How to Make Instant Oatmeal

How to Make Your Own Easy Instant Oatmeal Making your own Instant Oatmeal to use for quick breakfasts in the morning is a great way to save money on your grocery bills!  I am forever grateful that my kids all like to eat oatmeal, but those premade packets at the store can get super expensive,…

Homemade instant oatmeal mix spilling out of mixing cup onto countertop.

How to Make Your Own Easy Instant Oatmeal

Making your own Instant Oatmeal to use for quick breakfasts in the morning is a great way to save money on your grocery bills!  I am forever grateful that my kids all like to eat oatmeal, but those premade packets at the store can get super expensive, especially when your family is going through 4, or 5, or 6 of them every morning… Plus, have you seen the list of “extra” ingredients in some of them?!?  

As part of our food storage, we keep a lot of oats around.  Like 50 pound bags of oats.  And large 5 gallon buckets of oats.  And I thought, “This is ridiculous for me to have all these oats around and not use them for oatmeal.  But I need something more convenient like the instant stuff from the store.”

So I browsed the internet, because you can find anything in the world on the internet.  And lo and behold, I found it – instructions for making my own instant oatmeal!  My favorite by far has been this recipe from One Good Thing by Jillee, and I give her full credit – it is brilliant!  I have modified it slightly due to my family’s dairy allergies (because, despite the name, non-dairy creamer is FULL of dairy – go figure…).  Thank you, Jillee, because this recipe is AWESOME!  🙂

The key to making it just like the store-bought stuff, is using a portion of the oats to grind up into powder.  It makes the oatmeal “creamier” without the need for a long cook time.

Instant Oatmeal Overhead with Berries

Making Instant Oatmeal Packets

I like to make up a double batch of the basic mix, and then divide it into four containers of about 5 1/2-6 cups each.  Then I add various flavorings or mix-ins to make different varieties of instant oatmeal.

You can also divide your oatmeal into separate baggies and make your own true instant oatmeal packets.  I’d suggest using the snack size ziptop bags – they are the easiest to store.

But I’m usually too lazy to go through all that hassle. I just have a container with the oatmeal mix, and then have a printed label on the side with mixing and cooking instructions.  After a quick 2 minute lesson and demo, my kids have been able to easily make their own oatmeal for breakfast!

Instant Oatmeal Berries Closeup

Instant Oatmeal Varieties

I suggest freeze-dried fruits if you like flavor but not harder bits in your oatmeal.  Or use dried fruits if you don’t mind a harder texture to your fruit bits. Our favorites are freeze-dried strawberries, to make Strawberries and Cream, or freeze dried peaches, to make Peaches and Cream.

Instant Oatmeal Varieties
It’s hard to see in the picture, but for the Strawberry flavor, we mix the freeze dried strawberries into the mix. The strawberries you see on top are just to make it look pretty for the picture, because, photographing oatmeal is not as easy as you might think!

If using nuts, I’ve found it best to add those after you make the oatmeal.  I have not had good luck adding them to the mix itself.

Instant Oatmeal Tropical Overhead
This is the Tropical flavor we came up with, using a mix of tropical dried fruits, and then topping with shredded coconut and slivered almonds!

I’ve seen instructions for using maple sugar for a maple and brown sugar variety, but I have had the hardest time finding maple sugar in the store.  So I have just been using powdered maple flavoring.  However, I cannot find a good deal for it online, other than buying a 1lb package for about $20.  Which isn’t bad, but you probably don’t need an entire pound of the stuff.  So I’m going to rework that variety for using maple sugar.

There are so many options for different flavors!  Don’t hesitate to try them all out or come up with your own!!  But you can also just use the basic mix, and then add fresh mix-ins, like berries, or maple syrup, etc.  This stuff is great no matter how you flavor it!!

Instant Oatmeal Berries Portrait

 

Close up of Instant Oatmeal in bowl with berries

Easy Instant Oatmeal

Servings: 24 servings
Course: Uncategorized
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 2 minutes
Total Time: 7 minutes
You can make your own instant oatmeal in just a few minutes using simple pantry ingredient you already have on hand!  The basic mix recipe is from One Good Thing by Jillee!  
4.7 from 3 votes
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INGREDIENTS
 

For the basic mix:

  • 10 cups quick-cook oats
  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt

INSTRUCTIONS

To make basic mix:

  • Add 3 cups of the oats to a blender or food processor, and blend until powdered.
  • Mix oats, powdered oats, brown sugar and salt together in large bowl.  Stir well to combine.
  • Portion out 1/2 cup mix into individual snack-size ziptop baggies, divide into smaller containers to add flavorings, or store plain mix in a large airtight container.

To make Maple & Brown Sugar variety:

  • Add 2-3 tablespoons of powdered maple flavoring to 6 cups of oatmeal mix.  Stir to combine.  Store in airtight container.

To make Strawberries & Cream variety:

  • Add 1 cup freeze-dried strawberries and 2-3 tablespoons instant nonfat dry milk to 6 cups oatmeal mix. 

To make Peaches & Cream variety:

  • Add 1 cup freeze-dried peaches and 2-3 tablespoons instant nonfat dry milk to 6 cups oatmeal mix.

When ready to eat:

  • Place 1/2 cup oatmeal mix (either plain or flavored variety) in microwave safe bowl.  Add 3/4 cup of water.  Stir.  Microwave for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, depending on your microwave and your personal taste preferences.  For our microwave, it's 1:35 on the dot for the sweet spot!

NUTRITION

Serving: 24servings | Calories: 186kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 183mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 15g
Did You Make This Recipe?Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Facebook @MakeAheadMealMom!

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9 Comments

  1. I love oats for breakfast. Thanks for sharing your little trick of grinding the oats, I never thought about that, of course they will be creamier. And your pictures are beautiful!

  2. Am I a nderstwnding correctly, the mix of 7 cups of oats and the 3 cups of ground up oats will equal 6 cups? From there I go ahead and make the variety of oatmeal that I want?

    1. The recipe as written will make about 12 cups of instant oatmeal, and portioned out into 1/2 cup servings will make about 20-24 servings. I usually divide it into two smaller containers of about 6 cups each and then add the mix-ins, so that I can make multiple flavors at one time. I leave it in containers rather than portion it out into individual baggies, but you can divide it out if wanted. So if you make the recipe above, you can divide it in half and make two different flavors of instant oatmeal, each about 6 cups (or 12 servings each).

  3. Any suggestions on how to make if you dont have a microwave? Can i just add boiling water and let it sit for a few minutes?

    1. You can leave all of the sugar out if you’d like. It’s in there mostly to entice my younger kids so it was sweeter than just straight oatmeal since they were used to the store-bought stuff with SO much sugar…But it is absolutely not necessary.

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