• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Mexican Food Journal logo
  • Recipe Index
    • Salsas & Sauces
    • Tacos
    • Enchiladas and Enmoladas
    • Soups
    • Desserts
    • Fish & Seafood
    • Chicken
    • Beverages
    • Pork
    • Beef
    • Tamales
    • Salads
    • Eggs
  • About
  • Contact
  • Join Community
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Salsas
  • Tacos
  • Enchiladas
  • Beef
  • Pork
  • Chicken
  • Eggs
  • Seafood
  • Soups
  • Drinks
  • Chiles
×
You are here: Home / Beverages / Horchata

Horchata

Douglas Cullen, This blog generates income via ads and affiliate links which earn us a small commission.

Agua de Horchata

Horchata is Mexico’s famous cinnamon-infused rice water drink. Is it worth it to make homemade? Absolutely! Of course, you can buy horchata concentrate and it’s super easy to use but it doesn’t compare to the real stuff.

We’ll show you how to make traditional horchata from scratch using rice, not rice flour. Sweetened condensed milk gives it its refreshing sweet taste.

Pitcher of Horchata Agua Fresca
Glass of Authentic Horchata

How to Make

You will need the following to make horchata. When you prepare it with soaked rice the texture is smooth, not chalky.

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups rice
  • 1 can (14oz.) sweetened condensed milk (reduce by half for a mildly sweet drink)
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 5 cups hot water
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 tsp.ground cinnamon (add to taste)
Ingredients to Make Authentic Horchata

Process

In a mixing bowl, add the rice, whole milk, sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon sticks.

Mixing Base for Horchata

Pour hot water into the mixture and stir until the sweetened condensed milk dissolves.

Adding Hot Water to Base

Allow mixture to come to room temperature. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap then refrigerate the mixture for a minimum of 2 hours.

We recommend refrigerating overnight for a more concentrated flavor.

Mixing Bowl with Horchata Base Covered in Plastic

After refrigerating, uncover the mixture. Remove the cinnamon sticks and discard.

Discarded Cinnamon Sticks

Strain the mixture to separate the rice. Reserve the liquid.

Straining Horchata Mixture
Straining Soaked Rice

Add the rice and 1.5 cups of the strained liquid to your blender. Blend for 3 minutes until the rice is liquefied.

Rice in Blender

Strain the blended rice back into the reserved liquid.

Second Straining

Check to make sure that the rice has been completely liquified. There shouldn’t be any bits of rice remaining in the strainer. If there is blend the horchata mixture again.

Checking Horchata Mixture for Texture

Serving

Serve over ice with a sprinkle of cinnamon. You can garnish each glass with a cinnamon stick if you like for a posher presentation.

Glass of Homemade Horchata

Variations

Boozy Horchata

  • Turn horchata into a grownup alcoholic beverage by adding half a shot of your favorite rum or vodka to each glass. It’s great with a splash of Kahlua too.

Fruity Horchata

  • Strawberry horchata – when you are blending the soaked rice add 1 cup of sliced strawberries and prepare as usual.
  • Mango horchata – when you are blending the soaked rice add 1 cup of sliced mango and prepare as usual.
  • Apple horchata – when you are blending the soaked rice add 1 cup of sliced peeled apple and prepare as usual.

Dairy-free

  • You can make it without milk. Substitute 1 cup of unflavored, unsweetened almond milk for the whole milk and prepare as usual.
Glass of Authentic Horchata Topped with Cinnamon

Provecho!

Glass of Authentic Horchata
Print Pin
3.95 from 39 votes

Horchata Recipe

How to make authentic Horchata, Mexico's famous cinnamon-infused rice water drink. It's mild slightly sweet cinnamon infused flavor complements spicy Mexican food. It's one of many delicious aguas frescas prepared in Mexican homes.
Course Beverage
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword Horchata Drink, Horchata Recipe, How to Make Horchata
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Servings 6 10 oz. cups
Calories 461kcal
Author Andrés Carnalla

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups rice
  • 1 can 14oz. sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 5 cups hot water
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 tsp.ground cinnamon add to taste

Instructions

  • In a mixing bowl, add the rice, whole milk, sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon sticks.
  • Pour hot water into the mixture and stir until the sweetened condensed milk dissolves.
  • Allow mixture to come to room temperature. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap then refrigerate the mixture for a minimum of 2 hours. Refrigerate up to 12 hours for a more concentrated flavor.
  • Uncover the mixture. Remove the cinnamon sticks and discard.
  • Strain the mixture to separate the rice. Reserve the liquid.
  • Add the rice and 1.5 cups of the strained liquid to your blender. Blend for 3 minutes until the rice is liquefied.
  • Strain the blended rice back into the reserved liquid. Blend the horchata mixture again if the mixture is gritty.
  • Serve over ice with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Notes

Substitutions
  • For a less sweet drink, reduce the sweetened condensed milk by half.
  • For a dairy-free horchata, substitute 1 cup of unsweetened, unflavored almond milk for the whole milk.
  • If it is too thick, add 1 cup cold water and stir well.
Storage
  • Horchata will keep for 2 days in the refrigerator.

