Almond, soy, rice, hemp, oat, coconut, macadamia, hazelnut, cashew… non-dairy plant-based milks are taking over! And now… meet the newest kid on the block: pea milk.
We asked our health and fitness writer Larissa Yu to take one for the team and try out this new milk, for health lovers everywhere. This is what she found:
Pea protein miraculously contains certain amino acids only found in animal proteins and dairy so it’s a great option for vegetarians. But more importantly, how does it taste…
…in coffee?
I tried Australia’s Own Like Milk – Original ($4, available at Coles), which is creamy and lightly sweetened. It smells faintly of vanilla so I had high hopes for it being delicious in coffee. Sadly, it separates in hot drinks, much like almond milk. Ewww. Tastes fine but not that appealing to look at whilst you drink it. My friend kept saying it tasted “gritty” but I didn’t find that at all, mine was very smooth.
… in a smoothie?
I buzzed up half a cup with my usual frozen berries and vanilla whey protein powder. Verdict? SO much yes! Neutral flavour, but not in a bland water-smoothie kind of way. All I could taste was berry smoothie which was perfect.
…in pancakes?
Pancakes are LIFE so I had to try it in my go-to recipe for pancakes. I made half with dairy milk and half with pea milk. The pea milk batter was definitely thicker than the dairy and you won’t get air bubbles on top as it cooks which let you know it’s time to flip, you just have to watch them. While the dairy pancakes cooked slightly faster and came out lighter, I actually preferred the slightly denser quality and bite of the pea milk ones. They also had a nice faintly sweet vanilla flavour, whereas in comparison the regular pancakes tasted really bland. Pea milk + pancakes = a winning combo!
CONCLUSION: Once you get over saying “pea milk” out loud (lol), you’ll find it’s a great substitute for dairy except in hot drinks. This isn’t unusual though – many non-dairy milks separate in hot water. With more calcium than dairy milk, less than half the sugar and zero fat, plus it being fortified with phosphorus, vitamins B2, B12 and D, pea milk is the closest nutritionally to dairy of all the plant milks. Being vegetarian, I like that it has added B12 (mainly found in animal products) so I’ll be adding it into the mix. Sticking with oat milk in my coffee though!”
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