Thursday, January 17, 2013

Overnight Tea-Steeped Oatmeal

Coffee or tea?


Six years ago, I would have responded, "Neither." I started drinking tea toward the final months of my senior year of high school as a way to calm my ever-tormented digestive system. I wasn't crazy about it at first, but I learned to tolerate it. Now, I drink a glass of tea almost every day. (I've also learned to like coffee, too, but that's beside the point.)
This is not an oatmeal recipe for beginners. People who are trying oatmeal for the first time should look for recipes with bananas, lots of fruit, peanut butter, or chocolate; I find that those are the most "newbie-friendly" recipes. This is a fun and unique recipe, but it will appeal most to those who both A) love tea, and B) already love oatmeal.


This is one of my many tea-themed recipes. For others, check out Pear and Chai Oatmeal, Dirty Chai Oatmeal, or Montana Gold Oatmeal. Also, the recipe below is kind of a "blueprint" for any kind of tea-steeped oatmeal, so you can play with different combinations to make it your own. In the pictures, I used an orange cinnamon tea and added orange slices to it. I've also used ginger-peach tea before, which I obviously paired with sliced peaches.

Overnight Tea-Steeped Oatmeal

by The Oatmeal Artist
Prep Time: 30-60 minutes
Cook Time: Overnight
Ingredients (serves 1)
  • 1 tea bag
  • 1/3 cup hot water
  • 1/4 cup almond milk
  • 1/2 cup regular rolled oats
  • 2 pitted dates, chopped finely
  • 1/2 tsp chia seeds
  • fruit, nuts, and/or spices (optional)
  • pinch of salt
Instructions
  1. Add 1/3 cup hot water to a mason jar and add your tea bag. Let steep for a long time. Mine sat for nearly an hour.
  2. Add remaining ingredients to the mason jar.
  3. Cover with lid and shake, shake, shake until combined.
  4. Store in the refrigerator overnight (or for several hours). Eat cold or warm up in the microwave!
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*Be practical. Pick fruits/spices that would pair well with your tea. For example, my tea was Orange Cinnamon flavored, so I added orange slices and a dash of cinnamon. If you need help, tell me what kind of tea you're using, and I'll give you suggestions!

**You can also find hundreds of other oatmeal recipes (as well as tons of other meatless recipes) on my Pinterest account!  You can also like The Oatmeal Artist on Facebook. Thanks!

25 comments:

  1. Do you have any ideas for either pomegranate green tea (besides adding pomegranate arils) or lemon jasmine tea? Thanks and I love your blog! Oatmeal has never been so delicious! :)

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    Replies
    1. Kiwi or pear might be a nice addition the pomegranate tea, but I'm not sure what would go well with lemon jasmine because I can't remember what jasmine tastes like! I'm more of a lemon ginger person myself. ;)

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  2. Celestial Seasonings Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride tea works great with oatmeal.

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    Replies
    1. That's what I've heard! Too bad it's so difficult to track down.

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    2. I buy it by the case from Amazon. They seem to always have it. I've also tried Egg Nog tea bags as well as some of the chocolate flavored ones. Egg Nog was good. The chocolate was a little hit or miss.

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  3. I have sugar cookie sleigh ride tea.. what should I use? :)

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    Replies
    1. And also.. I don't have chia seeds. Is it ok to just leave them out or are they important? And can I use coconut milk instead of almond milk? How many ml is 1/4 cup? Haha, that was a lot sorry. :)

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    2. Oh boy, I'm not sure what to pair with sugar cookie tea (but I'm jealous, as I have not been able to find that one personally). I bet raspberries would be good with it, or if you added cinnamon, it might taste like snickerdoodle! :P

      You could use coconut milk, but it will definitely leave a strong coconut taste! I wouldn't mind this, of course. As for chia seeds...they're not important, but your oatmeal will not gel together as much. However, if you're using coconut milk (which is thicker and richer), that might make up for it!

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  4. Thank you for your response!
    I was thinking apple but I'm definitely going to try raspberries.
    Do you know if 70 ml of coconut milk would be enough? I was thinking about doing 1/2 cup water and 70ml coconut milk. What do you think? :)

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    Replies
    1. 70 ml is actually .29 cups, which puts it somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 a cup. You should be able to do 70 ml of coconut milk with the recommended 1/3 cup of water and be okay.

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  5. Are the dates you use dried or fresh? :)

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    Replies
    1. Dried! I've actually NEVER seen a fresh date before! :)

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  6. Replies
    1. Hmm...I bet anything citrusy would be beautiful with green tea!

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  7. Hi Lauren, will mint tea add a weird flavor to this ? oh, if it doesn't, which fruit do you recommend that would go well with mint tea ?

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    Replies
    1. Hmm...it's worth a shot, methinks! :) How about stone fruits like peaches, apricots, or nectarines?

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. what would you recommend for red bush tea?

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    Replies
    1. I have actually never heard of this kind. How would you describe it? Is it "flowery" or "fruity" or "herbaly"? :P

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  9. I'm going to try this using stinging nettle/mint tea (herbs from my sister's herb garden) with nectarines!
    Thought I would try!
    Emily J.

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  10. I'm thinking dried fruit (I have sultanas, cranberries, dates, apricots and figs!) to go with cinnamon tea... What about lemon and ginger? LOVE all your recipes by the way!

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    Replies
    1. I'm actually a little hesitant about using lemon ginger tea for oatmeal. It doesn't sound particularly appetizing to me. ;) Maybe grapefruit segments? Or any kind of citrus.

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  11. Do you have any suggestions for honey vanilla chai tea?

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  12. Hello :) I've already tried it out with orange and cinnamon tea (and absolutely loved it), but I was wondering, I have a tea that I love the smell - its taste in water isnt as amazing haha - and I don't know if it'd be nice with oatmeal. It's more like a cookie smell (it is green tea with almonds, hazelnuts and vanilla). Do you think it can be good? And if yes do you have any suggestions for what fruits/spices would go nicely with it?
    Love your recipes :)

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