Savor Your Oats: All About That Base

STORY BY KATIE BARBARO // PHOTOGRAPHY BY ADAM MILLIRON // STYLING BY ANA KELLY

Savor Your Oats: All About That Base

I first heard about savory oats from a friend casually mentioning that her husband wakes up at 6 a.m. to make breakfast for her every morning. This fact alone made me drool, never mind the description of her favorite menu item: “Steel-cut oats cooked in bacon-caramelized onions, mixed with cheese, adorned with bacon crumbles, and topped with a runny poached egg.” Be still, my palate.

Despite a laborious quest, I have not been able to find a clone of her husband, so I did the next best thing and learned to make this dish myself—as Gandhi would (probably) say, “Be the sexy kitchen-savvy spouse you want to see in the world.” When I began channeling my man-finding energy into brunch-hosting energy, I discovered one of my favorite ways to show love for my friends is by cooking for them. Savory oats feels like love in a bowl—the heartiness of the steel-cut oats, the bacon-y-ness of the bacon, the runniness of the egg, all served up in a bowl, the coziest vessel from which to eat.

If it isn’t already clear, I am not a professional chef, but I am an improviser! Savory oats is a way to play around with your palate in the kitchen with plenty of room to get creative—use up leftovers, try new flavor combinations, dive into a new brunch experience. These recipes are sparse on purpose.

Have fun sowing your oats!

All About That Base

Savory oats are all about building from a base — this is your classic starter recipe (you can’t go wrong with bacon, caramelized onions, cheese, and an egg). Begin by frying the bacon in a pan, and crumble it on the side to add back in later. Then caramelize finely diced onions in bacon fat on low heat for about 20 minutes. Add in salt to extract the sweet, savory flavors. Add the steel-cut oats to this mixture in the pan, and slowly stir in the recommended amount of water and/or milk (whatever it says on the box—usually in a ratio of 3:1). Adding the liquid slowly allows the oats to bloom, just like you would do when making risotto. When all liquid is absorbed, stir in your favorite cheese (I’m partial to Parmesan), the bacon crumbles, and top with a poached or fried egg. (I’m a firm believer that popping a runny-yolk egg on anything immediately elevates the dish.) If you think another topping would taste good on this, pop it on! Perhaps some avocado chunks? Roasted vegetables from last night’s dinner with goat cheese and a balsamic glaze? Go wild.