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.
My research, and experiments, have shown that oats don’t release much phytic acid because they are low in phytase. They need the presence of some other grain (like wheat) that is high in phytase in order to actually break down the phytic acid. Also, dairy foods shouldn’t be used for soaking because high calcium levels inhibit the process. I got this information from Amanda Rose’s White Paper.
I can tell if I don’t soak oats properly, my kids react as if I’d done nothing. If I add a small amount of wheat flour and use lemon juice, they do just fine. Although I don’t like oatmeal…lol. I use the soaked oats to make granola for us.
I read that, too, Kate. You’re supposed to use freshly ground buckwheat to soak with the oatmeal (I never had freshly ground but used a couple of tbsps of buckwheat flour with my oatmeal when soaking). Can’t recall if you can use anything else (I couldn’t use wheat as I’m gluten-intolerant).
Coarsely ground barley or barley flour can be added along with buckwheat flour to the oatmeal. Adding a few tbsp of ground flaxseed can enhance the nutrition value of this recipe.
I can tell if my oats aren’t soaked as I sometimes get a bit of a stomach ache from the anti-nutrients that weren’t broken down. Not too mention my stomach gets very bloated within about 1 hour.
Kate: do you know the ratio needed of wheat per cup of flour? And the ratio of lemon juice per cup of oats? There is so much information out there that keeps contradicting itself Thanks so much!
This is exactly how I’ve been making my oatmeal for years… glad to know I’m doing it “right”!
For so long, though, I would eat my oatmeal for breakfast (with plenty of butter, crispy nuts, etc) and it would not keep me full for long – after a couple of hours I would be ravenously hungry – hungrier than I would have been if I had skipped breakfast entirely! But my new favorite breakfast that sticks with me till well into the afternoon: soaked oatmeal, 1 heaping tbsp peanut butter, half a sliced banana and just a tiny drizzle (1/2 tsp or so) honey. Yummy, cheap and very filling!
Hello,
I cannot remember where I have read about the soaking of the oats. I have started to do that with the raw yogurt and water…but it also said to rinse the oats. So, I have been rinsing the oats and then use the raw milk to cook( but not on high heat). It does make for a nice creamy oatmeal. Is it wrong to rinse? Am I rinsing away any nutrients??
Thank you for your help.
I am just starting to soak grains. Oat meal was my first. I was wondering if you have had any exsperience with grinding grains with the kitchen aide mixer. I had and the grain is course and I don’t know what it is suppose to look like.
How you cook the oatmeal, however, is the critical step http://t.co/cdBgWxZq
Video: How to Cook Oatmeal (the RIGHT way) http://t.co/bo8fb0r1
I usually buy the steel cut oats from Trader Joes which require more water ( 1c of oats and 4c of water), should I increase the amount of lemon juice (or whey, etc..)?
I don’t want to speak for Sarah, but it seems to me you still use the same amount of water/acid for soaking as recommended in the recipe, but increase the water when it comes time to cook.
Thanks!
Do you roll your own oats? I read somewhere that it’s best to buy whole oats and roll them at home to have them as fresh as possible. I don’t have an oat roller and no money right now for one. Am I losing out much on the nutrition by buying already rolled oats?
I buy organic rolled oats from a grain co-op.
I am eating a lot of oatmeal now. Sarah, you are right! Before I could never eat it becausse my blood sugar would sink like a rock. I tried soaked and did’nt like the sour taste of vinegar. I then tried the yogurt. It is fantastic with no blood sugar problems. Is it true that yogurt does’nt work as well as vinegar for soakin? I hope not.
You can use water plus 2 TBL yogurt/cup of oats as the acidic medium for soaking and it is just as effective as whey, cider vinegar or lemon juice. Yogurt is not as effective by itself though.
I always use whey and I have never noticed a taste from it.
I agree, in my experience whey produced the least sour oatmeal.
No sour taste from soaking in whey to me. I didn’t like the smell or taste of some of the soaked flour recipes from NT using buttermilk or yogurt. The whole house smelled kinda sour after baking!