How to use Huel

Quick links to sections on this page:

• Quick start guide
• Step 1 - How many calories do you need?
• Step 2 - What percentage of your diet will be Huel?
• Step 3 - How to measure/weigh Huel
• Adjusting the sweetness and consistency
• Mixing unflavoured and unsweetened Huel with vanilla Huel.
• Add an extra flavour if you like
• Step 4 - How to create a Huel meal
• Step 5 - Consume or store
• Step 6 - Clean

One of our priorities when designing Huel was that it should be simple to use. We think you’ll agree we’ve succeeded…

We recommend that you read all six steps below to get the most out of Huel, but if you want to get going quickly, here is our quick guide.

Quick start guide:

The rough rule of thumb is 5 parts water then 1 part Huel, e.g 500ml of water first then add 100g of Huel. Feel free to add more water until you get the texture and sweetness level you prefer.

As you can imagine I've consumed a lot of Huel and this is my favourite way and it tastes real good...

400ml cold water
+ 3 scoops of Huel
+ three ice cubes (optional)
+ a teaspoon of coffee granules (optional)
+ blend or use a shaker
+ top up via the spout with another 200ml of water and re-shake

PS. If you leave in the fridge over night it's even better.

Some great flavour ideas.

In a normal plastic shaker you can add either 1, 2 or 3 scoops. Below are the details of each:

• One level scoop of Huel is 38g = 153 calories (Vanilla); 155 calories (Unflavoured & Unsweetened). A small snack size (a packet of Walkers regular-size crisps is 130 calories).
• Two level scoops of Huel is 76g = 306 calories (Vanilla); 311 calories (Unflavoured & Unsweetened). A reasonable snack size (a Mars bar is 260 calories).
• Three level scoops of Huel is 114g = 458 calories (Vanilla); 466 calories (Unflavoured & Unsweetened). A small meal (a Tesco Chicken and Bacon Sandwich is 445 calories).

As Huel is just food, you can also cook with it like you would with flour. For example, our customers have made pancakes, waffles, bread, etc etc. For inspiration and recipes, you can read our Cooking with Huel page.

'Let's Get Started' guide

Step 1 - How many calories do you need?

This is different for everyone and is determined by your weight, height, gender, age and activity level. Use this Calorie Calculator to work out how many calories you need per day.

You now need to decide on your goal. Do you want to maintain your weight, gain weight or lose weight?

Eat more calories than your body uses and you will gain weight.

Eat fewer calories than your body uses and you will lose weight.

Approximately 3,500 calories equals 1lb of fat. Therefore, eating a deficit of 500 calories per day should see you lose about 1lb of fat a week and vice versa. The calculator offers the option of 1lb and 2lb. It is tempting to aim to lose 2lb per week, but this is very tough, so we recommend you aim for 1lb per week. This is a much more realistic target in the long term.

We have written two useful guides:

• Huel Guide to Gaining Weight
• Huel Guide to Fat Loss
  

Step 2 - What percentage of your diet will be Huel?

This is entirely up to you and your personal circumstances. Most people will use it for one or two meals a day, but you can use it for just an occasional snack, pre or post workout, and a tiny percentage go 100%. However, we recommend you build up over a number of weeks. This is because when switching from one diet e.g. vegan to paleo, you can experience flatulence and irregular bowel movements, tiredness and/or cravings, etc. It’s not that the diet is bad it’s due to changes in the gut’s microbiome based on their new food source.

We recommend that when you start Huel, you first try replacing 1 meal with Huel, and then after a while (approx. 3-5 days) you could progress to replacing 2 of your daily meals (and then 3, 4, etc. if you want to go 100% Huel). This will allow your body to slowly adjust to Huel.

We don't believe 100% Huel is the use case. I personally use Huel during the day for breakfast and lunch. Then sit down to a "traditional" family meal in the evening. This gives me the best of both worlds.

