If you have been following Everyday Eats here on Food Babe….you’ve probably seen something to the likes of this for my afternoon snack….
I’m happy to finally share the recipe for this concoction. I call it “Parfait Porridge.” That’s because it contains layers of several different items and tastes just like a parfait minus the yogurt. The best part of this breakfast or snack, is the raw oat groats. Oat groats are the truest form of oats and contain more vitamins, minerals and nutrients than processed steel cut, rolled or instant oats. If you haven’t tried oat groats yet – go get them now! They are available in most health food stores in the bulk section. Here’s what they look like….
It’s very important to know that you must first soak your oat groats before eating or cooking them. Soaking them softens them a bit so they are more digestible. The texture is amazing, very chewy and hearty. Unfortunately to cook oat groats, it takes forever (sometimes up to an hour!), this why I like to eat them soaked and raw.
This recipe is fool proof and ridiculously satisfying and delicious.
- ¼ cup oat groats rinsed and drained
- ¼ cup ezekiel cereal, muesli, or ¼ cup steel or rolled oats (for texture)
- 1 tsp of currants
- sprinkle of cinnamon
- 4 ounces unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tsp of chia seeds (optional)
- 1 cup fresh or frozen fruit of your choice
- In a "to go" glass container of your choice: Place oat groats, ezekiel cereal/oats, cinnamon, currants, chia seeds, and almond milk in the container and stir
- Top mixture with fresh or frozen fruit
- Let mixture sit in fridge overnight or up to three days in fridge
Enjoy for a breakfast or snack - cold right out of the fridge, room temperature or warmed in the oven for 10-15 mins at 300 degrees.
*Please choose all organic ingredients if possible*
I measure out my portions and always give a little extra to my husband…
Parfait Porridge goes great with a cup of tea or morning coffee!
Top your Parfait Porridge with whatever fruit you like. My favorites are organic fresh mixed berries like this one below. I also like to use frozen fruit – especially organic pineapple and blueberries mixed. When the pineapple and blueberries softens overnight they release their juices into the porridge – YUM!
Remember you can make this up to three days in advance. This is incredible for a healthy on the go breakfast or snack.
Last week, I was so busy I forgot to make porridge one night and my husband came home from work and said “I missed my porridge today….” AWE!
Don’t miss out – Start your week off right and make this now.
If you know someone who could benefit from any easy make ahead breakfast like this – please share this recipe with them! I’m sure they will be forever grateful.
Have a fantastic day!
Food Babe
P.S.
Watch me make this on live TV in a NBC Charlotte Today appearance:
I can’t wait till I make this.
Vani I could not find Oat Groats in our Food Co-op so what would be a good substitute? And thank you so so so much for making our life healthier! its never too late to start eating healthy. The best part is your recipes are so easy to make. Thanks!!!
Use a mixture of steel cut and rolled oats – they both will work the same!
Amazon is a great place for dry organic stuff like this….
Why does yours look soo much more appetizing than mine? : /
Awe… give it time! What kind of container are you using? If I just use a pyrex glass bowl, it definitely doesn’t look the same 🙂
Yeah I used a pyrex, but I didn’t mind how it looked as much after I tasted how good it was. I used a jar last night and it looks beautiful this morning. Can’t wait to eat it when I get to work! Hope your trip is going well!
I made this with the mixture of steel cut and rolled oats and raisins. I waited about 3 hours (I’m not very patient) 😀 and even skipped the fruit and it was still delicious!! Thank you for this recipe!
Made this and it was great. Used Gogi Berries in place of currants. Thanks for everything!
silly question….how long do I need to soak the oat groats?
I love oat groats! I soak them over night like beans & brown rice. I add 1 Tablespoon acid (raw organic apple cider vinegar, organic lemon juice or filtered kefir whey) per cup of filtered water I soak them in. I generally add enough water to my soaking bowl/grains to reach my second knuckle when I inert my hand into the water and lightly touch the grains.
I do this even when I’m going to cook the grains, it speeds up cooking time and pre-digests the food so my body can work less for more vitamin/mineral reward.
<3
PS I soak them over night when I forget to start them earlier. I generally aim for 12-20 hours of soaking to break down the phytic acid.
Not a silly question. I also would like to know how long to soak the oat groats. Thanks!
Hi, Vani! I’ve recently gotten pretty much obsessed with your blog…I’m a teacher and on summer break so I’m using this time to go back and read all of your blog posts. I made this parfait porridge last night and we ate it for breakfast this morning. Usually when I make steel-cut oatmeal I get bored with it about halfway through and then I’m starving by lunchtime…but I ate this whole bowl! So good. We were laughing about how much work it was to chew, and I told my husband that was a good thing because it was forcing us to take our time. As a teacher I’ve gotten accustomed to scarfing my lunch down within an allotted lunch time! Looking forward to seeing what you have to share next!
