The Scottish Way To Make Oatmeal 10x Better

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There are plenty of mistakes you can make when whipping up a bowl of oatmeal, but one of the biggest ones may be not making it Scottish-style. According to Marissa Stevens, recipe developer and founder of Pinch and Swirl, the Scots are onto something when it comes to oatmeal, and you can easily replicate their way of making it in your kitchen with a few tweaks. The first step is choosing the right oats.

"Scottish oatmeal is stone-ground, which gives it a finer texture — like a halfway point between steel-cut and flour," Stevens told Food Republic in an exclusive interview. "When you cook it, it turns into something creamy and thick but still hearty. The flavor leans nutty and almost earthy, with a little more depth than what you get from rolled oats."

If you're accustomed to shelves filled with the typical rolled and quick oats at your grocery store, fear not — you can, indeed, find Scottish oats stateside. Brands like Bob's Red Mill and Hamlyn's produce the stone-ground oatmeal, and if you can't find it in a local market, you can snag it online via Amazon.

Once you've procured your oaty goodness and you're ready to dive into prepping it, Stevens recommended soaking it for about 10 to 15 minutes before cooking to make it extra creamy — though it's not necessary if you're short on time. You can also build complex flavor by toasting the oats if you have a few extra minutes. Just place them in a pan on their own and gently heat and stir for a few minutes.

Once you've prepped the oats, you can combine them with the other simple ingredients you'll need. "It's usually just water and salt, which keeps the flavor really clean," Marissa Stevens said. "No milk, no sugar — just oats cooked low and slow until they're soft and warm and savory." It shouldn't take more than about 20 minutes to achieve the ideal creamy consistency. Of course, you can add whatever you like to yours — keep it savory with a fried egg, greens, and some hot sauce, or go sweet with a touch of honey and fresh fruit.

While making oatmeal doesn't require any fancy appliances, Stevens did recommend one simple tool that you may not already have in your kitchen — a spurtle. Originally created in the 1400s specifically for stirring porridge, the spurtle is a wooden spatula-meets-spoon hybrid that can make a vast difference in the consistency of your oatmeal, according to Stevens. "Since it doesn't have a wide bowl like a spoon, it stirs without dragging or mashing, which helps prevent lumps and keeps the texture smooth and creamy as the oats thicken," she explained. "The narrow shape makes it simple to get into the corners of a pot, so nothing sticks." And if you're not into filling your cabinets or drawers with one-use kitchen tools, you'll be glad to know it's also ideal for stirring polenta, sourdough, and thick sauces, too.

Since oatmeal lasts for several days in the fridge, it's perfect for meal prep. To keep it creamy when you're warming it up a second time, simply heat it on the stove or in intervals in the microwave with an added splash of water.