This delicious Korean style Strawberry Milk recipe is sweet, refreshing and the perfect way to welcome spring. If you have been searching for a drink that is pretty in pink, look no further than this lovely-hued diner favorite.
Table of Contents
What is Strawberry Milk
Strawberry Milk is a popular beverage sold in South Korea. During his work stay in South Korea, my husband would always order these from his office café or while he was out and about.
Later, he started making these at home and found it was much cheaper and perfectly easy.
Unlike a milkshake or a smoothie, the strawberry milk recipe calls for making a strawberry syrup with fresh (or frozen) strawberries, then stirring it into the milk of your choice.
Why This Recipe is Wonderful
While you might be able to buy containers of strawberry milk wherever you are, chances are those containers are loaded with artificial colors and flavors and a bunch of high fructose corn syrup.
This yummy recipe will take you back to better days, with nothing but strawberries, a touch of cane sugar and a whisper of vanilla. It’s so wholesome that even your grandmother would approve!
While I usually love making this recipe with fresh, ripe strawberries while they are in season, you can absolutely opt to use frozen berries instead.
Frozen berries are picked at peak ripeness and flash frozen, retaining all of their sweetness and nutrition, so this Korean strawberry milk can be a year round treat!
I also love how customizable this strawberry milk recipe is. Feel free to swap out the dairy milk for any of your favorite alternative milks to make a vegan strawberry milk recipe.
You can also choose to switch up the flavors! Lemon, almond, cardamom, nutmeg and cinnamon are just a few ways you can customize this tasty beverage.
How to Make Strawberry Milk
Macerating Strawberries
1. While it might sound scary or complicated, nothing could be further from the truth. Maceration is the process of softening an ingredient in liquid. In this case, strawberries stew in their own juices that are coaxed out using sugar.
Technically, this is an optional step, but I suggest taking the extra minute of prep time and 20 or so minutes of wait time. The strawberries will be softer, sweeter, and more flavorful as a result.
Rinse 10 to 11 strawberries (150 grams/5.3 oz) and drain all the water. Trim off the leaves and discard. Give the berries a quick chop.
2. In a small to medium-sized sauce pan, add 1 cup chopped strawberries and ¼ cup cane sugar or raw sugar. You can also use white sugar.
3. Coat the strawberries in the sugar by gently stirring them, and set aside for 20 to 30 minutes.
4. The sugar will dissolve and a syrup will appear. When this happens, you know the maceration has worked. 🙂
Making Strawberry Syrup
5. Place the sauce pan on the stove over low heat. Stir at intervals as the mixture gets heated up.
6. Let the strawberry syrup come to a boil.
7. When the syrup begins to boil remove from heat and place on your kitchen countertop. Mash with a vegetable masher, fork, wooden spoon or immersion blender until you achieve the consistency you desire.
I prefer my strawberry syrup on the finer side so that it almost dissolves into the milk, but you can opt for chunky if you prefer.
8. Check taste, and, if necessary, add more sugar. The syrup should have a loose, flowing consistency, and should not be thick like you would want for a jam. Let it cool completely.
Making Strawberry Milk
9. Before serving, finely chop 4 to 5 medium-sized strawberries – about 6 tablespoons. This will provide an additional bit of texture to your strawberry milk that we find very enjoyable.
The small pops of flavor as you drink remind me of boba tea (bubble tea), the traditional Taiwanese beverage.
While this is more of a Korean preparation, you can opt to omit these chopped strawberries for a version that is closer to American style strawberry milk.
10. Place 4 tablespoons of strawberry syrup in each glass. The recipe serves three, so that makes it 3 glasses.
11. Top with 2 tablespoons each of finely chopped strawberries (if using) and ¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract.
12. Pour in 1 cup cold milk of your choice – any nut milk or dairy milk will work. My personal favorite is almond milk, as strawberries and almonds are a natural pairing, but feel free to experiment to find your own favorite.
13. While drinking, stir with a spoon to blend. If you happen to have wide straws like you would use for boba tea, they would do a handy job of both acting as stir sticks and help you sip up the yummy strawberry pieces. Bonus!
Once you add the milk, it is best to serve immediately. Any leftover syrup can be stored in refrigerator for up to a week.
Tips + FAQs
Absolutely! Frozen fruits and vegetables are a great way to have access to out of season favorites. They are harvested and flash frozen at optimal ripeness, and retain all of their delicious nutrition.
