Avoid the grocery store and make your own oatmeal instant oatmeal! This recipe is as easy as combining oats with your favorite nuts, fruit and spices.
Raise your hand if you secretly love maple and brown sugar instant oatmeal. (Raises hand.) Raise your hand if you are hungry 30 minutes after consuming said packet of instant oatmeal. (Raises hand.)
Making your own instant oatmeal is as easy as combining oats with your favorite dried fruit, nuts, brown sugar and spices.
Here are a few tricks to making it extra special so that your family will gobble it up:
Frequently asked questions:
Toast The Nuts: By popping the chopped walnuts and almonds in a 350-degree oven for 10 minutes, the natural oils are released and the end result is a warm, nutty and toasted flavor that you wouldn’t get using raw nuts.
Add Fruit. I love raisins, don’t get me wrong. But why not give a shout out to your other favorite dried fruits? Apricots, cranberries, cherries, dates, figs… go crazy with your dried-fruit-loving self.
Sneak in Nutrition: Flaxseed meal and toasted wheat germ do a body good and I guarantee your children will not notice it’s in there. I do guarantee their bodies will appreciate the omega-3’s, zinc, protein, B vitamins, fiber, and other goodies.
Use sage, golden raisins, less sugar, and perhaps buttery toasted pinon nuts. Look at Middle Eastern and Moroccan style spices mixtures for savory-sweet oatmeal.
Mix in a fruit like frozen blueberries to cool it down.
📖 Recipe
Make Your Own Homemade Instant Oatmeal Mix
Ingredients
- 8 cups old fashioned oats
- 2 cups dried fruit chopped – I used raisins and dried apricots
- 2 cups nuts chopped – I used walnuts and almonds
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup flax seed meal
- 1/4 cup cinnamon
- 4 teaspoons salt I use kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon nutmeg
- 1/2 tablespoon ground cloves
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and spread chopped nuts in an even layer on a baking sheet.
- Roast nuts for 10 minutes or until lightly toasted; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients including toasted nuts. Store in an air-tight container for up to 3 weeks.
- To serve: scoop out 1 cup of the oatmeal mixture and place it in a bowl with 1/2 cup water or milk. Microwave for 90 seconds or until liquid is absorbed.
Michelle
How would you suggest cooking this if you don’t have a microwave? Thanks!
Liz DellaCroce
Stovetop works great! bring to boil then simmer 2 minutes!
Megan McGinnis
This is the perfect thing, now that it has become too cold for overnight oats. I added 1/4c chia seeds, and reduced the salt a hair, but not by much. The aroma while it’s cooking is heavenly, also! Thanks for making my workday breakfasts so easy and delicious.
Liz DellaCroce
I’m so glad you like it!!
Kiki
This great! I am an older endurance athlete and I have been paying a fortune for Umpqua instant oatmeal. This way I can customize it to suit me. This recipe is a great base to build what you want.
Dried apricots and cardamom instead of other spices.
Want it savory? Use sage, golden raisins, less sugar, and perhaps buttery toasted pinon nuts. Look at Middle Eastern and Moroccan style spices mixtures for savory sweet.
There are just a ton of ways to customize this.
Salt? I think anyone with any sort of intelligence to follow a recipe should know a recipe is, for the most part, a general road map you can customize. A short run for me is 10 miles, in New Mexico heat. I NEED that extra bit of salt. But if it is an issue, be smart, don’t add it, or adjust to suit you.
Liz DellaCroce
I’m so glad you enjoyed this!!!!
Kerri
This recipe was….okay. I’m about to make it again, cut the salt in half, double the sugar, and don’t include cloves and nutmeg. I also microwave it with 1 cup of oats to 1 cup of water for 90 seconds.
Liz DellaCroce
You should try it sometime with blueberries mixed in and drizzled with peanut butter!