3 healthy hot cereal brands and recipes - Cool Mom Picks (2024)

Everyone’s always talking about how hard it is to get a good dinner on the table, but I find that breakfast is way morehectic, with less time and no delivery options! There’s always cereal, but unfortunately most cold cereals completely lack what we need to start the day off right. There’s oatmeal too—these oatmeal recipes savedme last winter—but I still need more. These tasty, quick-cook hot cereal brands and recipes are the answer.

Purely Elizabeth Ancient Grain Hot Cereals

Purely Elizabeth has been around for a little while but I just wasn’t so into their products when they first came on the scene. However Ms. Purely Elizabeth and her team have been making serious improvements since I last sampled them. I just tried the latest line of granolas and hot cereal and I admit, I am now hooked.

All Purely Elizabeth cereals are certified gluten-free, vegan, and made without refined sugar; the four hot cereals are organic, too. My boys agree with me that they’re also incredibly delicious. Most take a while to cook—these are real grains, mamas—but the original cooks up in just twominutes. Oh, and the original: a lifesaver. While otherquick-cook cereals can beskimpy on nutrients, this stuff has seven grams of protein, five grams of fiber, and a healthy dose of omega-3’s. Skimpy does not apply here.

I’ve been keeping this hot cereal simple and preparing it the same way that I make the Coconut Chai Oatmeal recipefrom my site. What willyou make with it?

Visit the Purely Elizabeth website to purchase their hot cereals and other products.

Bob’s Red Mill 10 Grain Hot Cereal

I’m a longtime fan of Bob’s Red Mill. In a time when supermarket shelves are jammed with fancy packaging, there’s just something comforting about the simplicity of a Bob’s Red Mill bag of grain with not much more on it than Bob’s illustrated face. Even in Brooklyn, buying and cooking with the brand’sproducts makes me feel like I’m in the country. But I digress: the real point is the high quality of Bob’s products.(And, yes, there’s a real Bob.)

My favorite product from Bob’s is the 10 Grain Hot Cereal. Packed with wheat, corn, oats, millet, barley, flaxseed and more, this stuff is like fuel! I feel like a powerhouse when I’m done eating this for breakfast. It takes a little longer than instant, but not more than 10-12 minutes and it’s so worth it.

This 10-grain cereal can be topped just like oatmeal, with anything from yogurt to nuts to dried fruit. I’m thinking of using some to make this Hot Cereal recipe from Design Love Fest.

You can find where to buy Bob’s Red Mill products at a store near you or buy them online through the Bob’s Red Mill website.

NurturMe Quinoa Cereal

I am a big advocate ofthis cereal for families with a beginner eater in the house. An alternative to rice cereal, this organic infant cereal, which also comes in Apple Quinoa, is made without salt, sugar, or preservatives.

But it’s a baby cereal! I know, I know–however if you’re willing to eat cornmeal porridge or Cream of Wheat, this is really no different. NurturMe cereal makes a super smooth hot cereal that’s just as good for you as it is for baby. If you’re not sold on it for yourself or older siblings, you can always just mix itinto regular oatmeal as a proteinboost.

I have to say that, like rice cereal, when quinoais processed enough to make instant cereal,it’s also stripped of some of its nutrition. If you are willing to grind whole quinoa to make homemade cereal (you can refer tothis handy guide to homemade baby cereals on the Little City Kitchen Co. blog), go for it! Otherwise, keep NurturMe Quinoa Cereal on hand for a quick fix.

Either way, you can whip up this delicious Quinoa Banana Mash from Weelicious. (Make it moregrown up by mixing in extra yogurt, honey, and nuts.)

You can find where to buy NurturMe products at a store near you or buy them online through the NurturMe website.

For more quick morning eats, check out our easy breakfast recipes using perfectly hard boiled eggs. (Yes, we teach you how to hard boil to perfection.)