Creamy Banana Porridge

This creamy banana porridge is a delicious way to level up your morning oats!

Not Your Regular Oats

What’s special about this bowl is that you actually cook banana with the oats. As the banana warms and softens, it infuses a yummy banana flavour and natural sweetness throughout the porridge.

Extra-Ripe-Banana-Club

Here, the key is to use a nice extra ripe banana – not all banana’s are equal. We’re talking the one’s in the fruit bowl that are fully yellow with some brown and black flecks; maybe even a few days away from being banana cake.

This is because the main component of an unripe green banana is starch – up to 80%. As they ripen, the starches convert to sugars, until they end up being less than 1% starch by the time fully ripe. So, ripe = sugar = sweetness = yum.

You’ll also notice a ripe banana really kicks up the flavour profile – a banana will taste more, well, banana.

Nutrition Lowdown: Oats

Oats are cheap, accessible, filling, and rich in dietary fibre and energy. They’re also a versatile base; with endless ways you can spruce up a classic bowlful. Here are some (subjectively fun) nutritional facts about oats:

• Oats are a good source of insoluble fibre a type of fibre that helps bulk out stools (gross, but great). In a nutshell, oats help keep us regular!
• Oats are also a good source of soluble fibre, specifically beta-glucan This type of fibre partially dissolves in water, forming a thick, kind of gel-like substance. Beta-glucan may help promote feelings of fullness, improve blood sugar control and even reduce LDL and total cholesterol levels (1).
• Oats are filling taking a while to leave our stomach on their journey through our digestive track. This may help keep us satisfied between meals.
• Oats are an awesome source of energy to help keep our brain and body whirling. A great breakfast option for kids!

Topping Ideas

Go ahead and add more chopped banana, or even a nice big drizzle of peanut butter. Banana and peanut butter are an ace pairing – like PB and jelly or Nutella and banana, they’re a match made in foodie heaven.

A Note on Protein

The milk you use will impact the protein content of this dish, which is important to keep in mind if you’re being particularly mindful of protein intake.

Per 250ml serve, a cup of dairy milk offers around 7-8g of protein, while soya milk is the closest alternative with around 7.8g/cup.  Otherwise, nut, oat & rice work well (I use all, often), just not as rich in protein – for comparison, rice or almond will offer 1-2g/cup.