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Oat Cream

July 15, 2019 by Alexandra Daum
Homemade oat cream, with just four simple ingredients and no palm oil. Try making oat cream and home and stop buying the overpriced storebought version!
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Oat cream in small glass jar.

Homemade Oat Cream

So there’s an oat cream that’s been widely available in Europe for years now, and recently in North America, but it has palm oil in it (which is a big no). Even organic palm oil – imported from long distances, leads to greater deforestation, and least importantly in this conversation, also bad for you. This is like a cheaper, more environmentally friendly homemade oatly.

The four ingredients in this vegan oat cream, on the other hand, are cheap and widely available in NA and the EU. Oats, a little oil (grape seed, sunflower, even olive), water, and a tiny bit of salt. I tried coconut oil in the first test to see if it’d replicate palm oil but it gets too hard when refrigerated.

It’s a quick and easy recipe, with just a little bit of soaking time, about half an hour. Blend, and you’re done. I don’t even have a real blender – just a stick blender – and you definitely don’t need a high-powered expensive mixer for this.

Why do I need to add oil?

Oats contain virtually no fat. Compare to dairy cream, for example, or even cashew cream, which both contain a lot more natural fat. The oil makes things creamier, it’s emulsified (the molecules are so tiny, it’s like the water and oil combine) and results in an overall better end product.

I use any oil I have on hand here. A very light tasting oil like grape seed, which is what I’ve used in the recipe below, will be virtually imperceptible in the cream. You can also use olive oil if you know you’re making a savoury dish, or sunflower, or even organic canola oil. Don’t use an oil that solidifies at room temperature. You want a pourable cream, not margarine.

How can I use oat cream?

Use it like any other plant based cream, or even like dairy cream. In coffee (I don’t drink coffee, but it should be fine!) or tea, added to sauces and soups, over fresh berries, on top of porridge, or mixed with some vegan pesto for an easy pesto cream sauce.

Try subbing your homemade oat cream for some recipes that call for full fat coconut milk. Not whipped cream, but a creamy soup, or a light curry, or to make a pudding. It has a very subtle flavour and generally blends in to any dish, sweet or savoury.

It’ll keep for at least a week in the jar in the fridge, maybe longer. It doesn’t make a huge batch so you shouldn’t have to worry about the cream spoiling before you can use it. And if you run out of milk, you can thin it out with water to make a quick oat milk!

Let’s connect! If you liked this recipe, make sure to leave a comment below, I love hearing from you! Tag me on instagram @occasionallyeggs and #occasionallyeggs so I can see what you’re making, and stay in touch via email, facebook, and pinterest.

Oat Cream

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes
Soaking Time 30 minutes minutes
Total Time 35 minutes minutes
4.49 from 88 votes

Ingredients

Metric - American
  • 130 grams rolled oats
  • 500 ml water
  • 2 tablespoons grape seed oil*
  • Tiny pinch sea salt

Instructions

  • Place the oats in a bowl and cover with hot water for at least 30 minutes, or up to two hours. Longer and you risk the dreaded slime.
  • Drain and rinse the soaked oats in a fine sieve. Add to a tall container or blender along with the water, oil, and salt. Blend, using a hand blender or regular, for 3-5 minutes or until very smooth.
  • Pour the cream back through the fine mesh sieve and use a spoon to gently scrape until only oat goop remains. You can add the remaining oat mixture to bread, or compost it. It is possible to use a nut milk bag but this can contribute to an undesirable texture.
  • Pour the cream into a jar or container and seal. Keep refrigerated for up to one week. It might last longer, but I haven't tried keeping it over a week.

Video

Notes

* Grape seed is my oil of choice here. See above for more discussion on this, but avoid any oils that solidify easily. Olive oil is fine for savoury uses, and sunflower or organic canola oil also work.

* For American cup measurements, please click the pink link text above the ingredient list that says 'American'.


Nutrition

Serving: 1 Calories: 30kcal Carbohydrates: 4g Protein: 1g Fat: 1g Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g Sodium: 8mg Fiber: 1g

Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.

© Alexandra Daum
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: European
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Comments

  1. Dave says

    April 2, 2023 at 5:06 pm

    Funny that you should eschew palm oil but try coconut oil which is at least as bad as palm oil (very high in saturated fats). Whatever. At least you came out with a very healthy way to make oat cream as a result.

    Thx!