Is the hulled or whole the right thing to buy? This looks delicious and I love that it can be made ahead (when baby is asleep 🙂 Thanks!!
Which size of Bodum container do you use for this? I’m thinking about ordering some, for this, and for the shakes. 🙂 Thanks in advance!
is all your ingredients in the parfait and coffee, gluten-free????
Are Ezekial products GMO free? i use them too, but I am not sure that they are? thanks!
Do you have any suggestions on how to make these recipes for someone who is gluten free? I’d love to try them but I am allergic to wheat and have a hard time digesting legumes as well. Any suggestions would be great, everything looks amazing 🙂
Oat Groats are GF. Just sub. Ezekial for GF rolled oats (Bob’s Mill) & you are good to go. I’m GF too.
Hi Vani! This recipe looks tasty! Is there a brand of unsweetened almond milk that you would recommend?
I am not sure about what Vani uses but I love the Silk brand – is only one here local I could find that is NON- GMO 😉 but is very good!
The best unsweetened almond milk that I have found is Whole Foods brand – 365. It’s organic and the only almond milk I’ve found without carrageen!
This parfait is absolutely yummy! I tried both right out of the fridge and warmed for a bit – both are wonderful! Thank you for introducing me to oat groats, I absolutely love the chewy texture!
Love these! So easy, perfect “grab-and-go” breakfast! Thanks Vani!
– Devyn
When you say to soak the oat groats do you mean just rinse them under running water or soak them overnight (like you would with dried beans)? If you do mean overnight do you soak yours with some kefir mixed in the water? Thanks so much. Can’t wait to try this!
I soak 8-20 hours depending how “on top of it” I am. I add 1 Tbsp organic/raw ACV or lemon juice or strained kefir whey per cup of water.
Hello, I love your recipes! My only question is about calories/fat. Do you know the calories, carbs and/or fat? It’d be ever so helpful for those of us that sit at work all day. I try to carefully tailor my diet to accommodate for all the sitting. I do run almost every day. But I like to balance with light meals. Thank you!! Keep up the amazing blog! I visit everyday!
It is full of the good fat that helps your body burn the bad fat, I don’t think you need to worry.
First of all, I now make this every day for my husband and I. It’s soo good! We always make Lisas (from 100 days of unprocessed food) recipe for granola in it. My husband loves his with yogurt…which leads me to asking you: How do you feel about yogurt? We buy organic whole milk yogurt from Nancys…but I’m still not completely sure about it. My 3 year old eats it as well…was wondering what you thought about yogurt and if you have any suggestions. Thanks!
Organic plain yogurt is great – but I eat it in moderation – like maybe once a week or not at all. I prefer less dairy in my diet – I notice my skin is better and my allergies are less severe this way.
With that said – if I’m eating my Mom’s Indian Food – I almost always have yogurt to cool down the spiciness!
Have you tried making your own kefir and eating that instead? I started making it when I had the idea of making my own yogurt (to save money on my yogurt bill) but was having a hard time figuring out a good way to incubate it in my small/unideal space. Kefir is great on so many levels but one is that it doesn’t need to incubate. I just leave it on the top of my fridge for 18-24hours (I tend to let it go longer and get more sour because I am a lac-tard). I’ll never go back to yogurt, let alone store bought yogurt, now! <3
If you like yogurt, you should try making keffir. It’s the easiest thing in the world to make, more probiotics than yogurt, and the cultures make the end product lactate free (if that’s a concern).
This is my favourite, love it, and my three year old likes it too 🙂
My rating
OK. I’ve made this twice to take to work for breakfast and I’m completely hooked!
I make this at least 3 times a week…LOVE IT! My three year old says “Mom,can I have some of your cold oatmeal?” lol
This is my favorite new breakfast! Delish!
Perhaps you could write a post about soaking beans and grains? I read about it all the time, but have never seen exactly how you do it, how long you do it, etc. What exactly do you soak or not soak? What if you don’t soak them? My husband and I both feel like we haven’t had any digestive issues (actually, I did before we got off processed foods, so I feel better than ever without soaking), so is it necessary to do if you don’t have any problems? Or do we just think we feel great but we could be feeling even better than we are now?
How long are you to soak the groats for?
Sometimes I’ll nibble on a small handful of groats without even soaking them. Have you tried sprouting the groats? I haven’t tried this yet with groats, but I have done it with quinoa and wheat berries. Thank you for the recipe ideas.
Hey Vani,
I love the new web design.
