Instant Oatmeal Packets
One thing I’ve learned, as a mom of four little kids–six years to six weeks–is that to keep my sanity at mealtimes, I need to keep things simple. Breakfast especially as weekday mornings can be a stressful time of day getting ready for school, saying goodbye to daddy as he leaves for work, and doing our morning chores.
My kids love oatmeal and since it’s inexpensive, filling, healthy, AND simple, we have it most mornings. My six- and four- year-olds can even proudly fix their own packets of oatmeal, freeing up my time to cut fruit or make toast.
Store-bought instant packets are definitely handy to have around, but did you know making your own is super simple? Making your own to store in the pantry will save you quite a bit of money too. I’ve included here a basic recipe, but feel free to get creative with your add-ins. My kids love adding dried fruit or cinnamon and sugar to theirs, but our special secret ingredient? After the oatmeal is cooked, add frozen fruit (to cool it down) or sprinkles.
This weekend, why not grab the kids, set up an assembly line, and stockup on homemade oatmeal packets to keep on hand for simple breakfasts.
Instant Oatmeal Packets
Author/Source:
Pam @ Onceamonthmom.com
Ingredients:
For each “packet,” place in a snack-size zipper bag:
- 0.25 cup quick cooking oats
- 1 teaspoon powdered milk
- 0.12 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon sugar or brown sugar (optional)
- Additional add-ins if desired (dried fruit, cinnamon, etc.)
Directions:
For each oatmeal packet, combine oats, powdered milk, salt, and sugar in a snack-size zipper bag. Seal and store in pantry. To serve: Empty “packet” into a bowl. Add 1/2 cup boiling water. Stir and let stand for 2 minutes. OR, add water and microwave about 1 minute or until done. Adjust water amount for thicker or thinner oatmeal.
Servings: 1
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Thanks! Im going to try this for February
Only one of my 4 kids really like oatmeal and others will occasionally eat it but I LOVE it. I’ve been making my own for a few months now using various recipes trying to find my favorite. Since it’s mostly me eating it I make up a huge batch to keep in the pantry and scoop out 1/2c or so. My favorite is with brown sugar and a little maple syrup!
That’s a great idea to just scoop it out from a container!!
Does the powdered milk and sugar and stuff separate to the bottom after awhile and oats to the top?
I haven’t really noticed that, but you could just give your bag or container a good shake before opening to be sure.
The other option is to cook oatmeal in the crock pot the night before. Your kitchen will smell yummy (especially if you add cinnamon). If you use a crock pot liner, you can also minimize clean up!
I’ve been wanting to do this for my husband to take to work for breakfast. Thanks for the recipe!
We will definitely try – the think I DON’T like about the store-bought packs is the outrageous sugar content. What I don’t like about “cooked” oatmeal in the morning is the pan cleanup. Looks like we can have our oatmeal and eat it too (mess free). Here I can control how much sugar we use (and visually show the kids). We will be trying right away. Thanks again!
Great idea! I’ll have to make some of my own instant oatmeal packets this weekend.
I do this every Sunday – but I put a weeks worth in individual tupperwares, add the almond milk and keep them in the fridge. Your way would save me a lot of space!
I used to do the individual baggie thing, but have since moved to just a large container and it is SOOOOO much easier. I leave the measuring cup in there and hubby can add his blueberries to it, I can add my dried apples, the kids can add dried cherries or even chocolate chips if I’m feeling generous. Plus I don’t have to rewash the plastic bags all the time!
Great idea!
Using a large container saves on landfill of plastic bags
[...] my family’s current breakfast routine usually includes instant oatmeal, I’d forgotten about this recipe until recently when I was putting together my recipe [...]
I ♥ this recipe and have now made it twice (since I was lucky enough to be a test cook for OAMM!). I added some vanilla protein powder to add some protein to our oatmeal. Everyone in my family loves these – my 3 year old, the college kids, and my hubbie too! Great idea!!!
Oh so glad to hear that! And thanks again for being a test cook.
This turned out great! All of the kids liked it! Hooray
[...] some of our own food staples. One of mine is my morning oatmeal. I found a wonderful recipe at Once A Month Mom, which is an amazing website. The original recipe is for oatmeal “packets”. I [...]
Thanks for the recipe, unfortunately my kids are teenagers. I’ll keep this for my nieces.
[...] months ago, I came across these instructions for instant oatmeal packets from Once A Month [...]
Just tried this and loved it. My kids eats tons of oatmeal in the fall and this is a great alternative to the packet oatmeal. I added in 1/4 tsp cinnamon and it was delicious.
Could I make these using old fashioned oats??
Yes they’ll just take a little longer to set.
This is a huge life saver for me! I love oatmeal and it keeps me from being starving until lunch but as a poor college student I can’t afford those prepackaged instant ones all the time. I just ran accross this on Pinterest and quick made one this morning. I added 1/2 cup oatmeal (too much), 1 T brown sugar and 1 T flax seed meal (also to help me from being “starving”). Might also try some cinnamon! Thank you, thank you!
So, I switched the recipe to serve 20 and did it all in one big container and it was SUPER salty????? Did I miss something??? I ended up adding a TON more oats to make it edible……
I’m sorry! I’m not sure why it would be that way.
Why the powdered milk? Has anyone tried without?
Powdered milk just adds some creaminess to the texture. You can definitely make it without.