If you are interested in a plant-based alternative to cow’s milk, hemp milk might be the nutritional powerhouse you’re looking for. Made from hemp seeds, hemp milk has a nutrient-dense profile while remaining low in calories. Although it is becoming increasingly available in most grocery stores, hemp milk is incredibly easy to make. Follow our easy step-by-step recipe to learn how to make hemp milk.

Hemp Milk Recipe

Making your own hemp milk is easy. If you want to avoid certain additives or customize the flavor and consistency of your hemp milk, make it yourself by using this recipe. Remember that homemade hemp milk will not contain the number of minerals found in store-bought hemp milk unless you add them in yourself.

Ingredients  

• ½ cup of hemp seeds (hulled seeds will likely be less bitter but may not have as many nutrients)
• 3 cups water (you can add more to make it less creamy)
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• For chocolate milk, 2 tbsp cocoa powder

Instructions

1. Mix hemp seeds, water, maple syrup, vanilla, and cocoa (if making chocolate milk) in a high-speed blender. Blend until the ingredients seem well combined—approximately 1 minute.
2. Taste a small sample to make sure the flavor is acceptable to you. Add more maple syrup, salt, or cocoa until the flavor is right.
3. For the smoothest drink, strain the mixture into whatever storage container you will use to store the milk by using a cheesecloth or coffee filter.

You can keep this in the refrigerator for 5 days and freeze it for up to a month.

Will Hemp Milk Get You High?

Although hemp and high-THC marijuana are both Cannabis sativa, hemp refers to the plant variety that contains 0.3 percent THC or less. That trace amount of THC, the cannabinoid responsible for causing weed’s high, is not enough to produce any psychoactive effects.

So, no, hemp milk made with hemp seeds will not get you high. If you are looking for psychoactive milk, you can infuse cannabis flower with milk to make weed milk. Simply let about 3 grams of decarboxylated weed simmer in 1 cup of milk for 40-45 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure the cannabis mixes throughout the milk and the milk doesn’t get scorched at the bottom of the pan.

Let the milk cool and then strain it using a cheesecloth, coffee filter, clean shirt, or strainer. This is not the same as hemp milk, and it will get you high. The greater the THC content of the flower, the more potent the high is likely to be.

How to Use Hemp Milk

Hemp milk is often used as a substitute for cow’s milk. It has a similar consistency to cow’s milk and other plant-based kinds of milk. However, it tastes very different than cow’s milk. The flavor is nutty and depending on the brand and age of the hemp seeds used to make it, it can be slightly bitter.

The flavor can be altered to suit your preferences with the addition of a sweetener or flavor like maple syrup, honey, vanilla, and/or cocoa. Hemp milk can be used in any recipe that calls for cow’s milk. You can add it to your coffee and cereal, use it to make pancakes or cream-based sauces and soups. As long as you are using the right flavors for the dish, the sky is the limit.

While chocolate hemp milk might not be the best match for lobster bisque, it could make an interesting pancake or smoothie ingredient. You can find hemp milk in most grocery stores or online. Most commercial brands make hemp milk with added sugar, thickeners, and salt. If you are very particular about the ingredients in your hemp milk, you can make it yourself.

The Nutritional Value of Hemp

According to the 2010 Nutrition and Metabolism report by Delfin Rodriguez-Leyva and Grant N. Pierce, hemp seed is a nutritional powerhouse. Some of its beneficial components include:

• a rich supply of essential fatty acids and polyunsaturated fats
• almost as much protein as a soybean
• an abundance of minerals and vitamins including Vitamin E, phosphorous, potassium, sodium, magnesium, sulfur, calcium, iron, and zinc
• all of the essential amino acids
• an abundant supply of linoleic acid, a-linolenic acid, and gamma-linolenic acid, each fatty acids that inhibit inflammatory responses

Rodriguez-Leyva and Pierce admit that more research needs to be done to understand the potential effect of hemp seed on health, but they conclude that “hempseed has the potential to beneficially influence heart disease” because of its nutritional content. A serving (1 cup) of unsweetened hemp milk contains approximately the following:

• Calories: 60
• Total fat: 4.5 g (6%)
• Cholesterol: 0
• Sodium: 110 mg (5%)
• Total carbohydrates: 0 g
• Protein: 3 g

As a reference point, a serving (1 cup) of whole fat cow’s milk looks like this:

• Calories: 160
• Total fat: 9 g (14%)
• Cholesterol: 35 mg (12%)
• Sodium: 120 mg (5%)
• Total carbohydrates: 11 g (4%)
• Protein: 8 g

Most commercial brands also incorporate a mineral mix containing Vitamin D, calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and zinc into the hemp milk so that it can be as nutrient-dense if not more so than cow’s milk. Hemp milk is a lactose, soy, and gluten-free source of plant protein and unsaturated fatty acids.

It is also less likely to cause an allergic reaction than tree nuts. When it is infused with minerals, hemp milk is also a good source of calcium and Vitamin D.