As a vegan foodie, I’m always on the hunt to try cool new vegan food products!
In this ‘Planet Oat Milk Review,’ I tried just about every flavor, and gave my thoughts.
After all I heard oat milk mixes well in coffee, so – couldn’t resist!
Keep reading to hear my thoughts about the flavor and whether or not they are good for you (a question I get asked so much as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist)!
Disclaimer: This review includes the authors own personal opinions. It is not personal dietary advice. Talk to your doctor about any health/diet concerns and dietary changes. Please note that product formulations, and ingredients may change. You should check products for updated information. See our disclaimers for more details.
Quick Summary
Planet Oat has variety of vegan beverages. I thought some were tasty, and others – not so much!
Pros:
- Several tasty options, including dark chocolate, and vanilla.
- The beverages (FYI – NOT the coffee creamers) come fortified with calcium and vitamin D at the time of this review.
- Several options are fairly low or contain 0 grams of added sugar (an outlier is the chocolate one)
- Several varieties mixed well in coffee.
Cons:
- Some had little to no flavor, or had a strong oat taste (like the original unsweetened).
- For those looking for a protein rich beverage, this isn’t it!
- I can’t shake off that the extra creamy original flavor tasted so much like dairy milk (maybe this is a pro for you)!
- They may be a chunk more pricey than other plant based beverages, like almond or soy milk.
What is Planet Oat?
Planet Oat is a line of oat – based milks (a non- dairy plant based beverage) that come in a variety of flavors including:
- Original Unsweetened
- Unsweetened Extra Creamy Original
- Orignial
- Vanilla Unsweetened
- Vanilla
- Extra Creamy Original
- Dark Chocolate
- Barista Lovers
At the date of this post, it looks like all of those options are fortified with calcium and some other important nutrients (more on this later).
While this review is based on the ‘regular’ plant based milks, Planet Oat also has coffee creamers in these flavors (FYI: none of the coffee creamers are fortified with calcium or vitamin D):
- French Vanilla
- Sweet & Creamy
- Caramel
- Coffee Cake
- Gingerbread (limited edition)
At the time of this post: all Planet Oat products are(1):
- Vegan
- Lactose and Dairy Free
- Soy Free
- Non-GMO Project Verified
Planet Oat Milk Review
Taste
What does planet oat milk taste like?
A bit or a lot like oats – depending on the flavor!
The oats provide some thickness that can be desirable with beverages like coffee.
If you want to see my taste test all the flavors except the Barista Lovers and Unsweetened Extra Creamy Original, check out my video below!
In the bulleted points, I break down my thoughts (including my flavor rating!):
- Untweeted Original (Flavor Rating 3/10): This one tasted mostly like thickened water with an oaty flavor. Not very enjoyable by itself. Ok with a flavorful cereal. Adds a bit of thickness to coffee.
- Original (Flavor Rating 4/10): More flavor than the unsweeted original. This one reminded me of skim milk – sort of. I do not want to be reminded of that flavor though! The oat flavor is still quite present in this one.
- Extra Creamy Original (Flavor Rating 4/10): I had to do a double take, because this one reminded me so much of how I remember 2% dairy milk tasting! I know some of you may enjoy that flavor, but not me! Sure, it was creamy, which was the best thing about this one compared to the others I tried, but that dairy- like taste was too over bearing, even in cereal and coffee.
- Vanilla Unsweetened (Flavor Rating 7/10): A bit watery, but also had a pleasant hint of vanilla. I like that it didn’t have a super strong vanila extract like flavor, and it did not overpower my cereal. This one had a similar thickness to the unsweetend original.
- Vanilla (Flavor Rating 8/10): The sweetened vanilla actually had a less prominent vanilla flavor than the unsweeetend (in my opinion), but I’m not mad at that at all! This one was a bit more creamy than the unsweetened one as well. Over all pretty good flavor!
- Dark Chocolate (Flavor Rating 9/10): Delightful! This one reminded me of chocolate skim milk! Yummy but watery and not very creamy. I was taken back to those cafeteria lunchesin the 90s for a moment. One criticism is that I don’t think I would call this ‘dark’ chocolate specifically. It had a more mild chocolate flavor as opposed to dark, which is probably to be expected of most ‘milky’ chocolate beverages.
Nutrition
In the picture above, I showed a comparison of the unsweetened vanilla to the regular (sweetened) vanilla flavors.
