Fermenting oats is an easy way to to make them more nutritious, deliciously creamy and shorten the cooking time. The process of fermenting grains breaks down the proteins, fats and carbohydrates; making the nutrients more bioavailable, and creating a healthy, rich, flavorful breakfast porridge.
I love steel cut oats, but I don’t always have 45 minutes in the morning to cook up a batch. For years I have precooked my oats and reheated them in the morning — which works quite well. Discovering the simple process of of overnight fermenting, however, has changed everything.
Fermenting has been used for centuries to preserve food. It is not complicated and it increases the nutritional value of the food being fermented. It also cuts the cooking time down to almost in half. I am always trying to find ways to make what I am eating more healthy, nutritious and readily available; fermenting does all three.
In addition to fermenting the oats before making breakfast oatmeal, I have started thinking about my oatmeal differently. I grew up eating oatmeal with brown sugar and butter; today, I add savory flavors to make it more versatile. It may be my Scottish heritage, but I find oatmeal with butter from grass-fed cows, salt and pepper quite delicious. I also like to add things like pomegranate seeds, walnuts, and cacao for sweet variety. I have also added miso, scallions, cheese and a fried egg to make it more hearty.
This is not your bland childhood oatmeal. This is oatmeal all grown-up and taken to the next level. It has texture, flavor, and packs a nutritional punch to start your day. You can enjoy it sweet or savory, and layer on the flavors and protein.
Using plain kefir in this recipe is optional, but using it will speed up the fermentation process.
Creamy Fermented Breakfast Oats
Ingredients
- 1 cup steel cut oats
- 1 1/4 cups filtered water
- 2 Tbsp. Plain kefir - kefir is a fermented dairy drink. This step is optional but speeds up the fermentation process.
Instructions
- Place grains in a medium bowl and cover with water. If using kefir, mix into water before adding to oats.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place at room temperature in a spot away from direct sunlight.
- Ferment overnight, but no more than 24 hours.
- Cook your fermented oats following the directions on the package, and adding a pinch of sea salt to the cooking water.
- Serve with toppings of your choice.
Recipe Notes
I make a batch of oatmeal and reheat it for an easy breakfast on busy mornings.
Kristen Coffield
I am a passionate advocate for food as medicine, life navigator and culinary coach. This is my space for sharing what excites, inspires and motivates me to live my best life. It began as a recipe blog for nourishing, simple, weekday meals and has become something much bigger… a guide to resilient wellness. I am excited to share my knowledge of how daily habits can cumulatively help you to live like you mean it and age like you want to.
Hello,
Is it safe to eat oats which was soaked in sea-salted water for 32 hours (more than your recommended 24 hours)? Is this level of fermentation unsafe?
When soaking oats, should they be rinsed before cooking?
Thanks.
You can ferment the oats and make overnight oats to optimize the fermented goodness.
Hello. I’m going to use my sourdough starter to ferment whole oat groats overnight.
Question: Would you use the overnight water or drain and rinse and cook with fresh water?
Thanks.
Hi George,
You have me a bit stumped because I am not an expert on fermentation, but my gut (ha) tells me to use the soaking liquid to cook them for the most benefits.
Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Eat Well. Be Well.
Kristen
The Bible for fermentation is The Art Of Fermentation by Katz. I also recommend only using Himalayan Pink Sea Salt!
Does cooking just destroy all of the great bacteria you just cultured? Could you cook first, cool then ferment?
Cooking them does change the value of the good bacteria, but makes delicious cooked oats.
it is indeed sad and probably reflective of a health www site when there is no follow up and answering of questions, Shame. I also would like to know, Why, go to the effort of fermenting oats with cultures of various types, then knowing that the cooking of oats will destroy all microbes you have created, not only, but also, if you supplement with HCI, this acid environment will also denature the grown probiotics
Fermenting is so important.
For thousands of years we fermented foods as a way to preserve them. Then modern technology and chemical preservatives entered and we lost that important process.
The good humans consume had changed more in the past 50 years than in all of human existence before that.
Basically, we should eat as our great great grandparents. If it wasn’t around then we shouldn’t eat it now.
Making fermented slaws is great too! Because we get all the good veggie fiber.
Always happy to help!
We’ve had a wild couple of months. If you follow me on Instagram you would have seen our condo got flooded by an upstairs neighbor. We became grandparents for the first time. I helped my sister through a double mastectomy. We are still dealing with a family member who passed without a will and was a hoarder, that’s been crazy and we care for my 89 year old dad with Parkinson’s. Since May we’ve been all over the place.
Always happy to connect and make suggestions, answer questions and help.
Eat Well. Be Well.
Kristen
I see this concern pop up a lot on sites concerning raw milk and other probiotic foods. I think we shouldn’t worry about heat killing the microbes if we eat from a variety of sources. Some uncooked ferments and some cooked. Cooking will not kill all microbes, and if only a few survive, microbes multiply exponentially in the right environment, like in our gut.
Second, the fermentation process creates additional nutrition to the foods like added B vitamins and fatty acids that are not nullified in the cooking process.
It is important to enjoy our food, so I think don’t be afraid of cooking things like sauerkraut, heating milk to warm it, heating milk to make yogurt or grains to make soothing oatmeal!
Traditional cultures cooked fermented foods for thousands of years. Saurkraut traditionally is never eaten raw, it’s fermented then cooked, and the people in those cultures still gained the benefits we know about today.
I forgot to add: fermenting also begins the digestion process outside the body, similar to cooking, making the food more digestible for us, so there are benefits beyond just ingesting the microbes. hope that is helpful!
Great comment! Just eat more fermented foods because it’s super beneficial for your overall health and wellness. Thank you for this great comment!
Eat Well. Be Well.
Kristen
Kristen,no need to justify or apologise for not replying to the comments made. People always make the wrong assumptions. They always think someone is online going to answer all their questions as soon as they are typed and then they get all grumpy and superior when they don’t. Real life, people – gets in the way of many a timely reply. xx
I fermented porridge for four days with water and Kombucha. The jar was sealed and kept in a dark place. Is this really safe? They lookes and smelled fine, but I’m still nervous about potentially getting botulism or some other food-borne illness. Thanks in advance.
Per my recipe the oats can be fermented overnight and no more than 24 hours. You can try my method to make a tasty breakfast.
Can I use milk, instead of water and kefir, and leave out on the counter overnight to ferment?
You need a fermented product to create the fermentation process. That’s why I use the kefir too get the benefits of fermentation.
Eat well. Be well.
Kristen
I fermented sticky rice with distillers yeast and then saved the liquid to ferment the oats. Smells like sourdough bread and tastes wonderful.
Michelle,
Impressed with your fermentation skills! What an interesting way to add flavor and dimension to the creamy fermented oats. Thank you for sharing.
Eat Well. Be Well.
Kristen
I use contents from probiotic capsule or sourdough starter to accomplish oat fermentation. Generally leave on counter for 2 or 3 days plus eat it raw to enjoy the full compliment of probiotics before killed off by heat. Your recipe sounds interesting. Does cooking the kefir fermented oats provide some kind of food safety or just taste?
I added butter and Non-fortified Brewer’s yeast flakes. Per another fermentation recipe I fermented the oats for 36 hours. It was delicious! I don’t mind the texture, but I am used to pouring boiling water over regular oats in a bowl and eating within about 5 minutes or less. This will be more digestible, I am hoping. This is my off Keto time for those who know not to do Keto all the time. I am hoping not to gain weight back.
Breaking down the undigestible plant proteins with fermentation has the double benefit of keeping the fiber while reducing the inflammatory response. LOVE your method!
Zestfully Yours,
Kristen Coffield 🍋