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Homemade Instant Oatmeal doesn't have to come from a packet! It's easy to make your own bulk instant oatmeal to have ready on hand for busy mornings! This is a healthy vegan, high-protein oatmeal, with no preservatives or added sugar like the packets. It's super kid-friendly and easy to flavor any way you like!
Why We Love It!
- Meal Prep for Busy Mornings - Our mornings can be crazy with hungry little kids ready to start the day! I want them to start the day off with a hearty breakfast, and a bowl of oatmeal is one of our weekly staples.
- There are many ways to buy and prepare oatmeal. The packets, the cups, boiling quaker oats, etc. Once a week, I make overnight Crockpot Steel Cut Oatmeal which we all love! BUT, a very easy back up plan, is to have my own homemade instant oatmeal always in the cupboard!
- It's Healthier Than Whatever They Put in the Flavored Packets! - The flavored packets are full of sugar and artificial ingredients. By making your own instant bulk oatmeal packets, you can control the amount of sugar. You are really just baking regular rolled oats ahead of time so they become like a quick cooking oat. Then grinding nuts and seeds in your food processor to add protein to the baked oats. The oat mixture is stored this way, unflavored, and ready to heat in the microwave on busy mornings. Flavor it with any sweetener, like brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup, and add all your favorite toppings!
- If you Love Quick and Easy Oatmeal, try my Cranberry Baked Oatmeal Cups and add a No Recipe Smoothie to make it a meal!
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Ingredients
- Regular Rolled Oats - I like to buy a big bag of regular rolled oats from the bulk bin at the store (same oats I use to make Homemade Almond Vanilla Granola). Use regular rolled oats for this recipe, not quick oats or steel cut oats.
- Nuts - I like to use any combination of walnuts, pecans, almonds, or cashews. All those nuts make this a high-protein oatmeal, a super well rounded breakfast when warmed with milk and topped with berries!
- Seeds - Any combination of sunflower, chia or flax seeds is optional but adds protein.
- Cinnamon - A few dashes of cinnamon give the oatmeal a little flavor but you will mostly flavor your finished bowl of oatmeal with toppings.
- Milk or Water - To make your oatmeal, microwave the bulk instant oatmeal mixture with milk or water. Any type of dairy or nut milk will work and adds additional protein to your oatmeal.
How to Make Instant Oatmeal
Step 1 - Pour your oats on two large sheet pans and bake at 325° for 25 minutes. Allow to cool about 5 minutes.
Step 2 - In a food processor, add the nuts, seeds and cinnamon and process until ground to a crumb-like consistency.
Add about 3 cups of the cooled oats, the exact amount doesn't matter, to the food processor with the ground nuts. Pulse about 10 times.
You want them to be partially ground, yet still have some texture. Add the ground oat/nut mixture back to the pans of baked oats and mix it in with a spatula or your hands.
Cool completely and store in jars.
Step 3 - To make a bowl of oatmeal, add about a half cup of your bulk instant oatmeal and a half cup of milk or water to a bowl. Microwave 1 to 2 minutes, stopping to stir every 30 seconds.
Serve and flavor the oatmeal with any toppings you like, brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, store-bought or homemade applesauce, raisins, yogurt, Maple Pecan Applesauce Granola, berries, shredded coconut, pomegranate seeds or kiwi!
Recipe Tips
- Storage - Store your bulk instant oatmeal in jars at room temperature for up to 3 months.
- You Won't Need a Recipe! - After making your diy instant oatmeal a few times you won't even need a recipe. The amount of oats you use doesn't need to be exact. In just 30 minutes you will have many mornings of stress-free breakfasts! It also makes it easy to make just a single serving of oatmeal for one person, just like the packets!
- You Can Mimic Any Flavored Oatmeal Packet You Like! - This healthy instant oatmeal is the perfect substitute for your favorite flavored oatmeal packet while using real natural ingredients. If you love the apple flavor packet, try mixing a scoop of applesauce, brown sugar and cinnamon into your cooked oatmeal. Love the maple syrup flavor? Top your oatmeal with a drizzle of real maple syrup. For peaches and cream, make your oatmeal with milk and top with fresh or frozen diced peaches and drizzle of honey.
Recipe FAQs
Use regular rolled oats for this recipe, or anything labeled old fashioned oats or thick cut oats. Do not use steel cut oats. I have found the rolled oats from the bulk bin at the store to be the best quality and price. Bring back your bag to refill!
You can, but you should use quick oats instead of regular rolled oats. I prefer the quality of regular rolled oats and like the lightly toasted flavor.
Yes! If using raw nuts, feel free to toss them on the sheet pan with the baking oats. Just keep them to the side in a pile so you can easily scoop them into the food processor.
More Breakfast Favorites!
If you made this recipe, I'd love to hear how you liked it! Be sure to leave a star rating by clicking the stars in the recipe card, or leave a comment below!
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Homemade Instant Oatmeal - Not from a Packet
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Ingredients
- 8 cups regular rolled oats
- 1 cup nuts any combination of almonds, walnuts, pecans etc.
- ¼ cup seeds sunflower, flax, or chia
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Bake oats at 325° for 25 minutes spread on 2 large sheet pans, let cool slightly.
- Pulse nuts, seeds and cinnamon in a food processor until ground. Add a few scoops of the cooked oats, (about 3 cups) and pulse 10 or 15 times until the oats are partially ground.
- Mix the food processed nuts and oats back in with the rest of the oats on the sheet pan, use a spatula or your hands.
- Cool and store in jars.
- To use, add ½ cup of your homemade instant oatmeal to a bowl with ½ cup milk or water and microwave 1-2 minutes, stopping to stir every 30 seconds (adjust amounts if you like your oatmeal runny or thick). Top with brown sugar or honey, a scoop of yogurt, applesauce, Homemade Almond Vanilla Granola, berries, peaches, shredded coconut, dried fruit, or your favorite toppings.
Notes
- Store your bulk instant oatmeal in jars at room temperature for up to 3 months.
- Nutrition facts are for 1 serving of oatmeal, about ½ cup and do not include milk.
Jessica says
Delicious--thanks! I used about a 3:1 ratio of Bob's Red Mill protein oats to nuts (walnuts & almonds, which I toasted). I also added cinnamon and chia seeds after everything had cooled. I was skeptical about being able to use non-instant oats, but I made a test batch, and it was delicious! I'm glad to have an easy, healthy, travel-friendly breakfast for my frequent travels.
Meryl Downing says
I'm so glad you liked it Jessica, thanks for sharing, chia seeds and cinnamon are a great addition!
Pauline Henderson-Ferguson says
Could you increase the flax, etc to replace the cup of nuts?
Meryl Downing says
Hi Pauline,
YES! These amounts are really adjustable and don't need to be exact. You could make the recipe without nuts and more seeds, totally up to you!
Selena Wheeler says
Wonderful and delicious anytime of the year! Thank you for sharing your recipe and your story! 💗💗💗💗💕💕💕💕
Meryl Downing says
Thanks Selena, glad you liked it!