Bret's Soylent: Oat, Rice. Complete, low price. Tasty!

by hess8
Last updated August 27, 2025 Copy
AmountVolumeIngredient$ / daySource
80gRice protein powder 83%$1.06ebay
0gRice protein 79%, alternate source$0.00Bulk Foods
81ml0.37cupCanola Oil$0.27Walmart
46gSugar or sugar+sucralose (see notes)$0.12Walmart
5g1tbspCocoa$0.12Bulk Foods
3.1gSalt$0.00Walmart
1pillKirkland Signature Daily Multi$0.05Amazon
5.1gPotassium chloride$0.12Amazon
1.2pillCalcium and vitamin D$0.06Amazon
1.23gCholine Bitartrate$0.05Amazon
0.18pillVitamin K$0.02Amazon
1.56gLysine$0.02Amazon
0.9gtspXanthan gum (see notes on amount)$0.02Amazon
230gOat Flour$1.09Honeyville
Amounts for:
Total Daily Cost:
$3.01Add Ingredients
to Amazon Cart

This recipe is almost universally liked, and probably the best of my recipes to start with if you don't have a preference. It has medium texture (grit). If this is a problem for you, the smoothest ones are whey and wheat protein.

Celebrating 10 years (2025) of updated recipes! My recipes are some of the top ones listed on this site. Please go to my website diyfoods.org for the latest on:

  • recipes
  • research notes
  • analysis showing complete protein amino acid profiles achieved
  • ingredient links
  • samples
  • instructions for use
  • mixing calculators

After 2025 I will no longer update ingredient purchase links here because with several recipes it's too much work. I will keep the recipes themselves up to date here as long as this site functions. Often the editing tools on this site go down. But at diyfoods.org you can be sure you're getting the latest info.

See all my recipes: Oat-Rice, Oat-Whey, Oat-Wheat, Corn-Oat-Wheat, and High Protein Wheat. They each taste very different and offer complete protein. Samples are available for some. I also developed a simple solid soylent for activities like backpacking and cycling tours.

Background

In 2014 my family used official Soylent (now Complete Foods) versions 1.1 through 1.4 for about 5 months, about 2 meals a day. As an incurable do-it-yourselfer and a scientist, I couldn't help researching nutrition and experimenting with my own recipes which I knew I could make much cheaper than commercial meal replacements. I matched the official Soylent nutrition, and found sources to buy ingredients at low cost by buying in bulk. In Feb 2015 my rice protein recipe was a hit with the family, who said it tasted better than the official product at the time. I developed other recipes, and now rotate between recipes.

Nutrition Facts

Amount Per Day
40% Carb, 20% Protein, 40% Fat
Calories2044
% Daily Values*
108%
Total Carbohydrate206g
135%
Dietary Fiber 36g
126%
Protein101g
102%
Total Fat92g
Saturated Fat9g
Monounsaturated Fat54g
Polyunsaturated Fat28g
281%
Omega-3 Fatty Acids7g
210%
Omega-6 Fatty Acids21g
Cholesterol0mg
Calcium
119%
Vitamin A
117%
Chloride
200%
Vitamin B6
172%
Chromium
100%
Vitamin B12
250%
Copper
224%
Vitamin C
104%
Iodine
100%
Vitamin D
147%
Iron
166%
Vitamin E
257%
Magnesium
114%
Vitamin K
146%
Manganese
500%
Thiamin
260%
Molybdenum
1122%
Riboflavin
150%
Phosphorus
231%
Niacin
147%
Potassium
103%
Folate
144%
Selenium
244%
Pantothenic Acid
210%
Sodium
117%
Biotin
100%
Sulfur
Choline
102%
Zinc
170%
 
* Percent Daily Values are based on "Solylent 1.4, 1900 calories, U.S. government DRI male 19-50, whey adjust". You may use the Nutrient Calculator to personalise your own profile, then select it from the list on the Recipe Editor tab.
Nutrient Profile: Solylent 1.4, 1900 calories, U.S. government DRI male 19-50, whey adjustChange

9 Reviews

65 reviews
3 years ago
Average overall taste
A little gritty
Reviewer has not tried this recipe
Reviewer is not currently using any type of Complete Food