Here’s some highlights from each (please note, product ingredients/nutrition facts may change. Check your product for updated info):
Unsweetened Vanilla Planet Oat oat milk (1 cup):
- Calories: 45
- Saturated Fat: 0 grams
- Sodium: 100 milligrams
- Carbohydrates: 8 grams
- Fiber: 1 gram
- Added Sugars: 0 grams
- Protein: 1 gram
- Calcium: 350 milligrams
- Vitamin D: 4 micrograms
- Vitamin B12: 0.24 micrograms
Vanilla Planet Oat oat milk (1 cup):
- Calories: 90
- Saturated Fat: 0 grams
- Sodium: 120 milligrams
- Carbohydrates: 19 grams
- Fiber: 2 gram
- Added Sugars: 4
- Protein: 2 gram
- Calcium: 350 milligrams
- Vitamin D: 4 micrograms
- Vitamin B12: 0.24 micrograms
The biggest difference between the two is the calories (with the unsweetened version having half the amount per cup than the sweetened), and slightly more than double the carbohydrates in the sweetened version vs the unsweetened vanilla oat milk.
As far as a a replacement for dairy, the oat milks from Planet Oat are fortified with calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin A which is something you might expect from dairy milk that has also been fortified with vitamin D and vitamin A.
Planet Oat oat milk also contains about 0 – 1 grams of saturated fat per cup depending on the variety. Keeping saturated fat intake low is important for heart health.
For comparison, whole dairy milk may contain a around 4.5 grams of saturated fat per cup.
Still, Planet Oat oat milk is quite low in protein, at only about 2 grams or less per cup compared to around 7-8 grams in a cup of dairy milk.
There are plenty of other ways to get protein without milk, however this is something to note if you are going dairy free.
Is planet oat milk good for you?
Whether planet oat is good for you will depend on a lot of factors, such as:
- How much are you using?
- What medical conditions do you have?
- Do you have any allergies, etc.
And whether something is healthy for you also depends on what you are replacing the food item with.
If you have any questions about appropriate foods for your unique situation. Consult your doctor and dietitian.
One of the pros in the plant based Planet Oat beverages (non coffee creamers) is that they have added calcium and vitamin D.
This is something you might be looking for when purchasing dairy milk. So, way to go Planet Oat!
Another plus is that there are several options that have 0 or relatively small amounts of added sugar (the dark chocolate flavor is a bit of an outlier at a high 11 grams of added sugar per cup).
But, if you are looking to Planet Oat as a high protein beverage, this aint it.
In short, whether Planet Oat is good for you depends on a variety of factors! The oat milks are a good source of calcium, which is important to a lot of folks who are cutting out dairy.
However, this oat brand is lacking certain nutrients you might have found in dairy milk, like protein and iodine.
Of course, there are work arounds for this! Learn more in our post: Dairy Free for Beginners.
Check out this post to learn about high protein vegan friendly sources.
And to learn more about iodine for vegans in this article about vegan sources of iodine!
Ingredients
Like other plant based beverages, the ingredients in oat milk are almost always going to be more eco friendly than dairy milk based on info from OurWorldinData.org.
They compared dairy, oat, soy, almond, and rice milk across four different categories, including land, freshwater use, greenhouse gas emissions and eutrophication.
Oat milk may use even less freshwater than almond according to that data(2).
So aside from the creaminess that oats impart when blended for a ‘milky’ beverage, this plant based beverage can be a eco friendly choice.
I will note in the ingredients is the use of a phosphorus additive – dipotassium phosphate. Those who have kidney disease may be instructed to avoid phosphorus additives like this one. Consult your healthcare provider.
Price
Compared to other plant based milks, these might be more expensive.
I bought the oat milks for this review on sale at Meijer for $3 USD each. But the normal price was $3.99 at the time.
That’s a lot compared to the store brands of other plant based beverages, and even other name brands. Here’s a comparison of some different varieties from Meijer (please note, prices are subject to change at any time)(3):
- Meijer Vanilla Almond Milk(half gallon): $2.69 USD
- Silk Vanilla Almond Milk(half gallon): $3.19 USD
- Almond Breeze Vanilla Almond Milk (half gallon): $3.65 USD
- Planet Oat Vanilla Oat Milk(52 fluid ounces): $3.99 USD
- Silk Vanilla Soy milk(half gallon): $4.19 USD
- Chobani Vanilla Oat milk (52 fluid ounces): $4.29 USD
- Oatly (half gallon): $5.69 USD
And keep in mind, that the weight of the oat milks mentioned above (except for Oatly) is less than a half gallon, so the price comparison might be even higher when comparing ounce for ounce.
In short, oat milk might be a more expensive item when comparing it to other vegan ‘milks.’
Would I Buy These Again?
To be honest, probably not.
I prefer the taste of soy milk, and like that soy milk has more protein.
I can also find fortified soy milk for a chunk less expensive, however – this does vary depending on the brand.
Now, If I was craving chocolate milk, I might consider buying the Dark Chocolate Planet Oat oat milk, again, but I don’t get that craving often.
What are your thoughts about Plant Oat milk (or oat milk in general?) Lets me know in the comments below!
And while you’re here, did you know that Plant Powered You reviews lots of vegan foods? You might be interested in reading these reviews:
–Wunder Eggs Review
–Vegan Babybel Review
–Taco Bell’s Vegan Nacho Fries Review
–Beyond Good Chocolate Review
–Aldi Vegan Meatball Review
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