This low carb oatmeal recipe is one of my FAVORITE breakfasts, no matter the weather!
Warm and comforting, oatmeal is perfect as an alternative to low carb cereal. Made with chia seeds, coconut, and flax seeds, it’s an incredibly healthy breakfast that’ll give you an amazing start to your day!
Even though it only takes 15 minutes, this is one of those low carb recipes that’s absolutely hearty and filling. Topped with your favorite fruits, nuts or shredded coconut, it’s one of those healthy recipes you can dress up a billion ways and never get tired of it!
You’re going to LOVE this creamy low carb oatmeal recipe!
What I Love About This Low Carb Oatmeal Recipe
This low carb oatmeal recipe is the homiest of breakfast recipes! It’s a classic for many reasons:
- It’s easy to customize with toppings and seasonings
- It only takes 15 minutes
- It’s super nutritious
- It’s beautifully creamy and cozy!
Recipe Notes
This low carb oatmeal recipe is extremely easy to make, which is great for those early, tiring mornings. You just need to throw everything in the pot, and it’ll come together in a snap!
Ingredient Notes
The swaps in this low carb oatmeal recipe make a big difference. There’s a ton of carbs in oatmeal, at least the traditional kind — 27 grams of carbs per cooked cup to be exact, and only 4 grams of fiber! On the other hand, this recipe has only 3 grams of net carbs!
Here are the ingredients I use:
Low Carb Milk – I like to use unsweetened almond milk, but any low carb milk of your choice will do: soy, flax, coconut, cashew. Whatever you please!
Protein Powder – I like to add protein to my oatmeal because it helps keep me full. It’s very important to use a flavor you like, though! Make sure you taste the protein powder first before adding it to the mix.
If protein powder isn’t your thing, you’re welcome to leave it out. Just add a bit of your favorite keto sweetener instead. Erythritol is always my choice of sweetener!
Spices – The cinnamon will give you the cozy yet spicy taste. I also like to add nutmeg, but that’s optional.
Chia Seeds – Chia seeds are a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, and protein! They’re crucial to achieving the oatmeal consistency. When cooked, they’ll swell like in chia seed pudding!
Coconut – I like to use unsweetened shredded coconuts. They’re high in fat, fiber, manganese, and copper—great for your heart and digestive health!
Toppings – There’s room to mix and match other ingredients as needed, especially when it comes to toppings! Here are a few of my faves:
- Keto fruits – Strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries all taste refreshing on hot oatmeal!
- Chopped nuts – Pecans, almonds, walnuts, and hazelnuts are marvelous choices.
- Low carb peanut butter or almond butter
- Sugar-free syrups
- Cocoa powder
- Extracts – Vanilla, pumpkin, or maple extract all give a boost of extraordinary flavor!
Tools To Make
There’s nothing crazy needed for my low carb oatmeal recipe:
- Small saucepan
- Spoon or whisk
Storing Tips
Low carb oatmeal recipe tastes best fresh, but it won’t hurt to refrigerate any leftovers. Stick them in a plastic container or cover your leftovers with saran wrap.
Can You Freeze This?
Surprisingly, you can freeze cooked oatmeal!
After letting it cool, put it in a resealable bag or freezer-safe container. Label and freeze! Reheat it in the microwave, and add any fruits or nuts right before serving to sweeten the meal!
You can also freeze oatmeal in the shape of muffins for easy serving sizes! Pour oatmeal into a muffin tin and cover it with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Once it’s completely frozen, pop it out of the tin and put the muffin-sized chunks into a resealable bag.
Meal Prepping Tips
Cutting down on the amount of time it takes to make breakfast is a wonderful way to get more sleep! For a quick and fresh low carb breakfast, there are two ways to meal prep oatmeal without freezing:
- Overnight oats – Combine all the ingredients in a container in the fridge overnight. Simply heat the oatmeal on the stove the next morning!
- Make a week’s worth at once – Put all the dry ingredients together in separate baggies. Then, in the mornings, just heat it over the stove with the milk!
