Do you ever wish for an overflowing oatmeal bowl?
As opposed to the measly amount you get from one serving of oats? If you answered “yes” to the above, then the Voluminous Oatmeal Trick is for you!
*Ends sales pitch*
What is the Voluminous Oatmeal Trick?
The idea is to add more than the recommended liquid to the oats, prior to cooking. Then you can either microwave or cook on the stovetop, but stop before all the water is absorbed. Come back the next day (or a few hours later), and all the liquid has been absorbed, leaving you with pillow-soft oats that are double the size of regular oats!
Step One: Measure out one serving of dry oats (40g). I also add 1/4 tsp salt.
Step Two: Add a little over 1 1/2 cups liquid (I add 400g).
Step Three: Microwave or cook on the stove, but stop before all the water is absorbed. (I microwave for 4 1/2 minutes, then leave in the closed microwave for 5 more minutes. You might have to watch if for the last minute, and stop and start the microwave, so it doesn’t spill over. It depends on your microwave’s wattage.)
Step Four: Put in the fridge, uncovered. When you return the next day (or a few hours later), the watery mess above will have magically turned into 2 cups-worth of pillowy, voluminous oats! Now, I am strange and like my oatmeal cold (like pudding!). But if you want it hot, you can still re-heat the next day. Re-heat it just until it gets hot, and the volume will stay. Troubleshooting Note: Microwave wattages vary, and therefore if your oats haven’t thickened up by the next day it probably means you need to cook them longer next time.
Try this trick on any of the following:
Oh my gosh! I do the EXACT same thing! 😀
Add more water, fridge overnight and eat next morning.
Guilt free binging!
aww that sound awesome! gotta try but ive just got millet flakes @ home… do you think those might do it as well?
I’ve never tried millet flakes. I don’t even know what they look like… they sound interesting!
so im gonna try and tell then thx 🙂
Hi
I love your recipes. I am trying to reduce sugar intake while still getting my “sweet tooth” fix, and I love your voluminous oatmeal with fruit for the sweet factor.
But for those of use watching sodium, does the salt help with the volume or is it just a taste thing?
Thanks!
I’m pretty sure it’d still be ok (volume-wise) without the salt. I just add it for flavor :). I don’t actually know if it does anything to the water!
This just makes me so sad. If you want a “voluminous” bowl of oatmeal, just double the serving. Put whatever you want in your bowl. How weird to have a size trick regarding oatmeal of all things! Of all the ways there are to watch calories and portion size, I certainly don’t think oatmeal is critical. Food tricks like this make me worry about fostering women’s eating disorders.
That’s great for you, honestly, but it doesn’t work for everyone. Some people don’t WANT to eat that much at once and some people may not be able to eat that much at once and lose weight. The way I make this (with soy milk, a full banana, and two tablespoons of peanut butter) I’m already at 550 calories. That doesn’t even include side items like extra fruit or a smoothie. I don’t really need the extra oats, but I love the texture.
I’m not currently working on losing weight, but if you’re eating 1500 calories per day to lose weight (a number that is totally reasonable and can be healthy) then a 550 calorie breakfast is just fine. 700 might be pushing it. It’s all up to the individual. I think if you want extra food, you should add extra oats. If you don’t want extra food, but you do want the texture etc., then there’s no harm in trying this.
I totally agree that we need to be careful about things like body image and eating disorders, etc. but there’s nothing wrong with making an old favorite in a new way. Just my two cents. I don’t feel like she’s framing it in an unhealthy way. I definitely don’t think it’s something to be sad over.
This was soo helpful. Oatmeal used to never satisfy me but after this trick it really is never ending . I love it!
P.S. I love your blog
Do you use quick oats or only regular oats!??!
You can do the trick with quick oats, but I’d use less liquid.
Hey,
I just discovered your website. It’s so great, i love your recipes! I’m from Germany, so some ingredients
I can’t find in our supermarket, e.g. coconut butter. Anyway, I want to try looooooots of recipes!
I love oats and just prepared the voluminous oatmeal trick for tomorrow’s breakfast. Already curious about the outcome ^^
it’s soooo awesome! Just enjoying it right now! I added rasberries and , cinnamon and cocoa powder. deeeeeeeeeeeeelicous!
Katie,
I am a relatively new reader and really enjoy reading your recipes. Hope I get to try more of them very soon! You may have heard about this but I do something similar and it really makes my oats stretch and (according to some) makes them more healthy too. I soak my oats overnight according the the Nourishing Traditions way (see book with the same name) with an acid like yogurt, whey, or apple cider vinegar. This makes them quick and easy to cook and really increases their volume and digestibility.
