Why Did Chick-Fil-A Discontinue Its Oatmeal?

While you can technically still find oatmeal listed on the Chick-fil-A website, it now sits in the "Hall of Fame" of erstwhile items, rather than on the breakfast menu. Introduced by the fast food chain back in 2011, its main selling point was its quality and nutritional value. Other fast food chains at the time offered instant oatmeal lacking in nutritional value. Meanwhile, Chick-fil-A's multigrain breakfast boasted a combination of steel-cut and rolled oats as well as flax, whole wheat flour, and buckwheat flour. The oatmeal could also be topped with roasted pecans, almonds, and walnuts or dried blueberries, cranberries, cherries, golden raisins, and cherries. Cinnamon brown sugar was another option.

Unfortunately for fans of the dish, it was pulled from the Chick-fil-A breakfast menu roughly five years after it was introduced. "In August 2016, Chick-fil-A served its last order of Oatmeal, but its wholesome goodness will always be remembered," Chick-fil-A announced in a tribute video posted to its YouTube channel. Judging by the comments and tweets featured in the video, you might assume that oatmeal was a popular menu item, but that actually wasn't the case, and is the main reason it was discontinued.

Chick-fil-A's multigrain oatmeal may have been a favorite among oatmeal fans, but according to David Farmer, who was Chick-fil-A's Vice President of Menu Strategy and Development at the time, it wasn't actually sought out by most of the other customers. Because of low popularity and, therefore, low sales, Chick-fil-A made the decision to remove it, along with cinnamon clusters and the spicy chicken biscuit. "It's not completely insignificant, but it pales in comparison to some of our other classic breakfast entrees," Farmer told Insider of the drop in sales.

In place of the discontinued menu items, Chick-fil-A introduced the Egg White Grill, a breakfast sandwich that consisted of grilled chicken breast, grilled egg whites, and American cheese between a sliced English muffin. It seems Chick-fil-A ultimately made the right decision to get rid of the oatmeal in favor of the Egg White Grill, as it has remained on the menu for longer than the oatmeal ever did.

While Chick-fil-A doesn't do it all the time, the fast food chain has been known to bring back discontinued items on occasion. The side salad, for example, was put back on the menu in response to feedback from customers, as was the Watermelon Mint Lemonade. The same thing could technically happen for Chick-fil-A's oatmeal, however it's hard to predict a possible timeframe, especially considering fans had to wait 6 years for the aforementioned lemonade, while the side salad was brought back almost immediately after it was discontinued.

If you don't want to count on the return of the multigrain oatmeal, you can always make it at home with the version of the recipe Chick-fil-A once shared on its website, however, it's worth noting that this isn't the same recipe that was used in-restaurant, according to a Reddit comment from a former employee. Alternatively, there's always the option to explore the restaurant's better performing breakfast items such as the yogurt parfait and the fruit cup. But otherwise, you'll have to settle for oatmeal from a fast food chain that still offers it.