Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal: 4 Simple Ingredients

You can bring back the nostalgia using only 4 simple ingredients. This homemade strawberries and cream oatmeal makes for a delicious breakfast at a fraction of the cost of store bought, and in my opinion, a very close dupe. 

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Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal Forever!

Every morning before school I would eat two little packets of Quaker Strawberries and Cream Instant Oats while I watched Scooby-Doo on TBS. Ahh the memories. 

Growing up, my sisters and I likely kept Quaker in business gobbling up tons of instant oatmeal packs. 

My mom used to buy the variety packs of oatmeal, and we would fight over who got what flavor because #siblings. Strawberries and Cream IS the superior oatmeal flavor, and I will die on that hill. Second place goes to Peaches and Cream. Back in the dust that Strawberry Oats left behind is Maple Syrup and Brown Sugar and Apple Cinnamon oatmeal. And waaaay back on the starting line-because its gross and not part of the race, is Bananas and Cream. 

Now that we have established strawberries and cream as the best oatmeal, let us move on. 

Imagine my delight as a college student living on dreams and a microwave, when I found full boxes of JUST strawberries and cream instant oatmeal packets! That’s right, no other weird flavors to throw off my midnight sweet treat. The Lord does indeed love His children.

Fast forward about a decade to when I started to care about nutritional information and healthy recipes. I wanted something reminiscent of those little sugar-laden packets but better for my family and I. Thirty-something Lauren still loves a hot, creamy bowl of oatmeal. But now she cares also about how much things cost, nutrient density and avoiding inflammatory foods. 

And thus, I was on a quest to recreate the nostalgia of my 90s childhood but with healthier ingredients and at a more affordable price point.

The Best Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal Recipe

My priority was for this strawberry oatmeal to taste as much like the original Quaker packets as I could without compromising on ingredients.

I have looked far and wide through lots of oatmeal recipes. Many were focused on fresh and whole ingredients, which is nice, but I wanted a shelf-stable, busy weekday morning friendly recipes. I wanted nostalgia. And fresh strawberries will not work if you’re going for nostalgia.

I tried it but the fresh berries do not taste like creamy-strawberry-before-school-Scooby-goodness! You will need these two very important ingredients: 

Freeze dried strawberries and powdered milk.

I promise. The Freeze dried strawberries *chef’s kiss*. I buy mine but if you’re a fancy hippy, you can freeze-dry your own. 

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Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal Recipe

In a bowl, mix the following ingredients.

4 Cups quick oats

2/3 cup white sugar

1 cup of crushed freeze dried strawberries

1/2 cup of powdered milk

If you’re using Old Fashioned Oats, give them a whirl in a blender so they’re more like instant oats.

Crush the freeze dried strawberries in a zip-lock bag. I think the blender is too aggressive. The freeze dried strawberries will be a bit powdery, but you don’t want them too powdery, in my opinion.

-After you combine these well, transfer into an airtight container.

Cooking Instructions for 1 Cup of Mix

Bring 2 cups of water to boil. 

Whisk in the oat mixture and turn the heat down to a low simmer for about 5 minutes. Check the texture, if you want a softer texture add a bit more water and then cover for a couple more minutes.

If you find my water to mix ratio isn’t working for you, you can see what the package of the oats you used suggests.

Although this recipe contains powdered milk, I like to add just a little bit of fresh milk to my bowl.

Notes on Ingredients and Substitutions

• Oats: If you don’t have “quick cook oats” you can just give old-fashioned oats a whirl in the blender or food processor for a couple seconds. You could also use old fashioned oats but again, I was going for nostalgia here. I do not think you could use steel-cut oats for this recipe. I think the longer cooking time on steel cut oats would leave the freeze dried strawberries too mushy.
• Oats: I use the One Degree Oats because they’re sprouted and gluten-free. I linked a 5lb bag from Amazon, its a better price than our local Kroger but if you have a Costco membership they are cheaper there. 
• Freeze Dried Strawberries: I usually buy my freeze-dried strawberries from Sam’s Club or Aldi.I’ve tried making this with fresh strawberries and fresh milk, and its good…but it doesn’t taste like the nineties. The powdered milk and freeze-dried strawberries reminds me of eating my oatmeal while watching Scooby Doo and waiting for the school bus to arrive.
• A note on the powdered milk. My preference is a whole milk powder. If your family is sensitive to dairy, you could 1) leave the powdered milk out altogether 2) substitute for powdered coconut milk or powdered goats milk. 
• Allergies: The main advantage of this recipe is that its way more cost effective, has more fiber and less sugar than the pre-packaged stuff and you can tailor the ingredients to your liking. If organic is important to you, buy all organic. If feeding your family on a tight budget is important to you, then buy the cheapest ingredients you can find. Need a non-dairy milk? Sub almond milk, cashew milk or whatever type of milk you want. 
• And obviously, if you’re allergic to strawberries you could substitute another freeze-dried fruit. Again, peaches would be my second place winner, here. I have made an apple-cinnamon using Bare Dried Apples and cinnamon. Measure with your heart.

Buckle up for the best creamy oats with a tangy sweet strawberry flavor. 

Drop any questions in the comments!

-Lauren