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Oat Milk

Common

Widely consumed internationally

A plant-based beverage produced by extracting oats in water, usually followed by filtration and additional processing to create a smooth drink.

About Oat Milk

Oat milk is a plant-based beverage made from whole oats (Avena sativa) or oat flour blended with water, with the fibrous solids strained out to produce a smooth, creamy liquid. Oats are a cereal grain native to Central Europe and have been cultivated for approximately 3,000 years, valued for their nutritional properties and hardiness in cool, wet climates. Oat milk as a modern commercial product was developed in the 1990s by Swedish food scientist Rickard Öste at Lund University, who founded the company Oatly in 1994 to commercialise the process.

The key innovation in commercial oat milk production is the use of enzymes — primarily amylases — to break down the complex starches in oats into shorter sugars, which makes the resulting milk naturally sweet without added sugar, thinner in consistency, and more stable as an emulsion. This enzymatic process distinguishes industrial oat milk from simple home-blended oat milk and is responsible for the smooth, creamy texture and mild, slightly sweet flavour of commercial products. Oat milk has grown from a niche product to one of the fastest-growing plant milks globally, surpassing almond milk in several markets by the early 2020s.

Oat milk has a nutritional profile distinct from other plant milks: it is higher in carbohydrates than nut milks (reflecting the starch content of oats), contains moderate amounts of beta-glucan (a soluble fibre associated with cholesterol management), and is often fortified with calcium, vitamins D and B12, and riboflavin to approximate the nutritional profile of cow milk. Oats naturally contain avenin, a protein that is not gluten but can contaminate oat crops through cross-contact with wheat, barley, or rye — certified gluten-free oat milk is available for people with coeliac disease.

Sources & Further Reading

USDA FoodData Central — Oat Milk (Foundation Food) (current search) — Current USDA database search for the named food; select the matching product/data type because formulations and database records can change.
USDA FoodData Central — Oats, Raw (current search) — Current USDA database search for the named food; select the matching product/data type because formulations and database records can change.
PMC — Beta-Glucan Retention in Oat Milk (2024) — Study reporting approximately 0.52 g beta-glucan per 100 mL in an optimized oat drink; commercial processing affects retention, producing a range across products
PMC — Commercial Plant-Based Milk Alternatives: Fatty Acids and Protein Digestibility — Beverage-level study that analyzed commercial almond, coconut, hazelnut, hemp, oat, quinoa, rice, and soy drinks; results are product-specific rather than universal.

Nutrition

Unsweetened oat milk (240ml / 1 cup, commercially fortified) typically contains:

Calories90–120 kcal

Fat3–5 g

Protein2–4 g

Carbohydrates14–16 g

Beta-glucan~0.5–1.5 g (varies with processing method)

Calcium~350 mg (fortified)

Oat milk is higher in carbohydrates than most nut milks. It contains beta-glucan, a soluble fibre associated with reduced LDL cholesterol. It is naturally free of lactose and, when certified gluten-free, suitable for people with coeliac disease. Commercial versions are typically fortified with calcium, vitamins D and B12, and riboflavin. Water use varies by crop location, farming method, processing, and product formulation, so this entry does not assign a universal water-footprint ranking.

Common Uses

◌ Coffee & lattes◌ Drinking◌ Cereal◌ Smoothies◌ Baking◌ Cooking sauces◌ Porridge

Oat milk has become the dominant plant milk in specialty coffee culture due to its ability to steam and froth well for lattes, cappuccinos, and flat whites — its higher starch content and emulsified fat give it a foam stability closer to dairy milk than most nut milks. It is also widely used in baking (cakes, muffins, pancakes), cooking, and as a cereal milk. Its mild, slightly sweet, oat-forward flavour is widely considered one of the most palatable of any plant milk for general use.

Interesting Facts

Oat milk was invented in the early 1990s by Rickard Öste, a Swedish food scientist at Lund University — making it one of the newest mainstream plant milks, unlike almond and soy milks which have been produced commercially for decades longer.
The enzymes used to make commercial oat milk break down oat starches into shorter sugars — this is why oat milk tastes naturally sweet even without added sugar, and why "no added sugar" oat milk still contains significant carbohydrates.
Oat milk surpassed almond milk as the most popular plant milk in the United Kingdom by the early 2020s, driven partly by awareness of almond cultivation's water footprint.
Growing oats requires significantly less water than almonds — oats need approximately 48 litres of water per 240ml of milk produced, compared to approximately 74 litres for almond milk, making oat milk one of the more sustainable plant milk options.
Oats are naturally gluten-free in terms of their protein content (they contain avenin, not gluten), but most oats are grown or processed alongside wheat and become contaminated — certified gluten-free oats must be grown, harvested, and processed in dedicated gluten-free facilities.