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2 reviews
4 years ago
Excellent overall taste
Higher than average energy level
Below average flatulence
Reviewer has not tried this recipe
Reviewer is not currently using any type of Complete Food
1 review
6 years ago
Good overall taste
Higher than average energy level
Below average flatulence
A little gritty
Reviewer has not tried this recipe
Reviewer is currently using this recipe

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1 review
7 years ago
Good overall taste
A little gritty
Reviewer tried this recipe more than 10 times
Reviewer is currently using this recipe

I started using this recipe around 2 months ago, in order to replace two of my daily meals. I'd never used Soylent before, and this recipe was an easy, convenient introduction. I wanted to write a quick review and comment on the transition:

Background: 22 year-old college student, new to Soylent and meal replacement. I consume around 2000 calories a day, eat vegetarian, and chose to start Soylent for the convenience and complete nutrition.

Taste: After a few days, I really started enjoying this recipe. If you prepare it the night before and leave it in the fridge, the grit is barely noticeable. Now, several months in, I legitimately look forward to my three - 400-cal meals per day of this recipe.

Transition: After reading several blogs on other sites, I expected the transition to wreak havoc on my digestive system for a few days. Luckily, this did not happen. I started out with one 400-cal meal, then a few days later increased to two 400-cal meals, and then transitioned to my planned three 400-cal servings after a week. I felt fuller and more satisfied than I expected during the transition. I did not crave solid food, or experience hunger pains.

Health: No significant changes in energy, sleep, or mood. I had a blood test done before I started this recipe, I'm interested to see if there are any significant changes after transitioning to Solyent. TBD. I also wonder if my vegetarianism made the transition easier.

Purchasing Materials: I shopped around a bit to find alternative (cheaper) options for the oat flour and brown rice protein and found none. I purchased the salt, sugar, cocoa, and oil from my local grocery. Oat Flour from Honeyville, Rice Protein from Bulk Foods, and all of the vitamins and supplements from Amazon. Total cost was around $215 (for 6+ months of everything except brown rice protein).

Final Thoughts: Thanks Bret for a wonderful recipe, and also the incredibly helpful spreadsheets for mixing and portioning. With those tools, ordering was easy, and it only took about an hour to mix 5 gallons of powder (28 days) + 6 months of vitamins. In a few months maybe I'll try another one of the recipe variants!

1 review
8 years ago
Excellent overall taste
Reviewer tried this recipe 2-5 times
Reviewer is currently using this recipe

Well, this stuff is delicious! Way better than the People Chow that I've been using for the last 6 months. The rice and oats compliment each other well, and the texture is very pleasant.

I'm getting excellent results mixing and using 24g oil, 500g water, and 140g powder in a shaker bottle to get a single meal/serving. I'm looking forward towards buying the rest of the stuff and making my own.

1 review
9 years ago
Excellent overall taste
A little gritty
Snacky betwen meals
Above average flatulence
Reviewer tried this recipe 2-5 times

I ordered a 1-day sample directly from Bret, and used it for a few meals, but no more than 1 meal per day so I'm still eating a lot of other food and the score a gave for flatulence is probably unrelated to this recipe.

My first experience with this recipe, I was knocked over by how good it tastes. Way better than Soylent power (though my only experience was with 1.5), and much tastier than "drink" (2.0), which I consider to be pretty flavorless. The flavor is pretty sweet and somewhat chocolaty (the chocolate is very subtle). This was the result of mixing and immediately consuming.

I immediately mixed a single meal for the next day and left it in my fridge overnight, and was surprised to find the next day that it was far less impressive. It was completely bland, and given how few variables there are here it can only be attributed to being left overnight. For my final meal, I again did a mix-and-drink approach and was pleased to find that the great flavor I had enjoyed the first time returned. So if you try one approach and don't love the flavor, I'd recommend trying the other and see if your opinion changes.

Fullness is a challenge for me as I have an immense appetite and I usually have to snack after a Soylent 2.0 meal as well; I'd say this recipe was just on par with Soylent as far as fullness goes.

Overall I'm giving this 5 stars because it surpasses Soylent in flavor and greatly in cost, and matches Soylent in terms of fullness and nutrition.

