Vegan Strawberry Milk (2024)

Published: Apr 5, 2024 by Liz Madsen

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Creamy, sweet, and delicious Vegan Strawberry Milk is easy to make and loaded with fresh strawberry flavor! This vegan strawberry milk recipe uses only 4 ingredients like real strawberries to make an incredible treat with barely any effort. Spend only 10 minutes making this delicious drink and chill until ready to use.

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Hey Internet, I don't know about you, but I feel very nostalgic for the strawberry milk (made with regular milk) I drank occasionally as a kid. Store-bought strawberry milk, chocolate milk, and hey, anyone remember banana milk? These were special treats when I was a kid.

Now that I'm grown up, I still crave it, but I wanted to make it in a healthier way and with a plant-based milk since I don't consume dairy or any animal product. So I set out to make delicious strawberry milk without dairy.

I got inspired a few weeks ago since we entered strawberry season. I wanted to use fresh berries; no artificial flavors. Lo and behold, this incredible homemade vegan strawberry milk was born and it is SO GOOD!

A cold glass of strawberry milk is the perfect way to indulge your sweet tooth when you use plant milk. And if you want it extra fancy, there's an easy modification to make a classic dairy-free strawberry milkshake!

Some recipes use strawberry jam to make dairy-free strawberry milk, but this recipe makes an easy homemade strawberry syrup with fresh strawberries for a really delicious flavor. Store-bought versions cannot compare to this amazing vegan beverage.

In the sections that follow, I'll explain what kinds of non-dairy milk you can use, what sugar substitutes will work, and a simple method for making easy vegan strawberry milk. You can even use frozen strawberries if you can't find good fresh strawberries!

Why You'll Love This Dairy-Free Strawberry Milk Recipe

Simple Ingredients: This simple recipe uses fresh strawberries, two-ingredient soy milk (plenty of substitutions given below), organic cane sugar (again, substitutions offered below), and optional raw sunflower seeds or raw cashews for extra richness. That's it!
Amazing Flavor: Rich, creamy, and loaded with real strawberry flavor, this vegan strawberry milk is a recipe you'll want to make again and again.
Kids Will Love It: If you have littles in the house, they'll love this delicious treat! You can make it extra thick to make like a vegan strawberry milkshake (the nuts/seeds are a great healthy alternative to adding ice cream to a milkshake) or you can keep it as is. Either way, it's a great way to get extra fruit and healthy fats into your kiddos.

Ingredients

Grab these simple ingredients from your local grocery store and get ready to make the best strawberry milk of your life! See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for a complete ingredients list, instructions, and accurate nutritional information (to the best of my ability; please consult your physician or healthcare professional if you have specific dietary needs).

2 Cups Fresh Strawberries: I think deep red fresh strawberries are the best for making the best vegan strawberry milk. The sweetness of the strawberries from fresh are unparalleled (frozen fruit, while just as nutritious as fresh, does lose some flavor when frozen). See the substitutions section below if you cannot find fresh strawberries.
5 Tablespoons Organic Cane Sugar: While you can use less (this recipe makes a little over 4 servings, FYI), the strawberry milk will be less sweet. Use organic, since in some countries (like the United States), conventional sugar is often processed with animal bone char, making it not vegan.
1 Tablespoon Raw Sunflower Seeds or Raw Cashews, Optional: This is purely to make the vegan strawberry milk richer and a bit thicker. The strawberry milk I enjoyed as a kid was rich and thick, so I was trying to recreate that.
4 Cups Non-Dairy Milk Of Choice: I chose soy milk for this recipe because I always have it in my house as I buy cases of it at a time to make Instant Pot Soy Yogurt which both of us at ZardyPlants eat for breakfast every single day. This soy milk is great because it uses only two ingredients: organic non-GMO soybeans and water. It also has 12 g protein per cup! But any plant-based milk will work fine for this recipe. I recommend buying plain unsweetened since we're already adding sugar to make the homemade strawberry syrup.

Substitutions

Fresh Strawberries: You can use two cups of thawed frozen strawberries (we don't add water to blend, so don't use solid frozen berries) if you can't find fresh strawberries. You're also welcome to try other berries but then it will be other-berry milk, not strawberry milk, hah.
Organic Cane Sugar: If you'd like to avoid using refined sugars, you can try alternatives like coconut sugar, maple syrup, or even Medjool dates, you can definitely do that. I recommend using date paste or date syrup if you go the date route, as we don't want to add liquid to our blender if we can help it. Keep in mind all these sugars are darker than cane sugar, meaning that your strawberry milk will be slightly darker in color, but should still taste great.
Raw Sunflower Seeds or Raw Cashews: If you do not have a high speed blender, a good alternative to the seeds/nuts is using raw cashew butter (toasted or roasted cashew butter has a more pronounced flavor), raw sunflower seed butter, or even hulled hemp seeds (AKA hemp hearts). You can also bypass this ingredient by using canned full fat (or "lite") coconut milk as your non-dairy milk. That will make the vegan strawberry milk much more lush and decadent without the need for the seeds or nuts at all.
Non-Dairy Milk of Choice: Oat milk, almond milk, soy milk, cashew milk, coconut milk, etc. are all great choices. Basically any vegan milk with neutral flavors is perfect. You can even make your own vegan milk with soaked nuts or seeds, filtered water, a high speed blender, and a nut milk bag.
Other Ingredients: There are other ingredients you can experiment with here that I didn't want to include (I was trying to keep the ingredients list short and the recipe easy!), such as vanilla extract, lemon juice, strawberry extract, etc. I also didn't want to use any artificial flavorings in this recipe.

