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
ย
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.
Hi
Is it better to eat oatmeal with the water they have been soaked in or should I pour this water out? What about some minerals included in oatmeal? Could You tell me if I wouldn’t pour those minerals with the water?
Greg
the only reason to pour the water out would be if the oatmeal cooked in the soaking water would be too sour for you – my thinking – there is no other need to pour it out; i soak mine in an enameled pot over night and then cook them right in that pot the next morning. for added minerals use some black strap molasses ๐
I love this sour taste! ๐
Greg
Hey, it’s me again ๐
I often add some instant buckwheat flakes to deliver the phytase (I know that oats haven’t got enough phytase to reduce the phytic acid). But do this instant flakes contain some phytase or should I use a natural buckwheat?
Greg
Hi Sarah,
I’m wondering about how soaking oats – even using an acid additive like whey or lemon juice, will remove phytic acid? Since activating an enzyme called phytase is needed to deactivate the phytic acid and oats have almost no phytase, what good is this doing? If phytase is absent or limited, soaking does little to reduce phytic acid concentrations. Can you tell me what your sources are for soaking the way you describe? I want to learn more about this.
Thank you, Stacey
Sarah – what are the positives or negatives to wanting to eat this raw vs cooked?
And, Thank you. I love your videos and blog.
1) I have whey protein but what is LIQUID WHEY? How do I make it or buy it.
2) After they soaked too long, was it necessary to put in back in the FRIDGE first.
Steve, looks like no one answered your question in a few weeks… why do i feel compelled???? any way
liquid whey you get from draining yogurt from raw milk you leave out and let set (ie it gets thick and separates into the famous curds and whey) then drain the liquid which is whey and eat the curds as cream cheese
powdered whey is processed what ever… depending on the kind and cannot be used the same way
what is soaked too long? ๐
hope that helps
I found that 4 tbsp of lemon juice made it to lemony so I will try one less next time. This would be great for camping! ๐
I would sincerely appreciate your thoughts as to whether preparing oats in this manner is appropriate for someone seeking to reverse tooth decay (unfortunately cavities much worse than your son’s cavity- I know you said he didn’t go off grains). I have been preparing oatmeal this way, but after reading Ramiel Nagel’s book, I am confused. He says to sprout oats for 2 days, dry them, and remove the bran through flaking… then sour for 24 hours. Could you give some clarity on the sprouting/drying/flaking process? If you have time, I would be grateful. I am thankful for everything I have learned from you!
I don’t do what Rami suggests and we don’t have tooth decay problems in our home. If you do or eat a lot of oatmeal (every single morning for months on end for example), then I would follow his protocol. Under normal circumstances, simple overnight soak is sufficient.
Thank you for your response! I guess I am confused because I don’t really understand his protocol or how to do it. He doesn’t explain the process. I suppose the answer is to avoid oats for now and try soaked oats again after teeth have healed. Thanks again!
What about using the crock pot? Could I do that instead of soaking them overnight? Just trying to simplify it a bit more for myself but I will try it by just soaking. I have NEVER heard this before and I love when I find new healthy information to “chew” on! Thanks
Rebecca, you can soak it overnight in your crock-pot. I like the way Sarah does it because it breaks down the grains. I did do it another way a few years ago and my kids wouldn’t eat it. Tried it twice too. ๐
hi Sarah,
Love the soaking of the oats recipe and have been doing it for years.
Was wondering if I could use homemade kefir as the acid component to the hot oats cereal as I make it regularly and want to use kefir for breakfast ideas?
Thanks for website, I love your work.
Everyone In my house loves oatmeal. We are new to the WAPF way of eating but are taking steps towards living this way. I have been making steel cut oats in the crockpot using the water bath method overnight. I love waking up to a hearty breakfast with almost no effort or mess. If I were to add an acid when I mixed it do you think it would work? Would it still help with the breakdown of anti-nutrients and improve digestibility?
Hi Laura,
I think it would help, but ideally, you would still want to pre-soak the oats to allow for the enzyme process that makes all the nutrients available. Also adding a little buckwheat or cracked wheat or wheat flour would ensure that the necessary enzyme is present. There is some debate about how necessary it is to add acid and that temperature is a more important factor than ph, but it makes sense to my mind that it speeds the process by sending a message that decomposition is starting so hurry up!
I cook whole wheat overnight in a crockpot and, like you, I love the simplicity of waking up with hot breakfast right there. When I learned about pre-soaking grains it was a pretty easy transition to just wash out the crockpot after breakfast and start SOAKING breakfast for the next day right then when breakfast is fresh on my mind. I’ve done the same with millet and whole oat groats; I’m sure it would work with steel cut oats as well.
Not all crockpots are the same, so for starters you want to be sure to use PLENTY of water for cooking overnight: 1 part dry grain to 4 parts water and cook it on LOW (on some crockpots the “warm” setting is warm enough). To pre-soak grains for overnight cooking, cover your grain with warm water and add acid as Sarah recommends, if desired. Soak that all day, then just before bed, add the remaining water needed for cooking and turn it on LOW(salt then too, or in the morning) and put the lid on. After cooking one batch with LOTS of water, you can make a pretty good guess on the ratio you would need.
With my medium crockpot, I put 3 1/2 C dry whole wheat (or 3 C cracked) into the crockpot and fill to the top with warm water (about 6 Cups) and a little raw apple cider vinegar. Soak all day, cook all night, clean out the crockpot and start all over.
Our favorite breakfast is to blend this wheat in the blender with a banana or two, a handful of soaked almonds and/or fresh milk or cream and a little sweetening to taste. We call it breakfast pudding and everyone LOVES it. The wheat we didn’t use for breakfast goes into a soup or a salad later in the day.
So, I tried properly prepared oatmeal this morning. I used the lemon & cooked it in the morning with a cup of milk instead of water. Loved it! I actually liked it even more after it sat a little while after cooking. It had more of a fresh lemony taste as opposed to right after cooking where it did have the SLIGHTLY sour flavor. Nothing intolerable! I love love love the texture! I’m eating this as I’m pregnant and breastfeeding my 6 month old and had a little bit of a drop in my milk supply. Thank you for your blog/videos/etc. I so very much appreciate your educating me and my family on great nutrition!