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Best Oatmeal

Since I acquired a rice cooker, one of my go-to easy meals is, you guessed it, oatmeal. Here's the recipe that I've settled on.

Published 2 min read n0madz
A white bowl of oatmeal. The bowl says "breakfast" in black font. There's a downturned spoon sitting by the bowl of oatmeal.
Photo by Ekaterina Kasimova / Unsplash (not my oatmeal, my oatmeal looks and tastes better)

Since I acquired a rice cooker, one of my go-to easy meals is, you guessed it, oatmeal. Here's the recipe that I've settled on. I will say that the rice cooker linked below contains a mini-recipe book, which the recipe below is a modified version of the one for oatmeal included in that promotional material.

I use this Cosori rice cooker - I'm sure there are better ones out there, but this is the one I ended up with, and it's served my purposes just fine so far.

Simpson Oatmeal GIF

Ingredients

  • 2 cups or roughly 500 mL of water
  • 1 cup or 240 mL of milk (or whatever dairy or dairy substitute you prefer)
  • 1 cup or 240 mL of rolled oats (maybe steel cut would be better)
  • 1/3rd cup or roughly 80 mL of maple syrup
  • 3 tbsp of brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp of butter
  • Ground cinnamon

The Recipe

  1. Add oats to rice cooker
  2. Add milk to rice cooker
  3. Add water to rice cooker
  4. Use rice cooker's built-in setting for making oatmeal using rolled oats
  5. Near end of cook time, add in maple syrup, butter, and brown sugar
  6. Stir
  7. Serve once oatmeal has reached desired consistency (the longer it sits in the rice cooker, the more it will thicken)
  8. Season with cinnamon to taste

Based on feedback from my 4 yo son, I experimented with cinnamon by dropping in a tbsp. In retrospect, that was probably a bit heavy on the cinnamon, but I operate from a position of if I’m going to say it’s in there you better be able to taste it. Since that initial experimentation, I'd say season to taste with the cinnamon.

Beyond cinnamon, I'd say the above recipe could be modified to include mixed berries, honey, protein powder (whether to adjust texture or when trying to meet certain nutritional goals), peanut butter (or other nut butters), etc.

I used the standard rice cooker settings for oatmeal and let it rip. This makes roughly 4-6 servings (depending on how big your servings are). Best oatmeal I’ve ever had.

Additionally, I'd say it keeps for a few days in the fridge, but that's another personal preference and depends on how comfortable you are with eating leftovers. My personal philosophy is that leftovers should be eaten or tossed within 1-2 days after that initial day of creation.

So far, this is one of the few recipes that my progeny will come back with this reaction:

Oliver Oatmeal GIF

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