Last Updated on July 6, 2024

This quick and easy Vegan Banana Milk (Korean Banana Uyu) is made with real bananas, oat milk, is naturally sweetened with dates and has just a touch of vanilla. This delicious, thick and creamy 4-ingredient drink is made in your blender in under 5 minutes! 🍌🥛

It all started when I was perusing the isles at the grocery store and I saw banana milk. Hmm 🤔 Interesting! It sounded delicious, but I didn’t add it to my shopping cart. The whole drive home I couldn’t stop thinking about it, of course regretting my decision not to buy it, so I looked it up and found out that banana milk has quite the history behind it, it’s definitely not a new age beverage.

The History Of Banana Milk

My curiosity continued about this banana milk I’ve never heard of, lol, so I proceeded to look it up and learned that it’s actually a very popular beverage in Korea, called Korean Banana Milk, or Banana Uyu (바나나 우유).

Banana milk was first introduced in Korea in the 1970’s as the government’s request for its citizens to drink more milk in response to malnutrition. Drinking plain milk, however, was not preferred, so a Korean company, Binggrae, created Banana Milk (Uyu). This delicious banana flavored drink is still enjoyed today- and has made its way across the globe! Source: Wikipedia.

What Is Banana Milk Made Of?

Other than the banana milk I saw in the grocery store, I was inspired by Drive Me Hungry’s Banana Milk, but of course I’m making my yummy Korean-inspired banana milk vegan by using oat milk instead of the traditionally used cow’s milk. Let’s break it down.

Bananas 🍌. You will need 2 ripe bananas. The more ripe, in other words the more brown speckled the bananas are, the more sweet the milk will be. This is a great way to use up bananas that are about to go bad! I didn’t have overly ripe bananas so I just used regularly ripe bananas.

Oat milk. You will need 1 + 1/4 cup of COLD oat milk for this recipe (read recipe tips below). You may substitute oat milk for any plant-based milk substitute, such as almond milk, cashew milk, soy milk, coconut milk, flax milk, etc. The creaminess of the milk might be altered slightly if you use a different milk.

Dates. For this banana milk I am using 2 dates to sweeten the milk. If your bananas are very ripe you may just choose to use 1 date. You can even omit the dates all together if you don’t prefer a sweeter milk.

Vanilla. You will need 1/4 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract for just a hint of vanilla in this banana uyu. Make sure to use pure vanilla extract to keep this recipe gluten-free.

Ice Water 🧊💧. You will need 1/2 cup of ice COLD water (read recipe tips below).

Kitchen Tools Need

Blender. You will need a blender to make this vegan banana milk. I used my Beast bender but you can also use a Vitamix blender, it’s a kitchen must have! I use my blender every day.

How To Make Banana Milk

It’s so simple to make your own banana milk at home. Simply peel the bananas, remove the pit from the dates, add everything to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy.

Enjoy immediately because banana milk does separate, unlike store bought banana milk with added stabilizers and/or gums to keep it from separating.

How To Enjoy Banana Milk

As a beverage. Yep! Just pour and sip! 😋

In a protein shake. This is the original reason why I wanted to buy the banana milk I saw at the store. I thought it would make a delicious protein shake that would change it up from my usual vanilla or chocolate shakes. I like to use this protein in my banana protein shakes. You can try blending this banana milk in my Carrot Cake Protein Smoothie.

In oatmeal 🥣. Use this vegan banana milk instead of regular milk or other plant milk in your morning bowl of oatmeal or in my Oat Milk Matcha Latte Overnight Oats.

Smoothies. Instead of using regular milk or other plant milk you could use this banana milk instead! Try it in my Pina Colada Smoothie or in my Anti-Inflammatory Vegan Green Smoothie.

What Does Banana Milk Taste Like?

As you would imagine, banana milk tastes like… bananas! 🤣 So if you’re a banana fan, you’re going to love this creamy banana drink!

This vegan banana milk is thick and creamy, and kind of resembles a smoothie or milkshake- but is tad bit thinner and doesn’t require frozen bananas. My Korean Banana Uyu recipe is sweet but not too sweet. You can add 1 or 2 dates (I added 2) to your preference and depending on how ripe your bananas are. You can add more ice water or more oat milk if you desire the banana milk to be thinner.

How To Store Banana Milk

As mentioned above, it’s best to enjoy this vegan banana milk right away, but you are able to keep it stored in an airtight jug or jar for a couple of days- but take note, it will separate so you’ll have to shake it well before enjoying.

Recipe Tips

Use COLD milk and water. Because the bananas are stored at room temperature, you want to use ice cold water and cold milk so the final banana milk isn’t warm. I add ice into my water and let it sit for a little bit to get really cold.

You can add ice cubes to the final banana milk if you prefer a colder beverage.

Add the liquid into the blender first to help blend the banana milk easier.

Korean Banana Uyu is best if enjoyed right away as the banana can separate if it sits too long.

If you prefer an unsweetened banana milk, feel free to omit the dates.

I hope you love this quick and easy Vegan Banana Milk (Banana Uyu) as much as my family and I do! 🍌🥛 Let me know what you think down below in the comments section, as well as giving it a five star rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ so that others can discover this healthy, nostalgic drink recipe! Tag me on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!