Highest Protein Vegan Milk By Rank

Replacing dairy products with plant-based alternatives can be challenging when following a vegan diet. One example of such would be milk. While there is no shortage of plant-based milk alternatives to choose from, not all of them are comparable to dairy milk when it comes to protein. In this article, we’ll be comparing all of the different kinds of vegan milk products and ranking them by protein content.

As it turns out, the highest protein vegan milk is soy milk, which contains just as much protein as regular whole milk, clocking in at 8 grams of protein per 1-cup serving.

That said, let’s have a closer look at all of the options to see how they compare.

Highest Protein Vegan Milk: 9 Options Compared

Protein is an essential nutrient that helps build and repair muscle tissue, produce hormones, and more. It serves countless uses in the body, and dairy-based milk is an excellent source of it. Just a single 1-cup serving of whole milk packs 8 grams of protein.

Although there are many vegan milk alternatives to choose from, protein content can vary quite a bit by type. The table below compares 9 different varieties of popular vegan milk products, ranked by which are highest in protein:

Rank	Milk Type	Serving Size	Protein	Calories	Carbohydrates	Fat
1	Soy Milk	1 cup	8g	110	9g	4.5g
2	Flax Milk	1 cup	8g	60	1g	3g
3	Oat Milk	1 cup	2g	90	9g	5g
4	Hemp Milk	1 cup	2g	70	1g	7g
5	Hazelnut Milk	1 cup	2g	90	1g	9g
6	Almond Milk	1 cup	1g	60	8g	2.5g
7	Brazil Nut Milk	1 cup	1g	51	7g	2.5g
8	Cashew Milk	1 cup	<1g	25	1g	2g
9	Coconut Milk	1 cup	0g	70	6g	5g

Soy Milk: The Vegan Milk With The Most Protein

Soy milk is a milk-like beverage made of whole soy beans, and it makes sense that it would be the highest-protein vegan milk as soy beans contain more protein than any other type of bean.

Not only does soy milk pack just as much protein per cup as regular whole milk does, but it also contains fewer calories, carbohydrates, and fat as well.

Flax Milk: Just as much protein as soy milk, but with a caveat…

Tying for first place in our ranking of highest-protein plant-based milks would be flax milk, which contains just as much protein per cup as soy milk– 8 grams.

There is a caveat, however. The flax milk surveyed in this comparison is a special variety with protein supplemented by the manufacturer. The regular variety of flax milk from the same vendor contains hardly any protein.

The Runner-Ups

As it turns out, most vegan milk alternatives pale in comparison to dairy milk when it comes to protein.

For example, oat milk, hemp milk, and hazelnut milk all contain a meager 2 grams of protein per cup. This is only a quarter of the 8 grams of protein found in a similar serving size of whole milk.

Worse yet, the almond, Brazil nut, and cashew milk varieties hardly contain a single gram of protein per cup. And coconut milk does not contain any.

The Bottom Line

Plant-based milk alternatives come with many nutritional advantages. They often contain fewer calories, less saturated fat, are lactose-free, and sometimes even contains fiber. However, when it comes to protein, you’ll have to reach for the soy milk, or the fortified flax milk, if you want to match what whole dairy milk has to offer.