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Creamy comforting oatmeal swirled with brown sugar, cinnamon, and dotted with bites of juicy, fresh peaches - Peach Instant Oatmeal is just as delicious as it is healthy.
Peaches and cream instant oatmeal packets from your childhood are making a healthy comeback, and these have fresh, juicy peaches (instead of sugary dried peach chips).
Most mornings, every minute is precious and you can't spend time cooking a healthy breakfast from scratch. That's where instant oatmeal steps in.When you make your own instant oats, you can tailor each packet to your food allergies and your diet. It helps in several ways:
- Saves us money
- Helps us stick to a healthy diet
- Makes it easy for us gluten free eaters - we know we always have SOMETHING we can eat ( and we can take it with us if necessary)!
- Homemade oatmeal doesn't have the extra sugar and artificial stuff that we don't want
- It tastes better - juicy peaches vs. dehydrated, reconstituted peach pieces... need I say more?
Jump to:
Wholesome Ingredients
- quick oats - I use certified gluten free oatmeal, but regular oatmeal is fine if you don't have gluten intolerance issues. See What Type of Oats Are Best? To learn more.
- protein powder - this is a great way to add a boost of protein, and is what will stand in for the "cream" in this peaches and cream oatmeal. If you don't want to use protein powder, powdered milk will do very well. For a dairy free version of this recipe, sub with a plant-based powdered milk (like coconut or oat milk powder) or a protein powder such as Simple Truth vanilla protein powder.
- sweetener (your choice)- in our house we prefer a monk fruit based sweetener or brown sugar Swerve to keep the calories and carbs low. Coconut sugar is a delicious and less processed sub for standard brown sugar.
- peaches - so many choices here! Read on to learn more.
- cinnamon - the flavor of cinnamon and peaches are a great combination in this recipe
- flaxseed meal - adding this to your morning oatmeal can add some healthy fats, plus some trace minerals like magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc.
- hemp seed - contains the same nutrients as flaxseed meal, plus vitamin E. It's optional, but well worth including.
We Put the 🍑🍑🍑 in Peaches and Cream Oatmeal
We're going to take the classic peaches and cream oatmeal and give it a big upgrade by topping it with real peaches. There are several ways you can do this and still keep the "instant" in instant oatmeal.
- Peel and dice ripe peaches, toss with a little bit of lemon juice, and keep in a covered container in the fridge to use throughout the week. This is the best solution during the fresh peach season!
- If you are so inclined (and you have a lot of peaches), make some canned peaches so you can open a jar and add some to your oatmeal any time of the year.
- Or you could peel and dice those peaches, lay them out on a cookie sheet covered in plastic wrap or parchment, and flash freeze them. Once frozen, break them up and store them in freezer bags in your freezer. Add some frozen peaches to your instant oatmeal packet before cooking in the microwave. You may have to add 20-30 seconds to the cooking time.
- Buy canned peaches from the store, dice them up, and store them in the fridge like you would the fresh peaches. Be sure and look for peaches canned in juice instead of sugary syrup.
Why not use dried peaches?
Seems like the obvious solution! I experimented with freeze dried peaches when creating this recipe, and no matter how I tried, the flavor was practically invisible compared to fresh, sweet peaches. Go the extra mile with fresh peaches - that's what makes it so delicious!
What Type of Oats are Best?
There are several different types of oats, and you want to make sure you choose the right type when you make a batch of instant oatmeal packets.
- quick oats (also called instant oats). This is the type we'll use for our recipe.Best for instant oatmeal packets since they cook the fastest.
- rolled oats - these are thicker and take longer to cook. These can work to make oatmeal packets, but they won't be as "instant" because they require more water and cooking time to turn into a bowl of creamy oats. So they won't work for this recipe as written, but you can experiment with adding more water and more time cooking if this is the type of oats you like. If you're looking for a breakfast recipe that does use rolled oats, try my gluten free granola recipe. You can use either quick oats or rolled oats.
- Steel cut oats - these are the least processed, therefore the healthiest. But they would take quite a long time to cook, even in the microwave. My favorite way to have steel-cut oats for breakfast is by using an Instant Pot. If you have one, you've gotta try my Instant Pot Blueberry Coconut Oats. It has the added benefit of being both gluten-free and dairy-free, too.
How to Meal Prep a Batch of Peach Instant Oatmeal Packets
How many of these can you make? you might ask. Well, how many do you want? That's how many 🙂
And the best way to store them is in the pantry, and they'll stay good for quite a while.
