Read how to make microwave oatmeal without boiling over or how to cook oatmeal in microwave without making a hot mess from the spilling of oatmeal or milk!

The photo of the oatmeal that you see here is made on microwave without boiling over or without any mess. You can do this too!
I often make oatmeal in microwave for breakfast and during my initial trials, sometimes it had been a mess with mostly milk boiling over the bowl and making a mess inside the microwave.
Over time I learnt how to microwave oatmeal with out boiling over the milk and oats making a complete mess.
Read this post to see the tips on how to make microwave oatmeal without boiling over.
Tips to make perfect microwave oatmeal without spilling milk or oatmeal boiling over
The key is to use the right sized bowl proportionate to the amount of ingredients you are using and also the timing of adding the milk to the oatmeal.
If you don't use milk in your oatmeal, this is not much a challenge to you since the boiling over of the milk is causing the main problem.
So let us start by saying that you need to use a bowl that is enough to hold your oatmeal ingredients.
I always fill up the oatmeal into the bowl first and I suggest you not to add more than half of the bowl, since you need space to add the rest of the ingredients.
- take a medium of large sized microwave safe bowl which can be used as your microwave oatmeal bowl.
Microwave Safe Bowls - See the below shown microwave safe bowls available to buy online from Amazon
Vremi 17 oz Ceramic Bowls Set of 6 - White Porcelain Kitchen Serving Bowl Set Microwave SafeDOWAN 29 Ounce Porcelain Soup Bowls - 3 Packs, Stackable Round, White
- Fill up half with oatmeal (old fashioned rolled oats or instant as you wish)
- Add water. Yes I highly recommend you cook your oatmeal in water if you want to cook the oatmeal in microwave without making a mess. But don't worry, we will add the milk towards the end of the preparation.
- You need water almost the level of oats and a little bit more so the oatmeal will get cooked nicely.
- Add the sweetener. Now microwave in high for 2 minutes. Your oats should have been cooked by now. But you can give it a cool off time for about 1 to 2 minutes and microwave again for another 1 minute for perfectly cooked oatmeal in microwave.
- Now add milk ( I suggest cold milk) and gently mix your oatmeal and add any other ingredients like cut apples or bananas, nuts or raisins if you wish.
- If you wish, you can also microwave for another 30 seconds so everything gets mixed and warmed up nicely!
This way, by using the right sized bowl large enough to hold the ingredients, by filling up the bowl with oats first and only till half way, cooking with just enough water and adding the milk only towards the end of the preparation, you can easily make microwave oatmeal with out boiling over.
Important Notes On Microwave Oatmeal
Once the oatmeal is cooked in the microwave oven, the contents can be very hot so please make sure to handle it carefully.
Allow the microwave oatmeal to slightly cool down before you can serve.
Also make sure to stir the oatmeal before serving or adding any toppings, so that the heat is distributed evenly in the oatmeal.
Related posts & microwave recipes:
microwave oatmeal basic recipe
best apple cinnamon oatmeal in microwave
how to make oatmeal taste good without sugar
how long to microwave water for tea
Instant Microwave Oatmeal From Amazon
The directions in these packages are very clear on how to make it in microwave, just make sure you follow the package directions and try to use water instead of milk if you are still worried about boiling over.
Quaker Instant Oatmeal Express Cups, 50% Less Sugar, Apple Walnut, Breakfast Cereal, Individual Cups (Pack of 12)Quaker Instant Oatmeal Express Cups, Maple Brown Sugar, Breakfast Cereal, 1.69 oz Cups (Pack of 12)
Quaker Real Medleys Oatmeal+, Summer Berry, Instant Oatmeal+ Breakfast Cereal, 2.46 oz Cup (Pack of 12)
Instant Microwave Oatmeal Variety Packs
Quaker Instant Oatmeal Express Cups, Variety Pack, Breakfast Cereal (12 Count)Quaker Instant Oatmeal, Fruit and Cream Variety Pack, Breakfast Cereal, 6 Packets Per Box (Pack of 6 Boxes)
Quaker Real Medleys Oatmeal+, Variety Pack, Instant Oatmeal+ Breakfast Cereal (12 Pack Cups)
You might like to see my post on easy baked apple oatmeal recipe
Hope you found this post on how to make microwave oatmeal without boiling over useful!
Kentuckylady717
YES,oatmeal is so much better cooked in milk, Use whole milk, but 2% isn't too bad....i like my oatmeal thin, can't eat thick oatmeal.... I use about one fourth cup of quick oats, use more if you like yours thick,I use a 2 cup glass measuring cup, i cook it for almost 2 mins.I STAY WITH IT AT THE MICROWAVE , I let it boil until it gets to the top, stop it and take out and stir, and put back in and repeat couple more times take it out, and add 1 tsp. honey and a tbsp. of a flavored coffee creamer Amaretto when I can find it or the Italian Cream (both made by Coffeemate or another good brand)and I just eat it out of the measuring cup, why dirty another dish.... .So yes oatmeal is so much better with milk and the whole milk is better.....(NOTE) watch it carefully, it will boil over, but you won't let it happen but once, because you will have a mess to clean up.....how do I know ? LOL it happened to me......bot only ONCE.....I do not walk away from the microwave.....
Recipe Garden
Some very good points! Agree, we shouldn't walk away from microwave while the oatmeal is there in the microwave. I often prepare oatmeal, both in microwave and on stove top. I too had an instance of oatmeal that was boiled over in the microwave and as you told, I didn't want it to happen again due to the mess I had to clean up. That's when I became more careful with making microwave oatmeal. I decided to share what I learnt from making microwave oatmeal, since it maybe helpful to someone. Milk helps to make the oatmeal creamy & delicious, but sometimes we can even make delicious oatmeal even without using any milk like apple cinnamon oatmeal! Thank you so much for stopping by 🙂
John Q
I ended up heating water first then adding the oatmeal.
Recipe Garden
Hope it worked for you!