Recipe Variations
Low carb oatmeal is always exciting because there’s so much potential for variety in toppings! In addition to the toppings, here are some ways you might consider altering this recipe:
Can I Turn This Into Granola?
For a spectacularly crunchy snack, there’s no way you can go wrong with granola. Toss it into your yogurt or eat it as a cereal for a quick breakfast!
To turn low carb oatmeal into low carb granola, you need more nuts and seeds (minus the milk obviously)! Pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, pecans, almonds, and more!
I have several different granola recipes, so you have plenty of options including a peanut butter grain free granola!
Can I Add Chocolate?
There’s nothing like a little chocolate to sweeten your mornings! Add some cocoa powder to the mix to give your oatmeal a lovely twist or use chocolate flavored protein powder!
You can also add small chunks of sugar free chocolate or low carb chocolate granola as a topping.
Can I Adjust The Consistency Of This Cereal (Cream Of Wheat / Puffs)?
Looking for a creamy low carb cereal? Easy peasy my friends. Once those chia seeds have expanded, simply blend the ingredients together (a stick or standing blender will do). This will break down the “crunch” and give you a cream of wheat type cereal.
For a bigger “grain”, simply add some roughly chopped nuts (almond, pecans, and walnuts are great!).
OR! For the crunchies of low carb cereals, take a trip down memory lane and check out my low carb cocoa puffs! (Made with just 4 ingredients and suuuper high in protein!)
Low Carb Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Low Carb Milk I used unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 Scoop Protein Powder vanilla
- 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg optional
- 1 Tablespoon Flaxseed ground
- 1 Tablespoon Chia Seeds whole
- 1 Tablespoons Coconut unsweetened, shredded
Instructions
- Add milk, protein powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg to a small saucepan and whisk to combine.
- Add the flaxseed, chia seeds and shredded coconut, stir to combine.
- Bring your oatmeal to a gentle simmer, and continue cooking until the oatmeal has reached your desired consistency (I usually cook it for about 10 minutes).
- Serve warm, with toppings (ideas below!) and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Conclusion
This low carb oatmeal recipe is SO comforting and delicious! There’s no way to go wrong!
Let me know what you think in the comments below! What kind of toppings have you tried? Did you use protein powder?
Leo
Great recipe! It looks yummy and I can’t wait to try it. You list the total carbs at 12g. What is the fiber and net carb counts?
Lindsey
Thank you Leo!😊😊😊 You can check out the “NUTRITION” just below the INSTRUCTIONS & NOTES section. By the way, fiber is 9g. 12g(total carb)-9g(fiber)=3g(Net carb). Hope you Enjoy!😁
Susie Ford
It was super thick and satisfying and a lager amount then I expected. I misread the directions..oops..and added a full scoop of Bob’s Red Mill Whey Protein and had to add to daily food log. Also I know vanilla flavored would have been b tastier. I also added Bragg nutritional yeast for extra B’s.
I have a hard time keeping my hunger under wraps and I eat a lot of eggs because they work best for me but I really miss warm breakfasts in the winter. Fingers crossed this keeps me satiated. I will use again!!! Thanks, Lindsey!
Lindsey
You’re welcome, Susie ! 🙂 So happy you enjoyed it! 🤜🤛
Pat
WOuld it be okay to skip protein powder? I have lots of protein from meat and normally would skip this kind of powder. THAnks!
Pat
Sorry, just found note from the above that the powder can be skipped!
Lindsey
Hope you Enjoy Pat! 😊😊😊
Toshiko
Wonderful! Yummy! It reminds me a little bit of cream of wheat cereal, but the coconut flakes added a little oatmeal-like chew. I added a rounded tablespoon of protein powder. My protein powder isn’t sweetened so I added a tesp of erythritol. and it isn’t flavored so I added a 1/8 tesp vanilla. I halved the cinnamon and it was good. Only real change was that I needed to add a dash of salt. Thanks very much! I missed oatmeal a lot…
Lindsey
SO glad you enjoyed Toshiko!! 🙂 You’re welcome 🙂