The British Way to Make Oatmeal 10x Better

We as a society don't show enough genuine appreciation for oatmeal. The pantry staple has so much going for it. Oats are versatile, budget-friendly and come in a variety of flavors and styles (instant, old-fashioned, roll, steel cut). As long as you have oats in your pantry, a warm and filling breakfast can be yours in no time.

You may be used to using only one kind of oat at a time. Maybe it's instant oats for quick and easy breakfasts, rolled oats for cookies and steel cut oats for leisurely weekend mornings. But what if you could mix things up a bit?

Thanks to our neighbors across the pond we found a super easy way to make a memorable bowl of oatmeal. The next time you make oatmeal, take notes from British chef April Bloomfield and combine two different kinds of oats for one amazing breakfast.

Related: The British Way to Make a Boxed Cake Mix 10x Better

😋😋 SIGN UP to get delicious recipes, handy kitchen hacks & more in our daily Pop Kitchen newsletter 🍳🍔

What is Porridge?

Porridge is the British term used to describe a hot mixture of oats cooked in water and/or milk. So porridge is to the Brits what oatmeal is to us Americans. Much like oatmeal in the United States, porridge in the UK is prepared in a number of ways. But if you ask British chef April Bloomfield, the key to porridge with perfect texture boils down to using two different types of oats: steel-cut oats and rolled oats.

View the original article to see embedded media.

Why You Should Make Oatmeal with a Mix of Rolled and Steel-Cut Oats

For Goldilocks in the classic fairytale, the bowl of porridge that she deemed "just right" struck the perfect balance of not too hot but not too cold. But her dilemma is one of the many pitfalls someone can run into when making oatmeal. Case in point: oatmeal's texture. Depending on the way the oats are processed, your final bowl of oatmeal can either turn out too soft and mushy or way too chewy. In her recipe for English porridge, April Bloomfield uses a 50/50 mix of rolled oats and steel-cut oats to create the perfect texture.

Related: How Jennifer Aniston Makes Oatmeal with Egg Whites

Steel-cut oats are whole oat groats that have been cut into two or three small pieces. In the grocery store, you'll often see steel-cut oats labeled as Irish oats or pinhead oats. They take a while to cook, but they have a chewy, hearty texture.

Rolled oats, on the other hand, are groats that are steamed and rolled flat, then dried. While they're quick to cook, rolled oats can get very creamy (or mushy) very quickly.

When you combine rolled oats with steel-cut oats, you get a bowl that's the Goldilocks of oatmeal textures. "The steel-cut bits keep their pop, while the rolled oats melt around them," according to the Food52 recipe for April Bloomfield's porridge.

Related: How to Make Trifle 10x Better, According to Great British Bake Off's Prue Leith (Exclusive)

How to Make Oatmeal with Steel-Cut and Rolled Oats

To make Bloomfield's British-style oatmeal, combine equal amounts of rolled oats and steel-cut oats. Bloomfield recommends using a 50/50 mix of milk and water and using a 3 to 1 ratio of liquid to oats. Boil milk and water in a pot over medium heat. When the liquid comes to a gentle simmer, add in the oats and cook. Stir the oats frequently until the rolled oats are a bit mushy and the steel-cut oats are tender, about 20 minutes. As soon as your oats are done, season with salt to taste and load your bowl up with your favorite toppings.

Up Next:

Related: The Queen Elizabeth-Approved Way to Make Scrambled Eggs