I tested all the supermarket easy cook porridge oats – the winner was smooth, filling & also the cheapest
KING Charles has started flogging his favourite royal breakfast – porridge with honey – from his Sandringham estate.
To enjoy a bowl of HRH’s oats costs an extortionate £8.50, but it’s much easier and a lot cheaper to rustle up your own at home.
In fact, you can spend less than £2 on 270g that can be heated with ease in the microwave.
Here, Thea Jacobs puts a selection of ready-to-make oat sachets to the test to see which is the best for taste and value, giving each a score out of five.
Quaker Oats Original 270g, 10 sachets, £3.50, Tesco – 3/5
THIS tastes exactly like you’ve just liquidised the oats.
It’s easy to do and the line on the packaging is clear so you know just how much milk to add.
It’s creamy and can be served up really quickly.
That said, it’s much more expensive than the stores’ own-label brands.
Easy Oats Original 270g, 10 sachets, £1.35, Tesco – 2/5
THIS is cheap and it’s not hard to see why.
The packets don’t have a line to show how much milk to add, which makes it hard to judge.
I didn’t use too much milk, but it was still watery.
Not surprising as the oats are very small – and you don’t get nice oaty bites.
Original Porridge 270g, 10 sachets, £1.15, Asda – 4/5
THESE are very filling, which is great given how cheap they are.
Unlike many of the other own-brand offerings, there is a clear line to show how much milk to add.
The result is on the smooth end of the porridge scale as it’s hard to see any real lumps.
Original Porridge 270g, 10 sachets, £1.35, Sainsbury’s – 3/5
THIS is another offering without a measuring line for the milk, meaning you have to guess or dig out a jug.
It’s smooth and creamy, and thicker than others, which isn’t a bad thing.
Not as cheap as some of the other own-label brands, but still good value.
Porridge Original 270g, 10 sachets, £1.35, Morrisons – 2/5
THERE is no line on the sachet to indicate the level of milk.
After I measured and added the correct amount, and then cooked it in the microwave, I was left with some very watery porridge.
That said, it tasted good and oaty with a nice creamy undertone.
Crownfield Oat-So-Easy 270g, 10 sachets, 95p, Lidl – 5/5
THIS is a very good product at a very cheap price.
Lidl have made a real niche for themselves copying big brands.
It tastes very similar to Quaker, but is a bit more of a chewy offering, which I personally prefer for my porridge.
Harvest Morn Original 270g, 10 sachets, 95p, Aldi – 3/5
ALDI is normally good at doing big brand dupes on a budget, but for me this just doesn’t hit the right spot.
It’s much sweeter than the others, which isn’t what I’m looking for in a warm breakfast.
The texture is quite lumpy, too – and not in a good way.