The Unexpected Way To Elevate Your Oatmeal With An Egg

Oatmeal and eggs are both considered breakfast foods, but they're usually enjoyed separately. Typically, you might have eggs with bacon, or oatmeal with fruit, but eggs and oatmeal aren't a common combo. According to My Recipes, however, there's no reason they shouldn't be. Adding eggs to oatmeal improves its taste and texture, while at the same time providing a boost of protein. If you tend to stay away from oatmeal on account of it being too bland or not filling enough, the addition of an egg might just change that.

Contrary to what you might assume, unless you're just plopping a cooked egg onto your oatmeal, eggs don't actually make oatmeal taste eggy. Rather, as MBG Food explains, they can make it more custardy. When you whip and slow-cook eggs with oatmeal, you get a much different result than if you were to scramble them, and the resulting oatmeal is a creamier version of the classic.

Adding eggs to oatmeal isn't the same as adding various fruit or nut toppings. You have to cook the eggs together with the oatmeal instead of adding them separately, and that means starting from scratch. MBG Food recommends using rolled oats, but if you don't have any, instant or steel-cut are also fine.

According to Eating Bird Food, the process starts like any oatmeal recipe would, by simply cooking the oats in a pot of water or milk. After about six to seven minutes on medium-high, the liquid should be absorbed, and that's when you whisk in the egg. Per half cup of uncooked oats, Eating Bird Food recommends using a quarter cup of egg whites. If you use whole eggs, just be sure to beat the eggs beforehand. Whether whole or just whites, the trick is to stir continuously as soon as you add them to the oatmeal. This way the eggs will cling to the oats rather than scramble in the pot, leaving you with creamy, fluffy oatmeal that's ready to be customized.