Strawberry milk was BY FAR my favorite as a kid, and this homemade version blows the carton stuff out of the water! Just 4 ingredients, real strawberries, and a few minutes on the stove is all it takes.
Why you’ll love this fresh strawberry milk 🍓
As a kid, strawberry milk was a lunchroom staple – do schools even still serve it in the little carton? I’ve been craving my childhood favorite lately, and wanted a version I’d feel good about making for my own daughter (although I’d be lying if I said she’d didn’t love the store-bought version).
Using fresh strawberries instead of syrup and food coloring was a MUST, and honestly? It’s SO much better than I remembered.
Why You’ll Love This
Just 4 ingredients – strawberries, sugar, water, and milk. That’s it for a fresh strawberry flavor!
Way better than store-bought strawberry milk – real + fresh strawberry flavor, no artificial dyes or flavoring.
Completely customizable – dial the sugar up or down, and use whatever milk you already have.
Kid-approved and adult-approved – this childhood favorite never gets old!
In this post…
Simple ingredients neededHow to Make Strawberry MilkRecipe TipsFrequently Asked QuestionsOther uses for the strawberry juiceMore delicious strawberry recipes to tryStrawberry Milk Recipe
Simple ingredients needed
This simple recipe comes down to two components – milk and a quick homemade strawberry syrup – stirred together into something way better than the carton kind. As a reminder, the ingredients for this recipe are listed fully down in the recipe card.
Strawberries – the best strawberries are fresh ones but frozen also works well; fresh at peak ripeness gives the brightest flavor.
Sugar – Needed to make the strawberry juice. Start with ⅓ cup if you like it less sweet, or use the full ½ cup for a classic taste. The amount of sugar is really up to you.
While I haven’t tested it, something like honey or maple syrup would work as well as a sugar-free sweetener such as monk fruit sweetener.
Water – the liquid base that helps the strawberries break down into syrup.
Milk of your choice – any type of milk works here. I’ve tested this with 2% and oat milk – whole milk makes it extra rich and creamy, and any non-dairy milk keeps it vegan including coconut milk, soy milk, and almond milk.
How to Make Strawberry Milk
Just a reminder that you can find the FULL written homemade strawberry milk recipe down in the recipe card, but I want to quickly go over how to make them with visuals for you 🙂
Combine & simmer. Strawberries, sugar, and water go straight into the pot together – no need to macerate first.
Cook it down. A gentle simmer for 8-10 minutes is all it takes for the strawberries to break down and release their juice.
Strain. Press the strawberry mixture through a fine mesh sieve to get every last drop of juice out – then the fruit itself gets tossed. Let it come to room temp (or pop it in the fridge) before mixing with milk.
Mix juice and milk. Stir a few tablespoons of juice into a cold glass of milk and it’s ready to drink! Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
Recipe Tips
Use ripe strawberries – if it’s not strawberry season, frozen berries will actually give you better flavor than under-ripe fresh ones.
Pick your milk – whole milk gives the richest result, but any plant-based milk keeps things vegan and still delicious.
Scale it up or down – single serving is 1 cup milk + 3-4 tablespoons juice; a full batch is 5 cups milk + all the juice.
Save extra syrup – it’s fantastic on pancakes, waffles, or French toast if you don’t use it all in milk.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Frozen strawberries work great, especially outside of peak strawberry season when fresh berries can taste bland. You may want to simmer the mixture a touch longer since frozen fruit releases more liquid as it thaws and cooks.
The strawberry juice on its own keeps for up to 2 weeks in the fridge. Once mixed with milk, strawberry milk will last as long as the milk you used – so check the expiration date on your carton.
Not quite! Korean strawberry milk typically uses pureed strawberries with visible fruit pieces mixed directly into the milk, where this version strains out the fruit for a smoother, syrup-based drink – closer to the classic American strawberry milk you might remember from childhood.
Nope! The natural color from the strawberries gives you a soft, pretty pink – it just won’t be quite as bright pink as the bottled stuff.
Other uses for the strawberry juice
This recipe makes 1 1/4 cups of strawberry juice. This is enough for about 5 cups of strawberry milk. I often use some juice for making strawberry milk and then use the leftover juice to make a strawberry latte or for topping pancakes, waffles or this French toast. Find more uses for strawberry juice here.
More delicious strawberry recipes to try
Vegan Strawberry Lemonade Muffins
Strawberry Milk
Ingredients
Instructions
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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