Nutrition

Calories: 461kcal | Carbohydrates: 89g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 10g | Sodium: 131mg | Sugar: 51g

More Aguas Frescas

Some more of our favorite Mexican drinks.

  • Chia Lime Water
  • Pineapple Water
  • Guayaba Water
  • Jamaica
  • Cucumber Water
« Pico de Gallo
Tomatillo Chicken »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gena says

    August 28, 2018 at 5:11 pm

    4 stars
    Thank you so much for sharing this. I was always afraid to try to make this but this looks doable.

    Reply
  2. mens watches says

    December 07, 2018 at 9:51 pm

    Thhis site was… how do I say it? Relevant!! Finally I have found something which helped me.
    Appreciate it!

    Reply
  3. Katja says

    April 19, 2019 at 11:33 pm

    You said you can make a dairy-free if you substitute almond milk for the whole milk, and prepare as usual, but the condensed milk obviously has dairy as well…. What do you substitute for the sweetened condensed milk?

    Reply
    • Eva says

      August 17, 2019 at 6:52 pm

      You can use condensed coconut milk.

      Reply
    • Q says

      April 19, 2021 at 12:02 pm

      It is not horchata if you use almond juice and coconut by products – it is simply a Frankenstein concoction with no similarity to the real thing.

      Reply
  4. Paul Jones says

    June 29, 2019 at 7:00 pm

    What kind of rice do you generally use?

    Reply
  5. Sydney says

    July 08, 2019 at 11:00 am

    Are dulce de leche and standard sweetened condensed milk interchangeable here?

    Reply
    • Lina says

      May 09, 2020 at 5:35 pm

      No… very different character to each. Dulce de leche is much closer to caramel sauce in overall qualities; sweetened condensed milk is thick and sweet but still has a very “milk” quality…it is what is traditionally used to sweeten Thai ice tea, if that helps.

      Reply
  6. Tiffany Nkezabahizi says

    August 24, 2019 at 12:19 pm

    5 stars
    I grew up drinking horchata. I made it for the first time with your recipe. It is on point. Thank you so much for posting it.

    Reply
  7. Jeff Tovar says

    May 04, 2020 at 3:37 pm

    4 stars
    Can I use skim or 1% milk? I don’t drink whole milk.

    Reply
  8. Mercedes Fuentes says

    July 15, 2020 at 5:41 pm

    Very good recipe. I like mine with cafe and sambuca or vodca maybe even some mooneshine

    Reply
  9. Roxana says

    October 12, 2020 at 12:00 am

    4 stars
    I am really happy to say it is an interesting
    post to read. I learn new information from your article, you do a excellent job.

    Best regards,
    Thompson Zacho

    Reply
  10. Pastrychef says

    October 27, 2020 at 1:49 pm

    The product pictured is caramel or dulche de leche, not plain sweetened condensed milk.

    Reply
    • Natalie says

      April 10, 2021 at 6:47 pm

      That’s what I was confused about. The sweetened condensed milk is caramel in color in the picture here, so looks like dulce de leche. But she mentioned in a previous reply that it is not what is used, just regular sweetened condensed milk.

      Reply
  11. lola says

    May 21, 2021 at 7:58 am

    im a mexican eveything that we says its good except the hot water! we don’t use the hot water in the rice, we use cold water.i haven’t here someone make it like he does he is american guy jajajjaajaj .

    Reply
Newer Comments »

Leave a Reply to Roxana Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

D. Cullen Profile Picture

Hola, I am Douglas. Let me share my love of Mexican Cuisine with you that developed over 20+ years of living in Mexico.

More about me →


Most Popular Recipes

  • Classic Salsa Verde
  • Restaurant Style Salsa
  • Traditional Sopa de Fideo
  • Red Pork Pozole
  • Chicken Tinga
  • Agua de Jamaica
  • Tres Leches Cake
  • Beet Salad with Feta Cheese and Citrus Balsamic Viniagrette
  • Red Enchilada Sauce
  • Mole Poblano

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2021 Mexico Publishing LLC