I love horchata but I can’t drink the one you get in restaurants because of all the sugar. The mixes are fabulous, but once again, too sugary. I tried making my own with raw rice and honestly, while it turned out very tasty, it was not something I could see myself doing very often. It requires planning if you’re going to do it right. Soak the rice for hours. Blend, and then let it sit for hours and then strain. I mean, worth it for a special occasion, but not something for every day.
So I gave it some thought and realized I was overdoing this. What are we trying to do? Essentially we’re trying to make a rice milk. Guess what? You can BUY rice milk. Already made. I wondered if it would work as well? All I’d have to do is add cinnamon, and infuse the cinnamon into it.
I know how to infuse flavors quickly–you use a Instant Pot. Once I started making my ice tea in a Instant Pot, I know I’ll never make it any other way. So I used the same principle of tea making to horchata making.
The end result has no added sugar because I used a sweetener. It’s a little thinner than store-bought horchata, I suspect because of no real sugar or perhaps flour fillers? I’m not really sure. It’s thinner but it tastes good. So unless it’s a special occasion, I think this is how I’ll be making it.
This Instant Horchata recipe is as delicious as the original with less sugar! And with a little help from your Instant Pot, it's super quick and easy to make!
- 32 ounces unsweetened rice milk
- 6 tablespoons sugar, or sweetener of choice (I used Truvia sugar substitute)
- 1 stick cinnamon, broken into smaller chunks
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Combine all ingredients, and pressure cook at High Pressure for 4 minutes.
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Allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, release remaining pressure and your drink is ready to serve over ice, or even better, chill it so you're not diluting it further.
I am not a registered dietician or nutritionist. Nutritional information is provided a courtesy, and can vary depending on the exact ingredients you use.
Michelle says
I have not made horchata but the other day I reheated chicken soup with rice in the IP and it can out thick and creamy. Would the horchata get thicker if you added a couple tablespoons of basmati rice and put it on manual for 8-10 minutes. And then used a immersion blender to make it creamy?
URVASHI PITRE says
Horchata is usually fairly thin and doesn’t use cooked rice as a rule.
MH says
Horchata is usually either a nut-based or legume-based drink. Yours is simply using rice, which may be why it is coming out thinner.
URVASHI PITRE says
Traditional horchata is rice-based.
Turney Wong says
What a great recipe! I have always loved Mexican horchata but am usually disappointed by the mixes. This is perfect, very little work and it tastes authentic. Now I don’t have to wait till I go to mexico. Looking forward to trying your Jamaica drink as well. Just need to find the dried Hibiscus flowers.