1 review
9 years ago
Below average flatulence
Terrible overall taste
Very gritty
Don't feel full
Reviewer tried this recipe once
Reviewer is currently using this recipe

It was really gunky and gritty. If you like tortilla chips, it literally tastes like liquid tortilla chips. I could not manage to swallow it nor stop from gagging when I tried it.

Feel bad now since I got over $200 in supplies sitting around since I did not like it... Anyone have any better suggestions on what to do with it?

1 review
10 years ago
Good overall taste
Higher than average energy level
Below average flatulence
Somewhat gritty
Don't feel full
Reviewer tried this recipe 5-10 times
Reviewer is not currently using any type of Complete Food

My initial review (and why it may not apply to you): First things first: The only reason I'm trying soylent is because I have IBS and soylent seems like an easy way to go on the low FODMAP diet (http://www.med.monash.edu/cecs/gastro/fodmap/). Furthermore, I'm not scared away by the potential lack of flavor and monotony of just eating soylent. I've lived in a number of remote areas overseas where the locally-available foods were extremely limited and fairly bland, so I think I'm mentally prepared in that regard.

I got a 4-day sample from Bret Hess (the creator of this soylent recipe, if you haven't figured that out by now). Because my primary interest is how my intestines react to this recipe (not flavor, enjoyment, etc), I simply started eating soylent one morning and ate nothing else until the 4-day sample ran out 2 2/3 days later. That's a 3,000 calorie/day rate, but I still felt hungry a lot of the time. Now, this is one of places my experience probably doesn't apply to you. First, it's entirely possible that I use >3,000 calories/day - I'm a 30 y.o., very active male. It's also possible that years of IBS means that my intestines simply aren't absorbing all 3,000 calories. Side note: has anyone done any research into the bio-availability of uncooked oat flour and rice protein? In general cooking foods increases the calories that actually get absorbed. I know, there a ton of ways of measuring this. If you want to start down the rabbit hole, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_value However, I think the primary reason I felt hungry a lot is because my intestines simply weren't bloated at all for the first 2 days! It was wonderful. I went for a run and ran 30 seconds/mile faster than I expected - a huge decrease that I attribute almost entirely to a happy tummy. On the third (and final) day the bloating came back. Why? Because my intestines are evil, that's why. Seriously though, I don't know. It may have been stress related or something else entirely unrelated to food, or it may be the result of 2 days of massive amounts of oats (I think this is unlikely given the quick improvement the first two days followed by the rapid decline on the third day). But those two glorious bloat-free days were enough to convince me to make the investment in trying this recipe longer-term. I plan to eat it two meals per day - probably 2000 calories total split into 3 or 4 smaller meals (eating smaller amounts more frequently helped me not get so hungry) - and normal food one meal per day.

Flavor: I like the flavor when I initially start eating. It's like a chocolate-y bran muffin flavor. However, the flavor quickly becomes less appealing the more I eat. I guess if you're trying to avoid over-eating, this is probably a very desirable trait. For me (being hungry and trying to eat large amounts), it could be annoying.

Final note on feeling full: it takes some time during and after eating for your body to release hormones that help you feel full (I know, it's not that simple: http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-eating-slowly-may-help-you-feel-full-faster-20101019605), so if you gulp down a full meal's worth of soylent in 30 seconds or a minute, you're going to have to wait a bit to feel satisfied. I spent more time feeling satisfied and less time feeling hungry when I ate smaller amounts more frequently.

Bowel movements: I also experienced a marked improvement in bowel movements (regularity and consistency) while on soylent. I'd rate them a 4 on the Bristol stool scale (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_stool_scale).

I'll update in a month or two after I'm on this recipe for a longer period of time.

1 review
10 years ago
Good overall taste
Below average flatulence
A little gritty
Reviewer tried this recipe more than 10 times
Reviewer is currently using this recipe

Started on official Soylent 1.3, switched to this due to cost. Amazing price, and tastes pretty damn close to official Soylent 1.4 to me. Add vanilla powder for a taste closer to official 1.3.

Been living off it for about 90% of my daily calories for the last two weeks. Feel great, no weight gain or loss. Will follow up with blood tests soon.