I love oatmeal. For me, there’s nothing better than a warm, creamy bowl of old-fashioned oats with a scoop of Teddie peanut butter on top. But, I didn’t always eat my oatmeal this way.
Before discovering old-fashioned oats, I only ate the instant variety. I didn’t think that I had time to make oatmeal from “scratch.” Plus, taking the time to clean up? Forget about it. A packet of instant oatmeal that I just added hot water to made much more sense for my busy lifestyle… or so I thought.
After reading food blogs for many months and seeing bloggers with full-time jobs, children, and other responsibilities swear by old-fashioned oats, I knew that I needed to give them a try.
Turns out that the old school oat-lovers were right. Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats cook in just 5 minutes, require little clean-up, and, best of all, they score a lot higher than my usual instant oatmeal. Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats score a 57 on the NuVal scale.
Check out how little time it takes to make a yummy batch of banana (NuVal score: 91) and pomegranate (NuVal score: 91) old-fashioned oats on the stove top:
Now that I have worked at NuVal for a few months, I’m so glad that I made the switch to old-fashioned oats. They’re much more nutritious for you. Even though instant oatmeal is really handy, it pales in comparison to old-fashioned oats. Check out the NuVal scores for a number of instant oatmeal varieties.
- Quaker Instant Oatmeal – Original: 39
- Quaker Instant Oatmeal – High Fiber Cinnamon Swirl: 28
- Quaker Instant Oatmeal – Low Sugar Maple Brown Sugar: 27
As you can see, they don’t even come close to the Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats!
If you’re curious about steel cut oats, Quaker’s score even higher– they get a 60. While they do take quite a bit longer to cook (~30 minutes), it’s worth the wait if you want trade-up the nutritional value of your oatmeal.
Developed by an independent panel of nutrition and medical experts, the 
What a simple swap! I also think the thick ones have a nicer texture
I love this. I was just telling my mom how “real” oats are better. Thanks
Oh, an ode to oatmeal… I love old-fashioned oats, and haven’t had instant in years. If you’re short on time, here’s a little “shortcut” for cooking steel-cut oats. Just bring the water+oats to a boil in a pot the night before, cover, and let sit overnight. In the morning, bring to a boil again and then simmer for 5-10 minutes, depending on the consistency you want. Voila!
I agree that the Old-Fashioned Oats are much better! I like the consistency of them vs. the instant.
I pretty much have oatmeal everyday for breakfast now… my whole day gets thrown off if I don’t. That’s sad… but very much true. I’m a creature of habit.
Instant oats don’t even compare to Old Fashioned in my opinion. Old fashioned oats are the best!!! I have them pretty much every day and I look forward to it. SO good!
@Amy Bax @ Second City Randomness: Me too!!!
you have convinced me to give it a try
They do taste so much better too, in my opinion
I didn’t even like oatmeal until, like you, the blog world showed me old-fashioned oats are a totally quick and viable option. Now I eat oatmeal pretty much every morning.
I like the texture of old fashion oats much more than instant so it was easy for me to choose those over the less nutritous option.
Thank you so much for this post! I thought I was doing good by eating plain oatmeal and then adding apples, bananas, pumpkin, etc. to it instead of buying the already flavored brands, but now I can make it even better by going with old-fashioned oats! Not to mention that’s it’s probably cheaper to buy the old fashioned oats as opposed to the packets anyways. Good news all around!
There is a blog entirely about oats!
http://oatallyawesome.tumblr.com/
I wouldn’t trade in my old-fashioned a.m. bowl of oats for anything. Instant oatmeal – no thank you =)
The best sort-of instant oatmeal that’s actually good for you is McCann’s Imported Quick Cooking Rolled Oats! They’re fantastic and ready in only 3 minutes. I get mine at Trader Joe’s but I know I’ve seen it sold at other stores. I’m going to start experimenting b/c right now I keep it to honey and cinnamon but your oatmeal concoctions always look so yummy!
Is instant any different than quick cooking oats? I agree that old fashioned oats taste better, but recently bought quick cooking oats (done in one min.) for a recipe. I just looked at the nutrition label, and it’s exactly the same as the one on my old fashioned oats. If instant & quick cooking are the same, what would bring the NuVal score down? Just wondering. Thanks.