High fibre, with a reasonable protein content, easy to prepare and deliciously versatile – no wonder oats have been a breakfast staple for yonks!
Prepare it with full-fat dairy, for the protein and calcium boost and for the taste – fat means flavour so you won’t be tempted to drown your brekkie with honey.
Even instant oats are classified as wholegrain, but nothing beats jumbo oats cooked from scratch. Here’s a collection of porridge recipes, not only oat-based and not only cooked on the hob.
First, the classic: jumbo oats, milk and raisins. If you set it to soak overnight, it will take you all of three minutes to cook it for breakfast – properly chunky, rather than slushy. And the perfect porridge is topped with crème fraiche and honey, for extra indulgence.
Porridge with raisins and creme fraiche
RECIPE
Now an even healthier option: porridge sweetened naturally, with jammy dates. This one can also be prepared the night before so the dates soak and almost melt. The next morning it’s a cooked within minutes, nutritious and kick-ass breakfast.
No lactose? No problem. Coconut milk works just as well in porridge. It tastes similar to cow’s milk porridge so the benefits are for those who are lactose intolerant or simply think dairy free is a healthier option. Again, it’s ready in 5 minutes, on the hob.
Did you think porridge has to always be sweetened? Wrong! Savoury porridge with toasted seeds, radishes and peppers is delicious, for breakfast but also brunch or lunch. Salty oatmeal from this recipe is completely sugar free and the toppings can be anything you fancy.
I promised other cereals than oats, and here we go: millet porridge for a wonderful variety. Except millet is not grain but seeds! That technicality aside, those tiny yellow beads toasted with cinnamon and cooked with honey make a lovely breakfast dish.
Porridge with a difference; and it takes you back to the world of rice pudding, fish fingers and pop tarts. Semolina porridge is not just for babies when cooked with dried cranberries and a sprinkling of cinnamon. For extra comfort, let a knoblet of butter melt on warm porridge and drizzle it with honey.
Couscous for breakfast? But of course. It only needs a soak in hot milk – or water, if you like. It is sweetened with honey and raisins and served with yoghurt, for an easy and less usual breakfast.
I include overnight oats in this collection because it’s practically porridge less the cooking. Also the simplest breakfast to prepare ahead and it will benefit from being served with homemade yoghurt - bonus recipe for it (without yoghurt maker) ready in 24 hours included.
You can cook your porridge or you can bake it: baked buttermilk oatmeal, also known as baked porridge, buttermilk oat bake or simply ‘The Bake’, is my favourite breakfast treat. It can be prepared the night before or even days before and frozen in portions.
Baked buttermilk oatmeal
RECIPE
Another bake, this one is the best for the gut, made with unprocessed pinhead aka steel-cut oats. Pinhead porridge bake with no added sugar is high in fibre and easy to prepare ahead – frankly, like all the other dishes in this collection.