While frozen fruits usually have a soft consistency once defrosted, that is actually a benefit for this recipe. Just be sure to defrost entirely before chopping so as not to dull your blade. To double up on time spent, you can toss the frozen berries with sugar to macerate while they defrost.
While I personally love making my strawberry milk with almond milk, you can easily opt for any dairy or non dairy milk that suits you.
There are so many vegan milk options out there nowadays – oat, hemp, chia, macadamia nut, soy, cashew – so have fun experimenting until you find your favorite.
While you can certainly opt to blend milk and strawberries, you will end up with something that is closer to a Strawberry Milkshake or smoothie, rather than Korean style strawberry milk.
The syrup making process helps to concentrate the strawberry flavor, as well as to soften the fruit for better consistency. That said, if you opt to purée or blend the strawberries prior to cooking, the syrup will end up the same.
I can’t imagine that you will want to do anything else with this syrup once you try how delicious Korean style strawberry milk is!
If you happen to have leftovers, there are plenty of other ways to put it to use. Here are just a few ideas:
-swirled into yogurt/curd or oatmeal
-drizzled as a syrup over waffles, pancakes, ice cream or cheesecake
-use it as a base for smoothies or milkshakes
More Strawberry Inspirations!
Dessert Recipes
Vegan Recipes
Cake Recipes
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Strawberry Milk Recipe
Ingredients
For strawberry syrup
- 1 cup chopped strawberries (heaped)- 150 grams or 10 to 11 medium-sized
- ¼ cup raw sugar or white sugar, as required
Other ingredients
- 6 tablespoons finely chopped strawberries – 70 grams or 4 to 5 medium-sized
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract – divided
- 3 cups Almond Milk or any vegan or dairy milk – divided
Instructions
Macerating strawberries
- Rinse strawberries and drain all the water. Trim off the leaves and discard. Give the berries a quick chop.
- In a small to medium-sized sauce pan, add the chopped strawberries and sugar.
- Coat the strawberries in the sugar by gently stirring them, and set aside for 20 to 30 minutes. The sugar will dissolve and a syrup will appear.
Making strawberry syrup
- Place the sauce pan on the stove over low heat. Stir at intervals as the mixture gets heated up.
- Let the strawberry syrup come to a boil.
- When the syrup begins to boil remove from heat and place on your kitchen countertop. Mash with a vegetable masher, fork, wooden spoon or immersion blender until you achieve the consistency you desire.
- Check taste, and, if necessary, add more sugar. The syrup should have a flowing, drippy consistency, not thick like with a jam or sauce. Let it cool completely.
Making strawberry milk
- Before serving, finely chop 4 to 5 medium strawberries – about 6 tablespoons.
- Take 3 glasses and place 4 tablespoons of strawberry syrup in each glass.
- Top with 2 tablespoons each of finely chopped strawberries (if using) and ¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract.
- Pour in 1 cup cold milk of your choice – any nut milk or dairy milk will work. While drinking, stir with a spoon to blend. Enjoy!
Notes
Helpful Suggestions
- Can be made with any dairy or non dairy milk you prefer
- I prefer my strawberry syrup on the finer side so that it almost dissolves into the milk, but you can opt for chunky if you prefer.
- Leftover syrup will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week
- Serve assembled strawberry milk immediately for best results.
- You can make a large batch of the recipe easily.
Note on Adding Chopped Strawberries
- Adding chopped strawberries to your assembled strawberry milk will provide an additional bit of texture to your strawberry milk that I find very enjoyable. The small pops of flavor as you drink remind me of boba tea, the traditional Taiwanese beverage.
- While this is more of a Korean preparation, you can opt to omit these chopped strawberries for a version that is closer to American style strawberry milk.
Note on Macerating Strawberries
- While it might sound scary or complicated, nothing could be further from the truth. Maceration is the process of softening an ingredient in liquid. In this case, strawberries stew in their own juices that are coaxed out using sugar.
- Technically, this is an optional step, but I suggest taking the extra minute of prep time and 20 or so minutes of wait time. The strawberries will be softer, sweeter, and more flavorful as a result.
Best Types of Milk
- My personal favorite is almond milk, as strawberries and almonds are a natural pairing, but feel free to experiment to find your own favorite. Any dairy or non dairy milk will work.
