Oatmeal is one of the most divisive breakfast dishes out there. When made well, oatmeal can be the highlight of your day and burst with contrasting flavors and textures; when it's made poorly, it can be torture to eat, a bland bowl of grey slop. One of the biggest mistakes you can make with oatmeal is forgetting that the basic recipe is just a starting point.
By upgrading it with a host of different ingredients, you can make it into a truly multi-layered dish. You don't have to be too complicated with your upgrades, either. Simple ingredients like berries, cream, and even just salt can add a lot of additional flavor to oatmeal.
Having said this, the neutral flavor of the dish means that you can be as adventurous as you wish with it, and by giving it a savory or regional twist you can turn your boring old oatmeal into something completely outstanding. To find out the best ways to upgrade it, we called on a few oatmeal pros. Lisa Bryan, cookbook author and owner of Downshiftology , and Lisa Lotts, owner of Garlic and Zest , have made more oatmeal in their time than most of us — and they know exactly how to make it the best it can be.
1. A pinch of salt can intensify your oatmeal's flavors If you're making a bowl of sweet oatmeal, it can feel totally counterproductive to add salt to it. Trust us, though: You'll definitely notice the difference if it's not there.
"If you plan on adding sweetener to the oatmeal, salt is a critical component to seasoning the dish," states Lisa Lo.