Cold mornings loves a hot breakfast and oatmeal is pretty much our mainstay for the winter months. I make it straight up but will often bake it (two different ways), or mix things up a bit with steel cut oats or scottish oats. Yesterday I made oatmeal in my usual way. Cornelius topped his with bananas, almonds and brown sugar, while I added a dollop of sour cherry jam. It’s hearty, filling and perfect. But after making a potful of oats, I always seem to have some leftover. Usually, the next morning the leftovers go into the microwave and get rehydrated with a bit of milk. But not today.
I wanted to try something different. When I was in Vilnius, we ate breakfast at a little place called Cozy. I ordered oatmeal and it was served not only with a dollop of sour cherry jam, but with a sumptious pool of melting butter. It was utterly delicious. While I have yet to add butter to my oatmeal at home, I decided that maybe butter was the key to a new breakfast discovery. And that’s how this butter pan fried oatmeal was born.
pan-fried oatmeal
The key to this “recipe” is using leftover oatmeal that still retains that leftover flattened slab-ish quality that results from leaving the oatmeal in the pot overnight (kept in the fridge, of course). Then, you can slice it up, melt up some butter, add the slab to the bubbling butter, flip it when it gets golden on both sides and serve. It’s really delicious topped with yogurt and maple syrup. It takes leftovers to a whole new level of goodness.
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THIS I have to try…what an innovative way to prepare deja vu oatmeal!!
THIS I have to try…what an innovative way to prepare deja vu oatmeal!!
THIS I have to try…what an innovative way to prepare deja vu oatmeal!!
THIS I have to try…what an innovative way to prepare deja vu oatmeal!!
THIS I have to try…what an innovative way to prepare deja vu oatmeal!!
THIS I have to try…what an innovative way to prepare deja vu oatmeal!!
THIS I have to try…what an innovative way to prepare deja vu oatmeal!!
THIS I have to try…what an innovative way to prepare deja vu oatmeal!!
THIS I have to try…what an innovative way to prepare deja vu oatmeal!!
THIS I have to try…what an innovative way to prepare deja vu oatmeal!!
THIS I have to try…what an innovative way to prepare deja vu oatmeal!!
THIS I have to try…what an innovative way to prepare deja vu oatmeal!!
Okay – J.O. ‘beats’ J.M. with her ingenuous culinary skills and creates a revolutionary way to serve leftover oatmeal…fried oatmeal with ice cream? nay yoghurt!! (but I could use ice cream – right?? I initially thought the white plop was ice-cream…)
This recipe should be on an episode of the ‘Iron Chef’ 😀 You’d win the competition – fried oatmeal…totally!!
i always eat my oatmeal with butter! it reminds me of my grandma. 🙂 i usually make oatmeal with butter, a splash of milk, and a teeny bit of agave syrup. i love the salty-sweetness of the combo.
i have not tried it with yogurt and maple syrup, however, and i think i will have to!
i agree, what a great idea for left over oatmeal. looks so good 😉
i always have oatmeal on saturdays and end up with left overs. we use steal cut too, i recently discovered it and can’t believe what i’ve been missing, YUM.
Your breakfast food is always so good, Kickpleat!
Oh yum! I love oatmeal at all times of the day! I will have to try this!
c’tina, haha, i love that: deja vu oatmeal!
joanne, ice cream? haha. it’s breakfast, lady! i’m not that crazy 🙂
aria, this would be great with steel cut!
i had no idea that butter and oatmeal was a thing, robina! you grew up lucky 🙂
thanks, patricia! breakfast is obviously one of my favorite meals of the day!
wasting food sucks, jennie. give it a try and see what you think!
sarena, i usually stick with oatmeal only at breakfast…i should be eating it more tho.
Wha a good idea! I have been making Bob’s Red Mill Scottish Oatmeal with cheddar (trust me, SO good!), and I made 4 servings and poured it into an 8 inch square pyrex. I will have to take one of the slabs and fry it up. Yum!
Oh, and those peanut butter bars… too good! I used half the amount of raisins and chocolate chips (what I had) and they were delish. I want to try salted peanuts and chocolate chips next!
pan-fried oatmeal? sounds so decadent – love it!
Thank you so much for posting this! I HATE throwing food away. Even those two spoonfuls of oatmeal that get trashed every morning have been killing me! Now I will make too much, on purpose, just so I can introduce this to my repertoire.
FYI, I just blogged about my favorite new way to use leftover rice.
Oh my that sounds and looks good. Too bad I never make oatmeal. This might motivate me to though!
My mother is the only other person I’ve ever known to fry leftover oatmeal. She occasionally scrambles it along with an egg and some onion and garlic as well when she wants something savory. its so good! Thanks for reminding me of it, maybe I’ll make some extra oatmeal later this week and try pan frying it.
samantha…oats & cheddar??? wow, i’m intriged! and i’m glad you loved those bars…salted peanuts would be great in those!
veggiegirl, i swear it’s not as decadent as you might think. it’s simple and tasty but not that decadent!
eatme, i can’t believe you never make oatmeal? seriously, stir up a pot and you’ll be hooked. and give steel oats or scottish oats a try!!
hmmm, savory oats, i love it, rachael! it defintely sounds interesting with the egg and onions! i want to whip that up next.
This is freakin’ brilliant — enough to finally convince me to de-lurk and say thanks so much for your creativity and all the yumminess. You’ve really helped me shake things up round here.
I’ve never been really big on oatmeal, but my daughter loves it. I may just have to try this — it sounds delicious! 🙂
How fabulous! I actually made oatmeal last night and currently have some leftover.
