HOW TO MAKE OATMEAL | the BEST oatmeal recipe

Hello my friends, it's Dani, and today I'm showing you how to make the best oatmeal recipe ever. And we'll make it both on the stovetop and in the microwave. Now, this is a recipe I've been making for years. It makes a really delicious and satisfying breakfast. And while I enjoy it all year round, it is especially delicious during the colder months. Now, the key to the world's best oatmeal is bananas and egg whites, which I'm going to chat about more throughout the video. But do know if you don't like bananas and or if you don't enjoy egg whites or if you're a vegan, I promise to give everybody options so that we can all enjoy absolutely delicious oatmeal. So first, I'm going to show you how to make it on the stovetop. And then if you stick around to the end of the video, I'll show you how I like to make it in the microwave if I'm just making a single serving or if I'm in a hurry on a busy weekday. Starting with a small pot, I'm using a two-quart pot, and I'm going to be making two servings of oatmeal. But do know that you can easily scale this recipe up or down depending on how many people you want to feed. And it is great for meal prep, so keep that in mind as well. So in goes two-thirds of a cup of old-fashioned rolled oats. Now, remember, rolled oats are the whole oat groat that have been steamed and then rolled flat. So they are 100% intact and considered a whole grain. Then I have one and one-third cup of water and one banana that I cut into quarters and then chopped. And finally, a pinch of kosher salt. Now, some people like to mash the banana before they get it into the pot. Personally, I like to chop it into little bits so this way as it warms up, you get these little soft, warm banana bite bits all throughout the oatmeal. But both options work, so do what either one turns you on. And for those of you who don't enjoy bananas, just know that you can also do this with an apple or a pear. Both of those would soften up as they cook and leave you with these warm little bits of fruity deliciousness all throughout your oatmeal. I'll turn the heat to a medium high, give everything a stir, and I'm going to let this cook for about five minutes or until it's all come up to a boil and all of those ingredients start to come together. Now, the next part is very important. I'm going to turn the heat down to low and then I'm adding in an additional one-third cup of cold water and I'm going to stir that into the oats and then I'm adding in a half a cup of pasteurized egg whites. Now, the cold water brings the temperature of the oatmeal down so that our egg whites don't scramble when they hit the pot. This is very important. We have to temper the oats so that the egg whites can slowly cook into the oatmeal which you will see is going to create the fluffiest, creamiest, most delicious bowl of oatmeal. So once those egg whites get into the pot, you're going to just keep on stirring until you see that the oats start to look kind of opaque, just like this, and they get really creamy looking. So I'm just going to leave this over a low heat and let it cook for a couple more minutes. Now, as for the egg whites, I like to buy them pre-separated at the grocery store. You can find them right next to the eggs This is a great way to add a little bit of extra protein to our meal, but more importantly, this is the key to making really fluffy, creamy oatmeal. Now, if you don't like egg whites, or if you don't eat them, or if you're a vegan, don't worry. You can still make really creamy oatmeal without them. What you're going to do is at the beginning of the recipe, when I'm adding the water, you're going to skip the water and add half coconut milk and half almond milk or oat milk. That will help to create a super creamy base for your oatmeal, and you don't have to add the egg whites at all. If it was a little thick, you could add a little additional water later on, but either way, it will get you a really creamy base without the egg whites. Then once the oatmeal is looking nice and light and fluffy and creamy, which is only going to take a couple of minutes, shut off the heat, and I'll stir in a half a teaspoon of cinnamon. You could also drizzle a little maple syrup in here if you wanted to, but I personally find that fruit is sweet enough. Once you're ready to enjoy, transfer it into a serving bowl, and then I like to top this with a few more sliced bananas, a sprinkle of hemp seeds that gives a little extra protein and fiber, and then personally, I just love some peanut butter, and you could of course give it a little extra cinnamon over the top. This oatmeal is seriously to die for and might just be one of my favorite meals on the planet. Now as promised, I also want to show you how to make this in the microwave if you are having a busy morning or if you just want to make a quick single serving. Now to do this, you're going to need a microwave-safe dish that has a little bit of height to it. I like using a spouted glass cup just like this one. So in goes a third of a cup of oatmeal and two-thirds cup of water. Remember, oatmeal is always a two-to-one ratio, two parts water to one part oats. Then I'll add in half of a chopped banana. Again, if you prefer, you could do half of a chopped apple or half of a chopped pear, and a pinch of salt. Pop that in the microwave for about a minute, a minute and 30 seconds. Microwaves vary, so you're going to have to play with it a little bit at the beginning. What you want is for the oats to have warmed up and softened a bit, but you don't want it to be very hot and you definitely don't want it to be boiling. Then I'm going to add in a quarter cup of the pasteurized egg whites and stir them the whole time. So as you pour, you want to stir and you keep on stirring until it begins to look a little bit opaque, just like this. Again, I want to make sure that the egg whites are working themselves into the oatmeal and not scrambling. So as long as the oats aren't too hot, you shouldn't have a problem. Then I'll pop this back into the microwave for one minute and then once they're done, you're going to see that they fluffed up and they're really light and creamy. I mean, I can't tell you enough how this really is the most delicious oatmeal ever. It's going to make you a very happy oatmeal eater. So again, you can top that with your favorite toppings and enjoy. So freaking good. And for all my meal preppers out there, this is a great recipe to scale up on the weekend when you're doing your meal prep and then store it in individual glass containers. This way, you can take it right from the fridge and warm it up in the microwave for a really easy, delicious, convenient breakfast during the week. If you enjoyed this recipe, please take a moment to like, subscribe, and share this video with anybody else you know who wants to make healthy eating easy. And if you try the recipe, please snap a picture and tag me on Instagram. I love seeing when you guys take the recipes and make them your own. It completely makes my day. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Dannie Spees and I will see you back here next time with some more clean and deliciousness. Cheers.