What Are Your Favorite Oatmeal Recipes?

July 15, 2023 7:48 PM

I'm in a phase of life where I'm loving baked oatmeal dishes and overnight oats. Please share your favorite recipes in either of these categories! A few specifics inside, but it's pretty much that.

I would LOVE to find some more baked oatmeal recipes along the lines of this one (which is amazing and I highly recommend). I'd also love overnight oats recipes where you just mix the ingredients the night before, leave to sit in the fridge, and eat the next day.

Extra points for recipes that are either high-protein, or allow for some unflavored protein powder to be added without messing up the recipe too much. HOWEVER, I don't like yogurt so any recipes that include that are not my fave. There are so many random internet recipes in these two categories, so I turn to metafilter for some personal recommendations - thanks for any suggestions!

posted by carlypennylane to Food & Drink (19 answers total)

Im a big fan of having an edge of savory/salty in my oatmeal breakfast. I didn’t use recipes, just did the proportions by feel. I’d add chia seeds, dried fruit, a mild/crumbly/salty cheese, nuts, and sometimes cardamom or cinnamon to my batch of overnight oats.

Here’s a recipe that looks about right: Savory oatmeal at the Kitchn

I also googled “feta cheese overnight oats” and got some hits from random blogs, one of which had the combo of pine nuts and figs with the feta, which also sounded nice.

I also did a date, blue cheese, bacon combo a few times that was tasty.
posted by itesser at 9:09 PM on July 15, 2023

I eat my oatmeal sort of like Chinese porridge: with sesame oil, soy sauce, maybe some chili crisp. You can add chopped peanuts or hemp seeds for more protein.

Another more savory option is olive oil and hard (or soft) boiled egg, salt, and a dash of lemon juice or balsamic vinegar.

You didn't ask for this but any leftover hot cereal/porridge can be fried the next day as delicious griddle cakes, just add an egg and/or ground flax for binding, maybe some sugar or cinnamon.
posted by SaltySalticid at 9:59 PM on July 15, 2023 [3 favorites]

I do something I call “puffy oatmeal.” I use

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 ripe banana
1/4 cup milk (you could use almond milk or what have you, I use cow)
1 egg
1 tbsp or so of maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
A bit of salt

Blend the whole thing together (I use a magic Bullet blender) and pour into a greased 8-ounce ramekin. Sprinkle a few mini chocolate chips on top. Bake for around 20 minutes at 350 degrees. You can leave out the egg if you want but it’s a lot more dense and not as puffy, and of course will have far less protein.
posted by holborne at 10:08 PM on July 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I make overnight oats with a couple of variations… I do a “carrot cake” version with raisins, finely grated carrots, cinnamon, and a little maple syrup. I do a “strawberries and cream” one with freeze-dried strawberries sort of crushed a bit and mixed in along with vanilla protein and vanilla extract. I also like dried apple chips crushed up and maybe some chopped walnuts or almonds. The dried fruits plump up and seem to add a really concentrated flavor.
posted by katie at 10:36 PM on July 15, 2023 [2 favorites]

We make tiramisu over night oats with either very very strong coffee, a shot of espresso, or instant coffee diluted in a bit of water (whatever’s available), a bit of cocoa powder, any kind of milk, a bit of maple syrup, brown sugar or honey, and then a scoop of plain Greek yogurt added just before eating.
posted by third word on a random page at 11:36 PM on July 15, 2023 [6 favorites]

Do you want savory? One of the best oatmeal based breakfasts I’ve ever had was a bowl of oats cooked in herby chicken broth and topped with crispy chickpeas, sumac, roasted bell peppers, and a swirl of olive oil. Extra protein from the chickpeas and extra vitamins, color, and a pop of sweetness from the peppers, so savory and filling.

Crispy chickpeas are simple to make and can be made ahead of time and re-crisped in a pan while the oatmeal is cooking, and you can adjust the spices on them to your favorites. I suggest turmeric, powdered garlic and onion, smoked paprika, black pepper and salt. Rinse and dry canned chickpeas (or cook your own from dried) and toss with the spices and some neutral oil, then spread out into a single layer in a big pan if doing it on the stovetop or a sheet tray if doing it in the oven. Roast or pan fry on a medium heat until one side starts to brown, then toss and spread back out to do another side, do this until your chickpeas are crispy on most sides and easily shake around the pan or tray. Slow and steady wins the race, here.

I don’t care much for sweet breakfasts. I do like oatmeal with dried apricots, pistachios, and cardamom though. Chop the apricots into smaller pieces than you think because they plump up, and reserve some pistachios to sprinkle on top because they will soften when cooked. You can compliment the cardamom with an easy teensy bit of nutmeg and ginger. Really good with black tea.
posted by Mizu at 12:17 AM on July 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

I've cited my flapjack recipe where oatflakes serve as a vehicle for golden syrup. In the past I've baked oatflakes with butter+syrup for granola. What works well is to add some wheat flakes to that granola recipe: it really gives a nutty lift; like adding a single clove to a large apple pie.
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:50 AM on July 16, 2023

The Josh Cortis website has several bbaked oatmeal reciipies. He does use some non-grocery store ingredients like protein powder (but you don't have to).
posted by SemiSalt at 4:57 AM on July 16, 2023

My go-to breakfast is steel cut oats, which I make in the instant pot by combining 1 c oats with 3 c water and a pinch of salt, and cooking it for 3 minutes in high plus 15 minutes afterwords in the pot (natural release). It makes enough for most of a week of breakfast, and you can toss in dried fruit or whatever when you set up the cooking.