    Reply
    • Alexandra Daum says

      April 2, 2023 at 6:08 pm

      Hi Dave, the reason I don’t use palm oil isn’t about health reasons, but rather environmental ones. (Coconut oil is also not used in this recipe, so not sure where that’s coming from.) So happy you like the recipe. Enjoy!

      Reply
  2. Joella says

    March 28, 2023 at 3:07 pm

    What a wonderful idea! I am going to use this as base for making flavored coffee creamer and I’m going to try it in soups and any of my vegan recipes that call for cream. Thank you so much for sharing.

    Reply
  3. Janine says

    February 23, 2023 at 8:58 pm

    5 stars
    This is a great and simple recipe. For anyone wondering if it freezes well – I split it into batches and froze it for several weeks and it was fine. It did separate a little but as I used it for a dessert recipe that was eventually blended up it didn’t matter.

    Reply
  4. delphine says

    February 8, 2023 at 10:42 am

    5 stars
    Works perfectly ! Thank you 🙂

    Reply
  5. Shelicca says

    December 31, 2022 at 3:50 am

    Would fractionated coconut oil be ok since it does not solidify?

    Reply
    • Alexandra Daum says

      December 31, 2022 at 12:58 pm

      It probably would then!

      Reply
  6. Elizabeth says

    August 26, 2022 at 8:07 pm

    Wow this looks amazing. Definitely trying it soon! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  7. Diane Sesko says

    June 6, 2022 at 3:16 pm

    I’m making this today, it looks delicious!

    Reply
  8. Courtney says

    May 15, 2022 at 1:44 am

    5 stars
    I made this today from gluten free oats and followed the recipe to a T. It turned out perfect! Creamy, and delicious. I followed a commenter’s tip and made a “cream of wheat” style porridge from the oat slurry with some extra water and cinnamon on the stove for about 5min, then topped with my fresh oat cream and brown sugar. It was so nice. Thanks for this great recipe, very easy to follow and loved the video so I could make sure the consistency of mine was similar. 🧡

    Reply
  9. Cara says

    April 26, 2022 at 5:29 am

    This is very unclear
    When you say “Drain and rinse the soaked oats in a fine sieve. Add to a tall container or blender along with the water, oil, and salt. “
    Are we adding the water we just soaked the oats in or fresh water ?

    Reply
    • Alexandra Daum says

      April 26, 2022 at 7:30 am

      Hi Cara, the water from draining and rinsing has gone down the drain. You should use the water amount listed in the recipe card for blending.

      Reply
  10. Rachel says

    February 4, 2022 at 7:45 pm

    Great looking recipe! Where’d you get the bottle/jar thing in the video?

    Reply
    • Alexandra Daum says

      February 5, 2022 at 9:17 am

      Thanks Rachel! It’s from Weck, they still sell it.

      Reply
  11. Linda Aulenti says

    February 3, 2022 at 4:35 pm

    This looks fantastic. I’d like to ferment the final product. Anyone who has tried this, please share. Adding some date paste or coconut sugar is required to give the probiotic starter something to feed on. Not sure how the oil would affect the fermenting process. Love the glass vessel.

    Reply
  12. Virginia Smith says

    February 2, 2022 at 8:54 am

    Hiya. I tried this to make a creamy sauce to bake vegan meatballs in. I think I got confused with the gloop part. I used the NutriBullet because that was the tallest jar I had and used the cream under the sieve. It seems to be bubbling like a sourdough starter which makes me excited. Anyway I have a lot left to make some little oat pancakes for brekky tomorrow and who knows beyond that! I’ll keep you posted 😍 thanks a bunch for the recipe 😘

    Reply
  13. Gabriella says

    December 17, 2021 at 12:20 am

    Have you ever used the oat cream to make frosting for a cake? Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Alexandra Daum says

      December 20, 2021 at 8:34 pm

      Hi Gabriella, I haven’t tried that, and I don’t think it would work very well. It doesn’t whip up at all like coconut cream does, and I don’t imagine it would make a good frosting.

      Reply
  14. Daniel says

    November 12, 2021 at 12:35 pm

    5 stars
    Great recipe! Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  15. Lisa says

    September 7, 2021 at 5:25 am

    Can this be made oil-free?

    Reply
    • Alexandra Daum says

      September 10, 2021 at 4:15 pm

      Sorry, no.

      Reply
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