High-Protein Oatmeal Recipe for Camping

Ditch the instant pouches or the plain and boring oats. Add pizazz to your camping oatmeal with mashed bananas, zesty turmeric, chocolate protein powder, fresh blueberries, and more. This is the ultimate high-protein oatmeal recipe, perfect for campers!

I don’t know about you, but breakfast tends to be at the bottom of my priorities while camping. It’s usually the meal I plan the least for and want to do the least amount of cooking. In the end, I usually eat some fruit, a baked good, or instant oatmeal.

On one of my more recent camping trips to Stave Lake, I made this high-protein oatmeal recipe instead. After being inspired by the simplicity of instant oatmeal, I thought, why couldn’t we step it up a level?

A friend of mine makes this vegan high-protein oatmeal nearly every day, and I asked him to share the recipe with me. It turned out to be the ideal camping breakfast…fast, healthy, and delicious!

High Protein Oatmeal Ingredients

A lot is going inside this oatmeal recipe. Every ingredient is designed to help you start the day off right, whether you’ve planned a hike or a lazy day by the beach.

• Banana: yes, there’s a whole banana in this! Mashed, it hides amongst the oatmeal well to give it sweetness and moisture.
• Oats: rolled or steel-cut oats work best for making oatmeal. Oats are packed full of fibre to get your morning kick-started ?
• Soy milk: soy milk tends to have the most protein out of dairy alternatives. You can substitute it for other non-dairy or dairy milk of choice or even water.
• Turmeric: inside turmeric is curcumin, which is known to have anti-inflammatory properties and is a powerful antioxidant. Add it to your oatmeal to absorb these benefits with your morning breakfast!
• Ground black pepper: like turmeric, black pepper has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Add it to your oatmeal for a morning boost.
• Flaxseed meal: this is great for digestive health and adds extra fibre to the meal.
• Chocolate protein powder: this is what makes this oatmeal so high in protein. Oatmeal with protein powder may not be for everyone. If you don’t like the taste of protein powder, you can substitute it for cocoa powder. The oatmeal will still be incredibly healthy and tasty!
• Peanut butter: more protein! You can also substitute peanut butter for your nut butter of choice.
• Blueberries: I always add fruit to my oatmeal to break up the taste and texture of oatmeal. My go-to is blueberries but add whatever fruit you like to enjoy with your oatmeal.  

How to Pack Your Oatmeal Recipe for Camping

I love this recipe because most of the ingredients are dry. You can mix the oats, turmeric, black pepper, flaxseed, and chocolate protein powder ahead of time.

When you’re ready to make the meal, all you need to do is mash the banana, add the mixture, add the milk (or water if you’re backpacking), stir in the peanut butter, and top with blueberries.

The banana, blueberries, and peanut butter do not need to be refrigerated, so it’s a great breakfast for those in a tent or without a refrigerator. The more room in the cooler, the better!

High Protein Oatmeal Recipe

When I say high protein, I mean high protein! For my recipe exactly as is  (soy milk, plant-based chocolate protein powder, and peanut butter, no substitutions), you’re looking at around 25g of protein for one serving. Not only that but it also is packed with approximately 30% of your daily fibre intake. So when you have a busy camping day ahead of you, this is an excellent meal to start the day off strong.

See the recipe below for two servings (or 1 extra large serving!).