discard them.
- Whisk in the evaporated milk, condensed milk, whole milk, vanilla and salt. Taste and add water if you want it lighter.
- Pour it back into the rinsed bag or a pitcher and chill at least 2 hours. Shake before pouring, since it separates, and serve over plenty of ice with ground cinnamon on top.
Tips and variations
- Blend for a full minute per batch. Undermixed rice is the single reason homemade horchata comes out gritty.
- Use real cinnamon sticks, not ground. Ground cinnamon will not strain out and makes the drink muddy.
- It separates in the fridge. That is normal and not a fault. Shake or stir before every pour.
- For a dairy-free version, swap both canned milks for one can of coconut milk and 1/2 cup of sugar.
- Freeze a cup of it in an ice cube tray and use those cubes instead of water ice, so the last glass is as strong as the first.
The bag this recipe is built around
Ten cups of water plus two cups of rice is most of a gallon, and it has to sit somewhere cold for eight hours. The XXL Blue bag takes the whole soak, seals leakproof so you can shake it without a lid coming off, and lies flat instead of claiming a shelf. It rinses clean of the starch in seconds.
See the Blue XXL Bag
Common questions
- What is horchata made of
- Mexican horchata is white rice and cinnamon soaked in water, blended, strained and sweetened with milk. Spanish horchata is a different drink made from tiger nuts.
- Why is my horchata gritty
- The rice was not blended long enough or the sieve was too coarse. Blend each batch a full minute and strain through cheesecloth, not just a sieve.
- How long does homemade horchata last
- Five days sealed in the fridge. It separates as it sits, so shake it before serving. Do not freeze the finished drink, since the milk splits.
- Can I make horchata without dairy
- Yes. Leave out the evaporated and condensed milk and sweeten with 1/2 cup sugar plus a can of coconut milk or a cup of oat milk.
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Copy this one onto a 4x6 card. Title across the top, the nine ingredients down the left, the six steps down the right, and Makes 1 gallon, Soak 8 hr along the header. File it behind the Drinks divider. Built to outlast the screenshot.
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