How to Make Vegan Strawberry Milk

Blend the first three ingredients: Add the fresh strawberries, sweetener of your choice, and raw sunflower seeds or raw cashews (or see substitutions for other options) to your blender. A food processor may also be used. Blend, starting on low power, and increase the power slowly to the highest available. Blend until completely smooth; this took about a minute for me. You may need to stop and scrape down the sides with a spatula and blend again to get a completely smooth strawberry mixture.
Transfer to a small pot: Use a blender spatula (or a regular spatula) to transfer all of the strawberry mixture to a small pot (preferably one with a spout for transferring the syrup later). Scrape all that strawberry goodness into the small pot.
Make the homemade strawberry syrup: Heat your small pot over medium heat until it comes to a strong boil, stirring occasionally. When boiling, remove from heat and transfer into a large jar or pitcher. (You can use a small jar, but it's easiest to use a large one for the next step.)
Add plant milk: Add your 4 cups of non-dairy milk and place a tight-fitting lid on the vessel. Shake until well combined.
Refrigerate: Place in the refrigerator so you can enjoy cold strawberry milk. 2-3 hours is usually enough to make it cold, but it depends on your fridge (keep in mind, the door of your fridge is the warmest part. If your pitcher fits on an inner shelf, that's best.). If you really can't wait, you can transfer some of the mixed strawberry milk to a smaller freezer-safe jar and stick it in the freezer for a half hour or up to an hour. Shake again before pouring into a glass. You can also serve it in a glass with ice cubes to make it extra cold.
Storage: Store your vegan strawberry milk in the refrigerator for 2-3 days (any more and it starts to lose flavor, oxidize and may go bad since there aren't any preservatives in our recipe. But you'll probably want to drink it up before then! Shake well before use. :)

Expert Tips

Make a Vegan Strawberry Milkshake: Increase the nuts/seeds in the recipe (to 2 or 3 tablespoons) to make a thicker, more rich, milkshake-style drink. You can of course blend the finished vegan strawberry milk with vegan ice cream if you prefer. Serve with vegan whipped cream and possibly a fresh strawberry on top!
Make a Different Fruit Milk: You can use this process and recipe with other fresh fruit (like berries or pitted dark cherries) to make a delicious fruity milk. Banana milk might be more challenging. I'm not sure if there was any real banana in the banana milk I loved growing up but you can try! Keep in mind the color will be quite dark as bananas oxidize quickly.
Make Without A Blender: Use store bought strawberry syrup or strawberry jam. Place in a jar, add the non-dairy milk, place on the lid, and shake well to combine. Chill and shake again before serving.

Storage Instructions

Refrigerate vegan strawberry milk for 2-3 days in an airtight container. Try to avoid storing it in the door of the fridge, since that's the warmest area inside a refrigerator. Shake well before serving.

Serving Suggestions

You can serve vegan strawberry milk as a dessert or a treat at the end of just about any meal.

For a fun, nostalgic dessert, serve cold glasses of strawberry milk with vegan cookies such as:

Soft Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vegan Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten-Free Vegan Almond Butter Cookies
Vegan Matcha Cookies

For a special breakfast or brunch, try serving our vegan strawberry milk with:

Plant Based Pancakes
Vegan French Toast Sticks
Vegan Omelette
Plant Based Waffles

Frequently Asked Questions

Is strawberry milk healthy?

While there are plenty of nutrients in fresh strawberries (which most commercial strawberry milks do not contain, but my vegan strawberry milk recipe does), there is also a fair amount of sugar. If you divide the recipe into 4 servings, though, you're really only getting one and a quarter tablespoons of sugar which is not too bad, especially for a dessert! Plus, if you use the soy milk I recommend, there's 12 grams of protein just from the milk itself (the seeds/nuts add a little too).

Can I use frozen strawberries?

Yes, you can use frozen strawberries. I recommend letting them thaw first so you can easily blend them without adding liquid. They will release liquid as they thaw, and if you include this liquid in the blender, you should simmer your strawberry syrup for 4-6 minutes (over medium low heat, after bringing to a boil) so it's not too watery.

Can I use less sugar?

Of course, but keep in mind the recipe will be less sweet. This is in our desserts category for a reason. It's meant to be a sweet treat, enjoyed in moderation of course!

Can I make more strawberry syrup and store it separately? Will it last longer?

Yes! You can double or triple the strawberry syrup part of the recipe (everything except the plant-based milk) and store it in an airtight jar in the fridge, it should be good for up to a month! Serve by shaking or whisking together a tablespoon or two of the syrup with a cup of cold plant-based milk. I chose to write the recipe with it mixed together to make things a little easier for when you’re ready to serve.

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