Spoonful of Sugar Free

Registered Dietitian

McDonald’s Redeems Itself

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Remember my post about McDonald’s “Real” Fruit Smoothies?

When McDonald’s makes something seemingly healthy, it has to be questioned. When I started seeing the commercials for McDonald’s new Fruit & Maple Oatmeal, I had to hop on over to their website to investigate.

According to Mickey D, the restaurants have two options for oatmeal: with or without brown sugar. Which is great because it gives you the choice to omit all that unnecessary sugar! Therefore eliminating 14 extra grams of sugar.

You also have the choice of adding the following toppings: cranberry raisin blend, diced apples, and light cream. Personally, I would not add the cranberry raisin blend because dried cranberries are always sweetened with extra sugar. They are just too tart for most people if they don’t sweeten them. I also wouldn’t add the light cream because I’m not a fan of pasteurized dairy.

Take a look at the nutritional information for yourself:

All in all, its a great breakfast when your on the road. It has a good amount of protein and carbs to get you through the morning. I’m glad McDonald’s has started selling this because I am going to be on the road this weekend. It also has a great price, $1.99. Also, they serve the oatmeal all day at most stores!

Some other great fast food places that serve oatmeal include:

Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal-Served with optional nuts, dried fruit, brown sugar, and milk of choice. $2.95

 

Jamba Juice Steel Cute Oatmeal-Slowly cooked in Soymilk, and served in a variety of flavors including apple cinnamon, berry cherry, blueberry & blackberry, fresh banana, or brown sugar. $3.45

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Have any of you tried McDonald’s new oatmeal? I haven’t tried it yet, but I expect it to be an instant oatmeal like Starbuck’s. I’ve never tried Jamba Juice’s either. Have any of you tried it?

How do you eat breakfast on the road? I usually bring a bag of snacks with me wherever I go, nuts, fruit, bars, and I like eating the oatmeal from Starbucks.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. hmm i like this! its good to know that when my family wants fast food.. i can get soemthine i like. oatmeal! although.. not sure if they have that in the UK yet.. i usually bring like tons of snacks!! bars mainly, but i havent really needed to have bfast on the go in a VERY long time anywho ahah

  2. I did the same. exact. thing when I saw the McDonald’s commercials! First I was skeptical (and does anyone else find the vibrancy in the fruit – namely the green of the apples – rather…startling? haha) but when I checked it out, was pleasantly surprised. I was sort of unclear as to whether it could be requested without the cream, though. The nutrition makes it look like it can be, but they only mention it as being with or without the brown sugar.
    It’s nice to know if I need breakfast on the go, there are options other than an egg sandwich! I haven’t tried it personally, but the first person who made me aware it existed was my boss’s wife, who said she quite liked it.

  3. I saw a sign for that oatmeal at McDonald’s just yesterday and was VERY intrigued…thanks for doing the research for me so I don’t have to. 🙂

    I pretty much pack a picnic everywhere I go (as you know from witnessing my airplane travels)…there’s not much I WON’T try to pack.

  4. I just can’t drive through the Golden Arches. I can’t do it. Even for a cup of oats on the road. i’ll hit up starbucks instead.

    On another random note, how do you get footnotes under your pictures? I write my blogs in Windows Live; maybe if I wrote in WordPress I could do that???

    Be well,
    Carolyn

  5. I MAY go to Mickey D’s once or twice a year, so no. I assumed it was just more fattened up food for them to sell. Nice to see them practicing what they preach for a change. I still prefer to make my own oatmeal at home or take a granola bar with me if necessary, but thx for informing us!

  7. Hmm, the nutritionals are better than I thought they’d be. Props to Mickey D’s for finally putting out something that is in fact good for you! I still don’t know if I’ll jump on that bandwagon though…unless it was an emergency. I really prefer the texture of home-cooked oats over the instant variety.

    My go to breakfast car food is a banana and a packet of Justin’s PB…and coffee of course!

  8. As soon as I saw the commercial for this, I started researching it! I was pleasantly surprised to see that it’s pretty healthy! It’s nice to know there is something I can get at McDonalds that isn’t a total waste! haha

  10. One time we were on the road and we stopped at a McDonald’s. Nothing on their menu appealed to me (unless I wanted a tiny value menu salad) so it’s good I brought a bar and an apple!

    I’m glad they have the oatmeal, now! I was pretty excited about that, I haven’t tried it yet, though. Another healthy item on their menu is the fruit and walnut salad. It has grapes, apples, walnuts and a little yogurt. Sometimes I get that.

    Great post, dear!

  11. Hey! thanks for stopping by my site! I have never tried any oatmeals from these chains…I’m just not one to stop at fast food. I usually pack as much as I can!! BUT they do seem like great options if you are in a bind!

    In response to your question about the fig bars…I have not tried them without the addition of the maple syrup but give it a try and let me know your thoughts! The filling is definitely sweet enough on its own but the crust is pretty plain, even with the sweetener addition so I’m not sure how it would taste! Let me know if you try it though!

