Atole De Avena (Oatmeal drink)

This Atole de Avena (oatmeal drink) is an easy & healthy version of the classic Mexican drink Atole De Masa. Enjoy it any time of year! This version is made with oatmeal and flavored with cinnamon, brown sugar & vanilla.

This recipe was originally published in Oct 2016. It was updated to revise the content and photographs. The original recipe remains the same. Enjoy!

Jump to:

• The traditional Atole version
• Ingredients for Mexican Oatmeal Drink
• How to make Atole de Avena
• Recipe

The traditional Atole version

Let's talk about all the different ways you can make it.  Let's start with the traditional one shall we?

Authentic Atole is made with masa (yes, the same one you make corn tortillas with), cooked with water or milk and sweetened with piloncillo (unrefined whole cane sugar).

Flavor variations include rice, cornmeal, guava, oatmeal and amaranth.  Sweeten it with brown or white sugar, honey, or even artificial sweeteners if that's your thing.

Finally, if you add chocolate, it becomes the popular drink known as Champurrado.

There you go my friends, a little background on this delicious and hearty Mexican drink.  For this version I chose Oatmeal as it is a little healthier and easier to find throughout the United States and other countries (except Mexico of course 🙂 )

If you would like to enjoy more hot Mexican drinks, try this Mexican Hot Chocolate... another classic that is a must have!

Ingredients for Mexican Oatmeal Drink

For this Atole De Avena recipe I'm keeping things light and healthy but the original flavor has is just as good or even better!.... It is simply delicious!

• 1/2 cup rolled oats. You can substitute rolled oats if you can't grind them with oat flour. This will work too!
• 2 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk or you can use whatever milk you prefer. This one is low calories so keep that in mind!
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup brown sugar or sweetened to taste. If you prefer to use piloncillo, use 2 oz (see note below about piloncillo)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

What is piloncillo? It is basically unrefined whole cane sugar with no additives. It's not the same as brown sugar but you can use it interchangeably.

How to make Atole de Avena

• Start by grinding the oats in a blender or small food processor. We will grind it until it reaches a thick flour consistency. I used a small blender like a Magic Bullet.

• Then add all of the ground oatmeal plus the rest of the ingredients in a small pot and bring to a soft boil.
• Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often making sure the milk does not boil over (this is the hard part since I tend to get distracted and make a mess if it boils over lol)

• Once it reaches the consistency of runny pudding, remove from heat and serve hot in mugs.
• Sprinkle with cinnamon if you like.

This recipe was originally published in Oct 2016. It was updated in April 2020 to revise the content and photographs. The original recipe remains the same. Enjoy!

Recipe

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