Steel Cut Oats Recipe – By a Scottish World Champion

A steel cut oats recipe you can trust, by a World Porridge Champion! This recipe will give you perfect steel cut oats every time, whether you like them sweet or savory.

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In fact, The Golden Spurtle is a competition that is held in Carrbridge, Scotland every year for the past 31 years. I have not only competed (and won) in the contest, but I have also been a judge. (For more details about the competition, and how to enter, scroll to the bottom*.)

You probably have lots of questions about oatmeal, such as whether to cook instant, old fashioned, rolled oats, steel-cut, pinhead or another type of oatmeal in water or milk, or if you should soak (or not soak) the oats the night before. Maybe you want to know whether to stir the pot with a wooden spoon versus a spurtle–or even to know, what IS a spurtle in the first place? I will answer all of these below.

What is Steel Cut Oatmeal?

To clarify, steel cut oatmeal is the American name for pinhead oats. They are one and the same, meaning it is the entire grain of oat which have been husked and cut with a blade. In Scotland, any cooked oats makes porridge. Yes, like the porridge that was too hot, too cold or just right in Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

How do you Prepare Steel Cut Oatmeal?

It’s very easy to make steel cut oatmeal. You can make the cooking time quicker by soaking the steel cut oats overnight, but this is not necessary. It’s just a matter of simmering the oats, water and salt in a pot until the texture and consistency is just right (it’s easy when you have the correct directions.)

Why This Steel Cut Oats Recipe Works

This is the tried and true Scottish classic, and you can’t get better porridge/oatmeal than this! The ratio of oats to water and salt is spot on (the salt can obviously be adjusted to taste, but I beg of you not to omit it.)

Steel Cut Oats Recipe

Recipe by Christina Conte                          Makes 2 servings

FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW

Ingredients

• water
• sea salt (note: do not use standard table salt)
• steel cut oats (good quality like Hamlyn’s)
• (optional: milk and/or cream)

Special equipment (optional) – a spurtle

Directions to Make Steel Cut Oats

Directions

Put the salt and water in a small pot, and add the oats. Bring to a boil, stir (with a spurtle, preferably!) and lower the heat to a simmer.

Let cook while stirring for about 20 to 25 minutes, until the oats are cooked. (If you soaked the oats overnight, the cooking time will be about 10 to 15 minutes.)Taste and adjust the salt as needed; it should actually taste good! Add a little more salt if it tastes bland.

 Pour into bowls and serve as desired, with added fruit, honey, syrup, milk, cream, seeds, sugar, etc. 

 Served with honey (on the left) and with half and half (on the right.)

 I must add, I’ve tasted unsalted oatmeal at buffet breakfasts and almost spat it out–it was that bad. Once you realize how delicious oatmeal is when made properly, you can never go back.

And while you’re at it, try my award winning sticky toffee porridge with whisky and oat brittle! It’s divine!

It is also adds credibility to my advice not to skip salt, given that the Golden Spurtle award goes to the competitor who makes the best plain oatmeal/porridge. The rule is that only water, porridge and salt may and must be used in this contest. If you don’t use salt, you lose!

So please adjust the ingredients to your own liking. but I do believe that if given a bowl of unsalted oatmeal versus salted (whether served sweetened or savory), that most everyone would agree that the latter is much more flavorful.

This is just my opinion, but I’d love for you to try it and let me know what you think.

*If you love oatmeal and would like to compete alongside entrants from around the world, you can find all the information on the Golden Spurtle website.

In 2024, when I held the position of one of the three judges alongside esteemed judges Chef Neil Mugg (head judge) and Chef Kirsten Gilmour, a movie was filmed which recently was premiered. It’s called The Golden Spurtle, and features the competitors, behind the scenes of all that is involved, and yes, even the judging panel. 

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