How To Make The Best Oatmeal on the Stove.

Name: How To Make Perfect Oatmeal On The Stove
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 1 cup rolled oats; 2 cups water; ¼ tsp salt

Oatmeal is a healthy, budget-friendly breakfast, perfect for anyone including vegans. Here's how to make it perfectly on the stovetop, every time.

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By Shan · Updated October 26, 2026

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Total: 10 min
Serves: 2
Ingredients: 3

Recipe

How To Make Perfect Oatmeal On The Stove

Oatmeal is a healthy, budget-friendly breakfast, perfect for anyone including vegans. Here's how to make it perfectly on the stovetop, every time.

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How To Make Perfect Oatmeal On The Stove

Yield: 6
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
Total: 10 minutes

Ingredients

3 cup rolled oats
6 cups water
3/4 tsp salt

Base draft — original amounts

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1 cup rolled oats
2 cups water
¼ tsp salt

Instructions

Add the oats, water, and salt to the pot. Gently swirl the pot to dissolve the salt.
Set the pot on the stove and turn the heat up to medium-high. Place the lid on the pot.
Listen carefully so you hear when the water in the pot starts to bubble. You can peek inside to confirm when it is bubbling. Once it bubbles, put the lid on the pot and turn the heat off, leaving the pot where it is. Do not stir the oatmeal even once or it will become gummy!
After 3-5 minutes, the water will be absorbed by the oatmeal and the oats will be ready to eat. Carefully scoop the oatmeal into bowls, trying not to stir them up too much. They are extremely sensitive and don't like to be flustered with too much.
Top your oatmeal with a pat of vegan butter and add additional toppings if desired.

Notes

Oatmeal Topping Ideas: vegan butter + cinnamon sugar vegan butter + berries oat cream + berries peanut butter (adds protein) almond butter (adds protein) vegan butter + diced apples (try cooking the apples with the oats!) vegan butter + brown sugar (my personal favorite) ground flax seeds (adds fiber) chia seeds (adds protein)

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Oatmeal is such a healthy and wholesome breakfast, and it's so cheap. But lots of people don't know how to make it properly. Let me show you how easy it actually is to make absolutely perfect oatmeal on the stovetop, every time!

Before I knew how to properly cook oats, are used to make them in all kinds of weird ways. I would put them in a bowl and pour boiling water over them, and just wait for them to absorb the water. The result of this is something not terribly far from wallpaper paste.

Next I tried putting them in a pot, adding water to the pot, bringing the whole thing to a vigorous boil, and stirring until all of the water was absorbed. Again the result of this is a glumpy mixture with no texture. "Mush."

Finally I learned the proper way to cook oatmeal – the answer was found in a 19th century housekeeping book, which stated that when cooking oatmeal it is absolutely essential not to disturb the oats while they are cooking. What you want is to preserve the form of the individual cooked oats. They become very delicate when cooked, but if you don't disturb them you will have a nicer texture and flavor.

Expert Tips On Making Oatmeal

In order to make a proper pot of oatmeal, first of all you're going to need a pot. The type of pot that I recommend using is a small sauce pan with a lid. I use a stainless steel 3-quart covered saucepan made by Revere. These pots perform extremely well, clean easily, and last forever!

Will this work with quick oats? Steel cut oats?

Quick oats will work for this recipe as written. For steel cut oats, add the oats, water, and salt to the pot. Cover with a lid and let sit overnight (on the counter or in the fridge as you prefer). The next morning, proceed with the recipe.

Can I make this ahead of time?

You can prepare the oats, water, and salt in the pot and let it sit overnight before cooking.