Breakfast du Jour: High Protein Low Carb Oatmeal

The dupe we've all been waiting for.

Chilly mornings have me craving warm and hearty breakfasts, and apparently I’m not alone. I’ve recently received a flood of requests for warm, blood sugar balancing breakfasts that aren’t smoothies, which motivated me to perfect my recipe with macros in mind. For the record: I love smoothies. Like, a lot. But I go through phases where I want something else in the morning. These oats have been my breakfast of choice recently, but I can feel a chocolate ginger avocado smoothie creeping around the corner.

You’ll have to wait for that smoothie recipe, because I’m still in my oat era. So before we dive into the specifics, let’s take a look at some macros: A single serving of oats (which is only 1/3 of a cup, dry) has nearly 30 net grams of carbs. And that’s before you sweeten it or add any fruit, which easily adds another 10+ grams. For reference, a serving of pasta has 40 grams. And if you’re not sure what net carbs are, they’re the total carbs minus the fiber. The fiber doesn’t impact our blood sugar, so we remove it from the equation.

Speaking of fiber, I also want to note that while oats do have a decent amount of fiber (that same 1/3 cup serving has about 5 grams), the fiber to carbohydrate ratio is not great. I generally like to see a ratio under 1:5, preferably closer 1:3, and oats have a ratio of around 1:6 (meaning 1 gram of fiber for every 6 grams of carbs). The ratio in my recipe, however, is about 1:2 (yes, I’m bragging).

You could, of course, take the oats out of this recipe completely (I have a grain free hot cereal recipe in Foodwise), but this recipe has been hitting the spot for me and has a reasonable serving of carbohydrates that won’t leave me craving sugar all day! Plus, oats are a galactagogue, so if you’re breastfeeding like me they might help with milk supply (although the science is still a little iffy on this). I would also like to take this as an opportunity to impress the importance of blood sugar balance for new moms (or anyone, really), so this recipe is the best of both worlds: some oats without the spike.

If you need any more convincing, I even have my dad eating this now, and he has a strong aversion to anything “gluten free” paired with a serious affinity for coffee shop scones. If I can get him on board with this lower carb oatmeal “dupe,” I’m pretty sure I can get you too (we love you and your stamp of approval, dad!).

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Recipe: High Protein Low Carb Oatmeal

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1/4 cup old fashioned oats (I have found that this brand is the lowest in carbs)

1/4 cup oat bran (this is different from regular oats and should not be skipped—it really adds to the porridge experience)

1/4 cup chia seeds (any color will do)

1/4 cup ground flax seeds

3 scoops collagen powder (see note)

2.5 cups water

Directions:

1. Add all the dry ingredients to a small sauce pan and mix to combine.

2. Pour the water over the mixture and heat the stove to medium.

3. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer, then lower the heat and continue stirring as the hot cereal cooks, about 5 minutes.

4. Divide among two bowls and top as desired. I use about 14 of a banana and a little peanut butter for flavor, but there are countless ways you could zhuzh up yours.

Macros (per serving):

• Total carbs: 29g

  • Fiber: 14g

  • Net carbs: 15g

• Fat: 16g

• Protein: 24g

Notes:

• If you’re making for 1, you can save the extra portion for the next day or you can halve the recipe, using 2 tbsp of each ingredient.

• I use Primal Kitchen Collagen Fuel in Vanilla, which has 11 grams of protein per serving. This is why I use 3 scoops for 2 people — there’s quite a bit of protein in the other ingredients. Use your discretion depending on the collagen you use and the amount of protein you need. You could also use a different protein powder, but I’ve only used this one so it might need more or less water depending on what you use. Play around with it.

• Ozzie will also eat this, and it can be a blank canvas for kids to top. We have a thing called “surprise oatmeal” in my house, where I surprise him with toppings. It’s honestly a little terrifying because if I get it wrong he’s not pleased (if you have a toddler, you know what i mean), but some toppings that work for us are this chia jam, nut butter, berries, raisins, bananas, sprinkles and sometimes a chocolate chip or two on the weekend. I’m not sure why I started this, but if you try it with your toddler, godspeed.