How to Make Perfect Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats - Healthy Instant Pot Recipes (2024)

How to Make Perfect Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats in the Instant Pot -Making healthy steel cut oats in the Instant Pot is so easy and effortless! Just add the oats and water to the Instant Pot, set the timer to 5 minutes on high pressure. Let the Instant Pot release naturally (approx. 15-20 minutes) give a quick stir and you’ve got Perfect Steel Cut Oats..everytime! Voila! No more hovering over the stove to stir the oats every couple of minutes. {Naturally Gluten-free, Vegan, Clean Eating, High in Fiber}

Hands down one of the best things about cooking is the Instant Pot is just that…the “hands down” or more appropriately “hands off” style of cooking. I love steel cut oats but rarely made the time to stand over the stove and cook up a pot. But now, thanks to the Instant Pot healthy, creamy steel cut oats are happening …a lot!

The Instant Pot has changed my weekday mornings! Between Steel Cut Oats (especially Strawberry + Cream Steel Cut Oatmeal) and Instant Pot Fritattas it’s really easy to have a hot nutritious breakfast without having to spend any time cooking in the morning! Just a few minutes prep time and the Instant Pot does all the work. Makes enough to feed a family or meal prep your breakfasts for the week.

How to Make Perfect Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats

1. Lightly grease the pot with coconut oil or butter. Add steel cut oats, water and salt (if using) to pot and stir to combine.
2. Lock the lid, set the vent to SEALING. Select MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK and cook for 5 minutes on HIGH PRESSURE. Upon completion of the cooking cycle, allow the Instant Pot to NATURALLY RELEASE ( about 15-20 minutes).
3. Open lid carefully and stir oats. (It’s normal for oats to look slightly watery when you first open the pot, once you give them a stir they will thicken up). Serve with your favorite toppers/add-ins ( like fresh fruit, raisins, nuts, nut butters etc. )

Recipe Notes

One step not to miss

I recommend greasing the Instant Pot with coconut oil or butter prior to adding the oats and water. Oats are notorious for “foaming” when cooking. Greasing the pot should help to keep the “foam” from climbing up the side of the pot and potentially clogging the pressure release valve.

I use some coconut oil and a paper towel to coat the bottom and sides of the pot. This helps to make sure oats don’t stick to the pot and also makes clean-up even easier.

Water or non-dairy milk

To change-up the flavor of your oats you can sub non-dairy milk (like almond or coconut milk) for the all or a portion of water in this recipe. (Dairy milk may scorch while cooking)

Add-ins/Toppings

The options are endless!

Fresh fruit, raisins, nuts, seeds , nut butters, cinnamon, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, dried fruit, maple syrup, honey, brown sugar, jam, trail mix, granola, coconut, yogurt

Here are a few favorites:

Strawberry + Cream

Chocolate covered banana- cocoa powder, chocolate chips and banana slices

Pumpkin Pie- oats, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla almond milk, and top with pecans

Tropical Coconut - sub coconut milk for water, add a touch of vanilla extract and top with fresh mango (and/or pineapple) and toasted coconut flakes

Maple Pecan – maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon and chopped pecans

How to store cooked steel cut oats/ Can you freeze steel cut oats?

Refrigerate- Store cooked (and cooled) steel cut oats in air tight containers (like mason jars) without any toppings. Refrigerate for up to one week. To heat up oats, add a splash of water or milk and stir oats to loosen them up. Microwave for 1 minute. Add any stir-ins or toppings.

Mason jars make it super easy to grab-and-go. Use sandwich bags to pre-package toppings so mornings are a snap!

Freeze- You can portion out individual servings in freezer safe containers or bags. If you’re making a large batch that you plan to freeze, I would suggest using a muffin tray.

Allow cooked oats to cool completely, lightly grease muffin tins and fill. Place muffin tin in the freezer for a couple of hours until oatmeal is frozen. Remove frozen oatmeal “muffins” from cups and store in a large freezer proof container or ziplock bag.

To reheat, transfer oatmeal “muffins” to a microwave safe bowl and microwave 1-2 minutes, stirring half way through cooking time.