Disclosure: As Amazon Associates we earn from qualifying purchases. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you.
Wondering if oatmeal is vegan? You’ve come to the right place. This guide has everything you need to know about the vegan status of oatmeal and which brands to stay away from.
Let’s get to it…
Is Oatmeal Vegan?
Plain oatmeal, meaning just oats, is 100 percent vegan.However, premade oatmeal at restaurants and hotels may contain butter or milk, so it’s always better to ask if you’re unsure.
What about the little packets of oatmeal you mix with hot water?Many people wonder if these also contain dairy.The answer is that some do and some do not, which means that you’ll need to check the labels if you’re shopping for any flavor other than plain.
Keep reading to get the lowdown on oatmeal and our vegan recommendations for chain restaurants, coffee shops and popular brands at the grocery store.
But for a bit more background, you might want to check out how oats go from the farm to the grocery store…
Rolled Oats
It’s Vegan –Most people are used to rolled oats, the bases of traditional oatmeal.These are what you’re going to find in the big brands like Quaker Oats.
Rolled oats, also called old-fashioned oats, have had the plant husks removed.They’re steamed and rolled into thin pieces for fast cooking.
There’s nothing but the grain in this product—that means no animal elements.So yes,vegans can absolutely eat rolled oats.
Steel-Cut Oats
It’s Vegan – A deeper dive into the cereal aisle might reveal products that seem a bit more exotic, such as McCann’s popular Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal.They’re all vegan safe.
Steel-cut oats and rolled oats come from the same cereal grain plant.They’re just processed differently.In the case of steel-cut oats, the oats are left intact (in their original oat groat form) and chopped rather than rolled.
Oat groats are considered heartier than rolled oats in part due to their chewier, denser texture.In oatmeal, steel-cut oats hold more of a defined shape.
This video explains more about the different types of oat products…
Instant Oatmeal
It’s Sometimes Vegan – Instant oatmeal is what you would call a packet or cup of dry oatmeal that has been prepared with fruits, nuts, spices and other ingredients and just requires hot water (or vegan milk).
There are also plain instant oats, which are like rolled oats, only sliced thinner so that the cooking time is cut down even more.
What you’ll need to watch out for are the instant oats combined with other ingredients. They could contain milk, butter, honey and other unvegan things.
We also want to touch on added vitamins in instant oatmeals from tons of different brands. Sometimes these vitamins can potentially come from animal sources. For example, vitamin A may or may not be derived from egg yolks and fish liver. However, many times, added vitamins are synthetically produced.
For the sake of keeping things simple and not getting too repetitive, we’re going to mark products that look vegan as vegan with a note that they contain these vitamins (when they arise) so that you’re fully informed.
But the last thing we want is for new vegans to get hung up on complicated matters like these. Just avoid all blatantly labeled animal products and you’re good.
Quaker Oatmeal
It’s Sometimes Vegan –Quaker oatmeal is usually vegan, but there are some exceptions.Like other instant oatmeals, some of this brand’s flavors have animal products in them.
There is Vitamin A palmitate listed in Instant Oatmeal Cups.But most of the regular boxes of instant oatmeal don’t seem to have it.
Wading through the ingredient lists of all the flavors of Quaker Instant Oatmeal can be a process, so we’re going to help you out with that.
Let’s take a look…
Quaker Cinnamon & Spice Instant Oatmeal
It’s Vegan:Quaker Cinnamon & Spice Instant Oatmeal has these ingredients, according to thecompany website:
Ingredients: Whole Grain Oats, Sugar, Salt, Cinnamon And Other Spices, Natural Flavor.
We don’t see any animal ingredients or byproducts, so Cinnamon & Spice gets the vegan stamp of approval.
Quaker Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal
It’s Vegan: Here’s another vegan instant oatmeal flavor per theQuaker Oats home site.
Ingredients: Whole Grain Oats, Sugar, Salt, Natural Flavor.
Again, nothing but plant-based ingredients here.Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal (in the box) is vegan. If you don’t know where to store your sugar, check out our list of the best container for brown sugar.
Quaker Apples & Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal
It’s Vegan: We found no animal products in this one, either.
Ingredients: Whole Grain Oats, Sugar, Dried Apples, Natural Flavor, Cinnamon, Salt.
As you can see, Apples & Cinnamon looks a lot like Cinnamon & Spice, but with dried apples. So it’s vegan!
Quaker Strawberries and Cream Instant Oatmeal
Not Vegan – Now we’re going to see a non-vegan Quaker Instant Oatmeal.The word “cream” in the title “Strawberries and Cream” (**which contains vitamin A palmitate) is a dead giveaway.
Ingredients: Whole Grain Rolled Oats, Sugar, Creaming Agent (Maltodextrin, Sunflower And Palm Oils, Whey, Sodium Caseinate), Flavored And Colored Fruit Pieces (Dehydrated Apples [Treated With Sodium Sulfite To Promote Color Retention], Artificial Strawberry Flavor, Citric Acid, Red 40), Salt, Guar Gum, Artificial Flavor, Citric Acid, Niacinamide*, Vitamin A Palmitate, Reduced Iron, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride*, Riboflavin*, Thiamin Mononitrate*, Folic Acid*.
Whey and sodium caseinate are milk products.Therefore, this flavor isdefinitely not vegan. The same goes for any of the Quaker fruit and cream instant oatmeals, including Peaches & Cream and Blueberries & Cream.
Make your own vegan version of Strawberries and Cream with plant milk and real strawberries.It’ll be even better since it’s fresh.
Let’s find out about the vegan status of more Quaker oatmeal products…
Quaker Oatmeal Squares
Mostly Vegan – We couldn’t find any reason to call most of the Quaker Oatmeal Squares (**with added vitamins) unvegan.
