Atole de Avena (Mexican Oatmeal Drink)

Atole de avena, aka Mexican oatmeal drink, is perfect to start your day. Is creamy, sweet, and comforting. Enjoy for breakfast or as a sweet treat in the afternoon.

About This Recipe

Atole de Avena is a sweet and thick beverage made with oats, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla. It has a sweet and delicate taste with a thick and creamy texture.

This hot oat drink is nutritious, fulfilling, and flavorful. In Mexico is served mostly as breakfast, especially during the coldest months.

Even though most Mexican atole recipes are made of corn masa to achieve their particular thick texture, atole de avena doesn’t use it as the oats are enough to thicken the mixture.

Some Mexican beverages made with masa harina include atole de guayaba and champurrado.

Oatmeal atole brings so many memories to me. My grandma Julia used to make it for us every single morning and serve it with animal crackers or galletas Marías.

If I close my eyes, I can still smell the wonderful aroma coming from the kitchen or even hear the pot simmering.

So let me tell you how to make this comforting and cozy drink so you can enjoy it whenever possible.

The Ingredients

• AVENA (oats): Old-fashioned oats are used in this recipe. You can also replace them with oats flour.
• MILK: Use whole milk for a creamy texture, or replace it with vegan beverages (coconut milk, soy milk, etc.) for a dairy-free version.
• SUGAR: I used regular granulated sugar and sometimes I like to use also piloncillo or brown sugar. You can replace it with your favorite sweetener.
• CINNAMON: Use a small stick of cinnamon, or replace it with 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon.
• VANILLA: Optional, I like the flavor and aroma, but you can simply leave it out.
• WATER: for boiling the cinnamon stick. If you use cinnamon powder, replace water with milk.

Recipe Notes

• You can adjust the oatmeal drink consistency by adding more milk to make it thinner or cooking it longer to make it thicker.
• When you add the oats mixture to the cinnamon-flavored water, make sure you do it while stirring to prevent any lumps to form.
• Do not stop stirring the mixture; it will spill out of the pot, or even worse, burn on the bottom!
• You can make this drink vegan or dairy-free by using vegan beverages such as coconut milk, almond milk, soy milk, etc. If you doing this, I recommend using 1/4 cup more of oats since you’ll be missing a bit of the creaminess from whole milk.
• Or you can simply leave the milk out and use only water, it is still a nutritious and fulfilling drink you can serve for breakfast. If you go this way, we recommend infusing the water with more spices, whole cloves, and anis star works wonderfully in this recipe.

How To Serve

There’s no better combo than atole + tamales, for breakfast or merienda, so here are our favorite tamales recipes to serve this atole de avena with:

• Pork Tamales. Made with chile rojo and shredded pork.
• Tamales de rajas. fluffy tamales stuffed with poblano peppers and cheese.
• Ground beef tamales. Deliciously made with picadillo and olives.

You can also serve it with other sweet treats like:

• Empanadas. Stuffed with pumpkin.
• Coricos. Mexican corn cookies.
• Gorditas de nata. Puffy cakes made with clotted cream.
• Polvorones. Traditional Mexican cookies.

Last, this oatmeal atole can be also served on its own with a sprinkle of cinnamon powder or grated chocolate on top for a sweet afternoon treat.

Perfect to warm you up on cold days!

How To Store And Reheat

Oatmeal atole leftovers can be stored for up to 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container.

You can also freeze it for up to 2 months and then thaw it overnight and have it ready the next morning for breakfast.

For reheating, place the avena atole in a saucepan or small pot and reheat in a medium setting while stirring constantly.

You can also reheat it in the microwave in the same mug where you’ll drink it in 30 seconds intervals, mixing it in between.

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Other Mexican Hot Drinks

• Ponche Navideño: The most traditional Mexican drink for Christmas made with fruits, tamarind, and hibiscus flowers.
• Atole de fresas: Made with strawberries and milk.
• Café de olla: Aromatic and infused with cinnamon, this Mexican coffee is definitely one of the best hot drinks to enjoy in winter.