Whoever came up with the idea of avena caliente (oatmeal and milk hot drink) must have been a culinary genius.
The best part of keeping this blog, and having it become the de facto digital Dominican kitchen, is that we get to show you recipes that may not longer be as popular in the Dominican home, but that definitely deserve a revival. They deserve to be shown to the world, and adopted for the wonderful ideas that they are.
Oatmeal dishes as a part of breakfast are pretty much universal at this point, and researchers nearly trip over each other to reveal an ever-growing list of nutritional benefits. Imagine this in a drink form. Imagine how practical: a warm drink, thick, and full of the flavors of our beloved spices. It warms the soul and satisfies the most voracious appetite. Even those who dislike oatmeal porridge will give oatmeal a second chance.
Avena caliente (oatmeal and milk hot drink):
Often found on our breakfast table when I was a kid. Practical, simple, quick to make and inexpensive, this is just perfect to send the kids off to school with a nutritionally solid meal in their stomach.
And grownups will love it too. Pour into your favorite lidded mug and sip on your way to work if you are short on time.
Buen provecho!
Aunt Clara
- 1/2 cup [58 gr] of oatmeal
- 4 cups of water
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt (optional)
- 4 cups of milk (see notes)
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 6 cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon of grated nutmeg
- 4 tablespoons of brown sugar (or more, to taste)
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Mix water, milk, salt and oatmeal and mix (in a blender) until the oatmeal is nearly dissolved.
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In a 3 quart [3 lt] pot mix with cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Heat over medium heat, stir constantly.
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Once it breaks the boil, lower heat and simmer until volume has reduced to 3/4 of the original. Add sugar to taste
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Serve warm.
For a thicker, richer drink use evaporated milk. For a lighter drink, skim milk works very well. If you are lactose intolerant, or vegan, I have enjoyed it with almond milk.
To sieve or not to sieve. That is the question. You'll lose some fiber if you sieve this drink, but not as much as you'd think since most will be blended in, it will only remove the large pieces left. Some like it like that. I'll leave it to you to decide.
Giveaway: Hand Blender Set [Closed]
This was sooo delicious and turned out just like my abuela used to make! I left it the “rustic ” way because that’s how I used to drink it. I halved the ingredients because I was making it just for me. It’s really not as forgotten as people think. I grew up in Washington Heights in New York City and the restaurants there still make it and offer it for breakfast. I live in New Jersey now so I don’t get to smell the “avena ” walking down The Heights in the morning.
Omar’s Cafe
646 Mt. Prospect Avenue
Newark, NJ 07104
makes the best….
Thanks for such an awesome idea! Though I’ve used oats a lot in smoothies, the idea of a thick, warm oat drink sounded great! Because of a lot of serious health issues, I tried a whole food plant based diet as Dr McDougall recommends, and actually reversed all the illnesses in a few months, and went on to lose over 100 lbs, I was amazed! So I am a stickler about what I eat now, and dairy and processed sugar are out, so I had to modify your recipe, but it turned out fantastic! I ground up 1/2 cup of… Read more »
Many great ideas. Thanks!
My kids say it smells like Christmas!! I recently found out that the Germans make a similar drink with oatmeal but they mostly drink it cold. Its always fascinating when I find connections between our Dominican foods and foods from other countries!
I recently found your blog and everything I have tried has been stellar. The avena caliente was delicious and reminded me of how my mom used to make it when I was a child. Thank you for sharing this great recipe with us. It’s a hit in my household!
This is absolutely delicious! What wonderful comfort food, and no caffeine! Thank you so much for passing this on.
I l love avena con leche caliente.I don’t think it is as forgotten as people think. I like the rustic recipe better (where you leave the oats whole), but I do like this one two; it just depends on what I want at the moment. Also to change it a little for my kids I sometimes add a little chocolate or coffee.
I just made this tonight…absolutely delicious! I only had 1cinnamon stick available so I also used some ground cinnamon without any problem. Thank you for this recipe!😃
I made this tonight and OMG!!!! Delish such memories of my younger years thank you xo
This makes me remember my child hood! I’m loving your site, unfortunately I never picked up my families Dominican recipes so this site helps me try out all the foods I love myself! They will be so surprised when I start bringing in some Dominican dishes to get-together’s 😉
Alternate way of cooking. Make oatmeal as you would for a bowl of oatmeal. I had it sitting on my stove when I found this recipe. I used 2 cups steel cut oats and 6 cups of water. Then I simply took 1/4 of the oatmeal (since her recipe calls for for 1/2 cup oatmeal) blended it in the blender gradually adding the milk until the blender could hold not more, transferred it to a pot finished adding the milk (6 cups total) and spices, brought it to a very gentle simmer and simmered for 5 minutes. Done! We don’t… Read more »
A variation I do is to polverize the oatmeal in a blender and sift out the solids. I make the Avena Caliente with the polverized oatmeal following the same recipe. Enjoy!
I enjoyed it very much. I added a teaspoon of white Vanilla extract and it was just like my mom’s.
Hi Clara!
First I double the recipe, but just used one cup of brown sugar rather than making that double,and it was too sweet for my taste. So, next time I’m keeping the original amount and double everything else. Also, I got the grounded cloves from my local Halal Market! Also, I used unsweetened almond milk instead of regular or evaporated, and you cannot even notice a taste…that’s important for my children!. Now I have a recipe where my kids feel they’re having a treat and it’s full of nutritious oatmeal and almond milk. Thanks!
That’s why whenever I can I direct to add sugar “to taste”. 🙂