17 Savory Oatmeal & Porridge Recipes for a Filling Breakfast
These savory oatmeal recipes put a new spin on the classic sweet oatmeal preparation. This collection of oatmeal and porridge recipes combines the warm, creamy taste and texture you love with your favorite savory breakfast ingredients, like fried eggs, bacon and scallions. Recipes like our Savory Oatmeal with Cheddar, Collards & Eggs and Sriracha, Egg & Avocado Overnight Oats are healthy, filling and so flavorful.
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Savory Oatmeal with Cheddar, Collards & Eggs
Have you tried savory oats yet? It's a nice change-up from the sweet way oatmeal is typically served, plus you get a full serving of vegetables. Serve with hot sauce, if desired.
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Shrimp & Chicken Congee
This recipe for savory rice porridge comes from EatingWell's Test Kitchen manager, Breana Lai Killeen, who shared it for Father's Day because it is one of her father's favorite dishes. "In the U.S., this dish is called congee, but in Hong Kong, we call it jok," she says. "My dad's version was always pretty bland, but this recipe is adapted from one in the cookbook A Place at the Table from a Laotian chef who, just like me, is a first-generation Asian raised in North Carolina." Congee can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and leftovers freeze well.
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Savory Oatmeal with Tomato & Sausage
Oats get a new life in this savory dish, serving as the backbone for a satisfying combo of sausage, greens, tomatoes, and herbs.
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Sriracha, Egg & Avocado Overnight Oats
If you love avocado toast, give this savory overnight oats recipe a try. The oats soak overnight for easy "cooking." In the morning, just top with a fried egg, avocado and Sriracha for a satisfying healthy breakfast.
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Slow-Cooker Overnight Barley Porridge
At 6 grams per 1-cup serving, barley is high in fiber compared to many other whole grains. And it has high levels of prebiotic fiber, making it great for promoting healthy gut bacteria. Like oats, barley contains beta-glucans, a type of soluble fiber that's been shown to improve blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
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Cheddar-Black Bean Overnight Oats
Give your overnight oats a bit of Mexican-inspired flair with this easy breakfast recipe. Greek yogurt adds creaminess while seasoned black beans, cheese, scallion and cilantro add tons of mouthwatering flavor for a healthy and satisfying morning meal.
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Slow-Cooker Overnight Fonio Porridge
Fast-growing and drought-resistant, this ancient grain is an important crop in West Africa. It's a type of millet, making it gluten-free. Fonio's light and fluffy texture and mild favor make it work equally well with sweet and savory toppings.
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Savory Curry Cashew Oatmeal
Pep up your morning routine with this savory oatmeal recipe featuring cashews, curry powder and raisins. If you're short on time in the morning, try our overnight oatmeal version of this satisfying vegan recipe.
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Slow-Cooker Overnight Brown Rice Porridge
Using a slow cooker makes it easy to cook up almost any whole-grain porridge while you sleep. Short-grain brown rice slow-cooks to a soft and sticky texture reminiscent of rice pudding. Brown rice stands up to the long cooking time better than white, plus this whole grain contains some magnesium, phosphorus, thiamine and niacin (which get stripped from white rice).
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Arroz Caldo
Arroz caldo, a bowl of comforting rice porridge seasoned with plenty of ginger and garlic, has countless variations throughout the Philippines. The porridge can have a variety of toppings, such as hard- or soft-boiled eggs, crispy tofu, crispy garlic bits or crispy shallots, lime, lemon, nutritional yeast and so much more. For a change of pace, you can swap cubed smoked tofu for the chicken. Quinoa, wild rice, cauliflower rice and other grains can also be substituted for the jasmine rice. Feel free to increase the amounts of garlic and fish sauce for an even more flavorful porridge. Serve this easy and healthy ginger-garlic rice porridge with love as my mother would always do.
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Thai Peanut Overnight Oats
Peanut butter and curry flavor this savory overnight oats recipe. The healthy breakfast is easy to prepare and perfect for anyone who loves oatmeal, but doesn't have a big sweet tooth. Plus, it's a great way to sneak some extra veggies into your day.
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Jakarta-Style Savory Rice Porridge (Bubur Ayam Betawi)
We cut down the cooking time for this healthy chicken stew by fortifying store-bought broth with chicken and aromatics and then using the flavorful liquid to both simmer the rice and make the gravy. Try subbing 5 fresh curry leaves if you can't find the Indonesian bay leaves.
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Kinche (Cracked Wheat)
This Ethiopian buttery grain porridge recipe is often served for breakfast, but you can also top it with other dishes like messer wot (spiced lentils) or gomen (Ethiopian-spiced collards) for lunch or dinner and eat it in place of the traditional flatbread, injera.
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Slow-Cooker Overnight Quinoa Porridge
This slow-cooker porridge recipe features quinoa. Quinoa is a gluten-free pseudocereal (it's a seed!) that is a nutritional powerhouse and a complete protein. It contains a wide array of vitamins and minerals, including phosphorus, manganese, zinc and iron, many of which Americans don't get enough of.
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Peanut Butter, Banana & Bacon Overnight Oats
We've taken classic Elvis-sandwich flavors--banana, bacon and peanut butter--and stirred them into easy overnight oats in this healthy breakfast recipe. Make a bunch of jars at the beginning of the week for ready-when-you are morning meals all week long.
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Savory Curry-Cashew Overnight Oats
If you think oatmeal can only be sweet, this savory oats recipe will change your mind. Rich curry powder pairs perfectly with nutty cashews and sweet-tart raisins for a unique whole-grain breakfast (or dinner!).
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Slow-Cooker Overnight Farro Porridge
Originally from Mesopotamia, farro is a type of wheat with a wonderful nutty flavor and toothsome texture. It's packed with plant-based protein, niacin, magnesium and zinc. Ancient wheat strains have also been found to have higher levels of antioxidants and carotenoids, important for eye health.