How to Make Almond Oil at Home

You can make almond oil at home, but it helps to set expectations first. With a blender you'll mostly produce an infused oil — almonds steeped in a carrier oil you add yourself — while a manual or electric oil press can extract genuine almond oil. Either way, home methods recover much less oil per cup of nuts than commercial cold-pressing, and the result oxidises faster because it lacks industrial filtering and stabilisers. For occasional skincare or a small culinary batch, it's a fun project; for a reliable, long-lasting supply, a quality store-bought bottle still wins.

Everything below assumes sweet almonds (Prunus dulcis), the edible kind. Never attempt to press oil from bitter almonds: raw bitter almonds contain amygdalin, which releases cyanide, and bitter almond oil is not a leave-on or food product for home use. If your almonds taste sharp or markedly bitter, do not use them.

Two ways to make it at home

There are two practical routes, and they produce quite different products:

• The blender (infusion) method: blitz almonds with a neutral carrier oil, then strain. Easy and equipment-light, but most of what you bottle is the carrier oil, not pressed almond oil. Best thought of as an almond-infused oil for skin or hair.
• The press (extraction) method: grind almonds to a paste and force the oil out with a manual screw press or a small electric expeller. This gives you real, pure almond oil — but yields are still modest and the gear costs more.

If you only want something to massage into skin or hair, the blender method is genuinely useful. If you want true almond oil for cooking or for a single-ingredient skincare oil, you need a press.

It's worth being honest about why commercial oil is so much cheaper per millilitre than the nuts you'd buy to make it. Large producers use high-pressure expellers, and sometimes heat or solvents, to wring far more oil from each batch than any kitchen tool can, then filter and bottle it to limit oxygen exposure. At home you're trading that efficiency for control and freshness, not saving money — a point worth keeping in mind before you weigh out several cups of almonds.

What you'll need

Gather these before you start, and make sure every tool is completely dry — water is the enemy of shelf life.

• Raw sweet almonds: 2–3 cups. Blanched (skinless) almonds press a little cleaner; raw with skins works too.
• A carrier oil (infusion method only): a neutral, stable oil such as grapeseed or a light, refined oil; about 1 cup per 2 cups of almonds.
• A high-powered blender or food processor, or a manual/electric oil press.
• Fine strainer plus cheesecloth or a nut-milk bag for filtering.
• A clean, dry glass jar or dark bottle with a tight lid for storage.

Method 1: the blender (infused) method, step by step

1. Warm the almonds slightly (optional). A short spell in a low oven, around 60–70°C, softens them and helps release oil — don't roast them dark, which adds flavour and speeds rancidity.
2. Blend the almonds alone first into a fine meal, scraping down the sides.
3. Add the carrier oil a little at a time and keep blending until you have a smooth, pourable paste. Pulse to avoid overheating the motor and the oil.
4. Rest the paste for a few hours, or refrigerate overnight, so the almond oil separates and infuses into the carrier.
5. Strain through cheesecloth or a nut-milk bag, squeezing firmly to extract the oil. Strain a second time through a fine filter to remove residual solids.
6. Bottle immediately in a clean, dry, dark glass container and refrigerate.

The leftover almond meal isn't waste — dry it and use it in baking or as a gentle scrub base. The strained liquid is your almond-infused oil.

Method 2: the press (pure oil) method, step by step

1. Grind the almonds to a fine, slightly oily paste in a food processor; this opens the cells so the press can do its work.
2. Load the press in small batches per the manufacturer's instructions. Some manual presses work better with gently warmed paste.
3. Apply steady pressure. Oil will run out slowly; patience matters more than force. Collect it in a clean glass jar.
4. Let it settle for a day so fine sediment sinks, then carefully decant the clear oil off the top.
5. Filter once more through cheesecloth if any cloudiness remains, then bottle and refrigerate.

Don't expect a flood of oil. Even a good home press leaves a meaningful share of the oil locked in the cake — that's normal, and it's why commercial producers use industrial expellers and, sometimes, solvent extraction.

Realistic yield and quality

Almonds are roughly 50% oil by weight, but no home method captures all of it. A manual press might recover only a fraction, so 2–3 cups of almonds often yields just a small jar of pure oil. With the blender method, "yield" is misleading — most of the volume you bottle is the carrier oil you added, with a relatively small share of true almond oil infused in.

Quality differs too. Commercial cold-pressed almond oil is pressed under controlled temperature, then filtered and bottled to limit oxygen exposure. Home oil sees more air, heat, and handling, so it tends to be cloudier, more variable in flavour, and quicker to turn. Treating it as a fresh, small-batch product you'll use within weeks — rather than a pantry staple — keeps expectations realistic.

Storage and how long it lasts

Homemade almond oil spoils faster than the bottle on the shelf because it skips commercial filtering and added antioxidants. To get the most from it:

• Bottle in dark glass with a tight seal; clear bottles let light accelerate rancidity.
• Refrigerate. Cold slows oxidation; the oil may thicken or cloud in the fridge and clear again at room temperature, which is harmless.
• Keep it dry. Any water left from washing tools or from the nuts invites mould and rancidity.
• Smell before each use. Fresh almond oil is faintly nutty; a sharp, bitter, or paint-like smell means it has gone off — discard it.

Expect roughly one to three months for pressed oil, and potentially less for blender-infused oil if any solids remain. For a deeper rundown, see how to store almond oil and does almond oil expire.

Variations and troubleshooting

• Low or no oil from the press: grind finer, work in smaller batches, and try slightly warming the paste. Cold, coarse paste releases little oil.
• Cloudy oil: normal at first — let it settle longer and filter again. Persistent cloudiness usually means leftover fine solids.
• It went rancid quickly: almost always a sign of trapped water, light exposure, or storage at room temperature. Fix all three next time.
• Want it for cooking: use unroasted nuts and the press method for the cleanest flavour; infused oil carries the taste of its carrier. Remember the smoke point is low, so it suits dressings more than high-heat frying.
• Want it for skin or hair: the infused method is fine and economical. Patch test first, and check whether it's truly pure isn't a concern here since you made it — but freshness still is.

For the full library of preparation and care guides, visit the how-to hub.

This article is for general information and isn't medical advice. Use only sweet almonds, never bitter almonds, and patch test any homemade oil before using it on skin. Discard oil that smells rancid, and consult a doctor about allergies or skin concerns.