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This homemade Horchata recipe is so easy to prepare, made with rice, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and water. It's my take on the popular favorite.
Do you love Mexican recipes as much as I do? Check out my versions of Tacos Al Pastor, Elotes, or Tres Leches Cake.
We love to make homemade Horchata at our house because I usually always have the ingredients I need, and it's easiest enough for my kids to do. Plus, horchata is an extra fun addition to taco night. I can't say this recipe is authentic, but it's my take on it and I think it tastes incredible. (Here's an authentic Horchata recipe from Isabel Eats.) Let me know how you make horchata, in the comments below!
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 this homemade horchata recipe is my favorite.
How to Make Horchata:
Blend: Combine the rice, hot water, and cinnamon sticks in a blender and 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 at least 8 hours).
Strain: Pour the rice mixture into a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth over a pitcher and discard the rice.
Finish Horchata: Stir in the milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar (to your preference). Chill until ready to serve. Stir well before serving and serve over ice.
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).
Recipe Variations:
Vegan: To make this recipe vegan, simply substitute equal parts almond milk for the milk in the recipe.
You may also like these Mexican recipes:
- Wet Burrito
- Smothered Green Chili Chicken Burritos
- Authentic Mexican Rice
- Cheese Enchiladas
- Grilled Chicken Street Tacos
- Mole Enchiladas
- Esquites (Mexican Corn in a Cup)
Horchata
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
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I originally shared this recipe April 2016. Updated July 2019 and April 2023.
I’ve tried several other recipes, but this one is the closest I could find to the horchata that I’m used to drinking, the flavors are light and delicate and it pairs beautifully with chili, enchiladas, quesadillas, tacos, etc.
I’m obsessed with this recipe– the horchata is fantastic, so refreshing and delicious. It satisfies my sweet tooth while still tasting healthy and filling.
BEST HORCHATA I HAVE EVER TASTED
use condensed milk to make it more authentic :3
This came out really nice!! I was a bit worried about the vanilla extract and if it would make the drink taste alcohol-y, but the 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon at the end perfected it :))
If I use almond milk should I use sweetened or unsweetened
Not impressed. The final product had a “dusty” texture and I also had to skim a large amount of cinnamon off the top. Too bad, I really love horchata.
If you didn’t properly wash and strain the rice that chalky texture and cinnamon bits are all on you. At some point you have to use common sense while cooking
Sadly this recipe didn’t turn out !! I ended up with paste and no liquid . I tried it again and same thing !! Sad because I was excited to make it for my elderly mom .
There are six cups of liquid in the recipe, so if you follow it according to the instructions, it’s not possible for it to be a paste.
Ive never had Horchata but thought it sounded like a good recipe to try. I have my water, rice and cinnamon mixture in the fridge now and think mine is going to make paste as well. The rice is absorbing the water making it super thick. Maybe I ground the rice and cinnamon too long? Or it might be liquid tomorrow if the milk was added to the mixture overnight?
Mine too! I have sludge/paste to put in the fridge and I have no idea what will come out of it if I try to push it through a strainer. ugh.
I’m wondering if I blended it too long?
Horchata is not only Mexican. In Central America is a drink made from Morro seeds.
Why are we discarding the rice? Can’t it be useful for anything?
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!
I’ve made coconut milk/cream from a coconut before. With the leftover coconut meal, I dried it in the oven and ground it up once it was completely dry and I ended up with coconut flour. I’m thinking you could do the same with the leftover rice in this recipe. Or you could also make rice pancakes/waffles (old Farm Journal recipe).
Hey William! Actually YES if you really really wanted to use the rice for something and not throw it away you could make arroz con leche
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.
For your information, it’s always been HORCHATA with a CH.. 🤦 pronounced OR-Chah-Tah
You’re welcome for the info and hope you enjoyed the HORCHATA
I live in South Florida with many Mexicans, and they pronounce it OR-CHA-TA. Go into any Mexican restaurant or fruit stand and they have Horchata.
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?
Great recipe, but not sure why anyone would add 2 tsp ground cinnamon. It just sits there. I had to scoop it all out.
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.
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.
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
Hola Artch, si tienes una receta mas autentica, puedas compartir con nosotros!
La horchata tambien se puede hacer con leche. Tambien hay horchata en America Central, de donde yo soy. En que partes de Mexico la hacen con leche condensada? yo nunca la he probado asi.
This is okay. It just tastes like sugary milk to me though. Not enough rice milk.