Homemade Oat Milk Nutrition vs. Store-Bought

When I came upon oat milk, I was sold! Creamy, naturally sweet, frothy, it’s delicious. Not to mention it is easy and simple to make in less than five minutes. I’ve never attempted to make almond milk and instead have gone for the store-bought brands which have their drawbacks with additives, preservatives, and emulsifiers. When I discovered oat milk was simple to make at home, without the drawbacks of store-bought dairy alternatives, I was ready to give this dairy alternative a chance. If you like this oat milk recipe, try my chocolate oat milk!

In this post, I’ll share everything you need to know about oat milk including:

• Oat Milk Ingredients
• Oat Milk Nutrition Facts
• Dietary Compatibility
• Health Benefits
• Drawbacks
• Comparison to Other Kinds of Milk

Jump to:

• What is oat milk?
• What are the best store-bought oat milk brands?
• What are the health benefits of oat milk?
• What are the drawbacks of oat milk?
• Oat Milk vs. Other Plant Milk
• How can you use oat milk?
• Easy 2-ingredient Recipe for Oat Milk
• Are you ready to give oat milk a try?
• Oat Milk Recipes!

What is oat milk?

Oat milk is a dairy-free alternative to milk. It has gained popularity over the last year and can be found in coffee shops around the country. People love oat milk for its creamy and rich consistency and mildly natural sweet flavor.

Is oat milk tasty?

Yes, homemade oat milk is tasty and delicious. When it comes to store-bought oat milk tastiness varies on brand. See below for my recommendations of the best store-bought oat milk, and my number one recommended brand.

What are the ingredients in homemade oat milk?

If you’re making your own oat milk there are only two main ingredients, water, and oats. You can choose to add a bit of vanilla extract are Medjool dates to give it a bit more natural sweetness. You can add other natural sweeteners, or cocoa powder to make chocolate oat milk.

What ingredients are in store-bought oat milk?

If you’re purchasing store-bought oat milk you can expect to get added preservatives, additives, emulsifiers, thickeners, and sugar. Some of those ingredients include rapeseed oil, dipotassium phosphate, calcium carbonate, tricalcium phosphate, sea salt, dicalcium phosphate, riboflavin, vitamin A, vitamin D2, vitamin B12, and sugar.

What are the best store-bought oat milk brands?

The best store-bought oat milk depends on a few factors, taste, ingredients, and for many how it froths and tastes in their coffee. One of the big reasons people rave about oat milk is that it froths so well for lattes and other milky coffee drinks. I have to admit I love a good latte! But I also want natural ingredients. The drawback of many of the “barista” brands of oat milk is that they contain dipotassium phosphate which aids in the ability to heat and froth the oat milk. While it tastes good, it’s not the most natural ingredient. Here’s my take on the top brands, tastes, ingredients, and ability to blend well in your favorite coffee drinks.

Califia Farms Oat Barista Blend

This brand is gluten-free. If you have gluten intolerance, you have to be careful when it comes to oats. While oats are naturally gluten-free, they are often made in facilities that also produce products with gluten and could be cross-contaminated. This oat milk is a barista blend because it contains dipotassium phosphate which helps it create a smooth and creamy froth for coffee drinks.

Oatly Oat Milk-Barista Edition

Oatly Oat Milk is not labeled gluten-free. Their barista edition is creamy and froths well for coffee due to the added dipotassium phosphate. Oatly Oat Milk also comes in other flavors including Oat Milk Chilled, Low-Fat Oat Milk Chilled, and Chocolate Oat Milk Chilled.

Pacific Food Organic Oat Beverage

Pacific Foods makes oat milk in original and vanilla. Some like the flavor in coffee because they find that it’s not overwhelming, while others don’t like the color.  

Silk Oat Yeah Oat Milk

Silk has its own take on oat milk in three flavors, Original, Vanilla, and Chocolate.  Silk contains more additives than Califia and Oatly. Those who taste-tested the Silk brand didn’t love it or hate it. Their biggest complaint about it was that it was creamy and had an aftertaste. The vanilla oat milk is extremely sweet, and not popular with taste testers. While the chocolate edition tastes like a chocolate health shake.

Elmhurst Milked Oats

Elmhurst Unsweetened Oat Milk is made with only three ingredients, oats, water, and salt. If you’re looking for the most natural store-bought oat milk around this is the one. Elmhurst is also gluten-free, While this oat milk doesn’t contain any gums or emulsifiers it was also ranked poorly for taste and separates in coffee.

My #1 Recommended Store Bought Oat Milk Brand

With all of the above considerations, my number one recommended store-bought oat milk brand is…

Califia Farms Barista Blend Oat Milk

This oat milk tastes great! It’s dairy-free, nut-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, carrageenan free, contains no gums or stabilizers, non-GMO, vegan, and kosher. It also tastes great in coffee and on its own. It does contain the minerals dipotassium phosphate, calcium carbonate, and tricalcium phosphate, however, these minerals are less worrisome than the gums and stabilizers of other brands.

Oat Milk Nutrition Facts

On average the store-bought oat milk nutrition facts are as follows.

• Calories- 115
• Fat- 3g
• Saturated Fat- 0.2g
• Trans Fat- 0g
• Cholesterol- 0g
• Sodium- 110mg
• Total Carbs (Carbohydrates)- 19g
• Dietary Fiber- 2g
• Soluble Fiber- 1g
• Total Sugars- 10g
• Protein- 3.5g

Homemade Oat Milk Nutrition Facts

• Calories-117
• Fat-2g
• Saturated Fat-0.3g
• Trans Fat-0g
• Cholesterol-
• Sodium-14g
• Total Carbs-20g
• Dietary Fiber-3g
• Total Sugars-3g
• Protein-3g

Can I drink oat milk on my diet?

