How do you like your porridge in the morning? Cooked traditionally in a pan and simmered for several minutes. Or do you prefer the quick and easy option of popping an instant pot or packet into the microwave for a couple of minutes? And what if you don’t have time to even do that? No problem. These days most popular coffee shop chains like Starbucks, Costa Coffee and Caffe Nero sell ready to eat porridge. You can eat it in-store or take it away on your way to work or wherever you’re heading off to.
While porridge is recommended as a healthy breakfast, this mainly applies to the plain varieties. Many porridges come pre-sweetened with sugar and/or other ingredients which increases the calorie value. Not all stores use the same amount of sugar and there is quite a difference between outlets and porridge flavours.
To help you see how they compare, here’s a list of some of the porridge pots you can find in high street outlets – including McDonalds and Greggs.
Each chart shows the number of calories, fat and sugar grams per pot, as well as the number of teaspoons of sugar in each porridge pot.
Caffe Nero
|
Tsp Sugar
|
Sugar (g)
|
Fat
(g) |
Calories
|
Porridge (skimmed milk)
|
2.4
|
10
|
3.8
|
210
|
Porridge (soya milk)
|
1.2
|
5.2
|
7.6
|
232
|
Porridge (semi skimmed milk)
|
2.3
|
9.8
|
6.6
|
234
|
Porridge Topping - Berry Compote
|
2.5
|
10.4
|
0.1
|
47
|
Porridge Topping - Maple Sauce
|
4.6
|
19.5
|
0
|
94
|
Costa Coffee
|
Tsp Sugar
|
Sugar (g)
|
Fat
(g) |
Calories
|
Porridge Plain
|
4.0
|
17
|
3.9
|
294
|
Jam Portion
|
4.5
|
18.8
|
0
|
81
|
Honey Portion
|
5.1
|
21.4
|
0
|
75
|
CRUSSH (London)
|
Tsp Sugar
|
Sugar (g)
|
Fat
(g) |
Calories
|
Traditional Organic Porridge (Reg)
|
2.4
|
9.9
|
11.2
|
469
|
Traditional Organic Porridge (Large)
|
3.1
|
13.2
|
15
|
625
|
Cinnamon Porridge (Reg)
|
2.4
|
9.9
|
11.2
|
472
|
Cinnamon Porridge (Large)
|
3.1
|
13.2
|
15
|
629
|
EAT
|
Tsp Sugar
|
Sugar (g)
|
Fat
(g) |
Calories
|
Plain Porridge (Small)
|
1.8
|
7.6
|
2
|
137
|
Plain Porridge (Big)
|
2.8
|
11.8
|
3.1
|
213
|
Porridge with Banana (Small)
|
3.0
|
12.4
|
2.2
|
162
|
Porridge with Banana (Big)
|
3.9
|
16.5
|
0.6
|
234
|
Porridge with Maple Syrup (Small)
|
3.7
|
15.5
|
1.9
|
177
|
Porridge with Maple Syrup (Big)
|
4.7
|
19.7
|
3.2
|
253
|
Porridge with Berry Compote (small)
|
4.7
|
19.8
|
2.1
|
196
|
Porridge with Berry Compote (Big)
|
5.7
|
24.1
|
3
|
271
|
Porridge with Banana and Maple Syrup (Small)
|
2.4
|
10.1
|
4.5
|
218
|
Porridge with Banana and Maple Syrup (Big)
|
5.8
|
24.2
|
6.9
|
308
|
GREGGS
|
Tsp Sugar
|
Sugar (g)
|
Fat
(g) |
Calories
|
Greggs Golden Syrup Flavour Porridge 234g
|
-
|
-
|
3.5
|
260
|
Greggs Simply Creamy Oats
|
-
|
-
|
3.5
|
260
|
Greggs Sultana, Apple & Cinnamon Porridge
|
-
|
-
|
4.5
|
270
|
Note: No sugar details available
LEON (London)
|
Tsp Sugar
|
Sugar (g)
|
Fat
(g) |
Calories
|
Small simple porridge
|
1.0
|
4
|
6
|
172
|
Simple porridge
|
1.4
|
6
|
9
|
273
|
Small porridge with compote & granola
|
4.0
|
17
|
13
|
323
|
Small porridge of the gods
|
9.3
|
39
|
8
|
374
|
Porridge with blueberries & seeds
|
5.2
|
22
|
14
|
401
|
Porridge with compote & granola
|
4.5
|
19
|
17
|
424
|
Breakfast - porridge of the gods
|
10.0
|
42
|
12
|
475
|
Marks & Spencer
|
Tsp Sugar
|
Sugar (g)
|
Fat
(g)
|
Calories
|
Instant Oat Porridge
|
1.3
|
5.4
|
3.1
|
225
|
Golden Syrup Flavour Porridge
|
3.3
|
13.9
|
3.2
|
255
|
Sultana & Apple Porridge
|
3.9
|
16.2
|
4.3
|
260
|
McDonalds
|
Tsp Sugar
|
Sugar (g)
|
Fat
(g) |
Calories
|
Quaker Oat So simple Porridge
|
2.1
|
9
|
5
|
195
|
Quaker Oat So simple Apple & Cherry Porridge
|
4.0
|
17
|
6
|
230
|
Pret a Manger
|
Tsp Sugar
|
Sugar (g)
|
Fat
(g) |
Calories
|
Porridge without topping 300g
|
1.5
|
6.6
|
8.4
|
243
|
Porridge with Compote 332g
|
3.3
|
13.9
|
8.4
|
276
|
Porridge with Cranberry & Pomegranate 300g
|
3.1
|
13.2
|
11.5
|
311
|
Porridge with Chocolate & Almond Topping 317g
|
2.6
|
11.1
|
15.7
|
339
|
Porridge with Honey 335g
|
8
|
33.3
|
8.4
|
350
|
Starbucks
|
Tsp Sugar
|
Sugar (g)
|
Fat
(g) |
Calories
|
Starbucks Perfect Porridge Dairy
|
1.5
|
6.4
|
6.2
|
244
|
Starbucks Perfect Porridge Soy
|
0.3
|
1.4
|
4.8
|
205
|
It's great that so many stores are selling porridge. But if you're trying to be more healthy by cutting down on sugar, then it's best to choose the plain varieties and add your own sweetener if preferred. Healthier choices include Stevia or low sugar fruit.
If you're interested in comparing the sugar and calories in those instant porridge pots you can buy from supermarkets, here's a list of 61 different brands and varieties of porridge - in order of teaspoons of sugar per pot!
© Diets and Calories