For people who are lactose-intolerant or simply want to eliminate dairy foods from their diet, there is certainly no shortage of milks that they can drink instead. We’ve all seen soy milk, oat milk, and almond milk in the stores, but the good news is that there are now other types of milk for you to enjoy. One of the newest types is made out of potatoes, and if you just winced at this bit of news, you might be surprised to learn that potato milk is a thing, and it has tons of nutritional benefits as well.
What Is Potato Milk?
Potato milk is generally made with potatoes, water, honey, vanilla extract, and almonds, in addition to other ingredients. It is considered a plant-based milk product and because it centers around potatoes, it provides a lot of health benefits – more than most people realize. Many people make their own potato milk, but when you buy it in the stores, there are usually other ingredients added to it, including calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12, and folic acid, among others. This makes potato milk a very healthy alternative to other types of dairy and non-dairy milk.
Potato milk has a mild taste but still tastes like regular milk, and growing potatoes is also considered more sustainable than growing oats or almonds. For example, growing potatoes is two times more proficient than growing oats, and you use 50 times less water to make potato milk than you do when making almond milk. When compared to dairy milk, all plant-based milks such as potato milk have much lower carbon footprints, which means they can be considered a more eco-friendly product.
The Many Benefits of Drinking Potato Milk
First of all, potatoes are a heart-healthy food, regardless of how you prepare them. They also have tons of nutrients that are thought to lower your risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, and even some types of cancer. In addition to these things, potatoes can help you control your blood sugar much better, improve the condition of your digestive system, and even help you sleep better. Potato milk is also low in fat and sugar and doesn’t contain common allergens such as soy and others. This means you can now use potato milk for your favorite specialty coffees at your local coffee shop.
Potatoes are root vegetables and, like other root veggies, they are filled with antioxidants that can reduce your risk of getting chronic illnesses such as cancer. They are filled with vitamin C, magnesium, fiber, and potassium, and it’s the starch in potatoes that can improve the health of your digestive system. So, when you eat potatoes or drink potato milk, you get a lot of health benefits that can improve your physical and, therefore, your mental health as well.
Potato milk is also chock full of protein and fiber, with roughly three grams of each per eight-ounce serving. Although it does have the same percentage of fat as dairy milk does – about 3% – most of that is unsaturated fat that is considered more healthy. Even better, if you’re looking for a low-calorie alternative to dairy milk, just know that potato milk has roughly 39 calories per 100 ml serving, as compared to 68 calories per 100 ml serving for dairy milk.
Can You Make Your Own Potato Milk?
If you’re interested in making your own potato milk, here is a basic recipe to help get you started:
Take one and a half cups of raw peeled potatoes and boil them in three and a half cups of water until tender but not falling apart. On average, most people end up boiling the potatoes for roughly 15 minutes. To a blender, add the drained potatoes and some fresh cold water. Usually, three and a half cups of water will work, but some people prefer a thinner texture and use four cups instead. Afterward, add one to two tablespoons of ground almonds, a pinch of salt, and four tablespoons of maple syrup. You can also add vanilla if you like to sweeten the taste of the milk.
Blend the mixture for roughly five to seven minutes, then strain it through either a piece of cheesecloth or a nut milk bag. This recipe is designed to be consumed immediately or put into the refrigerator, where it should last for a few days. Never try to freeze potato milk, and make sure you throw out any unused portions after two to three days. If you need to heat up your potato milk because you want to use it in your favorite latte or other coffee, you can do so easily.
Where Can You Find Potato Milk?
As of this writing, potato milk isn’t commercially available in the United States, but a Swedish company called Veg of Lund has made a potato milk they call DUG, which is available in certain parts of the world. So for now, there is a limited supply of commercial potato milk, which is one of the reasons so many recipes for potato milk are popping up all over the Internet. Just how good is it? That depends on who you ask. No one knows for sure what goes into commercial potato milk, but for the most part, it does seem to be preferred over homemade potato milk, at least according to most people.
That being said, if you experiment and try out several recipes, it’s very likely that you’ll be able to find one that suits your tastes and preferences. Making your own potato milk is fast and simple, and since it tends not to be very sweet on its own, you can always find different ingredients to add some sweetness to it so that you’ll like it better.
Conclusion
Potato milk is a real thing nowadays, and while it isn’t available commercially in the United States, you can always make it yourself. Most of the recipes for potato milk have ingredients you likely already have in your home, and you can make it taste just about any way you want if you add the right ingredients to it. But the best part about drinking potato milk is its health benefits. Simply put, it is a very healthy drink that can help you improve your health practically overnight.