Want to make your oatmeal even healthier? I’ve got you covered with 5 delicious and easy ways to boost the protein content of oatmeal so that it will keep you full until lunch.
Everyone is crazy about oatmeal recipes! I guess I’m rubbing off on you… 😉 I wanted to dedicate a full post to protein oatmeal because if oatmeal has one fault, it’s that it typically isn’t very high in protein! For those of you that think oatmeal isn’t very filling or you’re hungry 1 hour after eating it, all you need to do is add some protein and healthy fat.
Once those are in the mix, you’ll have a healthy, balanced breakfast – AKA a bowl of oats will keep you full and satisfied all morning long!
How to Make High Protein Oatmeal
As I’m sure you know, oatmeal on its own isn’t very high in protein so I have a few go-to ingredients that I add in to up the protein level. I’ll cover each in more detail below but here’s a quick run-down:
Protein powder
Cottage cheese
Greek yogurt
Eggs or egg whites
Milk
Nuts and seeds
Nut butter
Protein Powder in Oatmeal
I know adding protein powder to oatmeal might seem like something only body builders or athletes do, but I have been adding protein powder to my oatmeal and I love it!. It adds a ton of protein, is super simple to add and can add a fun flavor to the oatmeal as well. This chocolate peanut butter protein oatmeal gets its chocolate flavor from the protein powder. Double win! Protein powder works great in pretty much any kind of oatmeal – mix it into overnight oats or to stovetop oatmeal. 1 scoop of protein powder has about 15-20 grams of protein.
Protein powder is also a great option if you’re vegan or avoid eggs or dairy, considering a lot of the easy protein options (like yogurt and eggs) won’t work for you. Wondering which protein powder to use? Check out this post where I share all my favorite plant-based protein powder brands.
Add oats, banana slices and sea salt to a pot. Add water and stir to combine. Add cinnamon and vanilla, if using. Heat over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Be sure to stir the oats several times while cooking to make sure the banana slices melt into the oats. You’ll know the oatmeal is done when all the liquid is absorbed and the oats are thick and fluffy.
Remove oats from the heat and stir in protein powder. If the consistency of the oats gets too thick, add in a little more water or milk. Transfer oats to a bowl and top with your favorite oatmeal toppings. I used chocolate chips, peanut butter and bananas.
Category:Breakfast
Method:Stovetop
Cuisine:American
Nutrition
Serving Size:1 bowl
Calories:325
Sugar:11g
Sodium:206mg
Fat:5g
Carbohydrates:49g
Fiber:9g
Protein:26g
Keywords: protein powder oatmeal
There Are so Many Ways to Add Protein to Oatmeal
Cottage Cheese Oatmeal
I feel like people are either in the “I love cottage cheese” camp or the “I despise cottage cheese” camp… Before you jump to any conclusions about cottage cheese, hear me out. You won’t taste the cottage cheese in oatmeal! It makes oatmeal so much creamier (win) and ups the protein content (win)! 1 cup of cottage cheese has 25g of protein.
Granted, you probably aren’t going to mix in a whole cup but still! So much protein. Again, you can mix cottage cheese into any kind of oatmeal. I will say that if you’re not a big cottage cheese fan because of the texture, you’ll want to mix it into warm oatmeal so the “chunks” (for lack of better word) break down and mix in.
I love adding egg whites to my oatmeal! I’ve found it works best to add in egg whites to stovetop oatmeal while you’re cooking. The key is to avoid scrambling the egg whites. To do this, you simply have to continuously stir/whisk the egg whites while you’re adding them to the saucepan and as they cook. Trust me on this… one time I got distracted and ended up with a bowl of oatmeal with scrambled egg white chunks. Not so appetizing.
Obviously this method of making high protein oatmeal only works for oats that you’re cooking – please don’t add raw egg whites to overnight oats! 1 cup of egg whites has about 26 g of protein. Again, you won’t be adding in 1 cup of egg whites but they pack a punch! Try this protein pumpkin oatmeal with egg whites whipped in or try my egg and oat combo bowl with egg whites scrambled on the side.
