Both oatmeal and porridge can be enjoyed as either a hearty breakfast or a savory meal, but these two dishes of thick, creamy grains boiled in a pot and served warm are actually quite different. Obviously, oatmeal is made of oats, and it's this specificity that makes it different from other types of porridge.

Oatmeal is technically a type of porridge, but not all porridge is oatmeal. Porridge can be made from buckwheat, quinoa, spelt, amaranth, brown rice, and an endless number of other grains, but when made from oats, porridge qualifies as oatmeal, and the oats can be either steamed, rolled, or steel-cut.

Cooking for a Healthy Life defines porridge as "any grain, cereal, or legume that has been boiled in milk, water, or broth," and oatmeal is the one of the only types of porridge that has its own special name in English. Any porridge can be made to be sweet and comforting or savory with condiments and spices.