Healthy Banana Milk

What is banana milk?

It is actually just banana flavored milk. It is very popular in Korea where it was introduced by Binggrae in 1974. And therefore you will see a few recipes for Korean banana milk.

The product ingredients include banana concentrate, milk, sugar, artificial ingredients and flavors.

Today there are many different kinds of banana flavored milk from various brands and you might even be able to find some that contain actually healthy ingredients.

However, why look in the store when at home you can make healthy homemade banana flavored milk in 5 minutes with 3 simple ingredients.

Ingredients

• Bananas - use a fully ripe, even a blackened banana because those ones are the sweetest. A green or a pale yellow banana just won't work in this recipe. Bananas are a great source of certain B vitamins (particularly B6 and biotin) as well as vitamin C. They are also a good source of manganese, copper, and potassium and have a fair amount of dietary fiber.
• Milk - full fat is great for kids but you can also use vegan alternatives
• Water - we use in equal parts as milk
• Vanilla extract - majority will have some sort of alcohol content. While it is minute if serving to babies purchase one with no alcohol. You also want real vanilla extract, not an imitation. This one from SImply Organic I have found to tick those boxes and is suitable for kids.
• Optional sweetener - I try and avoid sweeteners of any kind unless they are really necessary to make a recipe work. If you would like you can use honey or maple syrup here. Use honey only if giving to babies over 1 years old.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make banana milk?

Making banana flavored milk is as easy as putting all the ingredients into a blender and blending.

This is not a milk that keeps well, and due to the banana oxidization it will go brown quiet quickly so best it to drink it straight away. (Also kids won't really want to drink a brown milk unless it looks like chocolate).

Hint: you can use a small single serve blender like the Magic Bullet or a high speed Vitamix type. Either works.

Substitutions

• vegan banana milk - use almond milk, coconut milk, cashew milk, hemp milk or any other kind of plant based milk

Variations

You can add lots of ingredients to this banana flavored milk to make it more nutritious for your kids (or yourself):

• flaxseeds
• hemp seeds
• chia seeds
• other fruit like strawberries, mango or pineapple
• spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon

Storage

• can be stored in fridge up to 3 days in an airtight container but it will turn brown so won't be a nice experience to drink. Best is to drink straight away.

FAQ