Porridge (or oatmeal to American readers) is such a cheap yet healthy breakfast option. It releases energy slowly (as it has a low glycemic index) so you feel fuller for longer. For these reasons I eat it regularly especially when I know I’m going to have a long day of lectures ahead or have a planned gym/yoga sesh.
Despite porridge being super nutritious as it’s high in fibre and naturally low in fat and sugar, the instant flavoured porridge pots from supermarkets are not only expensive but have crazy amounts of sugar too- one Oats So Simple Apple and Blueberry pot contains 16 grams of sugar (around 4 tsp!) and can cost over £1, whereas you could get a whole bag of oats for the same price or less with 0g or sugar per serving!
However I do understand that plain oats can taste bland so I thought I’d share my recipe and ingredient ideas for how to make homemade porridge taste flavoursome and in turn save you loads of ££££ (who wouldn’t love that??)
OATS
For the oats I just use the cheapest Scottish oats available because at the end of the day, oats are oats. For this blog post I used Tesco Scottish oats for only 65p and you can get just over 12 servings out of it!
MILK
I make my porridge with half water half milk but you can use all milk if you want a creamier texture. I stopped drinking cow’s milk for years now as I find non-dairy alternatives so much more flavoursome and have the same amount of calcium. I don’t really have a favourite non-dairy milk alternative as I usually buy whatever’s on offer but at the moment I’m loving Almond Breeze’s almond milk- I found it for 39p for 1 litre in Heron Foods (yes you read that price right!).
ADDITIONALS
I used to just add a sprinkle of cinnamon before microwaving the oat/milk/water mix but ever since discovering chai tea powder my porridge game has been changed forever (lol it’s that deep). Just adding a teaspoon of the powder makes your porridge taste instantly sweeter and more flavoursome so I would definitely recommend buying it! I use Drink Me Chai spiced tea powder and it’s the same one that many coffee shops use to make a Chai latte.
TOPPINGS
This is where you can really just get creative as there are so many flavour combinations you can experiment with! Since I add the chai tea powder I find topping it off with banana, strawberries and blueberries really goes well. I also recently started adding a spoonful of yogurt at the end which adds extra creaminess and sweetness. I use Alpro’s soya yogurt but be careful if you’re using cow’s milk yogurt as it has the tendency to curdle. Adding a swirl of peanut putter is also a nice addition and I sometimes add a sprinkle of granola on top for some extra crunch.
My other favourite flavour combinations are are jam and berries, or honey and grated apple (added at the beginning) which makes it taste like apple pie!
Here’s how I made the porridge pictured in this blog post…
INGREDIENTS
40g oats (around 5 tbsp)
Around 100 ml almond milk (I measure by eye!)
Around 100ml water
1 tsp chai tea powder
1/2 banana
2 strawberries
A handful of blueberries
1 tbsp soya yogurt
A sprinkle of granola (which contains a mix of dried fruit and seeds)
METHOD
1. Add the oats, water, milk and powder into a bowl and stir well
2. Microwave on medium power for around 3 minutes (stirring well in between) or until it thickens to your desired consistency
3. After leaving to cool slightly for 1 minute (allowing it to thicken a little bit more) add the rest of the ingredients
4. Enjoy!
NOTE: You can make porridge the traditional way in a saucepan by bringing to the boil then simmering for about 5 minutes, but due to me being in a rush in the morning I usually just use the trustee microwave!
I hope this post has helped inspire you guys to try out homemade porridge for breakfast- leave any comments below or on my recent post on insta!
Andri xx