Here are the ingredients listed for the Brown Sugar flavor:
Ingredients: Whole Grain Oat Flour, Whole Wheat Flour, Brown Sugar, Sugar, Maltodextrin, Malted Barley Extract, Molasses, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Natural Flavor, Sodium Ascorbate, Reduced Iron, Alpha Tocopherol Acetate, Bht (Preservative), Niacinamide (Vitamin B3), Yellow 5, Zinc Oxide, Yellow 6, Thiamin Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Folic Acid, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Vitamin A Palmitate, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2).
The one flavor we wouldn’t call vegan is Honey Nut (because of the honey). So just be sure you’re picking up the regular one.
Quaker Old Fashioned Oats
It’s Vegan – For sure, Quaker Old Fashioned Oats make a popular breakfast choice that’s totally vegan.These are just the regular rolled oats you can cook up or bake with.
Any plain, simple oats are safe for vegans.Again, it’s just the added ingredients in prepared and instant oatmeals that can become problematic, as you’re seeing now.
Quaker Dinosaur Eggs Instant Oatmeal
Not Vegan – There are unmistakably animal-derived ingredients in Quaker Dinosaur Eggs Instant Oatmeal.
Ingredients: Whole Grain Oats, Dinosaur Egg Shaped Pieces (Sugar, Dextrose, Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Palm Oil, Annatto [Color], Carnauba Wax, Confectioner’s Glaze, Maltodextrin, Magnesium Stearate, Modified Cornstarch, Natural Flavor, Red Radish Juice [Color], Spirulinaextract [Color], Sunflower Lecithin, Turmeric [Color]), Sugar, Salt, Natural Flavor, Calcium Carbonate, Molasses, Carobpowder, Reduced Iron, Niacinamide*, Folic Acid*, Cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride*, Riboflavin*, Thiamin Mononitrate*. *One Of The B Vitamins.
The vitamin D3 type called cholecalciferol frequently comes from sheep wool lanolin, making it unsuitable for vegans. We usually would say not to worry about such small trace ingredients (since you can’t be 100% sure of their origins), but there are other culprits…
As for the confectioner’s glaze, if you haven’t heard of it, you might be grossed when you hear what it is. It comes from lac insects, so it’s definitely not something you want to ingest if you’re vegan (even omnivores might take a hard pass).
Quaker High Fiber Instant Oatmeal
Sometimes vegan depending on flavors – Quaker High Fiber Instant Oatmeal comes in Cinnamon Swirl and Maple & Brown Sugar. As of this writing, these flavors are vegan.
Let’s look closer at Cinnamon Swirl…
Ingredients: Whole Grain Oats, Maltodextrin, Sugar, Salt, Cinnamon, Natural Flavor, Monk Fruit Extract.
These ingredients are all vegan, as are the ingredients in High Fiber Maple & Brown Sugar. So why did we say the High Fiber oatmeals have only some vegan flavors?
Well, it’s actually the Fiber & Protein varieties that aren’t vegan.
It’s confusing because you see “fiber” in both titles, but they’re different, as you’re about to see.
This is the ingredient list for Fiber & Protein Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal…
Ingredients: Whole Grain Oats, Maltodextrin, Whey Protein Isolate, Salt, Natural Flavor, Purified Stevia Leaf Extract, Soy Lecithin.
The whey protein isolate is what Quaker is adding to call this oatmeal protein-rich. Of course, whey makes it unvegan.
Confused? We don’t blame you. Quaker Oats has a lot of products with the same flavor titles slapped onto different formulas, which is a bummer because it makes it more difficult to remember which items are vegan.
Just remember that you’ll need to be extra vigilant when it comes to buying this brand’s products.
Read all the labels and keep an extra eye out for whey and milk products.
Nature’s Path Oatmeal
Mostly Vegan – The vast majority of Nature’s Path oatmeal flavors are vegan. If you want to take a quick peek at what they are, Nature’s Path has created a list for many of them, plus other vegan goods from its facilities.
Because we like to be thorough, we’ll examine a few popular flavors, both vegan and non-vegan.
Nature’s Path Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
It’s Vegan – The quintessential Apple Cinnamon flavor is vegan at Nature’s Path.
Here are the ingredients:
Ingredients: Whole Grain Rolled Oats*, Cane Sugar*, Dried Apple*, Cinnamon*, Sea Salt, Natural Apple Avor*. *Organic.
Nature’s Path Chocolate Cinnamon Pecan Oatmeal
It’s Vegan – It’s awesome to find a chocolate flavor that’s vegan! As you can see, even the dark chocolate chunks do NOT have any milk products in them. An awesome pick for chocolate lovers.
Ingredients: Whole Grain Rolled Oats*, Brown Sugar*, Pecans*, Fair Trade Dark Chocolate Chunks* (Cane Sugar*, Unsweetened Chocolate*, Cocoa Butter*, Vanilla*), Chia Seeds*, Oat Fiber*, Cinnamon*, Fair Trade Cocoa Powder*, Sea Salt, Vanilla Flavor*. *Organic. Contains Pecans. Produced In A Facility That Uses Milk, Soy, Wheat And Other Tree Nuts.
Trader Joe’s Oatmeal
It’s vegan – Any plain rolled oats from Trader Joe’s are fine, as are many of the instant oatmeals. All of the flavors we found currently available at Trader Joe’s were ostensibly vegan (**many contain added vitamins).
These were:
- Apples & Cinnamon
- Pecan Pumpkin
- Cinnamon Spice
- Maple & Brown Sugar
Trader Joe’s Apples & Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal
It’s Vegan – Examining the ingredi
