Tahini & Date Oats is a rich, savory-sweet breakfast that’s creamy and indulgent without being a sugar bomb.
Tahini & Date Oats
Course: Breakfast2
servings5
minutes20
minutes300
kcalBoil, thicken, swirl, and finish.
Ingredients
3 cups water (or a mix of water and milk for extra creaminess)
¼ tsp salt
1 cup steel cut oats
4-5 dates, pitted and chopped
¼ tsp vanilla
2 Tbs tahini
1 rounded Tbs plain Greek yogurt
4-6 dried figs, sliced into quarters or thin rounds.
1-2 tsp honey (or to taste)
Toasted sesame and/or chia seeds, for garnish
Directions
- Bring the water and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over med-high heat, 15 minutes. Stir in the oats and half of the chopped dates*. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20. Stir, re-cover, and then continue to cook until the oats are tender (to your liking) and the liquid is absorbed (in other words, the oats are more like porridge and not like a soup), 10 more minutes.
- Off heat, stir thoroughly as you carefully scrape the bottom of the pot to make sure nothing has stuck to it. Allow to rest, covered, until the oats firm up, 10 minutes. Stir in vanilla.
- Spoon the hot oats into two serving bowls and swirl in the tahini, 1 Tbs per bowl. Create a small crater in the center with a spoon. Drop the yogurt right into the crater. Arrange the figs so they lean against the yogurt. Add the remaining chopped dates around the edges. Drizzle the honey in a slow zigzag pattern across both the fruit and the yogurt. Sprinkle with sesame and/or chia seeds.
Notes
- *Adding some dates early allows them to melt into the oats, naturally sweetening the base.
What’s it like?
The oats are tender, but chewy. The tahini and honey provide a nutty, toasted flavor. The dates and figs provide texture and sweetness, as of course does the honey – but not much … just enough.
Oats are by definition humble, but given that, I’d be proud to serve these oats to any overnight guest.
Social Learning
Dropping the yogurt into the crater keeps it from melting immediately into the oats, which allows you to taste it more distinctly, and it helps keep the yogurt cold so that it will interact with the honey and provide contrast to the oats. The honey will hit the cold yogurt and thicken up the tiniest bit, creating a delicious “ribbon” of sweetness, while it will melt into the hot oats with a subtler taste.
With a little know-how, you could turn this into an overnight oats recipe.
Of course this dish reheats exactly as you’d imagine: it comes out of the fridge very, very thick and reheats in the microwave effortlessly – but you’ll need some milk to thin it out.
Servings
- 2 people: incredibly generous, but not completely absurd. This is the serving size I’d expect in a restaurant. It’s honestly too much, but you’ll wind up eating it all (and then probably feel like taking a nap).
- 3 people: still generous and unquestionably filling
- 4 people: reasonable … maybe borderline paltry, but I’d stand by it nonetheless – especially if there were other things for breakfast as well, like croissants, English muffins, scones, fresh fruit, and a large latte.
If you do divide this into smaller servings, you may feel that you need to increase the overall amount of toppings, so as not to stretch them too thin visually speaking.
Tahini & Date Oats
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. Refernces: Baked Greens, BBC Good Food, Feed Me Phoebe. If you’re worried that your stove won’t produce a low enough heat to cook the oats without scorching them, use a flame diffuser and try 1 minute heat on (medium heat), followed by 7 minutes heat off, followed by intervals of 1 minute on, 4 minutes off. You’re welcome. Thank you, Kesor. Thank you, ⌘+C. Make It Like a Man! is ranked by Feedspot as #5 in the Top 30 Men’s Cooking Blogs.
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Wonderful! A very interesting way to use tahini.
Thanks, Mimi!
Tahini! Now that was a new suggestion for oats I haven’t heard. I love it, and any nut or seed butter honestly. I love a drizzle of sunbutter on oats, I’ll give this a shot!
Thank you, Tracy!
I like the savory-sweet combo in this. I am not much for a breakfast cereal, hot or cold, but this really does appeal!
Thanks, David!
Jeff, I would very happily tuck into this for breakfast, you have taken oats to the next level for sure.
Thank you so much, Pauline!
J’aime le tahini et les dattes, je me régale
Bonne journée
Thank you!
Lovely presentation – The recipe sounds delicious and is really dresses up a basic food that sometimes can seem boring.
Right! I eat oatmeal almost every day, so I love finding new ways to make it.
This sounds so good, Jeff! I love that combination of tahini and dates – rich, nutty, and naturally sweet.
Thanks, Ben!
We do love oats but I have never tried tahini with oats. This is something new. I will give it a try for sure.
I hope you like it!
These additions to oats are so nutritional and tasty. Will definitely try this version soon. 🙂
Thanks, Ronit! I hope you like it!
I love oats, and have had it with dates before, but never have I had it with tahini too. To me this sounds like such a delicious combo of salty and sweet!
Yes! It’s sweet enough, but has savory vibes.
Never underestimate the value of a large latte at breakfast time! I like the trick of adding the yogurt into the crater as you call it. Very clever. Also sounds like something I’d love to have in front of me right now. Happy Easter to you and your family, Jeff!
Such a lovely idea Jeff to add the dried figs and dates. Who said oatmeal was boring??! Half water, half milk for me 🙂 Have a great Easter weekend, ~Nessa
I have never thought to use tahini like this, but I’m intrigued. The recipe does sound quite flavorful. I can’t wait to give it a try!
Never thought tahini and oats belonged in the same bowl, but here we are and now I can’t unsee how perfect the combo is. Then you add figs on top and suddenly it’s giving “breakfast, but make it elegant.”
What a nice thing to say! Thank you!
A lovely bowl of comfort
Thanks!