Comfort Food: Oatmeal Tomato Patties

Growing up my family couldn’t always afford much so we learned to make food that tasted great from foods that we could get in bulk for cheap. My sisters and I were the main cooks in the family, but a lot of what we know about cooking we learned from our mom. This recipe is adapted from a recipe my mom used to make that she had adapted from another recipe.

Due to my family being vegan, my mom’s version does not have eggs, but they tend to crumble very easily. So, when I was asked to make a patty recipe for a class, I decided to take inspiration from my mom’s recipe and use the skills and information I have learned in my culinary classes to make the recipe the best it can be.

3 cups Old Fashioned Oats
1 cup blended canned tomatoes (I used Hunts crushed tomatoes)
1 tbsp Oil of choice + more for frying (I used Vegetable Oil)
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp dried parsley
½ tsp Paprika
2 large eggs

Combine all ingredients together in a medium bowl and mix. Let set for about 5 minutes to give the oats time to soak up the moisture of the tomatoes and oil. Once the mixture sticks to itself and can be formed into loose balls then it is ready to be fried.

In a medium frying pan, heat 2 tbsps of oil until simmering. Using an ice cream scoop of desired size, scoop mix into pan and press down into patty shape. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes then flip and fry another 2 to 3 minutes. Once do they should be starting to turn a little reddest brown color from the tomatoes.

My family always served my mom’s recipe as a side for steamed potatoes, lentil soup, or split pea soup. However, you can also make a sauce or gravy and cover the patties with it, they also taste good as a sandwich. Or, my personal favorite, you can eat them straight from the plate.

This recipe can be made vegan by using Aquafaba. It can also be made gluten-free simply by using gluten-free oats. You can also add any vegetables and herbs to it that you want. It is a very simple recipe that can be taken a shaped however you want.