• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Free Email Series!

5 Time and Stress Saving Cooking Secrets

Free email series of my best tips!

Visit my other Site: Pancake Recipes
  • About
  • Contact
  • Free Email Series!

    5 Time and Stress Saving Cooking Secrets

    Free email series of my best tips!

  • Visit my other Site: Pancake Recipes

Rachel Cooks®

Easy Healthy-ish Recipes

  • Recipe Index
  • Popular
    • Instant Pot Pinto Beans
    • Green Beans with Bacon
    • Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
    • Roasted Sugar Snap Peas
    • Beef Stew Seasoning
    • Chili Seasoning Recipe
    • Thousand Island Dressing
    • Poppy Seed Dressing
    • Copycat Panera Squash Soup
    • Chocolate Chip Blondies
    • Instant Pot Pork Loin Roast
    • Frosé
    • Best Chocolate Cake
    • Dill Vegetable Dip
    • Instant Pot Jasmine Rice
    • Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs
  • Learn to Cook
    • All The Basics
    • Crostini
    • Delicata Squash
    • Butternut Squash
    • Kabocha Squash
    • Spaghetti Squash
    • Guacamole
    • Croutons
    • Snap Peas
    • Baked Potatoes
    • Baked Bacon
    • Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
    • Simple Syrup
    • Pickled Red Onions Recipe
    • Toasted Pine Nuts
    • Roasted bone-in Chicken Breasts
    • Poached Chicken
    • Roasted Whole Chicken
    • Easy Cheese Sauce

Dinner Made Easy:

Slow Cooker

5 Ingredients

Grilling

Make Ahead

Sheet Pan

Tacos

Pizza

Home Recipes by Type Breakfast and Brunch
PC Instant Pot Recipes GF Gluten-Free DF Dairy-Free FF Freezer Friendly VG Vegetarian 5I 5 ingredients or less

Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats

4.80
/5
40 mins
2 Comments
Jump to Recipe Video
By: Rachel GurkPosted: 01/03/2020Updated: 01/21/2022

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Making Instant Pot steel cut oats is easy, almost completely hands-off, and creates the perfect hearty breakfast!

Making Instant Pot steel cut oats is easy, almost completely hands-off, and creates the perfect hearty breakfast!

Recipe Overview

Why you’ll love it: It’s so easy to make, virtually all hands off, and makes a lot.

How long it takes: 5 minutes to prep and about 35 minutes in the Instant Pot, depending on how quickly it comes to full pressure
Equipment you’ll need: pressure cooker/Instant Pot
Servings: 8

Image of instant pot steel cut oats topped with brown sugar, cinnamon, and fresh berries.
Table of Contents
open
  • 1 Recipe Overview
  • 2 About this Oatmeal
  • 3 FAQs
  • 4 Make It Your Own
  • 5 Storage & Reheating Tips
  • 6 More Breakfast & Brunch Recipes
  • 7 Get the Recipe: Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats

Creamy, warm, and comforting – oatmeal is a perfect breakfast. It’s Ben’s favorite and I love it too. My parents eat oatmeal pretty much everyday and so did my grandparents.

Often called Irish or Scottish oats, steel cut oats are a unique alternative to rolled oats. Since they are minimally processed, they are chockfull of fiber and nutrition.

If a little packet of instant oatmeal is your only experience with oatmeal, you’ve been deprived of a good oatmeal breakfast. There’s simply no comparison to home-cooked steel cut oats. They are chewy and satisfying, not gluey and pasty like instant oats.

A good bowl of oatmeal with a little milk and honey will stick with you easily until lunchtime. No growly tummies an hour after breakfast! And because oatmeal has lots of soluble fiber, your gut will be happy too.

There are lots of ways to fix and eat oatmeal. Who doesn’t love crunchy granola made with oats? It’s great as a snack or for breakfast. I love to make steel cut oats in my slow cooker: get it started before you go to bed and a warm breakfast is waiting for you when you awaken. Baked oatmeal is a fun alternative to a bowl of oatmeal and you can even cut it into fun shapes for the kids.

