DIY Instant Oatmeal Packets

Most moms out there will agree with me on this:

Kids love instant oatmeal!

We go through instant oatmeal packets like nobody’s business. I was opening my thousandth packet the other morning and thought to myself, “You are the DIY queen, there has got to be a way to come up with oatmeal recipes for your own packets.”

I wasn’t such a big fan of the sugar content in the packets we were using each and every morning.  The variety box that I usually bought had just a C+ rating on Fooducate, no good.

After some research and a genius tip from One Good Thing by Jillee, I landed on my own versions of Bean’s favorite store-bought instant oatmeal packets.

Bean’s favorite are the Fruit and Cream variety, so those are the flavors I have chosen to re-create. Off to Target I went (along with my husband and Bean in tow) to gather my supplies.

DIY Homemade Healthy Instant Oatmeal Packets

SUPPLIES

Quaker Oats Quick 1 Minute Whole Grain Oats 42 oz.
1 cup non-dairy fat-free creamer
2 teaspoons salt
Stevia or your favorite sweetener
Freeze-dried fruit
Snack size baggies

STEP ONE

Pour out 3 cups of oats and blend until a fine powder.

Here’s a tip:

Use an immersion blender! I am in love with mine (quick and easy to use and clean up).

STEP TWO

Mix your powdered oats with 7 cups of regular oats in a large bowl. Add 2 tsp. salt and 1 cup of non-dairy creamer to your bowl and mix well.

STEP THREE

Add 1/2 cup of the oatmeal mixture into each snack sized baggie. Then, add 1 packet of Stevia to each baggie (I had packets so it was super easy to just dump one in each baggie and not measure). If you don’t have packets, add about 1/4 teaspoon.

The important thing to remember here is this:

Stevia is very, very sweet so you don’t need much.

STEP FOUR

Take your freeze-dried fruit and crush it up into smaller pieces. I poured some in a larger baggie and rolled it with a rolling pin until the pieces of fruit were about the size you normally see in oatmeal packets.

STEP FIVE

Add 2 tablespoons of your freeze-dried fruit pieces to each packet. I used freeze-dried strawberries, peaches, and a berry mix to make 3 different varieties of packets.

STEP SIX

Mix with desired amount of water or milk (to your liking of how thick you want your oatmeal to be). Then, you can either pop it in the microwave or…

Here’s a pro tip:

You can use your Keurig! I poured about 6 oz. of water into the Keurig, set the bowl of oatmeal mix underneath, and voila. Just beware, it’s pretty darn hot when you make it this way so let it cool before eating.

We’ve used this trick many times while traveling to hotels without a microwave.

If my oatmeal snob loves it, you know it must be good!

I was able to make 16 packets total. I did find that 1/2 cup of the mixture made a slightly bigger bowl of oatmeal than the packets I was used to, so I’ll probably decrease the amount per baggie the next time I make these. Overall, I couldn’t be more pleased with the way they turned out. Bean’s morning breakfast smile says it all 🙂

Is your kiddo obsessed with oatmeal, too? What flavors would you make with your DIY oatmeal packets?

This shop was compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and Quaker. All opinions are mine alone.