Quaker Oats So Simple Original > Reviews (32)

Breakfast – funny old thing, innit? I mean “break – fast” – allegedly a meal to break the fast of having been asleep (i.e. not eating!) for about eight hours. Hmmm, doesn’t really follow in my case as I rarely eat anything before about midday no matter what time I wake up and even then it’s not normally something traditionally thought of as breakfast food such as cereals, toast, etc. Anyway, I digress, on to the subject in hand.

Why the breakfast musings? Well, I’ve just been converted to something that is probably considered by most people to be a breakfast choice but, as ever, I eat it whenever I feel like it – that usually being afternoon/evenings! What is this new eating pleasure? Quaker Oatso Simple, that’s what.

This particular product has probably been available for about a year or two now but this was the first time I’d been tempted to try it while doing my online Tesco shopping. There was I perusing the current special offers before I sent off my order when one for Oatso

Simple caught my eye. The 269g variety pack containing seven sachets (3 different flavours) was on offer for 99p from the usual price of £1.54 so I thought I’d give it a go and duly ordered one pack.

A couple of days later when my order was due TescoMan (no relation to Superman) delivered my groceries to me and it was only then when I found the pack in my shopping that I remembered ordering it. I decided I would give it a first trial as my afternoon snack once I’d finished putting the rest of the shopping away.

Right, let me give you the details before I deliver my verdict! As I said this was the variety pack which contained 3 sachets of Golden Syrup flavour, 2 sachets of Baked Apple and 2 sachets of Berry Burst flavour. I won’t describe the packaging in great detail as I think that’s unnecessary suffice to say it comes in a colourful cardboard box with a porridge illustration. What a surprise. Each sachet is intended for one serving containing about 38g. Now I think the chief idea that this is “Oatso Simple” is that not only does each sachet contain the correct pre-measured amount for a serving it is also made in the microwave so only takes 2-3 minutes to rustle up a tasty hot breakfast (or snack, as in my case). Obviously the chief ingredients for all flavours are rolled oats and sugar, as well as flavourings, and in the case of the fruity flavours there is also a fair measure of freeze-dried fruit and spices added too.

All varieties are prepared in the same way – you add 180ml of skimmed or semi-skimmed milk, stir through to mix and then microwave it on a high setting for 2-3 minutes depending on the power of your microwave oven. When you take it out give it another thorough stir then leave it to stand for about a minute to thicken and settle – then eat it!

I decided to try the Baked Apple flavour first as that appealed to me most and duly followed the preparation instructions as detailed in the last paragraph. So there I was with my little bowl of appley, oaty stuff which smelt gorgeous and steamed temptingly, although it didn’t strike me as a very generous helping when made up but that might just be down to me being greedy!

Well, I made myself a nice mug of tea and sat down to have my afternoon snack. Mmmm, it tasted as good as it smelt I must say but it was over so quickly! There was evidence of the apple bits and it had a nice firm but glutenous texture and wasn’t too hot to eat straight away. I had sprinkled a little sugar over the top first as I have a very sweet tooth but not everyone will need to – it was sweet but not sickly. A very pleasant, apple-tainted porridge basically.

The following day I tested the Golden Syrup variety which was obviously somewhat sweeter given the syrup flavour and didn’t really need an extra sprinkling of sugar. This one is obviously the closest to “normal” porridge so may appeal more to the breakfast traditionalists!

Finally it was the turn of Berry Burst to undergo the taste test. This is the one I liked least. It did smell and taste (mildly) of berry fruits but I didn’t enjoy the actual bits of fruit in it as I found them a bit too small, bitty and hard compared to the porridge base. Again I added some extra sugar and I’d say this was the least sweet of all three flavours so needed it the most, for me anyway.

All varieties contain approximately 230 calories when made up as instructed (but that doesn’t include the extra sugar I sprinkled on top!) and apparently, according to the box, oats are rich in soluble fibre which helps maintain a healthy heart if you stick to eating low fat foods. Each serving contains 5.2g of fat which means nothing to me but the Weight Watchers among you will be able to compute that!

Well, on the box this is billed as being “tasty, healthy and satisfying but very simple”. I couldn’t argue with any of that bar maybe the “satisfying” part. I feel that if you really were having this for breakfast in the hope that it’ll see you through to lunchtime and you’re an active person then I don’t think each serving would be enough for you. Even for me as a snack during a not very active normal day I didn’t feel particularly full or satisfied afterwards although it was certainly very tasty and would make great comfort food for its heat and stodginess. If I was facing a long, active day I think I would be inclined to use two sachets at once to make a larger serving.

If you try this variety pack and like it then all flavours can be bought in individual packs containing 8 sachets as well as the Original (no flavourings) variety which contains 10 sachets. Very handy as I think I would most likely buy some again but be inclined to skip the Berry variety and buy a pack of Golden Syrup and/or Baked Apple instead – but at least I’ve tried them all and I know now!