Paleo Porridge
February 24, 2012 in Breakfast
What a discovery! A warm, hearty hot cereal full of flavor and as versatile as traditional porridge and just as easy too! It reheats very well so you can save time during the week by making a big batch and reheating in the microwave each morning (just add a little water to thin it out to your liking). You can also grind the nuts in the evening to save some time in the morning. My kids love it with some honey added for sweetness, but this is completely optional (I like it without any honey). Base recipe is for one bowl (about 1 cup).
Ingredients:
- ¼ cup Shredded Unsweetened Coconut
- ¼ cup Raw Walnuts
- ¼ cup Sliced Almonds
- 2 Tbsp Raw Pepitas (Shelled Pumpkin Seeds)
- 1 Tbsp Flaxseed Meal
- ½ cup hot water
- ½ Tbsp Honey
, to taste (optional)
1. Process coconut, walnuts, almonds, pepitas and flaxseed together in a blender or food processor until finely ground and blade starts to seize.
2. Boil water in a kettle or in the microwave. Pour into a microwave-safe container (I like to use a Pyrex measuring cup) and mix in honey if using.
3. Stir ground nuts into hot water.
4. Heat in microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir once more. Let sit for 3-5 minutes to thicken. Enjoy!
Variations: Just like traditional porridge, you can stir in some extra ingredients at the end to change the flavor. Here are some ideas, but feel free to experiment!
- Spiced Porridge: Stir in ½ tsp Ground Nutmeg
and ½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
before eating.
- Apple-Cinnamon Porridge: Stir in 2 Tbsp Freeze Dried Apple
pieces (or apple sauce) and ½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
- Maple-Nut Porridge: Use 1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
instead of honey and sprinkle 2 Tbsp chopped Pecans
over the top.
- Banana-Nut Porridge: Omit honey and mash in half of a ripe banana instead. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp chopped Pecans
- Blueberry Porridge: Stir in 1/3 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (or any other berry you like).
- Peaches and Cream Porridge: Stir in 1/3 cup chopped fresh or preserved Peaches
and 1-2 Tbsp heavy cream or unsalted butter.
- Pumpkin Pie Porridge: Stir in ¼ cup Pumpkin Puree
(fresh or canned) and 1/8 tsp (a good pinch) each of Ground Cinnamon
, Ground Nutmeg
, and Ground Cloves
.
- Butter and Salt Porridge: Stir in ½ tsp Salt
(to taste) and let 2 Tbsp unsalted butter melt over the top.
- Chocolate Porridge: Stir in 1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
.
Do you need help finding any ingredients? Check out Important Pantry Items for the Paleo Baker.
For the Pepitas, I had to look up what it was and it said pumpkin seeds. Are these prepared with the shell on or off?
Thanks so much!
- Jacey
Sorry. I’ll fix the post to be more specific. Pepitas are shelled pumpkin seeds (green in color). I usually buy mine from Trader Joe’s.
This is great but I can’t do walnuts. What would be a good substitute?
I think any other nut would work. They are more for flavor than for texture (coconut and flax handles the texture part) Pecans maybe? I bet macadamias would be awesome. Or just use more almonds.
Just made this for my four-year-old who used to eat oatmeal. We added about 2 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp cinnamon, with blueberries on top. I think it tasted like a dessert. My little one shouted “yum!” Thanks for the great recipe.
AWESOME!
I’m eating some of this right now and it is delicious! I’ve always loved my oatmeal and since going grain-free about three weeks ago I’ve been looking for something to replace it. This hits the spot!
I replaced the walnuts with pecans and I used milk instead of water. I cooked mine on the stove-top because we don’t have/use a microwave. I just put the milk and nut meal in a small saucepan and stirred it and watched it closely until it started to steam. Turned out perfect! Thank you!
I’ve just made some and am eating it now and this really is so good. I made mine with coconut milk, put a banana in it and lots of honey and blueberries on top. I live in the UK and am such a porridge freak but threw away the last of my oats when I went paleo a few months back. I can see me making a job lot of this to see me through the cold winter’s mornings when they come!
Thank you for a delicious recipe that more than replaces an old grain favourite.
OK…finally tried it…YUM. And so filling! I’m interested to see how long before I’m hungry again. Will be making big batches on the weekend when school starts to make easier mornings.
