Horchata
Rice and cinnamon soaked overnight, blended and strained into a sweet, milky drink served over ice. The standard partner to anything fried or chilli-hot.
Photograph credit: Horchata, my drink of choice in Mexico - Merida Yucatan 21 March 2021 by Sharon Hahn Darlin · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Before You Start
Blend for two full minutes. This is the whole difference between silky and gritty.
Strain twice through muslin if you want it restaurant smooth.
It separates in the fridge, which is normal. Stir before pouring.
Cooking Horchata
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Rinse the rice once, then put it in a bowl with the broken cinnamon sticks and the warm water. Cover and refrigerate overnight, or at least 8 hours.
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Tip the rice, cinnamon and soaking water into a blender with the extra 500 ml water. Blend on high for a full 2 minutes — longer than feels necessary.
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Strain through a fine sieve lined with muslin, pressing the solids to get everything through. Discard the pulp.
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Stir in the milk (or oat milk), sugar and vanilla. Taste and adjust the sugar — it should be sweet but not cloying.
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Chill thoroughly. Serve over plenty of ice with a dusting of ground cinnamon.
Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Choosing rice.
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What's Going On Here
The overnight soak softens the rice enough that a domestic blender can break it into particles fine enough to carry flavour and body through the strainer. Blending dry or briefly soaked rice gives a thin, gritty drink no amount of sugar rescues.
Storage and Reheating
Refrigerate up to 4 days in a sealed jug. Do not freeze.
Good With
- Tacos al pastor
- Anything fried
- Churros
Common Questions About Horchata
How long does Horchata take to make?
15 minutes of preparation and of cooking, plus 8 hours of soaking, so allow 8 hours 15 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 6.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: where a line offers a choice of foods, only one of them is counted; garnishes, greasing and other items with no amount are not counted. How the figures are worked out.
Vegan when made with oat milk rather than whole milk.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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