How to soak and cook oatmeal the traditional way, aka โovernight oatsโ for a digestible and nourishing breakfast that will keep you feeling full all the way to lunch!
How do you cook oatmeal the healthiest way possible? Is it acceptable toย cook it in the microwave, quickly poured out of convenient, ready to use packets? Do you think this is a healthy start to the day?
Reality Check: Ripping open a package of instant oatmeal, pouring it in a mug with some water and nuking it in the microwave for a couple of minutes is NOT a nourishing breakfast! And guess what โฆ you will feel hungry again about an hour later!
Donโt get me wrong here โ oatmeal can and should be a healthy breakfast!
How youย choose to cook oatmeal, however, is the critical step that most people completely miss and which determinesย how much nourishment and benefit you will actually derive from the experience. It is one of the most important cooking skillsย to learn yourself and teach children before they leave home.
Preparation determines how long the oatmeal will fill you up. ย What good is a bowl of oatmeal if you are hungry again and ready for a donut fix by 10 am?
Overnight Oats the Traditional Way
Learning to prepare overnight oats as practiced for centuries by ancestral societies will take a little planning on your part. But, you will be greatly rewarded with a much more nourishing, digestible breakfast that will stay with you all the way to lunchtime!
Traditional peoples knew through observation that grains were very hard to digest and caused health problems over time for those who consumed them without careful preparation.
Throwing out those boxed breakfast cereals that are at least twice as expensive per serving and toxic to boot and replacing with a simple, nutritious bowl of porridge will also help your food budget considerably with no loss in pleasure or enjoyment particularly on chilly winter mornings!
TIP:ย Iโve had people email me to complain that when you cook oatmeal by first soaking for at least 7 hours or overnight, it results in a sour tasting porridge. ย Iโve found that soaking in water plus lemon juice produces a delightful and slightly lemony porridge that is not sour at all and absolutely pops with flavor! If you still need help adjusting to the taste of soaked oatmeal, the linked article plus video will share an easy way to slowly adapt.
How to Cook Oatmeal (traditional method)
The traditional method for preparing overnight oats and cooking oatmeal the next morning that results in a bowl of porridge that is very digestible, filling and nourishing compared to modern convenience methods.
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats preferably organic
- 2-3 cups filtered water
- 1-2 Tbl lemon juice optional
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
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Mix the oats, 2 cups of water, and lemon juice in a pot. Cover and leave on the counter (NOT in the refrigerator) for at least 7 hours or overnight. If you have trouble digesting grains, feel free to soak for as long as 24 hours.
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When soaking is complete, add 1/2-1 cup additional filtered water to the pot. Bring to a boil with the salt. Cook oatmeal thoroughly for 5 minutes. You do not need to rinse the oats before cooking.
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Traditional oatmeal is best served with butter and/or cream for optimal assimilation of minerals. A natural sweetener, nuts, raisins or other fruit may be added as desired.
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Refrigerate leftovers.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
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Store bought or homemade apple cider vinegar, yogurt, or kefir may be substituted for the lemon juice.
If you are just starting to soak oatmeal for breakfast, feel free to just soak with water at first and gradually build up to the 4 tablespoons of recommended acidic medium (I prefer lemon juice).
Detailed Video Tutorial
In this longer video below, I show you exactly how I cook rolled oats into oatmeal.
It requires the initial step of soaking the night before. Then, it cooks up quickly the next morning! ย
Be sure to refrigerate any leftovers for a fast warm-up on the stove on subsequent mornings.
No Rinsing Required
You do not need to rinse the soaked oats before cooking. The antinutrients are deactivated, so no further effort is needed other than simmering for a few minutes on the stove!
I do not recommend soaking oat groats. The linked article explains why.
Soaked Oats vs Sprouted
If you donโt think you can manage the two minutes it takes before you go to bed to put on a pot of oatmeal to soak, this article shows you how to prepare traditional oatmeal without soakingย using sprouted rolled oats instead.
This article on sprouting vs soaking explains the differences nutritionally and digestively speaking.
More Soaked Porridges to Enjoy!
If you find overnight oats to be enjoyable and more digestible, try amaranth breakfast cereal, teff porridge and buckwheat hot cereal too.
i am wondering about using the soaked oats in baking as well. I also grind my oats to use as flour.
Baking is fine! Just note that a light toasting as in making granola is not a sufficient cook though.
Hi Sarah,
I first learned about soaking oatmeal from your page right here and have been doing it the past 7-8 years with great success; THANK YOU! In revisiting this page, though, I’ve realized I’ve been doing things in a slightly different order: I’ve been boiling the water at night, pouring it over the oatmeal, adding the butter and acidic medium, then covering and leaving it on the counter overnight. In the morning I don’t add more water or cook it again; it tastes great as is and is ready-to-eat whether using rolled or steel-cut oats. I thought I learned this alternative method from you, but I may be wrong. Am I missing out on something nutritionally by doing it this way?
You did not learn this method from me … I soak in warm (no boiling) water overnight and then cook thoroughly in the morning. Try that method and see if the oatmeal is even more digestible and filling for you ๐
Hi Sarah,
I was wondering if I were to use my Instant Pot for cooking the oats on delay button how would I go about doing it. My husband gets up way before me. Could I just put all the ingredients (the additional water also) and set on delayed cooking?
would you use expired raw grassfed milk to replace whey, yogurt, lemon etc
I grind up oats to make flour for baking. Do you know if I could still use the soaked oats for this purpose?
Do you mean you grind soaked oats to make flour for baking? What form are they in … as groats I’m assuming? If you could please clarify so I understand what you are asking a bit better. Thanks!
Hi, I have a query. I live in a South American country where it is as far as I can tell impossible to obtain any oats other than quick-cook oats. Would soaking these make any health difference? I know perfectly well its not ideal but there is no other oat option.
Soaking quick oats is a very good idea. Be sure to cook them thoroughly after soaking.
I thought that oats did not have enough of the phytase enzyme to โdigestโ the phytic acid so adding a tbs of another grain (for me gluten free hulled buckwheat) was necessary?
I find the oatmeal very digestible soaking as instructed in the recipe. If you want to add a bit of buckwheat flour for additional phytase, then that is fine too.
Would like to know which oatmeal you purchase to soak. A lot of different ones out there.
I use this brand and have for years. https://amzn.to/2MkMFzr
So we soak the oats, water and acid overnight, heat in the morning, and eat? We don’t need to rinse the oats the following morning after soaking? Thank you so much ^_^
You don’t need to rinse the oats in the morning. Some people do and you are welcome to, but the phytic acid is deactivated from soaking and cooking and so it isn’t a necessary step.
Hi Sarah, can I soak the oats in yogurt to allow lacto fermentation? Or would it be better to soak and cook the oats as you described then eat with yogurt. I have access to unpasteurized yogurt. Thanks!
Best to soak as described in the recipe above and eat the cooked oatmeal with yogurt. Soaking the oats in yogurt will not accomplish the same thing.