This past week I've enjoyed trying out the new range of Multi-Grain Porridge from Special K. These come in individual portions which are easily prepared in the microwave. The porridge itself has 30% less fat (compared to leading porridge brands) and is made with three grains - oats, rye and barley - making it naturally high in fibre and full of texture and flavour. There are three varieties in the range; Simply Original, Almond & Honey and Red Berries.
Almond & Honey: I couldn't wait to try the Almond & Honey first, the flavour combination seemed the most intriguing to me. The ingredients listed are natural honey flavouring and almond pieces (2.5%), along with the whole oats, barley and whole rye. The almond pieces give the porridge a very satisfying and slightly crunchy texture. The flavour of the porridge mainly consists of the sweet honey, which is not too overpowering, and works well with the subtle flavour from the almonds.
Red Berries: Special K is well known for it's Red Berries cereal so I was interested to see how it would translate in a porridge. Here it contains the same type of freeze dried fruit (strawberries and raspberries) found in its original cereals, which have a slightly tart but sweet flavour. The combination with the porridge is absolutley delicious and was ultimately my favourite of the three - it's perfectly fruity with just the right amount of sweetness.
Simply Original: Even though I was intrigued by the flavoured versions, I usually eat my porridge quite plain (with just a bit of cinnamon), so I suspected that the Simply Original would be my favourite. Just like the previous two, this was super easy to make and created a very tasty and warming porridge. I found it to be quite sweet, a bit too sweet for me, but I would still be tempted to use it as a base for adding some extra toppings.
COMPETITION!
DON'T FORGET TO ENTER THE COMPETITION TO WIN A 3 MONTHS SUPPLY OF SPECIAL K MULTI GRAIN PORRIDGE HERE
Grocery Gems Verdict: Special K Multi-Grain Porridge
RATING: Almond & Honey 8.5 out of 10, Red Berries 9 out of 10, Original 7.5 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes - especially the Red Berries.
Vegetarian: Yes.
Nutrition (per 27g serving): 104 calories (Update: This does not include milk).
I would love to try the red berries variety, it sounds delicious
ReplyDeleteThe calories seem very low! Do you know if it's 104 before you add the milk, or after?
ReplyDeleteI would like to know that too about the milk calories. I have been assuming that the 104 calories is just before milk and then extra calories for the milk. Is that right? Agreed though that the plain ones are actually quite tasty and filling :)
ReplyDeleteI have the box infront of me and it doesn't say "when prepared" on the nutritional information. I assume that the calorie content is based on the porridge only, and not the milk. You could always prepare with water or unsweetened almond milk to keep the calories low.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reply Kyle. It's not clear from the packaging at all whether this calorie total includes the milk, it certainly doesn't say it that it's been taken into account.
DeleteI am going to ask Kellogg's directly and I will post back on here when I get a reply.
Katherine
Kellogg's have confimred that the calories given on the box does NOT include the milk. Hope that helps.
ReplyDeleteYou say "The ingredients listed are natural honey flavouring and almond pieces (2.5%), along with the whole oats, barley and whole rye" - but you don't mention the added sugar. How is sweetened porridge a diet or healthy product??
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know what the sugar content is in this range?
ReplyDeleteThe Red Berries has 3.5g sugars, Original has 4g and Almond & Honey also has 4g. This is all per 27g serving and not including the milk. Hope that helps!
DeleteSaturated fat content per 100g of the Special K Simply Original is 0.9g, compared to 1.2g to normal porridge. 30% less fat, but miniscule in reality. On the other hand sugar content per 100g is 1.5g in ordinary porridge and 14g in Special K Simply Original porridge. 10 times the sugar of normal porridge!! They don't put that on the front of their packs! Avoid this.
ReplyDelete