Ten years ago, "plant milk" in Vietnam meant pretty much one thing: a hot cup of soy milk from the cart at the mouth of the alley, syrupy sweet and scented with pandan leaf.
Now supermarket shelves hold a dozen kinds: almond, oat, walnut, macadamia, brown rice, cashew. Every carton is pretty, and every carton says "good for you".
Which one should you choose? The honest answer: it depends on what you need. We compare the three most popular so you can decide for yourself.
In this article
Three glasses side by side
Numbers per 100ml, unsweetened versions. Soy and almond milk come from the USDA database (they vary by brand), oat milk from kOBE Oat Milk:
| Per 100ml, unsweetened | Soy milk | Almond milk | kOBE Oat Milk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | about 33 kcal | about 15 kcal | 34 kcal |
| Protein | about 3g | about 0.6g | 0.6g |
| Carbs | about 2g | under 1g | 4.5g |
| Fat | about 1.6g | about 1g | 1.5g |
Three things jump out right away:
- Soy milk leads on protein, close to cow's milk.
- Almond milk is lightest in calories, but also the most "watered down" nutritionally.
- Oat milk has the most carbs of the three, because oats are a starchy grain.
Soy milk: the protein-rich "big brother"
Soy is one of the few plants with complete protein, meaning it has all the essential amino acids. That makes soy milk the plant milk whose protein comes closest to cow's milk.
A 250ml glass of unsweetened soy milk has about 7 to 8g of protein, about one and a half eggs. Vegetarians, or anyone wanting more protein at breakfast, will find it really handy.
One thing to watch: soy milk from street carts and breakfast stalls is often very sweet. When buying out, you can ask for "ít đường" (less sugar) or pick a carton clearly marked unsweetened.
Almond milk: light as water, fragrant as a cookie
Almond milk is surprisingly light, only about 15 kcal per 100ml. The reason: it's mostly water. Many cartons on the market contain just a few percent almonds.
So don't think a glass of almond milk gives you the good fats, vitamin E and fiber of a whole handful of almonds. Most of the nut pulp has been strained away.
Almond milk suits anyone who wants a lightly creamy drink with almost no calories. It's not a fit if you need protein. And people with tree nut allergies need to avoid it.
Oat milk: lightly creamy, made for coffee
Oat milk has a gentle natural sweetness and a body close to cow's milk. That's why cafés love it for lattes.
Its protein is low, like almond milk, but its carbs are higher because of oat starch. We explain how it's made, and why "no added sugar" still tastes lightly sweet, in how oat milk is made, and what's in it.
If you're weighing oat milk against cow's milk, read oat milk vs cow's milk.
Five questions to help you choose
- Do you need more protein? If yes, go with soy milk.
- Do you want the fewest calories? Unsweetened almond milk.
- Making coffee or baking? Oat milk for creaminess and a rounded taste.
- Any allergies? Soy and tree nuts are two common allergen groups. Oats are easily cross-contaminated with gluten.
- Is the label fortified with calcium, vitamin D and B12? Plant milks are naturally low in these. If you want to replace cow's milk, pick a fortified one.
And one rule for all three: read the sugar line on the label. The same type of milk, sweetened versus unsweetened, can differ by a few teaspoons of sugar per glass.
What about toasted rice milk, corn milk and lotus seed milk?
These Vietnamese-style milks are delicious and fragrant. But most are made from starchy grains or seeds, plus added sugar when sold. Nutritionally, they're closer to a thin chè (Vietnamese sweet soup) than to a high-protein glass of milk.
Nothing wrong with loving them. Just file them under "just for fun" drinks, and choose less sweet versions when you can.
Inside the kOBE kitchen
We make oat milk in three versions, all on our Ingredients page:
| Version | Per 100ml | Sweetened with |
|---|---|---|
| kOBE Oat Milk | 34 kcal, 4.5g carbs | No refined sugar added |
| kOBE Oat Milk, Monk Fruit | 36 kcal, 9g carbs | kOBE Signature Monk Fruit Blend, still with natural sugar from oats |
| kOBE Oat Milk, Coconut Nectar | 53 kcal, 9.3g carbs | Coconut nectar, which is still sugar, so enjoy in moderation |
If you're training your taste buds toward less sweetness, the unsweetened version is where you're headed. The monk fruit version is a stepping stone for anyone not yet used to a plainer taste. See our oat milk on the Ingredients page.
Frequently asked questions
Does drinking a lot of soy milk affect hormones?
Is homemade plant milk better than store-bought?
Is plant milk good for people who work out?
Keep reading
Sources
- USDA FoodData Central: Soymilk, unsweetened; Almond milk, unsweetened.
- Vanga S.K., Raghavan V. (2018). How well do plant based alternatives fare nutritionally compared to cow's milk? Journal of Food Science and Technology 55(1):10 to 20.
- EFSA ANS Panel (2015). Risk assessment for peri- and post-menopausal women taking food supplements containing isolated isoflavones. EFSA Journal 13(10):4246.
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, The Nutrition Source: Straight Talk About Soy.
- Further reading: Understanding Nutrition 16th ed., chapter 6; Culinary Nutrition.