Oh, oats and cheddar are the way to go! I’m a big cheese grits fan, but in some ways I prefer the cheese oatmeal. Luckily I live in the north, I’d get in trouble down south. 🙂
Oh yum, I’m definelty going to try this.
awesome, peg! glad i could help 🙂
nicki, good luck! i love oatmeal and if this recipe could convince someone in the other camp to move over to this one, then good on me! haha.
katerina, i hope your pan frying oatmeal was a success!
samantha, i’m now going to have to try this cheddar/oatmeal combo! sounds good.
i hope you do, katie, it’s a great way to use up leftovers!
I cooked my leftover oatmeal in Smart Balance Light buttery spread this morning — delicious! It needed far less sweetener than I usually use with that lovely (but subtle) buttery taste. Thanks so much for the good idea.
I’m intrigued by this cheddar oatmeal idea too — maybe for breakfast tomorrow.
While this might sound “strange” at first, it really isn’t that different than frying slabs of grits…and they are good with cheese too. thanks for the idea. sue who works in a preschool and needed to find something to do with the leftover oatmeal.
Just a Lil FYI…
My family has been making fried oatmeal for years ever since i was a baby and now i have baby's(26&29)I had no idea it was such a well kept secret. But now that it is out it is fab and great with such a variety of toppings cinnamon,brown sugar,honey,maple syrup,strawberry preserves,the options are unlimited it is simply a matter of taste.
I am serving my fiance them for the first time this morning,he is a Texas oil man and i am sure he will love them(they eat so many funny things)God Bless em
I am always looking for new ways to have oatmeal, but I must say I never actually have leftovers. I’ll have to make a double serving just for this purpose. A couple of interesting and very filling additions to oatmeal are mashed avocado with honey and pepitas or topped with a poached egg. I swear you won’t be hungry again till dinner time!
I am always looking for new ways to have oatmeal, but I must say I never actually have leftovers. I’ll have to make a double serving just for this purpose. A couple of interesting and very filling additions to oatmeal are mashed avocado with honey and pepitas or topped with a poached egg. I swear you won’t be hungry again till dinner time!
I am always looking for new ways to have oatmeal, but I must say I never actually have leftovers. I’ll have to make a double serving just for this purpose. A couple of interesting and very filling additions to oatmeal are mashed avocado with honey and pepitas or topped with a poached egg. I swear you won’t be hungry again till dinner time!
I am always looking for new ways to have oatmeal, but I must say I never actually have leftovers. I’ll have to make a double serving just for this purpose. A couple of interesting and very filling additions to oatmeal are mashed avocado with honey and pepitas or topped with a poached egg. I swear you won’t be hungry again till dinner time!
I am always looking for new ways to have oatmeal, but I must say I never actually have leftovers. I’ll have to make a double serving just for this purpose. A couple of interesting and very filling additions to oatmeal are mashed avocado with honey and pepitas or topped with a poached egg. I swear you won’t be hungry again till dinner time!
I am always looking for new ways to have oatmeal, but I must say I never actually have leftovers. I’ll have to make a double serving just for this purpose. A couple of interesting and very filling additions to oatmeal are mashed avocado with honey and pepitas or topped with a poached egg. I swear you won’t be hungry again till dinner time!
I am always looking for new ways to have oatmeal, but I must say I never actually have leftovers. I’ll have to make a double serving just for this purpose. A couple of interesting and very filling additions to oatmeal are mashed avocado with honey and pepitas or topped with a poached egg. I swear you won’t be hungry again till dinner time!
I am always looking for new ways to have oatmeal, but I must say I never actually have leftovers. I’ll have to make a double serving just for this purpose. A couple of interesting and very filling additions to oatmeal are mashed avocado with honey and pepitas or topped with a poached egg. I swear you won’t be hungry again till dinner time!
I am always looking for new ways to have oatmeal, but I must say I never actually have leftovers. I’ll have to make a double serving just for this purpose. A couple of interesting and very filling additions to oatmeal are mashed avocado with honey and pepitas or topped with a poached egg. I swear you won’t be hungry again till dinner time!
I am always looking for new ways to have oatmeal, but I must say I never actually have leftovers. I’ll have to make a double serving just for this purpose. A couple of interesting and very filling additions to oatmeal are mashed avocado with honey and pepitas or topped with a poached egg. I swear you won’t be hungry again till dinner time!
I am always looking for new ways to have oatmeal, but I must say I never actually have leftovers. I’ll have to make a double serving just for this purpose. A couple of interesting and very filling additions to oatmeal are mashed avocado with honey and pepitas or topped with a poached egg. I swear you won’t be hungry again till dinner time!
I am always looking for new ways to have oatmeal, but I must say I never actually have leftovers. I’ll have to make a double serving just for this purpose. A couple of interesting and very filling additions to oatmeal are mashed avocado with honey and pepitas or topped with a poached egg. I swear you won’t be hungry again till dinner time!
I take left over or fresh I like the Scottish Bob’s because it is more of a savory and not flakes or steel cut pellets and add olive oil and salt and pepper. Yeah sneak attack
I have always loved toast and Fridays. Always always always. My favorite breakfast. I have been trying to cut back on wheat, however, and A while ago started frying oatmeal with eggs on top. Delicious. Great substitute.
This morning I put some seasoning on the oatmeal when I fried it, flipped it over, put some cheddar cheese on top and then a couple eggs. Holy carp (that’s a fish)! I just found my favorite breakfast!
Typo in previous comment. Fried eggs, not Fridays. Although nothing wrong with Fridays.