Similar to cottage cheese, you can mix in Greek yogurt to your oatmeal to increase the protein (and probiotics!). I typically reach for full fat and plain just because the flavored kind can have a lot of added sugar. Greek yogurt works great in any kind of oatmeal – cold or hot!
1 personal container of Greek yogurt (about 5 ounces) has 17 grams of protein… that’s as much as a scoop of protein powder! I love using Greek yogurt in overnight oats like this banana bread overnight oats.
Adding nut and seed butter is another great way to increase the protein in oatmeal. You can mix it right into the oats or drizzle on top for added flavor. 2 tablespoons of peanut butter has 8g of protein, 2 tablespoons of almond butter has about 7 g of protein and 2 tablespoons of sunbutter (sunflower seed butter) has about 6g of protein. Try my 3-minute peanut butter protein oatmeal or my peanut butter cup overnight oats.
Other Ways to add Protein to Oatmeal
Use milk instead of water or almond milk to cook the oats. Most non-diary milks don’t have that much protein, but 1 cup of soy milk has about 8 grams and 1 cup of skim milk has 8 grams as well.
Top oats with high-protein toppings like hemp seeds, chia seeds and flaxseed.
i was just scrolling through oatmeal recipes when i found this one. it sounded so good so i had to try it! i substituted the water with unsweetened almond milk and it was so good. thanks so much for this recipe!!
I’m not an Oatmeal fan. (don’t like the smell) But I tried this, because today was cold and I didn’t want a cols smoothie after CrossFit. I used cappuccino flavored Protein Powder. I used coffee as the liquid added chia seeds and ground flax just as I would in my smoothie. I was impressed. I added the 1/2 banana and some Lilly’s dark chips. Yum! I’m so glad I stumbled on to your site.
I’m so glad you stumbled upon my site too! And so pumped you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for giving it a try and for coming back to leave a comment + star rating, Becky. I so appreciate it. <3
A serving size of the protein powder I typically use is two scoops. Should I still only use 1/2 a scoop of protein powder for this recipe or was it your intention that I use half a serving (in my case, 1 scoop) of protein powder? Thanks!
Hi Leah! You could do either, but I’d start with 1/2 scoop and then add more if you want more! I recommended doing 1/2 scoop because sometimes too much protein powder can make the oatmeal tacky or dry. Hope this helps!
Do you think using steel cut oats would change anything? Also…if adding the protein powder or cottage cheese or yogurt, could these be made the night before and kept refrigerated?
Hey Donna – I’d use this recipe for my steel cut oats and you can add protein powder or cottage cheese or whatever protein you prefer. If adding protein powder, you might need to add in some more liquid.
The protein powder oatmeal was the first oatmeal recipe I ever used (I used to make an omelet every single morning) and now I make oatmeal even more than omelets! Like it is literally one of my favorite foods ever; I always add a tbsp of brown sugar & top it with peanut butter, a spoonful of vanilla yogurt, banana slices, and berries. Like this is the perfect oatmeal recipe, I cannot stress it enough!
Ahh that makes me so happy to hear, Ashley!! So glad you’re a fan of the protein powder oatmeal. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment + star rating. I so appreciate it. <3
OMG, thank you. I tried a few recipes for oatmeal as I don’t like the taste of it only cooking with water. This one is by far the best. I added a bit of granola on top too.
Ahh that makes me so happy to hear, Amanda!! I’m so glad you enjoyed this oatmeal. Thanks for giving my recipe a try and for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. I so appreciate it. <3
Hi!
Had a couple of questions:
1. If you put the protein powder in while the oatmeal is cooking (stove top) does that change the properties/effectiveness of the protein? (I’m not a huge fan of the flavor of protein powder)
2. When using greek yogurt, could you add it in while its cooking on the stove top? Or is it best to add on as a topper?
Hey Joana – No, adding the protein powder to the oatmeal while cooking shouldn’t change anything about the protein powder. You can add the Greek yogurt in while it’s still cooking on the stove top, I just prefer to mix it in once I remove the oats from the burner.
