The easiest, creamy and slightly sweet homemade Authentic Mexican Horchata. 

This post includes step-by-step recipe instructions and pictures for how to make homemade horchata. 

A tall, clear glass of Mexican horchata sprinkled with cinnamon and sitting on a wood table surrounded by cinnamon sticks.

Horchata

It’s almost Cinco de Mayo guys!  A good excuse to throw a party with your friends and make some awesome homemade Mexican food! This Horchata recipe is my take on the popular favorite, but I can’t say that it’s authentic–we think it’s delicious though! Let me know how you make horchata, in the comments below! \

I’ll be making several of my favorite Mexican dishes to celebrate the holiday this year, particularly Mexican Rice and easy homemade Salsa.

What is Horchata?

Horchata (pronounced or-CHAH-tah) is a popular Mexican drink that is often described as a sweet rice milk beverage. Horchata is made out of rice, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon and is served in many Mexican restaurants.  There’s an important balance to the creamy rice and cinnamon flavors found in horchata and I think  you will find that this homemade Horchata recipe is the perfect balance.

The ingredients for making horchata including a liquid measuring cup with milk, measuring cups with rice and sugar, two cinnamon sticks and a small bowl of vanilla extract.

How to Make Horchata:

  • Blend. Blend the rice, water, and cinnamon sticks until the rice and cinnamon sticks are roughly ground. Add the remaining water and blend again.
  • Let Sit.  Pour the contents into a pitcher or container with a fitted lid and place on your countertop overnight (or for at least 8 hours).
  • Strain. Pour the rice mixture into a fine mesh strainer, into a pitcher and discard the rice.
  • Add.  Stir in the milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar (to your preference). Chill until ready to serve. Stir well before serving and serve over ice.
Four process photos for making Horchata with text instructions including rice, water and cinnamon sticks in a blender, blended, strained, and poured into a pitcher.

What is Hochata de Chufa?

Horchata de chufa is popular in Spain and it differs from Mexican horchata (or horchata de arroz) in that Mexican horchata is made with rice and horchata de chufa is made with chufa (also known as tiger nuts).

For Vegan Horchata:

To make vegan horchata, simply substitute equal parts almond milk for the milk in the recipe.

A large clear, glass pitcher with horchata, ice and a wooden spoon in it.
You may also like these Mexican recipes:
Creamy white horchata in a tall clear glass topped with cinnamon.

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Recipe

Prep 8 hrs
Total 8 hrs
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Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 cups uncooked long-grain white rice
  • 2 Mexican cinnamon sticks
  • 4 cups hot water
  • 2 cups milk or almond milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ⅓ – 1/2 cups granulated sugar , to taste

Instructions
 

  • To a blender, add rice, 2 cups of hot water, and 2 Mexican cinnamon sticks. 
  • Blend until the rice and cinnamon sticks are roughly ground. Add the remaining water and blend again. 
  • Pour contents into a pitcher or container with a fitted lid and refrigerate overnight or for at least 8 hours. 
  • Pour the rice mixture through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth, into a pitcher. Discard the rice. 
  • Stir in the milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar (to your preference). Chill until ready to serve. Stir well before serving and serve over ice.

Notes

Serve this with one of my favorite authentic Mexican meals.

Nutrition

Calories: 191kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 4gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 6mgSodium: 36mgPotassium: 126mgFiber: 1gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 100IUCalcium: 104mgIron: 0.5mg

Did You Make This Recipe?

Tag @TastesBetterFromScratch on Instagram with #TastesBetterFromScratch!

Have you tried this recipe?!

RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.

I originally shared this recipe April 2016. Updated July 2019.

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About The Author

Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

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Comments

    1. Great question! In this recipe, we discard the rice after blending it with water because the purpose of the rice is to infuse the water with its flavor and creaminess. Once the rice has done its job, it has become soft and has released its starch into the water, which gives the horchata its characteristic texture.

      While you may be able to find other uses for the rice, it’s typically not used again in traditional horchata recipes. However, if you want to reduce food waste, you could try adding the leftover rice to other dishes such as soups or stews for added texture and flavor. Thanks for asking!

  1. 4 stars
    I know this as “Horxata”, it is pronounced the same but, most English speaking nations will get it wrong. “Horchata” is easy for Scots, Irish and Germans to say because they have the ‘achlaut’ sound (look up the German word “ich”, or Scottish “loch”). It is not a “ch” as in “church” or “chocolate” as you suggested in the article. Anyhoo… going to try this drink tomorrow. Thanks for the info.

  2. I was wondering if it’s possible to over soak the rice. I have ti go on a trip this weekend and I was planning to let the rice soak over the weekend. Would this work out ok?

  3. Great recipe, but not sure why anyone would add 2 tsp ground cinnamon. It just sits there. I had to scoop it all out.

    1. America is just obsessed with cramming cinnamon into everything, usually for no good reason other than they saw some other American do it. A little goes a very long way regarding cinnamon. It does not belong in everything.

      1. This is a traditional Mexican drink. Every traditional, Mexican run, Mexican restaurant I have been to sells it and there’s always a good amount of cinnamon.

        1. Soy Mexicano y deja decirte que esta receta no es correcta
          La horchata no lleva leche si no leche condensada para darle la testura cremosa
          Esta persona no sabe como hacer horchata

  4. Thank you for the Horchata recipe…this is the first time ever that I made this drink…. I’ve always loved the drink, and was surprised how easy it was to make!! My family loved it too
    Thank you again💙. Victoria

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