About this Oatmeal

When you make steel cut oatmeal on the stovetop, there’s a bit of babysitting it. If you’ve done it even once, you know this. You have to stir it to make sure it doesn’t burn or stick on the bottom. You have to constantly adjust the heat to make sure it doesn’t boil over (because boy, oh boy, does it love to boil over!). Obviously it’s not the hardest thing in the world but it can be a bit of a pain.

Using a pressure cooker eliminates all these problems. You just combine the oats, water, and a bit of salt, put the lid on, set it and walk away! 

If you’ve used an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker, you know it will take about ten minutes to come to pressure. Once it pressurizes, the oats will cook for 5 minutes, and then you’ll let the pressure release naturally (aka do nothing) for about twenty minutes. 

All that’s left to do after that is remove the cover and give them a good stir. As with all oatmeal, it will continue to thicken as it stands and when it cools. 

Keep reading for lots of yummy topping ideas.

Image of steel cut oatmeal in an instant pot with a wooden spoon.

FAQs

How do I use the oatmeal button on my Instant Pot?

I would check the manual that came with your Instant Pot. My model does not have an oatmeal button. Oatmeal is so easy to make that you really won’t need a special setting. Just set it for High Pressure for five minutes and let it release naturally for 20 minutes. That’s all there is to it!

Should you rinse steel cut oats before cooking?

It shouldn’t be necessary to rinse the oats. Some folks soak the oats before cooking them so that they’ll cook more quickly. That step isn’t necessary when using a pressure cooker/Instant Pot to cook oatmeal.

What are the health benefits of steel cut oats?

Because steel cut oats are a whole grain and minimally processed, they are very healthy for you. They are low calorie and high in fiber, with lots of vitamins and minerals. A serving contains 5 grams of protein. To learn more, check out Healthline. They help regulate blood sugar, promote proper digestion and weight loss, and are good for heart health.

Make It Your Own

This oatmeal is a blank slate but you can season it and flavor it any way you’d like. Here are some ideas:

  • Try cooking it with a cinnamon stick for a subtle cinnamon flavor or give it a hearty sprinkle of ground cinnamon when it finishes cooking. 
  • Sweeten it any way you like! I like a sprinkle of brown sugar or a drizzle of pure maple syrup. A swirl of jam or jelly is delicious too. 
  • Toppings! Oh, you know I love my toppings! Fresh berries are amazing on oatmeal. Some other ideas are sliced bananas, nut butters, sunflower seed butter, a few chocolate chips, sautéed apples, toasted nuts, or shredded coconut. Try stirring in a little pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice for a fun fall oatmeal. For a more savory breakfast, top your oatmeal with a fried egg.
  • If you prefer oatmeal with a thinner consistency, add more water when you cook it. I wouldn’t recommend reducing the water much, if at all, because you’ll be more likely to get a burn notice on your Instant Pot.
Making Instant Pot steel cut oats is easy, almost completely hands-off, and creates the perfect hearty breakfast!

Storage & Reheating Tips

This oatmeal will keep for about a week in the fridge so you can enjoy it all week.

You can also freeze it (I recommend freezing in individual portions) for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and then warm int he microwave or on the stove.

Steel cut oats reheat very well on the stovetop or in the microwave. You might find they thicken a bit, but you can thin them down with water or a milk of your choice. 

Photograph of pressure cooker steel coat oats, topped with berries. A spoon and a cup of coffee are also pictured.

More Breakfast & Brunch Recipes

Best meal of the day, in my humble opinion! Here are some popular breakfast ideas:

  • Overnight French Toast
  • Instant Pot Shakshuka with butternut squash
  • Crescent Roll Breakfast Casserole with Turkey Sausage
  • Ham, Spinach, and Cheese Egg Boats
  • Breakfast Quinoa with Chia and Cinnamon
  • Classic French Toast
  • Whole30 Sausage (pork & apple)
  • Healthy Banana Pancakes

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!

