This $1.95 ALDI Product Is a Game-Changer

Oatmeal has been one of my go-to breakfasts for over a decade. Recently, however, I’d started to get sick of it. Turns out, the solution to my oatmeal fatigue was to move away from my usual homemade varieties and go back to basics: flavored instant oatmeal.

Sometimes, you really can’t beat store-bought, but I wanted something a little different and more exciting—I’ve been making oatmeal for so long that I’ve tried almost every flavor imaginable. That's why I was excited to try ALDI’s Millville Fruit & Cream Instant Oatmeal.

ALDI Millville Fruit & Cream Instant Oatmeal

Price: $1.95 for a 10-packet box

Why I Love It: This instant oatmeal variety pack has saved me from breakfast fatigue with its four unique flavors. My favorite is the strawberries and cream, but it’s hard to go wrong with any of the fruity, creamy combinations.

Why I Love ALDI’s Fruit & Cream Instant Oatmeal

Each box of these variety packs contains 10 packets of instant oatmeal, divided among four flavors: strawberries and cream, peaches and cream, blueberries and cream, and bananas and cream. My favorite is the strawberries and cream, but there’s something in this pack for everyone.

The dehydrated strawberries and peaches come to life once prepared, pairing especially well with the creamy oatmeal. The blueberry oatmeal has a strong berry flavor, with the blueberries resembling dried fruit once the oatmeal is cooked. The banana oatmeal is the creamiest and butteriest of the bunch.

Even though, as the name implies, each flavor is a combination of fruit and cream, each flavor tastes unique because of the diversity of fruits. This contrasts how most other brands’ standard variety packs have repetitive autumnal flavors, like apples and cinnamon, in the same box as cinnamon and spice.

Tips for Enjoying ALDI’s Fruit & Cream Instant Oatmeal

To make the oatmeal, I either pour a packet into a bowl and add boiling water, mixing to cook through, or I add cold water to the dry oatmeal and microwave it for 30 to 60 seconds. Afterward, I dollop on plain Greek yogurt to cut through the sweetness and add a bit of protein. Another great way to make this oatmeal more filling is by mixing in a spoonful of peanut butter to the bananas and cream or strawberries and cream flavors to make a banana and peanut butter or PB&J flavor, respectively.

When I want a slightly less sweet breakfast, I’ll combine this instant oatmeal with plain quick oats. Or, to add extra oomph to these packets, I swap water for milk and top the oatmeal with the fresh fruit that corresponds to each flavor, like adding fresh blueberries to the blueberries and cream or fresh peach slices to the peaches and cream oatmeal. The fruitier, the better.

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