Is there a way to make oatmeal taste better?

[CRSunrise]

I bought some Apple & Cinnamon oatmeal, and I just ate a packet. It tastes way mooshy. It needs something sturdy to it, or something crunchy added. I also wouldn't mind being able to add chocolate to the oatmeal or something 

[essieL]

Add a bit of slivered almonds to give crunch. Happy munching!

[Elliekennard]

Got it covered! It's in the granola. 👍

[ManiFitness]

I use quick oats to make my own oats (I don't like packaged oatmeals and it's even healthier when you make it yourself) and I add some cocoa powders, some fruits and some honey or real maple syrup. 

The amount of time you cook it and the amount of liquid also can change the consistency, so you kind of have to experiment and see what gives you the consistency you prefer! 

[pnw_eileen]

I agree that instant oatmeal is disgusting.   I make a big batch of oatmeal on the weekends. It lasts thru much of my work week so I just reheat it.

I use steel cut oats (but I do throw a handful of old fashioned oats in there because I like a mix).  I use 1/2 water and 1/2 milk which makes it nicely creamy. 

Then, I get creative

If you throw in a very ripe banana when it is cooking and stir a ton and then serve it with walnuts it tastes like banana bread.   so good

Or, I throw in some thinly sliced apples & cinnamon

Sometimes I sweeten w/ maple syrup.  Or not.    Raisons & nuts are always a treat

[Nirudo]

Sounds delicious!   What is your cooking process? Seems like your ratio of liquid to oats is 4 cup liquids for 1 cup dry oats.  I have trouble microwaving steel cut traditional oats because I don't have deep microwavable container.  Thanks.

[SanDiegoDietGal]

Do you have a crock pot? I am told those work well.

Sent from my iPad

[pnw_eileen]

I guess I'm in a hurry in the morning because I get this done in the evening and reheat it for breakfast

I use 1 c oats.  Mostly steel cut but a handful of old fashioned

1.5 c water

1.5 c milk 

bring to a low boil and then simmer for about 20 minutes.   This makes about 4 servings.  I often cook it while I'm doing dinner dishes than refrigerator.  It lasts 4 days fine.  I reheat in the micro in the morning

you can also bring to a boil.  Put on a lid, cover and forget it for 30 plus minutes while you eat dinner

[SunsetRunner]

Yesterday I ran out of quinoa and didn't want to spend more time cooking a new batch. Usually, I add quinoa to my salads. So I made a risky decision - replaced quinoa with oat as it was a lot quicker to make it 🙂 I prepared a regular fruits+vegetable salad with finely chopped ingredients. On the side, I have cooked oats ( just with water ) until it turned into a pulp. I let it cool down, then put it into my salad and add 4 tbsp of natural yoghurt on top. Mixed all together, stirred oats and yoghurt in. Surprisingly it was just delicious 🙂 It was more making a salad more tasty rather than oats but all ingredients worked really well together!

[SanDiegoDietGal]

Thanks for sharing

Sent from my iPad

[Rebucket]

Lately, I've been doing quick oats, cocoa powder and a couple spoonfuls of pumpkin puree. Then some sweetener and just a pinch of salt. Got to celebrate the season, right?

[Vwal1999]

Sounds sooooooo yummy!

[nurzepat]

In an effort to increase the protein in my diet and build some muscle, I stopped eating oatmeal in the morning and switched to eggs.  Then I started adding vegetables and a big omelet has become breakfast.  However, I miss oatmeal and after reading some of these ideas, I'm thinking that I may resume making a pot of oatmeal on the weekends to use for lunch during the week.  I love the pumpkin idea--maybe add some pumpkin pie spice and maple syrup--yum!

[neonbrett55]

I often have some Plain Greek Yougurt with strawberries, while my steel cut oats are cooking.

Brett Crawley

[Rebucket]

Do you use protein powder? If you do, that's an easy way to increase the protein in oatmeal. And there's a ton of flavors to make really any combination you're feeling.

[SunsetRunner]

@nurzepat In one of my previous replies to this thread, I wrote about adding eggs to the oatmeal. I do eat to add a bit of creaminess. Just to clarify, adding eggs ( or egg yolks ) doesn't mean eating them raw ( somebody pointed that out to me back then ) as you still cook the oats. Whisk eggs ( either only egg yolks or whole eggs, I go with latter now ), add to oats either during cooking ( remember to stir it all the time, otherwise instead of custard-like creaminess you'll get oats with scrambled eggs 😄 ) or like I do - make a mix of oats, fruits, whisked eggs, milk/water and blend all together. Then cook it ( microwave will do, too ). It's one of my favourite way of having oats/porridge 🙂

[POTATOEMAN]

I add egg white protein powder to oakmeal, the kind used for prorein shakes. It adds 12 grams of protein, and i can't taste it.

[genaw]

I like to add a fruit cup from the store. I decrease the water and just dump it in. Tropical fruit mix from Dole is my favorite.

[Vwal1999]

Great idea!

[LiveFree]

I use the Quick 1-minutes oats.  I put 1/2 to 1 cup of frozen fruit (usually dark cherries or blueberries) in a high sided cereal bowl.  I add 2/3 cup of oats (2 servings), 2 tsp of brown sugar, and since I'm a chocolate nut I put in about 12 semi-sweet chocolate chips.  I add 1 cup of water and put in the microwave for 2 minutes 50 seconds to 3 minutes depending on how much fruit.  When it's done I stir it up and put in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes to cool it down (since I'm always in a rush in the morning).  I take it out and stir again and it's very good and usually gets me through until noon.

[njawad]

Why don't you try adding a fun flavoured protein powder (myprotein.com do some wicked ones, literally every flavour you think of) and I tend to use jumbo rolled oats, Quakers are my favourite. I add sultanas, chia seeds, mixed seeds, fresh fruit, nut butters, and even coconut jam that has cacao mixed in with it can all make for a better bowl of porridge. Hope that helps 🙂