I absolutely LOVE zoats for breakfast. If you haven’t been exposed to the Zoats bandwagon, it’s basically your usual warm bowl of oats with grated courgette added into the mix. I love it for the simple reason that it bulks up your breakfast bowl with tasty micronutrients, without changing the delicious flavour in any way – I promise!

Think of it this way – your same favourite oats bowl, but bigger, and with a serving of hidden greens in there to start your day. Nothing but a win-win situation in my opinion!

Zoats are usually made with protein powder, but you can omit this step if you want! Sometimes I make my bowl without protein powder and have a tasty shake with my zoats instead.

So here is my very basic zoats recipe for you guys to try. I have certain spices I love to add to most of my meals, but you can and should play around with this – develop your own favourite zoats bowl, and you won’t look back! Its one of the most balanced breakfasts I have.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 courgette grated
• 40-50g (1/2 cup) quick cook oats (I used Flavahan’s Progress Oatlets)
• 1 tsp cacao powder
• 1 scoop of protein powder (I use My Protein Whey/Whey Isolate) (Chocolate for the win!)
• 1 cup/200mls liquid (water, or whatever type of milk you prefer!)
• Optional: I use spices such as turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon – 1/2 tsp each
• Toppings: This is where you get creative – examples I use include pumpkin seeds, berries, banana coins, nuts, dark chocolate and nut butters. Anything goes!

Method:

1. Combine oats, grated courgette, cacao/spices and liquid in a microwave-safe bowl.
2. Cook for 2 minutes in your microwave.
3. Add protein powder & mix well.
4. Add a little more liquid if you think it needs it!
5. Place in microwave again for further 1-2 minutes depending on consistency you like!
6. Add toppings of your choice.
7. Sit back, relax and face plant into your zoats bowl! (maybe not literally…tempting though)

Top tips: 

• To give this a Mocha twist, try switching up your cup of liquid for 1 cup of brewed coffee!
• If you’re adding berries, try cooking the zoats for 30 seconds to 1 minute more after you add them – they melt down and burst, giving gorgeous colours and flavours!
• Play around with the cooking times I’ve given – you should find the consistency you like. I can’t deal when my zoats are too watery!
• You can cook this on your stove-top – I don’t purely because of time constraints, but other sites may give you guidance on that!
• If you need to meal-prep these (which I do most days of the working week!), I recommend putting the ingredients into a suitable Tupperware, leave to soak overnight, and cook in the morning for about 3 minutes or so!

Enjoy guys! Let me know how it turns out, I always love seeing others try out their own version of this!

Ciara x