I also wanted to tell you I made a 4x batch of your apple cinnamon boatmeal for our family yesterday. They worked great in a regular muffin pan when we baked them. I think it made 10. Since I used soaked oats I just drained them out little and didn’t add any milk or water just applesauce, rapadura, vanilla, and cinnamon.
Thanks and keep up the good work! 🙂
Hi Chris!
Thanks for the fun comment… I’ve never actually tried soaking my oats, but maybe I should because I know a lot of people say it adds a fun flavor and texture.
And thanks for letting me know that the boatmeals work in muffin tins. Someone actually asked me that yesterday, and I didn’t have an answer because I hadn’t tried it!
Hi Katie,
You could also just add more oats! 1/3 cup isn’t even a full serving, a half a cup is! But with your metabolism, you could even double that. Then you’d REALLY have voluminous oats! It would probably keep you full for longer too, since you aren’t filling up on water. I am trying to gain weight as well, and a piddly 100ish calories for breakfast definitely won’t help us, haha! Oh, and you could also make them with milk instead to make them even creamier. (and extra healthy calories). I know that you said you would like to gain weight the healthy way, and oats are healthy AND delicious! So eat up girl! 🙂
Hi Rachel,
LOL I would never eat just 1/3 cup oats for breakfast ;). I run a blog where a lot of my readers are looking to fill up for fewer calories, and so I often try to include lower-cal ideas for them. But it doesn’t mean I, myself, use these ideas. Personally, I usually DO eat 1 and 1/2 servings of oats (as I wrote in my Snickerdoodle Oatmeal post I published awhile back). And I always have nut butters and other such things with my oats as well. I eat huge breakfasts :).
(Same goes for my other recipes– for example, I offer applesauce as an option for some of my recipes, but I usually use the oil option when cooking for myself.)
I tried this trick for the first time & I am in LOVE!!
I was skeptical, how can 40g of oatmeal make a bowl full??
My mom always made a pan full of oatmeal with just one cup of oatmeal but she let it slow cook in the slow cooker for hours.
It always tastes sooo good!! way better than microwaving oats with milk & then eating it right away.
This is easier and quicker (well it has to sit, but you can make it the night before & its done when you wake up!) It’s so creamy (and i used 1/2 water, and 1/2 milk with 1 tbsp of non dairy creamer)
I will be using this trick way more!! It fills you up too!!
Thanks!!!
I’m not vegan, but I love all your recipes & I will feature this recipe on my blog with a link to yours.
Won’t the oatmeal absorb all the taste from the fridge? I’ve tried this today and it was all watery and not very yummy. My dad covered it though, so it wasn’t in the fridge uncovered, is it because of that?
As it says in the recipe, it needs to stay uncovered to work.
But won’t it taste like the fridge? 😀 Thank you for your answer, I love your blog and could stay on it for hours.
This method is AMAZING with some added cocoa powder and sweetener/sugar! The chocolate gets extra-melty and it’s like eating a molten chocolate oatmeal cake for breakfast. Mmmmmm nothing wrong with that…
hey katie!
I LOVE YOU FOR MAKING THIS!!!! <3 I like mixing in some peanut butter! <3
Hey Katie! Love your recipes- they’ve changed my life! Quick question. If you cook the voluminous oatmeal overnight, how do you incorporate it to all the oatmeal recipes in the morning. I specifically want to try it with the 5 minute chocolate oatmeal. Any help would be great! Thanks:)
Hi Sara,
I actually don’t use the voluminous oatmeal trick for that recipe. I cook that one on the stovetop.
Thanks for the response! Can you suggest how I can incorporate the voluminous oatmeal trick with any of your other oatmeal recipes? Im confused how to cook the next day with the already pile of voluminous oats. Thanks so much, Katie!
Just add the other ingredients in to the already-cooked oats. I like my oats cold, but you can re-heat if you wish :).
Hi! I know this is an older post, but I just found your website a few days ago. I cannot tell you how amazing this tidbit is for me! I always had a love/hate relationship with oatmeal. I’ll like it for awhile but then I just can’t stand it. However, I always made it that morning..and after awhile I just can’t eat it anymore. I don’t even care about the volume. Doing this makes it so creamy and amazing that I feel like I’m eating something bad for me! No wonder you like it cold like pudding, because it tastes so sinful you’d think it is. In this form I don’t even want sugar in it anymore!