There’s not the same tradition of DIY Huel as there is DIY Soylent - because Soylent started out as Open Source and Huel didn’t (AFAIK).
I like Huel but can’t tolerate the probiotics, so I’ve just made my own…
If you want my beta recipe:
Gluten-free oat flour
Pea protein
Rice protein
Peanut powder
Coconut flour
Hemp oil
A bit of psyllium husk for fibre and texture
Cocoa powder
Fructose syrup
Complete multivitamin and mineral powder pre-mix
Mixed 25% fat, 37% protein, 30% carbs, 8% fibre. Used a spreadsheet to calculate ratios.
Version 1 is OK.
Downsides:
Has to be left to thicken before consumption
Oil has to be added when blending, rather than to powder
Has to be blended
Tweaks:
Needs work on flavour
Could probably do with an emulsifier (sunflower lecithin?)
Still tweaking amounts - especially on the flavour side - but will probably be ready to share in a couple of weeks. Of course, one cheat I might employ is using some of my Huel flavouring! I have some strawberry and some caramel leftover…
Cost is the last consideration at the moment @mbs - I looked at this thread and completefoods.co (formally DIY Soylent) to arrive at the first formulation, then ordered ingredients based on availability and speed - but haven’t even priced a portion yet. I will do though, based on what I spent and report back. Like the OP back in 2016, my main concern is minimalism - though I am less stoic about flavour.
I’ve also realised that it’s quite easy to create a “protein base” to add to porridge or other foods - that might be an interesting way forward.
A good carb source might be tapioca starch - less “healthy” but it should make the texture much smoother. And it is still better than for example maltodextrine.
It’s a long time since I updated on this, but I finalised my formula - including ingredient costs - but it might not be what you’re looking for because the version I ended up with was heavily simplified and designed as food first, food replacement second, in the end. You can read about it here:
An interesting read. It made me wonder about soaking the oats overnight. Obviously, you’ve mentioned you react badly to pea protein and that’s the reason you don’t use Huel anymore. Would I be right in thinking preparing Huel in the evening and putting it in the fridge overnight might reduce some of the gastric issues people might have? I personally am doing allright on that front, just wondering.
A detail I left out is that prior to COVID I would habitually prepare my Huel the night before. Once I started working from home, I did that less often - and that’s when the gastric issues started. Maybe there is some evidence of causation there. All anecdotal, of course! There was a period I was convinced that the addition of prebiotics to the latest formula triggered them.
Anyway, though I’m actually pretty happy with my DIY approach now I’m still grateful to Huel for helping me kick-start my weight loss.