Peanut Butter Oatmeal

Rolled oats cooked in milk with peanut butter and brown sugar. The cheapest filling breakfast on this site.

Total Cost $2.90
Per Serving $0.73
Prep 2 min
Cook 10 min
Servings 4
  • vegetarian
  • breakfast
  • oats
  • peanut-butter
  • very-low-cost
  • fast

Ingredients

  • 300 g (3 cups) large-flake or quick rolled oats $0.83
  • 1 L 2% milk (or water for lower cost) $1.12
  • 4 tbsp peanut butter $0.30
  • 4 tbsp brown sugar or white sugar $0.15
  • 1 tsp cinnamon $0.05
  • 0.5 tsp salt $0.02
  • optional banana, sliced (1 per 2 servings) $0.43
  • Recipe total$2.90

Instructions

  1. Bring milk (or water) to a gentle simmer in a medium pot over medium heat. Do not boil.
  2. Stir in oats, salt, and cinnamon.
  3. Cook 4–5 minutes for large-flake oats (2–3 minutes for quick oats), stirring frequently, until thickened to your preference.
  4. Remove from heat.
  5. Divide into bowls. Top each bowl with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar.
  6. Add sliced banana if using. Serve immediately.

Nutrition per Serving

Estimated values per serving.

531 Calories
19g Protein
72g Carbs
18g Fat
7g Fiber
340mg Sodium
~15% DV Iron~25% DV Calcium

Gluten-Free

This recipe can be made gluten-free with substitutions.

  • Replace regular rolled oats with certified gluten-free rolled oats (GF oats are slightly more expensive — typically $5–$7 for 900 g)

Oats are naturally gluten-free but are often processed in facilities that handle wheat. Only certified GF oats are safe for celiac disease.

Budget Notes

  • Buy oats in the largest container available — per-kilogram cost drops significantly.
  • Cooking with water instead of milk reduces the cost to approximately $0.45 per serving and removes about 120 calories.
  • Any nut butter works in place of peanut butter. Sunflower seed butter is a good allergy-safe alternative.
  • This recipe works for any meal, not just breakfast.