Avena means oats in English and it’s a traditional Colombian drink that is rich, creamy and delicious. It is my mom’s favorite Colombian drink that is great with breakfast or you could serve it at any time of the day.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of the wonderful moms in the world!
INGREDIENTS
(4 SERVINGS)
½ cup old fashioned oatmeal
4 cups milk
1 cup water
1 cinnamon stick
Pinch ground cloves
3 ½ tablespoons sugar
DIRECTIONS
1. Place the water, milk and oatmeal in a medium pot over medium heat and cook about 15 minutes, stirring often with a wooden spoon.
2. Add the cinnamon stick, ground cloves and sugar and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 15 more minutes.
3. Remove the pot from the heat and set aside to cool.
4. Place the oatmeal mixture in a plastic container and refrigerate for a least 3 hours.
5. Discard the cinnamon stick and place the mixture in a blender and blend for 2 minutes. Add more water if you like a thinner consistency.
6. Serve cold.
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
MMMMMM….souds so lovely!!! MMMMMM….
I’ve drank it while visiting Colombia; can’t wait to make it for my kids. Thanks for the recipe;)
I love ur web site! I am really glad i have found it as i was looking for a proper colombian recipe site for ages. My boyfirend is from Colombia and i will definetely suprise him with some typical dishes from his country. I tried a lot of them and love it! Thank u very much and good luck! Looking forward to more info and recipes on mycolombianrecipes.com
besos
I love avena drink, i add a little bit of condensed milk instead of sugar, its delicious.
Thank you Diana!!!!
Sometimes I add condensed milk to my avena too and is delicious, but my mom prefers to have it just with sugar.
Finally! I have been looking all over the web for this recipe. Here in Miami, there is a local colombian bakery that prepares “Avena Fria” and I have been clueless on how they make it and came across this website! thanks:)
I add milk to blend instead of water, I love avena its refreshing healthy and brings back many memories when traveling through towns in Colombia. I also sprinkle a little cround cinnamon on top and serve ice cold. YUMMM!
Gil.
Mmmm thanks for posting this! I love this drink but never quite knew how to make it.
Erica,
I just discoverd Alpine Avena. I am crazy about it. My mate’s mother is diabetic and drinks the skim/no sugar one, Finesse. They are Venezuelan. I thought i would make it and came across your site, which is incredible. Two questions:
Can it be made with instant oats?
Can it be made with fat free milk?
I can use Splenda to taste,
Any tips would be appreciated.
Gracias,
Timothy
Timothy- I did not make it with splenda or low fat milk, but you can try it!
Erica,
I did use ff milk and splenda. Left it overnight in fridge, blended it this morning with a few ice cubes and a drop of vanilla and it came out delicious! I think it taste better than the Alpin brand, plus it does not have any things i cannot pronounce in it. Thanks!
Timothy
Thank you for the recipe. I have followed the instruction 3 times to the ‘t’. Unfortunately it turns our like carpenter glue when it cools down. Have you tested this recipe? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Carlos- I make this drink once a week and it is good! You can add more water or milk if you think that is too thick for you!
This is my mom’s recipe and always works for her as well, sorry it is not working for you!
Thank you for your reply. I will add more milk. Thank you again.
r,
cma
Carlos; it is suppost to turn like glue, this is normal; that’s why you have to add water or milk to the blender and then it will have the consistency that you desire; according to the amount of liquid that you add!!
Have fun!!! this is the beauty of cooking when you can add your own touch!!!
Try it with yougurt and fruits!!!
Indiatayrona.
I modified the recipe. I use 1/2 cup oats, 1 cup water, 1/4 cup condensed milk, tablespoon of sugar, with cinnamon & nutmeg. I heat in the microwave 2 minutes. Makes a thicker drink, so you use a spoon.
oh my goodness! i am making that right now! i just need some quesito to go along with it!…. brings memories of me going to girardot with my family for the weekend!
Valerie, I used to travel a lot to girardot and melgar and always try avena helada.
I can’t wait to have to chance to make it this weekend.Hope to hear from you.
I made this avena for breakfast today and we all loved it. The perfect drink for summer. Thank you for sharing your recipes.This is my favorite Colombian drink.
I made this yesterday and It was delicious. Like my mom’s!Thank you!
I made this for the first time last weekend….oh so yummy! Especially after the spices spend a day or two mingling. I take a small bottle to work for a yummy and satisfying morning snack!! Thank you!!!
Hey Thanks Erica,I was hoping to make a nice avena and here I am
Cheers desde Australia!
Hola Erica.
Gracias por esta receta. Soy colombiana, vivo en Francia con mis hijos y mi esposo y desde que trajimos de Colombia un paquete de avena helada instantanea he querido hacer una version “home made”. Hoy la intento y la pongo a prueba de mis mas duros jueces: mis ninnos. Felicidades por tu blog tan completo y por las fotos muy lindas que expones, bravo!
INSTANT OATS OK?
I use old fashioned oats.
Thank you! I remember having this as a teenager in Bogota. Yum…
Tjere could never be a day at the beach without avena helada when I was growing up. Nothing like a tall ice-cold glass of avena helada on ice at the beach. This brings a lot of wonderful memories Erica. And for your information, this mixture make the healthiest, most nutricious and best home-made popsicles. My kids grew up in Florida and I made these for them all the time. They used to bring all their neighborhood friends to share the popsicles with. Try these, they are fantastic.
Loved it thank you for this recipe!!
Made this today and it’s amazing! Thanks for the recipe!
Ya he hecho esta receta varias veces y queda deliciosa la avena. Gracias por la receta.
Erica, thanks for the recipe! It just came out perfect… The kids loved it!!! It brought back childhood memories and I’m now building new memories for them!