I used to quickly eat boxed cereal or toast for breakfast and be on with my day. Since learning about more nourishing ways of eating, I cook breakfast almost every morning.
Being a mom has also changed my breakfast habits. When I started supplementing my little boy’s breast milk diet with food, I quickly realized that I had to come up with something for him to eat every single morning. I couldn’t just put a bowl of milk and cereal in front of him when he couldn’t even hold a spoon!
So I started making oatmeal and he loved it-at first. Now at 2 years old he’s become pickier and he doesn’t love it so much. I’ll keep trying and hopefully he’ll come around again!
Oatmeal is a great alternative to store-bought cereal. It’s healthier, more filling, and costs less. And when you soak your oatmeal the night before, you’ll receive even more benefits from your oatmeal breakfast.
Soaking makes vitamins and minerals in the oats more absorbable for your body, it helps you digest the grain more easily, and it reduces your cooking time in the morning. Steel cut oats take about 15-20 minutes to cook when you start with dry oats, but when they’ve been soaked, it takes only 3-5 minutes for them to cook. Learn more about the benefits of pre-soaking your grains here.
Steel cut oats have a great texture and I really love them for breakfast, but if you hate oatmeal-I have some tips for you: 1) add enough salt to bring out the flavor, 2) add some good fats like butter, raw milk, or cream, 3) add some maple syrup and/or cinnamon, and 3) add berries, fruit, and nuts.
When you doctor your oatmeal up like this, there’s no way you can’t like it. Is there?
- 1 cup steel cut oats (not quick cooking)
- 3 cups warm water
- 1 Tbsp of an acidic medium such as whey, plain yogurt, cultured buttermilk, kefir, lemon juice, or apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup water
- ¼ tsp unrefined sea salt
- Put the steel cut oats in a glass bowl and cover with the warm water.
- Add in your acidic medium and stir to combine.
- Let oats sit on your counter at room temperature overnight or for 8 to 24 hours.
- When finished soaking, rinse the oats with water.
- Bring 1 cup of fresh water and sea salt to boil in a pot.
- Add in rinsed soaked oats and simmer on low.
- Cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until oats reach a desired consistency, stirring occasionally.
- Serve hot with a bit of real maple syrup, pastured butter, raw milk, or cream.
Thanks for the tip! Do you have a tried recipe of bobs red mill steel cut oats for muffins, bars, and cookies and such … My kids don’t like the gooey oatmeal, they love cereal bars and muffins, I cant find a good recipe which has no processed sugar with steel cut oats ( I want to just use fruits, veggies or honey or maple syrup (??) ). I tried one recipe which called for regular oats and just substituted steel cut for quick oats.. and the muffins were NOT.. GOOD !! I don’t want to waste food like that.
Thank you.
Ramya
look for recipes using cooked oats- or any cooked grains. then you can substitute cooked steel cut oats 1 to 1 in the recipe
4 medium bananas whipped. Mash and use mixer
Add 2 eggs and continue whipping
2 cups of steel cut oats
1 cup raisins/chocolate chips/nuts. ( have done w/ frozen fruit like blueberries just don’t use too much or muffins fall apart)
Sprinkle some cinnamon on top.
Spoon mixture in to muffin pan
Bake for 15 mins at 375
Makes 12 + muffins
The downside? It s pushing 100 degrees this time of year, back-to-school crazy mornings have returned, and even if my mornings were carefree and cozy, it takes about 30 minutes to stir up a batch of steel-cut porridge.
This recipe includes instructions for soaking the oats overnight. Takes almost no effort to do that, “easy peasy”, as they say.
This is why she’s given this tip: you soak them overnight. Then they only have to cook 3-5 minutes.
I put peanut butter in mine, then serve it with a dollop of jam on the top. Gently stir in a little bit and watch out! It could be your new favorite way to eat porridge!
Hope this helps
And if you don’t want a hot breakfast, you can soak them, rinse them, and serve cold covered in milk like breakfast cereal!
Great idea, thanks!
Is rinsing before cooking important? Does that rinse out anything beneficial?
Not really. You end up getting more nutrients by soaking, and by rinsing it you take off any remaining phytic acid(the stuff that strips nutrients from your body) and allow for better absorption.
Do you know how long you can store the soap oats? I like to prep my breakfast for the week so I can just Grab & Go.
What does the acidic part of the recipe do? I’m sure there’s a purpose but I just don’t know what that is. Thanks!
I found this in a different recipe….
Soaking the grain in an acidic medium neutralizes the phytic acid prior to consumption. This practice minimizes the gluten-mimicking and gut irritation that other grains elicit.
So acid neutralizes acid?
It sounds backwards, but there are other examples of this method. Spinach has oxalic acid that causes liver problems and a chalky feeling on your teeth if you dont put vinegar or lemon juice on it during cooking.
you can cook steel cut oats by pouring boiling water…about 2 to 1…over them in a stainless steel double wall mug…about 1 hour later they’re ready…
Thank you for the info
Thanks for that alternative. I suppose that throwing in a bit of yogurt might provide some of that nutritional soak benefit but not the same as a long soak in warm acidic medium rather than just boiling water. I think the point here is as not speed but nutrition.
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Will this ratio of soaked steel cut oats to water also work with a slow cooker? I’m thinking about trying it out but am hesitant. Has anyone else done this? Thanks for any information you can provide.
Yes. I have slow cooked my oats over night.
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Tried this. Something is wrong with this recipe or the way i read it. I soaked the oats overnight then rinsed them (discarding the soaking water in the process). The 1 cup of water I then added to the oats was not nearly enough to cook them in. I ended up adding two more cups of water just to keep it liquid enough to simmer. Did the author mean for me to retain and use the soaking water as part of the cooking liquid?
So whey protein powder would be a good acidic substance to use?
Lisa,
No, the whey the author is referencing is the yellow liquid that you see on cultured dairy products like yogurt, buttermilk, kefir etc.
Hello, Is Soaking for 24 hours better than 8 hours?
Can i use another vinegar than apple cider? Thank you. Mike
Wow, what a great way to make steel cut oats quick and easy! I just ate this for breakfast. Thank you!
I’m excited to do this right now and have an easy, healthy breakfast tomorrow.
Q: Should I cover the glass bowl that sits on the counter? Does it matter?
I ended up using apple cider vinegar and covering the bowl so that my partner would not complain about the smell (he hates the smell of ACV). I let it sit for 24 hours and it turned out great with the addition of oat milk (I know, kind of silly), maple syrup, cinnamon and mixed nut and seed butter. Thank you! 5 stars! I tried to rate the recipe 5 stars by clicking on the fifth star but it would not let me
I soaked my steel cut oats and I noticed when I rises them the next day, the oats got really mushy on me and I think I lost a lot through the strainer. Is this normal?