I like it with brown sugar, slivered almonds and dried unsweetened coconut, and popped amaranth if I’ve got it.

It’s also good with butter and everything bagel seasoning if you feel like savory.
posted by leahwrenn at 6:32 AM on July 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Attempts at savory out meal are doomed. Oatmeal is too sweet. Consider adding barely or farina or rye to your breakfast list. There’s a whole world of hot cereal.

(Malt O Meal is even sweeter than oats so also won’t go savory.)
posted by Lesser Shrew at 6:54 AM on July 16, 2023

Overnight oats base (4 servings)
- 2c (rolled) oats
- 2c oat milk
- 1 T maple syrup
- 1-2t vanilla
- 1/4 - 1/2c almond butter

I haven’t tried it yet, but based on warm oat experiments, I think this can take 4 scoops of unsweetened protein powder without it being really obvious. The almond butter is key for masking that.

Top with blueberries, bananas, strawberries, or your favorite other fruits that are in the house.
posted by A Blue Moon at 7:50 AM on July 16, 2023

Loved this baking with oats YouTube channel for some simple easy recipes.
posted by SunPower at 8:16 AM on July 16, 2023

Recently, I made a bread with the pulp from the juicer and oats. I can't tell you ratios because I eyeballed it. But I can explain the method.
First I made a levain with a bit of yeast and bread flour and water, mixed to a consistency like thick cream. I let this rise till it was very foamy and live. Then I mixed in salt (be generous, even a tablespoon only amounts to a few grains per slice), the pulp, and then a mix of whole wheat and oatmeal till I had a well hydrated dough. I let that rise overnight in the fridge, then took it out in the morning and stretched and folded it a few times. I'm pretty sure it could have been made as a no kneed bread, but I was going for a sandwich style. When the dough was good and stretchy, I put it in a baking tin and baked it till it was ready (I know, I just can't do better than this -- maybe 45 minutes at 200 C?) It was very good. I think it would be even better with walnuts and either olives or raisins, for eating with butter or cheese for breakfast or tea.

Next time I tried, the pulp had begun to ferment, and the bread got a really weird taste. So I learnt you have to do this on the day of juicing.

Next time again, my timing was bad, and I had to take it out of the oven too early. It couldn't be saved, so I cut it up and baked the slices into rusks for the dog. Far too fibrous in that twice-baked form for humans.

I think it would be fine to put protein powder in, but it is an ingredient I don't know at all.
posted by mumimor at 9:49 AM on July 16, 2023

I like having homemade muffins around the house for quick meals (mostly breakfast). When I have no other "featured" ingredients in the house, I generally have oatmeal and applesauce in the pantry. So, these oatmeal-applesauce muffins are in fairly heavy rotation. I usually can't be arsed to make the streusel topping, but I like them just as well without. Once I drizzled some milk-and-powdered-sugar glaze I had left over from another recipe on top of them, and that was good, too.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:19 PM on July 16, 2023

(P.S. they freeze well.)
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:22 PM on July 16, 2023

Savoury oats really points to Scottish oatcakes, possibly with cheese on top for your protein. If you want sweet, then flapjacks, which requires the peculiarly British golden syrup, which it turns out is quite easy to make if you can't source it.

I've eaten oatcakes out of a packet, but never made them. I have made flapjack and golden syrup (not necessarily with those recipes, but they look reasonable), and neither is that difficult. Flapjack with dairy in it (condensed milk, I think, is usual) is usually softer, flapjack with just sugary components comes out quite crisp and turns chewy after a day or two.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 1:05 AM on July 17, 2023

On review, I should have pointed to the Josh Cortis YouTube channel, not a website.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:29 AM on July 17, 2023

My favourite is the apple pie baked oatmeal recipe from Budget Bytes. I make it with 2-3 times the amount of fruit in the recipe and usually with a mixture of apples and pears.
posted by aussie_powerlifter at 12:49 AM on July 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

I like to throw ground almonds into my porridge. You can cook it any way you like including overnight oats.

You might also like it if you make a fairly thick bowl of oatmeal and then cover the top with a layer of brown sugar and put it under the broiler in a heat proof bowl to caramelize the brown sugar and make a crust.

My sister likes to make her oatmeal with green peas. The natural sweetness of the oatmeal goes well with the sweetness of little new peas. Diced sweet peppers could work as well.

If you like savory oatmeal it helps to add butter.

Have you looked into making a haggis filling? You don't need to have the lamb stomach to cook it in, you can just make the filling as a boiled pudding in a pudding bowl.
posted by Jane the Brown at 9:30 PM on July 18, 2023