McCANN'S Instant Irish Oatmeal, Variety Pack of Regular, Apples & Cinnamon, and Maple & Brown Sugar, 10-Count Boxes (Pack of 6)

I normally make my own oatmeal from a friend's wonderful recipe (it includes two types of oats, barley, and a few other things). Plop it into muffin tins, freeze, use as desired. It's a bit time-consuming to make, and I have to plan ahead because it has to sit overnight.I've been hunting for an instant oatmeal I could also take with me when I travel, and this fits the bill. Personally I find the apple version a little "fake" tasting, though still miles better than any other type I've tried. The plain, and the maple, are excellent.Sure, nothing beats made-from-scratch, but this is pretty close.

McCann's Instant Oatmeal is great if you must have your oatmeal but can only scrape together two or three minutes to prepare it. There is no escaping the fact, however, that even the best instant oatmeal is nowhere near as good as even a store brand of oatmeal requiring stovetop preparation. Still, the McCann's is as good as it gets for instant oatmeal. It's even better than the organic, all-natural brands I have tried. All the varieties in the McCann's variety pack taste good. It can be prepared in the microwave or by adding boiling water so it is convenient in the extreme when time is an issue.McCann's use of actual cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup helped me decide to buy this product. Real sugar tastes better and is not as harmful as the other stuff. One thing I do not like, though, is McCann's use of thickeners. Oats plus water plus heat should make a creamy, tasty oatmeal without the need for guar gum. But this is a convenience product. Maybe the guar gum is why, after sitting in the bowl a while, the instant McCann's becomes too thick and gluey.

McCann's makes oatmeal for every oatmeal connoisseur, whether one likes it from the raw pellet state that cooks for half an hour, to the sloth addled instant, which can be done in the microwave for under three minutes. It's all good, that's for sure, and the beauty of the instant variety is that it is available in different flavors as well as regular. This variety pack allows different tastes to be explored, as well as giving you a chance to experience the difference between McCann's and other well-known oatmeals. What I personally like about McCann's is that it cooks up thicker and with more body than the top brand here in America. The Apples & Cinnamon, though, tends to be a little liquidy so you may want to experiment with the amount of water you add. In my 1300watt microwave the oatmeal cooks up in about one minute and twenty-seven seconds, so you should also watch that to get a handle on how much time and water to use. The only bad thing -- if you can consider it a bad thing -- about this offering is that you have to buy in lot so you'll end up with six ten-count boxes. This is good if you have a whole family of oatmeal-eaters, but if you're a single person alone -- well, love oatmeal.

I had been buying Quakers Instant Oatmeal and liked it except for the lack of texture after cooking it. Seems more like a mush than a real cooked oatmeal. So I tried the McCann's brand of Instant Irish Oatmeal and really like it better. I take one of the packets of Regular (which has no sweetener in it) and cook it with one of the Apple or Maple packets. Cuts down on the sugar and to me, tastes better when it's not so sweet. Before popping in the microwave, I toss in a handful of raisins and it's a great filling breakfast. Seems the packets are a bit bigger than the Quacker packets. Or perhaps when it cooks up, maybe just seems to be a fuller bowl. Haven't checked the weights... it just seems to make more than the Quacker brand. I like that it has a real oatmeal texture upon cooking it.

The variety packs taste great!I have them every morning. At $0.30 cents per meal, I don't understand why everyone on earth isn't buying this stuff up.Maple and brown sugar is terrific, followed by apples and cinnamon, followed by regular. You don't get tired of the same ole thing, and they taste great.I just boil water from a small pot, empty the packet or 2 in a bowl, pour in boiling water, and watch it expand to 2x its size!Taste really good and takes minutes to prepare.Not sure why everyone on earth isn't this. Convenient, healthy, very quick, excellent quality, and extremely cheap...

I love this stuff! The variety pack has a choice for everyone and every day. The packet size is just right for me. I always buy 6 boxes of packets and share with my college student daughter, who lives nearby. I can't find the instant oatmeal in the grocery stores here, so ordering from amazon comes in very handy. I'm sold!

The convenience of the little packs of instant oatmeal combined with this being the rougher cut, more chewy Irish oatmeal, makes this a winner. There are packs of several flavors inside, plus just regular, plain oatmeal. I often combine one pack of flavored and one pack of plain, just to cut down a little on the sugar in my diet. It's a great, filling breakfast and a good late night snack. I have this on Subscribe and Save, if that tells you anything!

I've been eating McCann's oatmeal, both instant and stovetop, for years. I prefer McCann's since it isn't as cloyingly sweet as other instant oatmeals. It's not the steel cut oatmeal that is a longer cook, but it does have a nuttier texture than other instant oatmeals.

Very easy to make and excellent taste.