Tried this as oatmeal both my kids love! My son didn’t like it, but I’m not ready to give up. I want to try slowly changing it over by adding some of the nuts that you suggest here. I have put flaxseed in and he’s okay with that. Maybe I’ll try adding almonds as well?
Hi I am in the uk and I have just entered the ingredients into my calorie calculator and it comes out at a huge 1367 cals for all the above ingredients…is this really correct for 1 portion? I would love to try this porridge but that amount of calories is what I have for the whole day!!! Any advice very welcome.
I get about 600 calories with my calculator.
Wow – that seems huge! I just made and had this for breakfast and it was delicious, but certainly not something I will eat a lot of at that quantity of calories. That’s 2 meals worth really.
But it was definitely delicious
Dear PaleoMom,
Quick question, if I made multiple quantities of this, how long would it keep in an airtight container? I know it would be best freshly prepared but I know what I’m like dashing about in the mornings trying to get out to work on time!
Many thanks.
I’ve done five days in the fridge before and it’s been fine.
Thanks for the great recipe! Even my picky 2 year old loved it! I’ve been missing oatmeal and this is the perfect substitute!
I have made this recipe about 6 times now and love it. I never make anything the same way twice, so the last time I made it I added coconut milk and frozen cherries to the blender and left it cold. It’s excellent every time.
Thanks! Heidi
Just had this for breakfast, I ran a marathon yesterday and this was just what I needed, beautiful thank you!
Congrats on the marathon! That’s huge!
Thank-you I’m a happy bunny but I’m already eyeing up the next challenge, a paleo powered 69 mile ultra marathon
will have to consume a lot of porridge to get there. I plan on mixing the dry ingredients in bulk so I can just add water or like this morning coconut milk whenever i fancy it. Thanks again! mmmmmm
Oh my word, only 1 out of 3 like regular porridge, but ALL of my kids loved your Paleo Porridge! Thank you, I was getting tired of making eggs and my one oatmeal lover was giving me grief over missing out.
This has become a breakfast staple. I like it more than grain-based porridge! I cook it on the stove in coconut milk with blueberries and a touch of agave. Thank you so much!!!!
Is it possible to replace the flax with something else, maybe ground almonds??? I find I’m in agony for days if I eat flax no matter how finely ground it is. Thanks
Flax help thicken and give it a more porridgy texture but it isn’t a necessity. I think you could replace with any nut or seed (and maybe reduce the water a little).
Can’t afford nuts in this quantity every day – that would mean £4 breakfasts (non-organic nuts, too). Not feasible. Oats makes for a 40p breakfast. 10x cheaper prices is significant.
When you are mixing the nuts are you looking for a dry mealy result or do you go longer to a nut butter type consistency? Also I just got a sample of milled flax seeds, is that what I want for this? Thanks so much for your help! I’m 2 weeks into living a Paleo life and I’m loving it and feeling great and your website is a HUGE help!
Dry mealy. Yes, milled flaxseed is fine.
Hello!! Recipe is wonderful, BUT, curious if you know which ingredient may be causing a stomach, could it be the unsweetened coconut, due to the saturated fats??
Could be… Or the flax?
Can’t believe you use a microwave !
Just made this. It’s delicious and a wonderful base to which modifications can be applied. Thank you!
Do you have cooking instructions for cooking this on the stovetop? We don’t have a microwave…
Hi Paleomom,
love your website and these recipes. I have been making this paleo porridge for a couple of weeks and it is both delicious and filling. My only concern is that I have recently been reading about nuts, seeds, legumes and so on and they say nuts and seeds still contain things like lectins, phytic acid etc and can lead to intestinal damage and all the other stuff if consumed regularly. Would you mind sharing your thoughts on the matter and whether I need to worry about eating this on a daily basis? All the best!
I think that if you are healthy, your stress is well managed and you are getting enough sleep, daily nuts is not a problem as long as you aren’t going nuts on nuts (pardon the pun) and eating a healthy variety of other foods. Phytic acid is smaller quantities is a cancer preventative and may have some health benefits (great post here http://evolutionarypsychiatry.blogspot.com/2011/09/phytic-acid-mineral-grubbing-nuisance.html ) and most foods we eat contain some (great tables of phytic acid content of foods here http://huntgatherlove.com/content/phytic-acid-common-paleo-foods ).