Mexican Horchata is a sweet, cinnamon rice milk drink that is super popular. This version is easy to make with options to keep the rice in the drink or to remove.
Horchata is a traditional Mexican dessert drink that you have probably seen at your local Mexican restaurants. While the ingredients separately may not seem like they would go together in a beverage, this is actually a really delicious drink. The rice water blends with the milk and cinnamon and has just the right amount of sweetness. It is just so refreshing.
History Lesson: Horchata, also known as “horchata de chufa” originated thousands of years ago in North Africa and was made from ground and sweetened tiger nuts. It spread to many different countries and eventually made its way to Mexico. Tiger nuts were not available in Mexico, so it became “horchata de arroz” and was then made with rice instead.
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Straining Rice: Optional
Some people do not like the texture of the ground rice in their horchata, and they prefer to strain. If you do not mind the texture, you definitely do not have to strain, and some people prefer it this way. Just make sure to blend for a full 2 minutes if you intend to keep the rice in your drink. It will be slightly thicker and have a powdery quality.
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Hot Vs. Cold Horchata:
Yes, horchata can be served either hot or cold. We prefer it served cold over ice, but you can always heat it in a saucepan on the stovetop over medium-low heat and serve warm.
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Storage and Longevity:
Horchata needs to be stored in the refrigerator and can last about 5 days. However, we have a hard time making it last more than 24 hours. It’s so good!
If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other delicious beverage recipes:
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Amazing ❤
Delicious and so easy. So good with Ultimate Nachos.
Very very lovely refreshing drink from Malaysia.
Can I use heavy whipping cream instead of whole milk? Thank you! ?
This is PHENOMENAL! Even the horchata I’ve had at Mexican restaurants isn’t this delicious. Thank you for this recipe! I’m sure this will be a weekly treat from now on.
What kind of liquor would you put in this drink?
Definitely rum!
Rumchata or amaretto should be yummy
Rum or Kaluha is delicious with Horchata.
I so admire you and enjoy your cooking but most of it I enjoy your style, how sweet and easy you make everything seem, it’s so easy when guided by you. So thank you for sharing your amazing cooking skills! You got a huge fan over here. From Hamden CT THANK YOU!
From niantic ***waves*** love her recipes too!
I love this recipe, and I am a Die Hard Blend the Rice kind of a girl. I mike it a tad different. We let the rice sit in the water until the rice is SO SOFT it just practically dissolves all on its own. Anyway to a full 24 hours to 2 days….Pretty much it could even be longer. Around Wed we start our rice and water mix. Place it into the fridge and forget about it until the weekend. One STIR With a wooden spoon and the Rice water is MILKY Already. YUM!! You could strain it at this point and add THAT Milky liquid to the rest of the recipe. However, blending the rice water….ON ITS OWN….For several minutes releases MORE of that rice milk goodness. THEN We add that strained Rice Milk to the rest of the ingredients. Of course we give all remaining ingredients a quick blend, and then pour over ice. It is SO GOOD…Shucks, I want some RIGHT NOW 🙂 Been making this for years the way I describe. You WANT The flavor of that rice water…..but if you do it MY Way..you are actually using Rice MILK…..A far different flavor indeed. Saying that, its all good. I bet your recipe is wonderful. Plus, you did offer the option to ppl to blend the rice and water together. I appreciate you Greatly.
I forgot to add, we do not use sugar, instead of the condensed milk….we use SWEETENED Condensed milk and do not add any sugar at all. Its the best of both worlds..the milk and sugar are already in the can 🙂
So instead of adding the evaporated milk, you add a can (14oz) of sweetened condensed milk and NO additional sugar? Do you add the 1/2 c of regular milk as well or no? We are out of evaporated milk (the store was out on our last shopping trip) but we do have a few cans of sweetened condensed milk. Thanks.
Super easy and delicious !
Can you substitute coconut milk for evaporated milk? Thank you
I wouldn’t recommend it as it would significantly impact the flavor of the Horchata.