Adventures in Protein Porridge

More breakfast experimentations! This time it’s protein porridge. No, hang on, stay with me… I had my reservations at first as well but it’s well worth a try. When I first got introduced to protein powders I struggled to see how you would use them if it wasn’t in a shake. Little by little I’ve experimented with adding it to smoothies, cakes and porridge, and one day I might be brave enough to add it to savoury things. You do need to take a little care when making porridge with protein powders but it isn’t difficult and only takes a few minutes more.

Thank you to Anna Sward via MyProtein for giving me the confidence and guidelines for trying this out... Check out the original recipe and method here. I found the portion size of the original recipe a bit much so I make up my porridge to my normal recipe (1/3rd cup oats to 1 cup liquid) and use a single scoop of powder (about 25g) plus any extras. The trick is to make your porridge up to be slightly thicker than normal, let it cool a little then stir in the protein powder plus a little extra milk. This stops the whey from curdling and the porridge from becoming too thin. The original recipe is for apple pie flavour but I don’t have vanilla whey so I decided to try some different flavour combos.

(L) Butterscotch swirl whey with spiced, poached pears (R) Plain whey, vanilla, cinnamon, sultanas and apple

• Rhubarb and Custard with chopped apple
• Butterscotch Ripple with pear and cinnamon
• Plain whey with vanilla extract, cinnamon, sultanas and apple
• Jaffa Cake with chocolate chips
• Cherry Bakewell with chocolate chips
• Cherry Bakewell with frozen cherries

(L) Cherry Bakewell whey with dark choc chips (R) Jaffa cake whey with choc-orange chips 

All of these tasted delicious and although the consistency of the porridge is slightly different with the addition of whey, I still enjoy it. Porridge tends to be quite satisfying anyway but adding the protein gives it an extra boost without piling on masses of extra calories or being heavy. It’s good for me as someone who’s constantly trying to make sure I get enough protein in my diet and is trying to avoid snacking too much. With all the different flavours of whey around these days you can get really creative. I hope this has given you a few ideas and maybe the inclination to try something a little different.