Taste or Trash: Fast-Food Oatmeals

Oatmeal for breakfast! Many fast-food restaurants serve oatmeal which can be a great breakfast full of protein and fiber but watch the toppings which can make some close to 500 calories!

I did a taste test of 4 oatmeals which range from $2-$3.  

McDonalds Fruit and Maple Oatmeal:  Oatmeal toppings added behind the counter with fresh diced apples, cranberry/raisin mix and brown sugar (optional). It was too sweet for me but I really enjoyed the fresh apples. Next time I'll get it without the brown sugar.

Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal:  Oatmeal comes separate from toppings (dried fruit mix and brown sugar).  I liked that I was able to choose how much topping I wanted to add.  Also, they put calorie levels on the packages too. Overall, taste was good.

Jamba Juice Apple Cinnamon: Oatmeal is steel-cut made with soymilk ahead of time.  For the same or less calories, the portion of oatmeal was almost double all other places! They added brown sugar crunch and fresh baked apples with cinnamon. I loved the calorie levels posted on the menu board and it tasted very fresh! Hands down, this was my favorite (I even scraped the bowl clean!).  I will be returning!  

Caribou Coffee Apple Cinnamon:  Oatmeal is made with water and a little milk then toppings added behind the counter which were cinnamon syrup and fresh baked apples.   I had their oatmeal before and enjoyed it but this time it was sticky and had an artificial taste from the cinnamon syrup.  It was also 60 calories more than the other three so I'll head to Caribou for only their coffee next time.

Lizard says:  Taste Jamba Juice Oatmeal!  It is by far the best taste; it wasn't even close! Also, for 290 calories (same as McD and Starbucks and less than Caribou) it is a clear winner. The oatmeal tasted much better and the toppings were amazing!