This week I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of the plant-based milk family: potato milk. I can almost hear what you're thinking!
What Is Potato Milk, and Is It Healthy?
The potato — that favourite garnish we so often meet boiled, fried, added to dishes, mashed or roasted — is now adding milk to its repertoire. Following in the footsteps of soy, almond, pea and oat milk, potato milk has been listed as a rising trend.
Before you roll your eyes at the idea of potato milk, I'd love you to read what it is and isn't. One of the biggest advantages of using potato for a plant-based milk is that potatoes are remarkably sustainable compared with soybeans, almonds, oats and dairy milk. Potatoes can be grown almost anywhere, don't need special growing conditions, are twice as efficient as oats, have a very low carbon footprint (75% lower than cow's milk), and use 56 times less water to produce than almonds.
What Exactly Is Potato Milk?
One brand describes its potato milk as “delicious, creamy, foams perfectly in coffee, can be used just like other milks, and is the most sustainable alternative on the market.” It's offered in versions that are free from animal products, lactose, gluten, soy and nuts. The unsweetened version's ingredient list includes water, potato, rapeseed oil, pea protein, an acidity regulator (di- and mono-sodium phosphate), calcium carbonate, an emulsifier (sunflower lecithin), natural flavouring and vitamins (D, riboflavin, B12, folic acid).
When I look at homemade versions online, they involve blending boiled, peeled potatoes with water and flavourings (like maple syrup and vanilla), straining the liquid, and using what remains as potato milk. But I can't say much about it until I try it myself! Shop-bought vegan milks are usually fortified with various vitamins and minerals, but one of the biggest challenges of homemade plant-based milk is that these other nutrients aren't added. If you'd like to make potato milk at home, I'd suggest making sure you get vitamins like calcium and vitamin D from other foods or supplements.
Potato Milk Nutrition
Based on one available brand, here are the values per 100 ml of unsweetened potato milk:
- Calories: 39
- Total fat: 3 g
- Saturated fat: 0.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 1.3 g
- Fibre: 0.1 g
- Protein: 1.3 g
- Sodium: 0.11 g
- Calcium: 120 mg
- Vitamin D: 0.75 µg
- Riboflavin: 0.21 mg
- Vitamin B12: 0.38 µg
Plant-based milks vary from brand to brand, so always compare the nutrition on the label when deciding whether a product meets your needs. Based on these figures, potato milk contains a good amount of calcium, vitamin D and vitamin B12 — a nutrient especially important for vegans and vegetarians. It's also lower in saturated fat than some coconut-based milks, and it's an allergy-friendly option.
In short: compared with other plant-based options, I can't call potato milk exceptionally nutritious — but given the recent rise in food allergies, it's certainly an allergy-friendly alternative, and a nice option for anyone who doesn't enjoy the taste of other vegan milks.
Merve Tığlı Çınar, Dietitian