Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets
Build your own oatmeal packets at home. Cheaper than the store version, and you decide how sweet.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 2.8 oz
- cal / oz
- 150
- protein
- 12 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 2 min
- total time
- 12 min
- water
- 200 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Thru-hike
- Bikepacking
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Rolled oats | 1/2 cup | old fashioned, not quick oats |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered milk | 3 tbsp | whole milk powder carries more calories than nonfat |
| Maple sugar or brown sugar | 1 tbsp | adjust once you have tasted a batch |
| Salt | 1/8 tsp | |
| Freeze-dried or dried fruit | 1/4 cup | apples, peaches, strawberries, blueberries, or raisins |
| Powdered fruit | 1 tbsp | the crumbs from the bottom of the freeze-dried bag, blitzed |
| Cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice | 1/4 tsp |
Method
- At home, run half the oats through a food processor for about five seconds. Leave the rest whole.
- Combine everything in a bowl, stir until the powdered milk is evenly distributed, and pour one serving into each bag.
- In camp, boil 200 ml of water.
- Pour it into the bag or pot, stir, and close it up. Two minutes.
- Stir again. If it is thicker than you want, add hot water a splash at a time.
Store-bought instant oatmeal is mostly sugar and a small amount of oats. Building your own packet flips that ratio and costs about a quarter as much. The powdered milk is what makes it work off a single boil: it turns plain water into something creamy, so you do not need a stove long enough for real cooking.
Grinding half the oats is the trick that lets you use old fashioned rolled oats instead of quick oats. The ground half thickens fast and the whole half keeps some chew. Powdered fruit does more for flavor than the dried pieces do, since the pieces mostly rehydrate back into fruit while the powder spreads through the whole bowl. Start with less sugar than you think you want. You can add more; you cannot take it out.
Packing
One serving per quart freezer bag, or a stack of snack bags inside one larger bag. Squeeze the air out before sealing so the fruit does not turn to dust in your pack.
Variations
- Chocolate chips or shaved coconut stirred in after the water, not before, so they do not melt into the mix.
- Flax, chia, or pumpkin seeds add fat and fiber for almost no volume.
- Toasted pecans for a richer packet. That version is no longer nut-free.
- A spoonful of butter or a drizzle of maple syrup at camp if you are car camping and weight is not a concern.
https://www.theseasonalhomestead.com/homemade-instant-oatmeal-packets-better-than-quaker