Protein powder oatmeal-
Delicious!! Add the vanilla after cooking. Adds more flavor. Vanilla flavoring is easily cooked off. Great way to get more protein!
Thanks for sharing!!
Leave a Comment
i was just scrolling through oatmeal recipes when i found this one. it sounded so good so i had to try it! i substituted the water with unsweetened almond milk and it was so good. thanks so much for this recipe!!
★★★★★
This was so tasty! I usually can’t eat just oatmeal because I am hungry an hour later. Hopefully the protein powder does the trick!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed the protein powder oat combo! Thanks for giving it a try and for the review. 🙂
I’m not an Oatmeal fan. (don’t like the smell) But I tried this, because today was cold and I didn’t want a cols smoothie after CrossFit. I used cappuccino flavored Protein Powder. I used coffee as the liquid added chia seeds and ground flax just as I would in my smoothie. I was impressed. I added the 1/2 banana and some Lilly’s dark chips. Yum! I’m so glad I stumbled on to your site.
★★★★★
I’m so glad you stumbled upon my site too! And so pumped you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for giving it a try and for coming back to leave a comment + star rating, Becky. I so appreciate it. <3
A serving size of the protein powder I typically use is two scoops. Should I still only use 1/2 a scoop of protein powder for this recipe or was it your intention that I use half a serving (in my case, 1 scoop) of protein powder? Thanks!
Hi Leah! You could do either, but I’d start with 1/2 scoop and then add more if you want more! I recommended doing 1/2 scoop because sometimes too much protein powder can make the oatmeal tacky or dry. Hope this helps!
Do you think using steel cut oats would change anything? Also…if adding the protein powder or cottage cheese or yogurt, could these be made the night before and kept refrigerated?
★★★★★
Hey Donna – I’d use this recipe for my steel cut oats and you can add protein powder or cottage cheese or whatever protein you prefer. If adding protein powder, you might need to add in some more liquid.
The protein powder oatmeal was the first oatmeal recipe I ever used (I used to make an omelet every single morning) and now I make oatmeal even more than omelets! Like it is literally one of my favorite foods ever; I always add a tbsp of brown sugar & top it with peanut butter, a spoonful of vanilla yogurt, banana slices, and berries. Like this is the perfect oatmeal recipe, I cannot stress it enough!
★★★★★
Ahh that makes me so happy to hear, Ashley!! So glad you’re a fan of the protein powder oatmeal. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment + star rating. I so appreciate it. <3
OMG, thank you. I tried a few recipes for oatmeal as I don’t like the taste of it only cooking with water. This one is by far the best. I added a bit of granola on top too.
★★★★★
Ahh that makes me so happy to hear, Amanda!! I’m so glad you enjoyed this oatmeal. Thanks for giving my recipe a try and for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. I so appreciate it. <3
Hi!
Had a couple of questions:
1. If you put the protein powder in while the oatmeal is cooking (stove top) does that change the properties/effectiveness of the protein? (I’m not a huge fan of the flavor of protein powder)
2. When using greek yogurt, could you add it in while its cooking on the stove top? Or is it best to add on as a topper?
Thanks!
★★★★
Hey Joana – No, adding the protein powder to the oatmeal while cooking shouldn’t change anything about the protein powder. You can add the Greek yogurt in while it’s still cooking on the stove top, I just prefer to mix it in once I remove the oats from the burner.
I just found this site. I already found four new recipes to try. Ty!
★★★★★
Ahh I’m so glad you found me and found some new recipes to try! Definitely come back and let me know how they turn out for you.
Protein powder oatmeal-
Delicious!! Add the vanilla after cooking. Adds more flavor. Vanilla flavoring is easily cooked off. Great way to get more protein!
Thanks for sharing!!
★★★★★
Yay!! So glad you enjoyed the protein powder oatmeal, Sara. Thanks for coming back to leave a comment and star rating. It means the world to me. 🙂
It’s delicious! What about adding some fruits in?
★★★★★
This is exactly what I need!
★★★★★
Nice one!
★★★★★
Great recipe!
So delicious!
Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★