Step 3 - How to measure/weigh Huel

A scoop is provided in the box with your initial order, instead of inside every pouch, to cut down on waste. A level scoop of Huel holds approximately 38g which is approximately 153 calories. However, I'm not a fan of the scoop as a measuring device because they are imprecise. I do use them but only to get the powder out of the bag whilst I weigh my shaker and powder on a set of kitchen scales.

If you want to weigh out Huel more accurately, we recommend using some simple kitchen scales. For example, add the water to your shaker, then place on the scales and zero them. Then add your Huel for a precise measurement.

You should be able to pick up a good set of kitchen scales for €10-€20. You can find some on Amazon.

The chart below is for full level scoops:

Below is a chart of calories by weight:

Adjusting the sweetness and consistency of Huel

Whilst some people like to change the flavour of Huel, for some, simply making their Huel more or less sweet, or more or less thick, is enough. Here are just a few ways you can do this:

• Simply adding more or less water can make your Huel more or less sweet. More water dilutes the sweetness, so add more water for less sweetness. Alternatively, you can add less water if you prefer your Huel a bit sweeter.
• How much water is added will also affect the consistency of Huel. If you like your Huel thicker, adding less water will make it more thick, whilst adding more water will make it thinner.
• Adding milk can also affect how thick and smooth your Huel is, as it can make Huel much creamier. However, with milk comes more calories, so make sure you take these into account.
• The temperature of your Huel can also affect the sweetness. Adding ice, or leaving your Huel to chill in the fridge, can reduce the sweetness and improve the texture, according to some of our customers.
• Finally, blending Huel can greatly improve the texture and consistency of Huel. If you want your Huel to be smoother, there's no better way to ensure this than using a blender.

Mixing Unflavoured & Unsweetened Huel with Vanilla Huel

One of the things many customers do to reduce the sweetness of Huel or change the taste is mix our Unflavoured & Unsweetened option with the Vanilla version.

The usual amount that is combined is 2 parts Vanilla to 1 part Unflavoured & Unsweetened. So, for example, 2 scoops of Vanilla to 1 scoop of Unflavoured & Unsweetened. But you can mix as much or as little as you like.

You can also add a little Vanilla Huel to help improve the taste of Unflavoured & Unsweetened Huel if you wish.

Add an extra flavour if you like

Huel has been optimised for nutrition rather than flavour. Its flavour is best described as ‘neutral’ with a hint of vanilla. This is intentional, so it’s not so delicious that you want to consume too much!

However, if you do want to add some extra flavour, it’s very easy to do. Here are a few ideas:

• Huel powdered flavours - Huel has developed a range of seven flavours: Strawberry, Mocha, Toffee, Rhubarb & Custard, Pineapple & Coconut, Banana and Chocolate. These are designed to work with both Vanilla Huel and our Unflavoured & Unsweetened version. These flavour pouches use natural flavours and a natural sweetener (Stevia) and cost approximately 10 pence per use with the Vanilla and 20 pence with the Unflavoured & Unsweetened. See the Huel flavour pouches here.
• Coffee - either instant if you’re in a hurry, or brewed if you've a little bit more time on your hands.
• Syrups - such as those used at Starbucks. There’s a whole range of flavours, from caramel to mint. More information here.
• Blended fruit - some people say it's nice to add some extra fresh or frozen fruit and then blend, e.g. banana.
• Cocoa powder - for a hint of chocolate.
• Cinnamon powder - this often comes up as a customer favourite plus it has health benefits too.
• Combinations - the choice is endless once you start experimenting with combinations. A couple of customer favourites are: banana and cinnamon, and chocolate powder and coffee.
• How to sweeten - there is a large choice of both natural and artificial sweeteners – see a comprehensive list here – including their calories and score on the sweetness index.
• Savoury flavours - the new Unflavoured & Unsweetened Huel opens up a whole world of possibilities. Some ideas include: cayenne powder for those who love heat, curry, stock cubes, savoury flavour pots – even bacon powder.

(Please note: we have not tested all of the ideas above, so these are not recommendations, just ideas.)