  13. Girl, every time I pass by the McDonald’s near my house and see their sign advertising oatmeal, I want to write a post about it! You totally beat me to the punch. 😛 I’ve looked up the stats/ingredients on the oatmeal, too, and it isn’t too bad! If I remember correctly, it’s cooked in milk… but still, not too shabby!

    I’ve only tried Jamba’s oats. They were pretty good, although at the time I was obsessed with Hungry Girl and hadn’t trained my taste-buds to not like sugar. I remember thinking it needed almost all of the brown sugar. Oh, how times have changed. 😛

  14. I’ve tried both Jamba Juice and Starbuck’s oatmeal and I prefer Jamba Juice’s. But since we don’t live near a JJ, and we go to Starbuck’s once or twice a week, I get their oatmeal w/the mixed nuts. The Starbuck’s by our house doesn’t have banana’s or fruit cups, so I usually bring along my own apple also. We don’t usually go to a McD’s unless we are travelling and on the road, but when we do I will probably try their oatmeal.

  15. I wish I liked oatmeal, I would have grabbed it right up! I really miss those cookies that McDonalds used to have…I wonder what happened to those

  16. I have never tried McD oatmeal. I saw it it to the other day and was curious about how it tasted and what its nutritional stats were. I have had Starbucks and they were pretty good 🙂 Thanks for a great post!

  17. For a while I would always get Starbuck’s McDonalds when I would travel by myself. But what I found to be cheaper is to just put your own oats measure ahead of time in a coffee cup. Then go into Starbucks and ask for hot water. It’s been free every time I have asked. It has saved me money like you wouldn’t believe. I can spend the $$ on my overpriced frapp light. 🙂

  19. Wow! I can’t believe McDonald’s has such a healthy option. If it were gluten free I would definitely give it a try. It’s promising anyway! When I travel, lately I have been making brancakes. Then for later, I’ll have some roasted squash and other veggies in a tupperware container for a snack. Surprisingly the airports allow it. They even allowed me to bring split pea soup on the plane after I told them it was for medical purposes. 🙂

  21. Hi Alex!
    I was just wondering if you have come across and decent no-added sugar granola recipes? I’m looking for one but they all call for a mountain of honey or maple syrup to make it clump together.

    Thanks!
    Sarah x

  22. I’ve tried this and it is really good! I’ve never been asked if i’d like it with or without brown sugar though… Potbelly also has Steel Cut Oatmeal and they ask what add-ins you would like. You can even get a tbsp of Peanut Butter if you’d like 🙂

  24. I kind of have a vendetta against mcdonalds in part because it’s, well, mcdonalds and because I used to work at a starbucks and now theyr’e copying everything starbucks related 😛

    I’ve heard good things about the jamba oatmeal though! I think they have some interesting mix-ins if I recall correctly.

    Plus I’m vaguely obsessed with oatmeal so I’d prob be okay with eating this in a pinch 😉
    And in terms of on-the-go-breakfasts… I like bars. My newest favorite is the mojo mountain mix bar. deeelicious 🙂

  25. I heard that there is controversy with this oatmeal. Something to do with there not actually being any maple, so it’s false advertising. If it isn’t Canadian, it isn’t real maple. It does look tasty though. I like the Starbucks one, but it’s really just Quaker Instant Oatmeal. Why spend over $3 on one little oatmeal when I can buy a whole box of it for like $6?

  26. I don’t think I’ll try their oatmeal, but that’s just because I don’t like oatmeal. I’m glad that McDonald’s is trying to branch out and offer healthier options. I would like to see the ingredient list though. A lot of times, even things like that have added preservatives and fillers that aren’t necessary.

    • Thanks for the article Elizabeth!

      While I looked at McDonald’s website, it said you could get oatmeal without the maple and brown sugar (which contains a boatload of extra, unneeded sugar). However, when I went to McD’s once while on the road (it was literally the only place to stop in the middle of no where at 9 o’clock at night), they said it only came with the sugar! GRRRRRRrrrrr!!!!!

      And I totally understand when the article says it is overpriced. I can buy a box of instant oatmeal for $2 if I want. Or even better, I can go to the bulk aisle and buy organic rolled oats for $2 a pound!

      In conclusion, I’m not going to by McD’s oatmeal unless it is an absolute emergency. That should rarely ever happen because most convenience stores sell fresh bananas and apples and nuts.

  28. Hi,

    I just recently found your blog and its great! I love this post! I live in Canada and Tim Hortons (a very popular coffee and donut shop here) recently started selling oatmeal too. Their options are mixed berry or brown sugar toppings. When I went there a little while ago and asked for it without any toppings (because they all had too much sugar) they couldn’t believe I wanted plain oatmeal. The lady looked at me like I was crazy and asked me three times if I was sure I didn’t want any toppings. Then when I went to get my order (you pick it up at a separate counter from where you order) the lady there did the same thing. Is it really so strange to not want to start your day with a ton of sugar??