Image of instant pot steel cut oats topped with brown sugar, cinnamon, and fresh berries.
Recipe

Get the Recipe: Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats

4.80 from 5 votes
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 5 mins
Additional Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 40 mins
8 servings
Print Rate Recipe
Prevent your screen from going dark
Making Instant Pot steel cut oats is easy, almost completely hands-off, and creates the perfect hearty breakfast!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups steel cut oats
  • 5 ½ cups water (see note)
  • ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
  • milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, berries for serving

Instructions

  • Combine oats, water, and salt in the bowl of a 6-quart pressure cooker (Instant Pot).
  • Secure lid and turn valve to “seal.”
  • Set on manual, high pressure, for 5 minutes. Once cook time has elapsed, let pressure release for 20 minutes. You do this by just leaving it alone! It has a timer that will count how much time has elapsed since it finished but you can also set a timer if you think you’ll forget to check. 
  • When 20 minutes has passed, turn valve to “vent” to release any remaining pressure. 
  • Stir oats and serve with desired toppings. Oats will continue to thicken as they set.

Notes

  • Nutrition information does not include toppings.
  • Store leftovers in an airtight container and reheat in the microwave or in a small saucepan with a little milk if needed to thin the oatmeal.
  • If you prefer thinner oatmeal, use 6 cups of water.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 154kcal, Carbohydrates: 26g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 3g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 226mg, Potassium: 1mg, Fiber: 4g, Calcium: 25mg, Iron: 2mg

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© Author: Rachel Gurk

Shop this post

Instant Pot Ultra 6 Qt 10-in-1
Did You Make This?Be sure to upload a photo & tag me at @RachelCooksBlog. I love seeing what you made!
Share A Photo! Tag on Insta Rate It
Free email series

Master Cooking

in your Instant Pot!

Free email series of my best tips!

FREE BONUS!

You May Also Like...

  • Crockpot oatmeal topped with raspberries, blueberries, almonds.
    Crockpot Oatmeal (Steel Cut Oats)
  • Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pie Steel Cut Oats
  • Image of chicken and dumplings with a dumpling cut in half to show inside texture.
    Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings
  • Image of pot roast piled on top of mashed potatoes. Carrots also pictured.
    Instant Pot Pot Roast Recipe
Candied bacon, "pig candy", bacon candy, pork candy, call it what you will, this irresistible treat will have everyone calling for more! This candied bacon recipe is easy to whip up and is a guaranteed favorite!
Previous Post
Candied Bacon Recipe
Parmesan baked cod on a plate with lemon wedges, a green salad, and a fork.
Next Post
Parmesan Baked Cod Recipe with Lemon

Reader Interactions

Leave a Review Cancel reply

Recipe Rating




The maximum upload file size: 1 MB. You can upload: image. Drop files here

  1. denise says

    January 5, 2020 at 4:24 pm

    I should do this. I eat regular oatmeal daily, but I know this would be healthier–and not having to babysit it would make it doable.

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      January 6, 2020 at 6:08 am

      You should definitely try it! It’s a great way to work ahead and meal prep.

      Reply

Primary Sidebar

Welcome!

Hi, I'm Rachel! Life can be complicated, cooking shouldn't be! I believe that you can put a delicious meal on the table without stressing. It's possible, and I'm here to help. Have a seat at my table...let's chat, eat, and have fun! Read more...

Air Fryer Instant Pot 30 Minutes One Pan Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Slow Cooker Vegetarian 5 Ingredients

Trending

Cooked salmon fillet on a grey-toned plate with cooked asparagus spears. The salmon is being flaked with a fork.

Air Fryer Salmon – easy and delicious!

Pizza pasta being scooped from a pan with a wooden spoon.

Pizza Pasta – 1 pan, 20 minutes

Image of a giant bowl of spaghetti with turkey meatballs.

Baked Turkey Meatballs

Asparagus Panzanella Salad

Seasonal

Beef and vegetable stir fry in a black wok.

Beef Stir Fry With Vegetables

Hot honey chicken sheet pan dinner with honey being drizzled on.

Hot Honey Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner

Sweet and sour shrimp lettuce wrap garnished with green onion.

Sweet and Sour Shrimp Lettuce Wraps

BBQ Chicken burrito bowl with avocado and sour cream.

BBQ Chicken Bowl

Opens in a new window Opens an external site Opens an external site in a new window
Free Bonus!

5 Cooking Secrets to Save Time & Stress

Free email series of my best tips and recipes!

Featured On:

Back to Top
  • About
  • Contact
  • Press
  • Work with Me
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility
© 2023 Rachel Cooks®
Site Credits Designed by Melissa Rose Design Developed by Once Coupled