Step 4 - How to create a Huel meal

Huel is supplied as a dry micro-fine powder so can be used in different ways (and also this dramatically increases the shelf life). Here are some examples:

1) Mix with water and drink (our serving suggestion)

For speed and convenience we suggest you consume Huel with water.

There are two methods. One is using a blender, which gives the best results (it makes it smoother to consume), but you do create more washing up. Using a ‘bottle shaker’ is quicker because there is less washing up to do afterwards.

Below is a video and detailed instructions on how to use a blender and shaker using an example of 100g of Huel.

Using a blender (best result, makes a smoother drink)

First add 500ml of water to the blender, then put the blender on some kitchen scales and add 100g of Huel (if you don’t have scales, adding 100g will be tricky as a level scoop holds 38g, so you could use 3 level scoops of Huel = 114g). I personally like ice in mine, so add 3-4 ice cubes, then blend for 10-20 seconds. Add more water if it's too thick for your liking. Then pour into a glass and drink.

Using a shaker

1. Start by adding 400ml of cold water - the colder the better.
2. Then add 3 scoops of Huel.
3. (optional) add three ice cubes.
4. (optional) add a teaspoon of coffee granules.
5. Screw on shaker lid.
6. Hold you finger on the lid whilst shaking.
7. Shake vigorously or blend for 10-20 seconds.
8. Add 150ml more water via the spout and re-shake.
9. Taste - If it is too thick or too sweet, add more water via the spout.

2) Huel cookies

You can use Huel like a flour to make cakes, cookies, etc. Just make sure you take into account the calories and nutritional content of the ingredients that you add and adjust the amount of Huel you consume accordingly. Check out our Cooking with Huel page for more ideas.

Here is a very basic idea for a Huel cookie recipe. I'm not a chef, so you might like to change/tweak this recipe. But they turned out OK.

• 150g Huel
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 banana
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 egg

And here are some cookies JGoodland made:

3) Huel pancakes

Below is a recipe to make American-style Huel pancakes. Thanks very much to Jess Nurden (@pandasaurus_J) for this recipe:

• 1.5 cups oat flour (I just used Quaker Oats and blended them)
• 1 cup rice milk
• 1 banana
• ½ scoop Huel Vanilla
• 1 tbsp coconut sugar

Method

• Blend oat flour, milk, Huel and banana in a blender until it becomes batter.
• Add in sugar and blend again.
• Pre-heat a non-stick pan to low-medium temperature.
• Pour on batter into small pancake shapes. When you see bubbles appear on the pancake, it is time to turn it over.

4) Huel biscuits

These are great - but be careful, they are very moreish!

Ingredients:

• 225g Huel
• 175g unsalted butter (soft)
• 100g caster sugar
• 40g ground almonds
• 2 tsp vanilla flavouring
• 1 egg yolk

Method

Add the butter, caster sugar, egg yolk and ground almonds into a large bowl. Beat until soft and combined. Add vanilla flavouring. Sift the Huel into the bowl and mix until a soft dough (use hands!). If the mix is too wet, add more Huel (½ to 1 level scoop).

Roll out using a rolling pin until ½cm thick using a sprinkling of Huel powder to keep the dough from sticking to the surface and rolling pin. The mix will be slightly sticky.

Cut out biscuit shapes and place on a tray lined with baking paper. Bake in the centre of a pre-heated oven at 160°C for approximately 25 mins or until dark brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool; the biscuits will be soft to the touch when hot but will harden when cool.

User 2958302 on our forum created these delicious-looking biscuit people:

For more information on cooking Huel, click this link.

Step 5 - Consume or store

Drink/eat your Huel, or if you want to store it, you can place it in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Your Huel may separate after a while. This is completely normal and you just need to give it a quick swirl or shake to re-mix it.

Step 6 - Clean

To avoid residues of Huel setting, we advise you to clean your bottle as soon as you can. If this isn't possible, leave some water in it to stop it drying out. It will make it easier to clean once you get a chance to wash up.