Okay, if you’re here for a high protein breakfast recipe that’s ready in minutes, you’re in the right place. If you’re a carrot cake purist, however, I’m going to urge you to click away. You see, these carrot cake protein oats don’t contain any real carrots.
Instead, they use boxed cake mix to give a high protein bowl of oats a yummy carrot cake flavor without any work at all. If you want to grate some fresh carrots, be my guest. But the whole point of starting Mugs for Muscles was to provide healthy recipes for those of us who ain’t got time for that.
How to Make Protein Oats
There are plenty of ways to make proats, but my favorite way by far is to simply add quick oats and a bit of milk to a bowl and cook them for 60-90 seconds. That gives you a blank canvas to get creative with.
You could add something like powdered peanut butter and butterscotch pudding to create something like my Butterfinger Proats, sugar free salted caramel syrup like my salted caramel cheesecake protein oatmeal, or you could add a bit of boxed cake mix to make Carrot Cake Proats like this recipe. The world is your oyster.
One key point I always like to mention is that I recommend not cooking the oats with the protein powder. While protein powder cooks fine in things like mug cakes, it works a lot like structural ingredients and will turn your protein oats into an oat cake. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not what we’re after.
Speaking of protein, you can see that I used Dymatize 100% Whey for these carrot cake protein oats. That, and PEScience Select are my go-to protein powders for nearly every recipe on Mugs for Muscles and my primary blog, masonfit.com. That said, you’re more than welcome to use any protein powder you’d like.
A beautiful thing about proats is that they’re super versatile and hard to mess up. Have fun and make them your own.
And if you do, I’d love to see what you come up with. Take a photo and tag me on Instagram @mugsformuscles or join my free Facebook group and share it with everyone.
Carrot Cake Protein Oats

A simple protein oatmeal recipe that combines carrot cake mix and protein powder to make a tasty breakfast.
Ingredients
- 1/4 C (20g) Quick Oats
- 1/4 C (60mL) Unsweetened Almond Milk, or milk of your choice
- 1 1/2 Tbsp (14g) Carrot Cake Mix, I used Betty Crocker
- 1/8 tsp Cinnamon
- 2/3 scoop (22g) Vanilla Protein Powder, I used Dymatize 100% Whey
- 1 Tbsp (7g) Chopped Walnuts or Pecans
Instructions
- Microwave the oats and milk for 75 seconds.
- Add the remaining ingredients and stir until evenly mixed.
Nutrition Information
Yield
1Serving Size
1 bowlAmount Per Serving Calories 271Total Fat 9gUnsaturated Fat 0gCarbohydrates 26gProtein 21g
More Healthy Breakfast Recipes You Might Like
Check out my microwavable low carb breakfast pizza and nine other microwavable pizzas.
My cherry berry mug pancake is another great way to start the day with 27 grams of protein and only 257 calories.