The Only Homemade Oatmeal Recipe You Will Ever Need

Ahh, oatmeal. That warm, nutty goodness on a…hot summer morning?

Huh?

My kids ask for it every day, no matter what the temperature. This sweltering summer is no different. My son would eat only oatmeal, all day, for every meal, if I let him. 

We stopped buying the pre-portioned packets years ago. I’ve enjoyed those store-bought cups once or twice, and they’re nice, but frankly, I’m an oatmeal snob.

​There, I said it!

Pre-packaged oatmeal is overpriced for what you’re actually getting. It’s also way too sweet (imho), it contains unnecessary additives, the packaging creates waste no one needs, and because it’s so stupid-easy and cheap a.f. to make your own from clean, local, even organic ingredients, there’s zero reason to buy packaged oatmeal ever again.

I’ve made my recipe a thousand times, so at long last I thought I should finally jot it down to share with you here.

Work off of this and feel free to do your own thing with it. That’s what’s so awesome about oats. They’re versatile and delish no matter what you do to them!

As they say in yoga class, give yourself the permission to change your life (er, this recipe) however you want!

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I’ll stick to my method as long as my kids are rigid automatons who expect the same thing over and over again. Someday they’ll get adventurous with food. For now, they like it this way. The amounts I include below yield a big Pyrex bowl's worth, about eight servings. 

Swap in your favorite dried fruit instead of raisins. Add nuts or seeds. I don’t care. Change up the spices—nutmeg and cloves make this even more rich-smelling and tasting. I’ve used steel cut oats instead of rolled, which are just lovely and make me feel very Irish—they just take a little longer to soften. Fresh blueberries, dried cranberries, a drizzle of maple syrup, even--gasp!—cocoa can liven this up in new and exciting ways.

​Get wild! Go free! Eat oatmeal! Enjoy!