This is one of my favorite meal prep recipes, and I like to make a bunch of them when I do a weekly food prep session. It's always good to plan meals and have food ready ahead of time.
Step 1. Measure ½ cup oatmeal into each sandwich bag.
Step 2. To each bag, add protein powder, sweetener, cinnamon, and flaxseed or hemp.
Step 3. Close bags and store in a cool, dry place like a pantry, drawer, or cupboard.
Step 4. Dice up some peaches (either canned or fresh) and keep them in an airtight container in the fridge. Now they're easy to pull out and top your oatmeal when you're making your breakfast.
NOTE: If it makes more sense for the storage space you have, add the ingredients to containers with lids and stack them or line them up in a cupboard or drawer.
How to Make a Bowl of Oatmeal
Now I bet you want a steaming bowl of peaches and cream oatmeal. That's easy - follow these steps:
- Add the contents of one packet or container to a microwave safe bowl. Choose one with tall enough sides to prevent the oatmeal from boiling over as it cooks.
- Add ⅔ cup of water and stir.
- Microwave on high for 1 minute and 20 seconds. Cooking time may be different for your microwave, but that's a good place to start.
- Once it's finished cooking add a splash of milk, heavy cream, or non-dairy milk. Top with some juicy diced peaches and enjoy your delicious, nutritious breakfast!
Where to Get Another Delicious Peach Recipe 👇
When we have extra peaches in our house, we love to turn them into gluten free peach cobbler, which is one of the recipes you can get in my FREE ebook, Gluten Free Baking for Beginners. Click to get yours sent to your inbox:
Homemade Peaches and Cream Instant Oatmeal (Meal Prep)
Include Description: Creamy comforting oatmeal swirled with brown sugar, cinnamon, and dotted with bites of juicy, fresh peaches - Peach Instant Oatmeal is just as delicious as it is healthy. And when you make your own instant oats, you can tailor each packet to your food allergies and your diet.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 1.5 minutes
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 1 serving 1x
- Category: breakfast
- Method: microwave
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- ½ cup quick cooking rolled oats
- 3 Tablespoons protein powder (see notes)
- 3 teaspoons sweetener ( see notes)
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon flaxseed meal, optional
- 1 teaspoon hemp seed, optional
- ⅔ cup water
- ¼ cup diced peaches
Instructions
- Stir all dry ingredients together. I like to include flaxseed meal and hemp seed for the extra nutrients, but they are not necessary and won't affect how the recipe turns out if you leave them out.
- To store for later use, add all dry ingredients to a plastic storage bag or other storage container.
- To serve now, add all dry ingredients plus ⅔ cup water to a microwave safe bowl. Use a big enough bowl to allow for expansion while cooking.
- Microwave on high for 1 minute 20 seconds (exact time may vary).
- Serve with the diced peaches and a little milk or cream as desired.
Notes
-
I like using vanilla whey protein powder in this recipe, but you can use unsweetened protein powder, or a plant-based protein powder if you prefer.
-
My favorite sweetener for this recipe is a brown sugar style zero calorie sweetener (like brown sugar Swerve) Other great options are: coconut sugar, monk fruit, or powdered stevia.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 275
- Sugar: 6.9 g
- Sodium: 39.8 mg
- Fat: 4.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 36.6 g
- Fiber: 6.6 g
- Protein: 21.5 g
- Cholesterol: 2.9 mg
Oatmeal FAQs
Instant oats are made from rolled oats that are cooked, dried, and then rolled even thinner than old-fashioned oats. This thinner, flattened shape lets them absorb liquid and cook in a very short amount of time, often just a minute or two in the microwave.
Instant oatmeal or quick-cooking oats have the same health benefits as regular oats, although some instant oatmeal packets contain added sugars and preservatives. It's better to make your own so you have control over the ingredients.
Pure oats are naturally gluten free, but they can become contaminated with gluten by being processed on the same equipment that processes wheat.
Since whole grain oats and grains of wheat look very similar, it's easy for them to get combined as they get processed and packaged for sale.
Choose oats that are labeled "certified gluten free" or "gluten free" to make sure that you are getting oats that aren't contaminated.
More Healthy Oatmeal Recipes
Roundup 🤠🏇🏼
My peaches and cream instant oatmeal recipe is part of the Delicious Recipes with No Sugar roundup post. Check it out!
Recipe creator: Kristie Winget, who loves gardening, singing, and Fair Isle knitting. Here's a little more about me.