Slow Cooker Oat and Quinoa Porridge (Oatmeal) with Coconut

An energy packed breakfast ideal for cold days. Oats and quinoa slow cooked with milk and healthy stuff like linseed (flax), oat bran and coconut to give it that special something.

The days are getting a tiny bit colder here now, and by cold I mean about 16 degrees Celcius. But the mornings, especially out where I live, can be quite chilly. So yes, finally, it’s time to make porridge. I love porridge. But it’s not really what you want when it’s warm is it?

This porridge is made in the slow cooker, so it’s seriously easy. I’ve added quinoa because I love the combination with the oats. I’ve made it with a bit of milk rather than plain water because my mum always used to make it that way for us as children. To be exact, she made it with fresh milk only, no water at all, but keeping in mind this is for the slow cooker, I thought evaporated milk would behave better. So mine is a combo of evaporated milk and water. If you are vegan use just water, or a nut milk would also work.

The rest of the ingredients were things I thought I’d fancy. I literally stood in front of my cupboard and went “ah, some of this, some of this, and hmm maybe some of this”. And it all worked. You can do the same, and just use what you have on hand (other nuts, dried fruit, whatever) in similar quantities, or follow this recipe.

I make my porridge quite thick, because I like to pour hot milk over it when serving. I also like to drizzle honey on it, which mixes with the hot milk and produces something pretty delicious. This is a big batch, so you can make it at the beginning of the week and have it as a quick breakfast warmed up in the microwave. You might need to add milk while warming it too, since it will be very thick from the fridge.