Potato Milk — The Biggest Food Trend Of 2022?

Photograph: Sandi Benedicta / Unsplash

Potato Milk | The Newest Plant-Milk

Everybody has a different idea of what the ‘best’ plant milk is! Some people swear by soy, and others say it has an odd aftertaste. Some people can't live without almond milk, and others say it’s bitter. It’s a contentious subject, to say the least! 

There’s no shortage of plant milk on the shelves, but right now, potato milk is emerging as a potential favourite among plant milk lovers. The woman behind the new milk, Professor Eva Tornberg, developed an emulsion technology to blend potatoes and rapeseed oil at Sweden’s Lund University. 

Potato milk has a low carbon footprint, it’s vegan-friendly, and it’s free from lactose, soy, gluten and nuts (some of the most common allergens). Potato milk supposedly has a smooth and creamy texture, and a delicate sweetness — making it an ideal substitute for dairy milk in coffee, cereal, and baking.

Photograph: Anay Mridul / The Vegan Review

Swedish Brand ‘DUG’ Have Created A Range Of Potato Milks!

Professor Eva Tornberg took her incredible emulsion technology and developed DUG; a brand of potato milks that are currently sold in Sweden and the UK. DUG have released three innovative potato milks: DUG Original, DUG Barista, and DUG Unsweetened. We love exploring new vegan options here at F&F — that’s why we were quite interested in this DUG milk review by Anay Mridul from The Vegan Review. 

To roughly summarise her experience: DUG Original is supposedly the everyday hero of potato milk! It’s medium-bodied, pale in colour, and neutral-flavoured with a touch of sweetness. Good in pancakes, cereal and cold brew. DUG Barista is full-bodied, lightly sweetened, and fantastic to froth up in coffee and cold brew. DUG Unsweetened is full-bodied, neutral-flavoured, and great to use in savoury dishes.

Photograph: DUG

Is Potato Milk Sustainable?

Nowadays, more of us are searching for delicious, affordable plant milks that are climate-friendly, made sustainably, and cruelty-free. Growing soybeans, almonds, oats, rice and other crops to produce milk all have their sustainability-related pros and cons. There will never be the ‘perfect’ plant milk, but potato milk comes pretty close in terms of emissions, land use and water requirements. 

Potatoes don’t need much land or water to grow at all! In fact, growing potatoes is twice as efficient as growing oats in terms of land use, and growing potatoes requires around 56x less water than almonds. Plus, we know that the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions associated with producing dairy milk is quite high. Potato milk, on the other hand, is around 75% less carbon-intensive. So, we have a new plant milk that’s tasty, sustainable and climate-friendly — what’s not to love?

Photograph: Chelsie Craig / Bon Appétit

Is Potato Milk Nutritious?

We all know that potatoes are versatile, delicious in basically any dish, and easy to cook! Many people mistakenly believe potatoes are ‘fattening’ or ‘unhealthy’. 

Potatoes are actually full of fibre, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and healthy carbohydrates. Often, the way we prepare potatoes is where the extra calories creep in — whether it’s the added butter, oil, sour cream, or other calorically-dense toppings. 

Potato milk, on the other hand, mostly consists of water. This is very similar to other plant milks. Potatoes make up around 6% of DUG’s potato milk, so there’s a bit of potato-ey goodness in every glass — but not a lot. So, if you want to obtain the full nutritional goodness of potatoes, it’s probably a better idea to pop them in the oven with their skins on.