This high-fiber, high-protein cereal is not your typical breakfast cereal. It’s loaded with superfoods, has no added sugar, and you only need a little bit to feel satisfied. You can serve it with plant milk, yogurt, or as a smoothie bowl topper. It’s vegan, grain-free, nut-free, and sugar-free.
Cereal or breakfast cereal is a traditional breakfast food made from cereal grains. The process goes something like this: grind the grains into fine flour, mix the flour with water and any other ingredients to add flavor (a sweetener, cocoa, cinnamon …), extrude the cereal (a high-temperature process that uses a machine to shape the cereal), and dry it.
Most breakfast cereals are highly processed, loaded with sugar, and dependent on fortification rather than raw ingredients to feature health claims on cereal boxes. In fact, studies show that these health claims are an effective way to mislead people into believing that these products are healthy. (1, 2)
The solution? Ignore the health claims on the front of the box and read the nutrition label and ingredient list instead. Or even better, choose whole single-ingredient foods. The high-protein cereal recipe I am going to share with you today is one I have been using a lot! It’s essentially a copycat recipe for Nature’s Path Qi’a Cereal which comes in two different versions – original and cranberry vanilla. (The Canadian version of this cereal is Holy Crap and Skinny B).
It’s probably not what you’re used to when you think of cereal. It consists of only a few ingredients (mostly superfoods), contains no cereal grains, and taste like, well, seeds.
Tips for Making High-Protein Cereal
Ingredients
The ingredient list on the Nature’s Path Qi’a Cereal could not be simpler – chia seeds, buckwheat groats, and hemp seeds. The cranberry vanilla version also contains cranberries, almonds, and vanilla.
I am not sure there’s a secret ratio, so add more or less of any ingredient you like.
Technique
Simply add all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl, stir, and get ready to be wowed.
If you want to recreate the cranberry vanilla version (my favorite!), mix the dry ingredients first and then add the vanilla extract. I use a spray bottle for the vanilla extract to make sure the vanilla is evenly distributed among the dry ingredients. If you don’t like the boozy bite that vanilla extract can give, opt for a pure vanilla powder.
More Breakfast Cereal Recipes
This high-protein cereal is not your traditional breakfast cereal. If you’d like to try more traditional cold breakfast cereals, have a look at this grain-free granola or muesli (coming on the blog next week). Both recipes fall into the cereal category, yet neither of them contains any grains.
If you prefer hot breakfast cereals, you might enjoy this flaxseed porridge.
High-Protein Cereal
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chia seeds
- 1/2 cup buckwheat groats
- 2 Tbsp. hemp seeds
- 2 Tbsp. cranberries
- 1 Tbsp. almonds, slivered
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
- Mix the dry ingredients. Add the chia seeds, buckwheat groats, hemp seeds, cranberries, and almonds into a medium mixing bowl. Stir to combine.
- Flavor the cereal with vanilla. Add the vanilla extract into a spray bottle (optional). Lightly mist the extract all over the cereal, stirring the cereal a few times in between the sprays.
- Store. Leftover cereal keeps well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 months (or potentially longer). (You can keep the cereal in a cool dry place as well. I just like to store all my nuts and seeds in the refrigerator or the freezer, so they don't become rancid).
Recipe Notes
Thank you Petra for this simple yet amazing breakfast cereal! It’s right up my alley! I bought some buckwheat groats awhile ago and wasn’t sure how I’d use them. Looks like I’ll be buying them often now! The cereal is so good! Thank you! I’m very grateful! I enjoy your recipes and videos so much!!!
Thank you Joyce! So happy you like the recipe. ❤️ I used to buy the Qi’a cereal all the time but it’s quite pricey. So, now I make it myself 🙂
Hi Petra,
Can’t wait to try this recipe, thank you! Just wondering… I guess you will have to soak this “cereal mix” overnight, as otherwise buckwheat and chia seeds will be too hard?
thank you!
Maria
Hi Maria – there are so many ways you can eat this. You can sprinkle it on top of your smoothie bowls, add it to oatmeal, sprinkle it on top of yogurt, or have it with milk. I love crunchy food, so I don’t let the cereal soak overnight (I eat it right away). My kids love the cereal with plant milk and chopped up banana (I do let the cereal sit for ~ 5 min when I serve it to my kids). Hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
Thank you, Petra!
My pleasure 🙂
Can you heat this cereal up like oatmeal?
Hi Karvie – I haven’t really tried heating it up (I usually eat it with cold milk or yogurt). However, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. The chia seeds will get quite a bit if you cook them, which is ok but something to keep in mind.
It’s advisable to soak the chia seeds in a lot of water.
Eating too many unsoaked chia seeds can cause an intestinal occlusion (ouch) due to them expanding in the gut and clumping together.
If you haven’t tried, give it a shot: a tablespoon of chia seeds in a small glass of water, and see what gives next morning.
Thank you Hugo! Well, you wouldn’t eat this cereal plain. I eat it with almond milk, which hydrates the chia seeds. You can also stir it into yogurt or oatmeal.
Do you use raw or toasted buckwheat groats?
HI Mary – I use raw buckwheat groats, which are milder in flavor and lighter in color.