Oat milk is suitable for vegetarians, vegans, plant-based diets, and those on a gluten-free diet if you purchase or make your own oat milk using certified gluten-free oats. If you are Keto, or Paleo oat milk is not compatible as oats are grain and contain carbs. Oat milk does not contain dairy, eggs, soy, or nuts. It is a great alternative to nut milk for those with nut allergies. Be careful to read the label of the oat milk to be sure it was not made in a facility that also makes products with peanuts or tree nuts if you have an allergy.

What are the health benefits of oat milk?

Oat milk has numerous health benefits. The health benefits listed are for store-bought oat milk that has added vitamins. I recommend making your own oat milk at home to reduce your intake of processed-added ingredients and have more control over the added sugar your oat milk contains. However, there are some health benefits to the added vitamins of oat milk.

Helps Prevent Anemia

If you’re a vegan or vegetarian you could be at risk for anemia if you’re not getting enough B12 or iron in your diet. These micronutrients are not found in most plant foods. Oat milk contains iron which can help reduce the risk of anemia for vegetarians and vegans.

Strengthens Bones

Store-bought oat milk often has added vitamin D and calcium. These micronutrients are essential for bone health. While calcium helps with bone maintenance and vitamin D helps with the absorption of calcium.

Boosts Immunity

As mentioned above store-bought oat milk is enriched with vitamin D, it’s also often enriched with vitamin A, two micronutrients that help with immunity.

Lowers Cholesterol

Oats are high in fiber and oat milk contains more fiber than other dairy alternatives. While eating a bowl of oatmeal will contain more fiber than oat milk, the added fiber in oat milk into your diet can help with lowering your cholesterol. Oats contain a soluble fiber called beta-glucan.

What are the drawbacks of oat milk?

While commercial brands of oat milk add vitamins that have health benefits to their beverage, there are also some drawbacks to drinking the store-bought brands.

Additives, Preservatives, Sugar, and More

With the added vitamins also often come preservatives and sugar. We all know we don’t need any added sugar in our diets, and that preservatives in our food have an effect on our health. In order to make oat milk creamy, thick, and froth well in your coffee oat milk brands often add thickeners and emulsifiers which can impact your digestive health and microbiome. Unless a brand is specifically labeled gluten-free, you have to watch out if you have gluten sensitivity. Many brands are also not labeled as Non-GMO or organic.

Oat Milk vs. Other Plant Milk

Taste

Oat milk is naturally sweet like almond milk and thin like skim milk.

Nutrition

It’s higher in calories than almond milk and skims milk. Unsweetened almond milk typically has 30 calories per cup. Skim milk typically has 98 calories per one mike. Oat milk has 110 calories per cup. Oat milk is also higher in carbohydrates. It also contains more protein and fiber than almond milk, while skim milk contains more protein, oat milk contains more fiber as skim milk has zero fiber.  For those on a low saturated fat diet who are also looking to lower cholesterol, oat milk is a great alternative to regular milk.

How can you use oat milk?

Coffee/Lattes

Oat milk has made a big splash in local coffee shops. Starbucks has not yet gotten around to introducing this milk substitute as an option, but many small coffee shops do offer oat milk. It is enjoyed by coffee lovers because it froths well and has a creamy sweet taste that makes for an excellent latte or other milky coffee drink. Try these 5 Homemade Oat Milk Lattes!

Smoothies

Almond milk is popular for smoothies. It adds some creamy sweetness to those powdered protein shakes you can purchase. Oat milk makes a great add-in for smoothies with its creamy sweet nature. It also adds a bit more protein and fiber to your favorite shake or smoothie recipe.

Soups

Use oat milk as a base for vegan creamy soups. I often use coconut milk for a cream base in soups, oat milk has less fat and calories than coconut milk, and is a nice substitute if you’re looking to cut back in calories in your favorite cream-based vegan soup.

Cereal

Pour oat milk over your favorite cold or hot cereal or granola.

Pancakes Waffles

Use oat milk as a substitute for milk to make it vegan in pancake and waffle mixes. If you’re making vegan pancakes and waffles also check for egg substitutes as necessary.  

Baking

Need milk for a baking recipe, try oat milk instead. When making substitutions in baking can be a bit trickier than in other meals, as there’s quite a science to the way the ingredients work together. Look for recipes that call for oat milk, before you start subbing oat milk in for milk in your personal favorite recipes. The recipe might not turn out as expected.

Easy 2-ingredient Recipe for Oat Milk

Oat milk is easy to make! If you’re not ready to commit to buying oat milk in the store, make your own. Or if you’d like to save money, homemade oat milk is inexpensive to make. All you need are oats and water.

Are you ready to give oat milk a try?

There is a lot of information out there about oat milk. Various brands have come on the scene with their own version of this creamy, sweet, frothy dairy substitute. When choosing store-bought oat milk, look at the label. What’s in it? Be sure to buy oat milk that is labeled gluten-free if you have a gluten intolerance. Also, check to see how much added sugar is in your oat milk. With all the added sugar this healthy milk substitute isn’t so healthy anymore. You also want to stay away from emulsifiers and stabilizers. Making your own oat milk at home is easy, quick, and inexpensive. That’s what turned me onto oat milk in the first place.

Oat Milk Recipes!

Please comment below if you found this article helpful or have any additional questions. You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for more family-friendly vegan recipes!