Oats are one of my ultimate comfort foods. I used to regularly have overnight oats for breakfast with mashed banana and hemp protein, but since making my first smoothie bowl I rarely have them for breakfast. Instead, I’ve been indulging in my love of oats later on in the day, as a quick, warming dinner or the perfect post-workout lunch. They’re full of carby goodness and are wonderfully versatile! It’s so easy to switch things up, adding different ingredients to the porridge, or playing around with toppings.

As people have been asking me more and more, I thought I’d share with you how I make my oat bowls – from the basic recipe to what goes into the nut buttery sauces I’ve started using.

Basic recipe

• 70g whole oats
• 1 cup (250ml) liquid (usually a mix of almond milk and water)
• pinch of salt

This will make a very thick, stodgy porridge – which is just how I love my oats. If you prefer a thinner, more runny porridge, you’ll want to add more liquid. You can also modify the quantities to make more or less, as desired, but this is the basic ratio I use.

Flavor:

• adding a tsp of vanilla extract
• cacao powder
• turmeric, ginger & cinnamon
• maca (I’ve also previously uploaded a recipe for Maple Maca Oats)
• lucuma – I use this sometimes to naturally sweeten the porridge a bit, as I don’t want too much sweetness in the oats if I’m using a sweet topping; you could, at this stage, also, however, add maple syrup, another sweetener of your choice, or even some mashed banana to the oats
• protein powders – I use hemp or brown rice protein if I want an extra protein punch

Toppings

• fruit – I always love having some berries on top, fresh or frozen, warm or cold; you can also slice up some banana or add any other fruit you’ve got at hand
• chia jam – I heat up 150g frozen berries (usually blueberries & raspberries) with 1 tbsp chia seeds and ca. 1.5 tbsp maple syrup, till you get the perfect gloopy, jammy mix (ca. 10 min. on medium heat)
• crushed nuts – great for an extra crunch; I love using walnuts and pecans
• nut butter – if you’re a nut butter addict like me, this is essential! Peanut butter, walnut butter (!), hazelnut, almond … or, why not go for a seed butter – I’ve found pumpkin seed butter goes really well with strawberries on porridge
• sauces – my go-to sauce is mixing 1 tbsp (or more) of nut or seed butter with almond milk and maple syrup, adding cacao powder if I want a chocolatey, nutella-like vibe, or maca
• chocolate – what could be better than a square or two of your favorite chocolate melting into the hot oats?

(Lazy) Method:

Pour your oats into a microwave-proof bowl, add a pinch of salt and whatever you want to flavor it with (such as cacao powder, lucuma and vanilla extract), stir, add the liquid and pop into the microwave. I put it in for 1.5 minutes, so no time at all! While that’s cooking away, chop up some fruit or whatever you’re topping the oats with, and whip up a quick sauce, e.g., almond butter, maca, almond milk and maple syrup – just stiring all the ingredients together, tasting along the way, until you get the desired sweetness, balance of flavors and the consistency you’re going for. (Alternatively I sometimes make overnight oats. Check out my Creamy Chocolate Peanut Butter Oats, for example).

As you can see, the options are literally endless!

Hope you enjoyed reading about how I make my oats, and let me know what your favorite ways of having porridge are!

Feel Good Fact: Oats are a great way to get more heart-healthy fiber, and are high in manganese. A diet high in fiber has also been shown to reduce the risk of breast cancer.