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Recipe · Gluten Free · American
Overnight Oatmeal Recipe
Using steel-cut, gluten-free oats, this is the recipe you need to kickstart a love of oatmeal. It’s easy to prepare and, unlike those overpriced oatmeal packets sold in the store, totally natural.
Prep OvernightCook 5 minMakes 4
From the Dr. Axe archive ·
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Why it works: Using steel-cut, gluten-free oats, this is the recipe you need to kickstart a love of oatmeal. It’s easy to prepare and, unlike those overpriced oatmeal packets sold in the store, totally natural.
Ingredients
BatchesOriginal yield: 4
Print recipe →- of water4 cups
- steel-cut oats1 cup
- dates½ cup
- cinnamon1 teaspoon
Method
- Add the water and oats to a pot and bring to a boil.
- Turn stovetop off and cover the pot to soak oats overnight.
- In the morning, drain oats and 1 cup of water to the pot. Heat over medium-high heat. Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add oats and dates to food processor and blend until well incorporated.
- Distribute in bowls and sprinkle cinnamon on top, along with any other fresh fruit such as cut-up strawberries or bananas, or blueberries or raspberries.
- If you want to add some more liquid, add a little unsweetened almond milk.
Swaps & notes
To add some healthy fats, consider adding slivered almonds or even almond butter to each bowl.
Oatmeal is a terrific healthy breakfast option. It's easy to prepare and a high-fiber food that will keep you feeling full and satisfied — and it's easy to customize when feeding the family. It also gets overlooked often, and it's not hard to guess why. Without the right ingredients accompanying it, oatmeal can be downright boring to eat. Because it's fairly flavorless on its own, it's not the type of dish that gets you excited about breakfast.
That is, until my Overnight Oats recipe came along. Using steel cut, gluten-free oats, this is the recipe you need to kickstart a love of oatmeal. It's easy to prepare and, unlike those overpriced oatmeal packets sold in the store, totally natural. Give this overnight oatmeal nutrition a try — I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!
Dr. Axe Quiz
Oatmeal is one of the most popular whole grain recipes worldwide, and steel cut oat grains are a great source of fiber, trace minerals, and even plant-based protein and healthy fatty acids!
How to Make Overnight Oats
Start by soaking the steel-cut oats overnight in water. I like doing this in a small pot — you'll use it later, so it's one less dish to wash.
Why is it necessary to soak steel-cut oats overnight? Because these oats are so power-packed and dense that cooking them the morning of 1) takes at least 40 minutes and 2) they often still don't get soft enough for a pleasant eating texture. Soaking them overnight results in them only taking a few minutes to cook in the morning and a perfect texture.
In the morning, drain the oats and add them (back) to a small pot, along with a cup of water. Turn the heat on to medium high and bring the oats and water to a boil. Reduce the heat and let the oats simmer for about 5 minutes. Your overnight oatmeal is forming!
Let the overnight oats recipe cool slightly and then add it and dates (or raisins) to a food processor. Blend until the ingredients have mixed together nicely. The dates here are a great touch. They sweeten this oatmeal without overpowering it. Sprinkle a little cinnamon on top, and you've got yourself a delicious breakfast oatmeal!
This is one of my favorite ways to prepare oatmeal, but it's easy to adjust to your family's tastes, too. You can soak them overnight with a cut up apple. You can also serve with sliced berries or bananas, or sprinkle a little granola on top for texture. Slivered almonds would add some healthy fats and provide a little crunch. You just can't go wrong with this steel cut overnight oats.
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