We’re headed over to Healthy Home Mkt to get the groats. My wife’s been looking to find something she can eat in the morning. Thanks!
Thank you so much Chris! The oats in the back near the freezer section – Good Luck! 🙂
this might be a dumb question…but can you put those containers right in the oven? or do you have to transfer it to another dish?
I would put them in another dish just to be safe. Not a dumb question at all!
Have you ever used any other grains, like buckwheat groats?
Does soaking all oat groats overnight in the almond milk and with the other ingredients count for the soaking you need to do before eating or do I soak them and then add them into this mix?
Does soaking the oat groats overnight with the almond milk and other ingredients count as the soaking you are suppose to do prior to eating or do I soak them before I add them into the jar with these goodies?
Hi Vani! I’m about to order the vitamineral and green vibrance you have suggested via your blog. Do you mix these supplements or anything else (whey protein, probiotics, etc) into your parfait porridge or your green juices? Anything else you suggest that we can buy that’s a must have?
Do soak the oats before making the porridge? Or does it sitting overnight count for that?
I soaked them all day then made the porridge. OMG sooo good!!! Thank you!!
I’m heading to Whole Foods today to look for the Oat Groats! Hope I find them there! Excited to make the porridge!!!
Let us know how you like it!
I finally made this recipe, and I love it! So does my husband! Thank you, Food Babe, for this awesome, to-go breakfast!
Can use use Kamut Berries in this?
I think they would work fine. Let us know if you try it!
Silly question, do you have to cook the steel cut oats before you add them to this?
Hi Pam – they are not cooked, use them raw…
I discovered overnight oats after having to give up my favorite yogurt breakfast with my new dairy free life. As much as cold oatmeal sounds aweful, it is amazing! I make a very similar version. I will be looking for oat groats to add to mine now.
I’ve been making this every day for months now! I use oat groats, rolled oats, a tablespoon of ground flax seeds, almond milk, a pinch of cinnamon, a diced banana, frozen blueberries and strawberries. I layer them all in a mason jar and microwave (without lid!) for a couple minutes just to warm it slightly. YUM!! I really look forward to my mornings now. The texture of the oat groats is so much more appealing to me than mushy porridge. Thanks, Food Babe! 🙂
Cannot wait to try this. Marie Hubbard.
Love this recipe! Make it in batches of 4 jars for my 2 yr old son and I to share each morning!
I have to say that I was a little skeptical…I thought that the oat groats would stay slightly hard without cooking, and I don’t always like the taste of almond millk. But this is absolutely amazing! It’s so good, and easy, and the perfect breakfast to grab out of the fridge in the morning to eat at work. Thanks so much Food Babe!
Love this. Especially with frozen raspberry and pineapple. I am so full now! Thanks for the great idea!
What brand of almond milk do you prefer? I have looked into buying organic unsweetened almond milk in the past but have always been scared off by some of the other ingredients in the almond milk, (some have carrageenan and all kinds of other things in them!) I have read about making your own, I just haven’t worked up the nerve to do that yet. Do you have any other suggestions?
I would also like some imput on this one….all of the alternate dairy products have a ton of other stuff in them. I feel safer eating grass fed whole milk – I know whats in that! But, I like having options and keeping my diary intact at a minimum.
I am also not a fan of all the ingredients in store bought almond milk. But whole Foods at least has one which is organic, non-GMO and without carrageen. It’s their 365 brand.
I am gluten free and since I have to look for GF oats, I assume I need to be concerned whether or not the oat groats are GF or can be found GF. Any insight would be much appreciated!
In general, oat groats are GF but check your source! Good luck!
Where do you buy your glass mason jars from? And what brand do you recommend?…I heard the Bell brand has BPA in it?…thanks!
Food Babe loves Bodum jars and ball jars but any glass jar will work. https://foodbabe.com/shop/for-the-kitchen/
If I eat gluten-free but can’t eat GF oats: is there anything else that would work? Would soaking millet or quinoa overnight work the same? Thanks!
I have fallen in love with this recipe, I’ve even been craving it in the morning. My favorite combo so far is adding pumpking pie spice and peaches. I’ve always liked oatmeal to a degree but the prepacked crap has gotten too horrible to eat and as my sister says this parfait recipe is oatmeal without the slime! It is a perfect replacement for morning oatmeal, especially since it doesn’t have that oatmeal slime 😉 Thank you so much for this recipe!
Are oat groats the same as live oats? I found live oats that look like the photo at the farm market I shop at. I am trying this overnight tonight and am excited to eat it in the morning for breakfast!
Let us know how it turned out! Yes live oats are oat groats. Some oat groats are steamed to keep them from going rancid as quickly. Some are raw (or live) so basically same thing…