HAVE you been eating your morning oats?
It’s a perfect winter-warmer brekkie packed full of vitamins and essential minerals.
In the famous children’s story, Goldilocks tries three different bowls of porridge and prefers the one that tastes “just right”.
But when it comes to this value cereal, which supermarket boxes cause a real stir?
To find out, Laura Stott tucked into a selection, and here she gives her verdict.
Harvest Morn Original Oats – 270g (10 x 27g), 95p, Aldi
ALDI’S Original Oats are great value at less than £1, and given they contain 100 per cent pure oat flakes, you know you are getting a great source of fibre to start your day.
These portions are very simple to make and I liked the fact they come in individual sachets, which are ideal if you are in a hurry in the morning or if you struggle to judge the proportions correctly when stirring oats in a pan.
With these sachets, you just add milk as per the instructions and microwave them or put them on the hob for two minutes.
I found it easier to get a good consistency cooking on the hob, because in the microwave they seemed to boil over easily, resulting in a few lumps and some over-the-side spillage.
These oats were a touch bland but a good-value option.
Rating: 5/5
Original Porridge Oats 270g (10 x 27g), £1.35, Sainsbury’s
I FOUND this option from Sainsbury’s quick and easy to prepare – and you get a tasty, creamy bowl of porridge with minimal fuss.
Simple to cook in the microwave by adding milk and then warming, it delivers very nice results.
A spoonful of this has quite a thick texture so, if you prefer your porridge a little looser, it can be easily achieved by adding a touch of extra liquid before heating the mixture for two-and-a-half minutes.
Each sachet contains nothing but rolled whole oats, so the finished product is a touch on the plain side, but would taste great with some nuts on top for additional protein, or with a drizzle of honey or syrup for a touch more sweetness.
A good value and no-nonsense healthy addition to your cereal cupboard.
Rating: 4/5
Fuel Porridge Sachets – 360g (10 x 36g), £3, Tesco
RATHER a pricey porridge for what you get.
These oats are apparently protein boosted and, as a result, in this box there are rather a lot of ingredients.
As well as being wholegrain rolled oats (78 per cent), they already have added sugar, as well as a soya protein isolate (6 per cent), sea salt and a golden syrup flavouring.
You just add milk to one of the sachets and warm for two minutes in the microwave.
But be sure to check that the contents of the bowl don’t boil over as you cook them.
Some may prefer pre-sweetened oats, but personally I’d rather add my own syrup or flavourings – then you can have it as sweet as you wish and save a bit of cash, too.
You get a good portion, though, and some consumers will find the protein boost beneficial.
Rating: 2/5
Traditional Whole Oat Porridge Sachets – 360g (10 x 36g), £2.75, M&S
YOU do pay a bit more for M&S sachets compared to other offerings, but the serving size is bigger – with almost 10g more in each pre-measured packet.
This makes them ideal if you are someone who likes a more substantial breakfast or who finds rival options a little lacking in volume.
Quite a different flavour and texture to many of the others as the oats are not the rolled version.
Instead, you get chunkier and chewy whole oats which have a nuttier texture and produce a more robust consistency in the bowl.
This does also make it a bit harder to cook them in the microwave as they need lots of stirring to prevent lumps.
If you have the time to stand over the hob, the end result is a very healthy-tasting, old-fashioned porridge that will set you up for the day.
But if speed is your priority, this is probably not the porridge for you.
Rating: 3/5
Original Porridge Sachets – 270g (10 x 27g), £1.37, Asda
ASDA’S plain and simple porridge is a straightforward packet of 100 per cent wholegrain oat flakes – and at £1.37 for ten brekkie bowls, it’s a very cost- efficient morning meal, too.
I liked the packaging here, which was fun and colourful, so may make the product a bit more enticing if you are trying to get a decent breakfast into the kids to give them a good start to the school day.
The individual sachets are very convenient to cook in the microwave by adding semi-skimmed milk, but while the mixture had a nice aroma while cooking, the suggested ratio of liquid to oats seemed a bit off and my first bowl ended up very watery.
When I tried again with a touch less milk, the result was better and tasted good, with a decent, creamy texture.
Nice with fruit or a dollop of jam on top.
Rating: 4/5
Crownfield Oh-so-easy Porridge Sachets – 270g (10 x 27g), 95p, Lidl
ANOTHER great-value option which will give you more than a week’s worth of warming brekkies without making too much of a dent in your wallet when you do the weekly shop.
The box says that these are oh- so-easy to make and, in this instance, it was true.
I found these portions straight- forward to heat up by following the instructions on the packet.
And after adding milk and micro- waving, the consistency was creamy and smooth with no lumps in sight – if you remember to give them a stir.
A spoonful of these would certainly keep Goldilocks happy, but if you prefer a touch of sweetness or even a sprinkle of salt, it’s easy to flavour them as you prefer.
Very convenient and tasty at an excellent price.
Lovely aroma, too.
Rating: 5/5
Easy Porridge Oats – 270g (10 x 27g), £1.35, Tesco
WITH Tesco’s easy oats, we have another straightforward way to start the day that tastes equally as good as more expensive brands, in my opinion.
Again, the convenient sachet portions mean this porridge is simple to make.
And while you do have to keep an eye on the bowl in the microwave once you’ve added the milk, don’t let it boil over and you’ll have a tasty breakfast with a smooth texture that holds together well on the spoon.
One small drawback was that a few oats had congealed around the packet sides.
But other than that I had no complaints, especially considering the cost.
If you want to make your bowl a bit more exciting, try adding some chopped banana.
Alternatively, throw a few fresh berries on top for a flavour boost.
Rating: 3/5
Original Porridge – 270g (10 x 27g), £1.35, Morrisons
THESE porridge sachets from Morrisons contain wholegrain oats like many of the others, but despite the oats being split into ideally-sized portions, I did find them a little trickier to prepare.
There’s no milk measure indicated, so if you don’t pour it in accurately, you don’t get the right consistency in the bowl.
This does make it fiddlier and more of a faff in the morning, especially if you are in a hurry and just want to microwave, munch and go.
If you get it right, with a cooking break halfway through to stir, then these taste just fine and will set you up nicely for a chilly morning.
However, compared to other sachet options, they were more time-consuming, taking a minute longer to make.
And I found them quite heavy on the tummy, too.
Rating: 2/5
