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3 Easy Oatmeal Substitute Ideas for Your Next Breakfast

2 min read
Three breakfast bowls of chia pudding, quinoa, and brown rice as oatmeal substitutes
If you’re trying to start your day on a healthy note, eating a bowl of oatmeal in the morning is a great place to begin. But if you’re someone who doesn’t eat oatmeal, you might want to find an oatmeal substitute that still provides excellent nutritional benefits. Whether you don’t enjoy the taste of oatmeal or you’re cutting it out for dietary reasons, there is likely at least one oatmeal substitute that you’ll enjoy. In this post, we’ll discuss several oatmeal substitute options, including chia seeds, quinoa, and brown rice. Read on to find your new favorite breakfast.

Chia seeds

Chia seeds are commonly added to overnight oats, porridge, or yogurt since they’re rich in fiber, calcium, protein, and other beneficial nutrients. However, you can also eat chia seeds without oatmeal. Preparing chia seeds for breakfast is very similar to prepping overnight oats. Before you go to bed, place your chia seeds in a bowl with a liquid of your choice (almond milk is a popular choice). In the morning, heat up your chia seeds in a saucepan and add your favorite toppings for flavor and crunch. 

Quinoa

You might not consider quinoa as a breakfast food, but it’s actually a tasty and popular oatmeal substitute in many people’s diets. Quinoa is naturally gluten-free, but it does contain carbohydrates, so you shouldn’t treat it as a no-carb swap for oatmeal. To make quinoa as an oatmeal substitute, first, rinse the quinoa. From there, place your quinoa in a saucepan and toast it until it begins to darken (you might hear it popping during this process - that’s normal). Add milk or another liquid of your choice, along with your favorite spices and seasonings.  Let it cook for about 15 minutes before removing it from the heat and mixing everything together with a fork. Finally, you’ll add all of the same great toppings that you’d normally put on oatmeal, like berries, nuts, and spices.

Brown rice

Brown rice is another food that you might not have considered for breakfast, but it’s an excellent oatmeal substitute (like quinoa). In fact, brown rice and oatmeal are similar in many ways. Both are whole-grain foods with B vitamins and essential minerals like iron and magnesium. You can make brown rice in a number of ways, using the microwave, stovetop, or a rice cooker. If you’re preparing brown rice as an oatmeal substitute, you can make it with the same ingredients that you would use to make oats. Almond milk, maple syrup, apples, berries, butter, and cinnamon are all delicious accompaniments to brown rice in the morning. Alternatively, you could make savory brown rice with eggs, bacon, veggies, and cheese if you don’t have much of a sweet tooth. Chia seeds, quinoa, and brown rice are just three oatmeal substitute options. You could also consider barley, millet, or wheat berries, all of which have certain advantages and disadvantages over oatmeal. With any of these alternatives, you never have to feel like you’re missing out on breakfast just because you don’t eat oatmeal. For more recipe tips and tricks, visit the Tastessence blog. 

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