Overnight Soaked Oatmeal - Creamy, Gut Friendly and Quick Cooking

Some people avoid oatmeal for a variety of reasons. If you just don’t like it, then you probably want to skip this recipe. If you’ve avoided it because of the texture, then stick around. If you’ve avoided it because it gave you some tummy distress (that would be me), you also should stick around. And lastly, if it seems like too much trouble to cook and you prefer the little packets that you just pour boiling water over, stir and enjoy, this is for you too.

Soaking oatmeal overnight does a few things for you, You wind up with a creamy consistency that is wonderful to eat. If you want it less creamy all you have to do is add less water. The gut-friendly part comes in due to the reduction of lectins. You can find out more about lectins here. In a nutshell, lectins are anti-nutrients that plants use to protect themselves, they can cause gastrointestinal distress (tummy aches and other more intense issues. Lectins are reduced by cooking and further reduced by soaking and then cooking.

uncooked oatmeal in a pot and a lemon

Soaking is simple to do, place the desired amount of oatmeal into a cooking pot 10-12 hours before you plan on preparing the oatmeal. Cover it with water, and add a little lemon juice or vinegar to reduce phytic acid (another gut irritant). There are other acids you can use instead, learn more here. In the morning bring the oatmeal to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium and cook until you achieve the desired consistency, adding more water if necessary. It does not take long to cook, somewhere around 10 minutes.

I like to make a big pot of plain oatmeal and then portion it out for the week (oatmeal reheats great in the microwave or on the stovetop, you just need to add a little water to the pot). By making it plain each morning I can choose my desired ingredients; I usually like diced granny smith apples and cinnamon in my oatmeal with a tablespoon of coconut butter, but raisins and dates are also really good.