Apple Cheddar Rosemary Wins Quaker's Bring Your Best Bowl Contest

The Quaker Oats Company, a subsidiary of PepsiCo, has announced the winner of its Bring Your Best Bowl contest. Karen D. of Boston submitted the winning flavor, Apple Cheddar Rosemary, and will take home the grand prize of $250,000. Her instant oatmeal flavor is available on shelves starting this month.

"We created the Bring Your Best Bowl contest to inspire people to think about the versatility of oats, and that's exactly what our winner Karen delivered with her unique flavor combination," says Becky Frankiewicz, senior vice president and general manager of Quaker Foods North America. "For 140 years, Quaker has been committed to bringing the whole grain goodness of oats to more people in more ways, more often, and we are so excited to continue to do so with this new savory oatmeal."

Karen is a resident of Boston, where she works in the communications industry. When her fiancé had surgery and could no longer eat crispy foods, she started whipping up oatmeal as a dinner staple. Looking to put a new twist on dinner, Karen created an oatmeal recipe that transformed the savory flavors of her signature apple, cheddar and rosemary flatbread into a flavorful dish her fiancé could enjoy. Made with a delicious blend of savory and sweet, combined with an aromatic hint of rosemary, the dish inspired her winning Bring Your Best Bowl submission and is now the newest Quaker Instant Oatmeal flavor.

"I have a passion for cooking and love developing new, unique recipes that use everyday staples from my pantry, especially oatmeal because of how versatile it is," says Karen. "Through this contest, Quaker inspired me to expand my creativity to transform one of my favorite recipes into an oatmeal flavor everyone can enjoy, any time of day."  

The Bring Your Best Bowl contest challenged people to submit ideas for the next Quaker oatmeal flavor using two to five ingredients. Last fall, three finalists were selected from more than half a million submissions. The limited-time flavors were made available at stores nationwide, giving America the chance to sample and vote for their favorite.

The two runner-up finalists, who submitted Vanilla Chai and Lemon Ricotta Pancake, will each receive $5,000 to recognize their unique and creative inspirations.