Easy Horchata is a traditional Mexican drink made from white rice soaked in water and flavored with condensed milk and cinnamon! This refreshing, creamy, drink is perfect for summer!
Easy Horchata:
Horchata is one of our favorite drinks to order at any Mexican restaurant! It’s a super creamy rice milk drink that is so smooth, sweet, and spiced with cinnamon and vanilla extract. It tastes so good and is really perfect for Cinco de Mayo, or any time during the warm weather months. There are lots of different versions of horchata out there, and this one is my fave after testing different ratios and mixtures. This comes together really easily, but keep in mind the rice needs to soak for at least two hours and up to overnight. So, plan ahead for that! I personally like to soak for 8 hours, it gives a lot more creamy rice flavor. Once your rice and water has soaked all you need to do is blend the mixture up with some cinnamon sticks. Then, we add in our condensed milk, and vanilla and stir everything together! At that point you can stick it in the fridge or serve right away. We like to add extra cinnamon sticks or even fresh ground cinnamon for garnish. I love serving this with our Easy Machaca Recipe or with some spicy Chicken Tinga!
Horchata Ingredients:
- Long Grain White Rice: We always use plain, long grain white rice for this recipe. Don’t use a fast cooking/minute rice, it won’t turn out the same! You can of course use something like basmati or jasmine rice and it will have a different flavor but still work fine!
- Sweetened Condensed Milk: After testing this recipe with condensed milk and trying with sugar, the condensed milk won! I loved the flavor and smoothness that I didn’t get with the regular sugar, so don’t skip it!
- Cinnamon Sticks: Make sure to grab some whole cinnamon sticks for this one! Using only ground cinnamon just doesn’t give the best flavor, trust me! You can of course garnish with ground cinnamon.
- Cold Water:Â Make sure to soak in COLD not warm water for the best results!
- Vanilla: You can use real vanilla extract or imitation. But, fresh real vanilla extract will give you the best flavor.
- Ice: Seems simple, but make sure you have plenty! This drink is best served ice cold! It also lasts up to one week in the fridge, so chill the leftovers to enjoy throughout the week.
Enjoy!
~Nichole
Easy Horchata
Ingredients
- 2 Cups long grain white rice
- 4 Cups cold water
- 3 Cinnamon sticks + 2 sticks for serving
- 2 Cups Ice
- 1 ½ Cups Milk
- 1 8-oz Can of sweetened condensed milk
- 2 teaspoons Pure vanilla extract or imitation vanilla flavor
- Ground cinnamon for serving
Instructions
- Soak the rice in the water for two hours or overnight.
- Add the rice along with the water and three cinnamon sticks to a large blender.
- Blend until fairly smooth.
- Add the ice to a large pitcher or bowl then place a fine mesh sieve on the top of the pitcher and strain the rice water through it.
- Pour in the milk and sweetened condensed milk and stir to combine.
- Pour in the vanilla extract, stir, then add a few more cinnamon sticks to the pitcher.
- Serve over more ice and add a dash of cinnamon to the top. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
really great easy recipe, thank you!
Is this good served cold or warm ?? Think I would enjoy it better, warm.