If you are looking for perfect steel cut oats in the Instant Pot, this recipe is for you! I will show you how to cook steel cut oats perfectly in the instant pot along with providing ideas for toppings, and flavor combinations as well. Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats will become a staple recipe at your house!
Steel Cut Oatmeal is a delicious hearty breakfast that had a reputation of being a recipe reserved for weekends. Steel Cut Oats just took too long to make on a busy weekday!
However, with an electric pressure cooker Steel Cut Oats are a perfect quick cooking breakfast! Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats are even possible on the busiest of mornings!
Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats
While waking up to a slow cooker full of steel cut oats is dreamy, and grabbing a jar of overnight oatmeal from the refrigerator is a great start to a hot summer morning, I am in love with Instant Pot Steel Cut Oatmeal for a few reasons.
- Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats only take 30 minutes of hands off time to make from start to finish.
- Steel Cut Oatmeal is full of texture, fiber, and nutrients.
- Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats can be flavored anyway you like.
- Steel Cut Oatmeal is a great recipe to meal prep for the week ahead!
Now I know that 30 minutes may seem like a long time for busy mornings, but hear me out. Because cooking the Instant Pot is hands-off, you can wake up, start these steel cut oats in your electric pressure cooker and by the time you blow dry your hair, or drag your kids out of bed, breakfast is ready for you.
Better yet, you can set everything up for steel cut oats in the pressure cooker, set the timer button to delay cook time, and wake up to piping hot steel cut oats ready to be served.
How to Cook Steel Cut Oats in the Instant Pot
Making steel cut oats in the Instant Pot is incredibly simple, and as I mentions hands-off!!
There are two methods for making steel cut oats in a pressure cooker.
- Pot-in-Pot (my preferred method)
- Directly in Pan
Cooking Steel Cut Oats Pot-In-Pot
Step One: Prepare Your Instant Pot
- Place your trivet in your inner pot of your pressure cooker.
- Pour in 1 cup cold water (or 1 1/2 cups cold water if using an 8 quart instant pot.)
Step Two: Mix together Oats and Liquid
- In a heat safe bowl (I use a 7 cup pyrex glass dish), mix your oats and liquid together with a bit of flax seed.
- The flax seed is optional but adds omega fatty acids and fiber.
- I choose to use part water and part dairy of any kind (coconut milk, cows milk, almond milk, etc). You can use all water or all dairy. In my experience all water is incredibly bland and using all dairy/non-dairy as your liquid doesn’t result in oats breaking down into a creamy texture.
- It is important to note if you are using a high fat dairy (like coconut cream or whole milk) you MUST use only half full fat dairy product with half water so the fat in your dairy will not separate.
Step Three: Cook the Steel Cut Oats
- Put the lid on your instant pot, turn your valve to “seal.”
- Set your pressure cooker to cook on high pressure for 6 minutes.
- I have found it takes anywhere from 5-10 minutes to come to pressure.
Step Four: Let Pressure Release
- Allow the instant pot to release pressure naturally (about 15-20 minutes).
- I would not recommend doing a quick release when cooking Steel Cut Oats in your pressure cooker, because this may cause your oatmeal to spill out of your pot in pot or liquid to clog your instant pot valve. Plus, one trick to making the BEST Steel Cut Oatmeal is allowing the oats to absorb the liquid and become tender.
- Serve warm with any desired toppings.
Cooking Steel Cut Oats without Pot In Pot Method
Do you have to cook steel cut oatmeal using the pot in pot method?
No, as long as you do NOT use dairy products, as the dairy may very well cause your pressure cooker to give you a burn notice.
Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats in Inner Pot
- Grease your inner pot with butter or coconut oil
- Pour in 1 cup of steel cut oats and 3 cups water, alternatively you can cook 2 cups steel cut oats with 6 cups water for a double batch.)
- Cook on High Pressure for 6 minutes and allow pressure to release naturally.
Flavor Varieties for Instant Pot Steel Cut Oatmeal
One of the main reasons I love to make a big batch of plain Instant Pot Steel Cut Oatmeal is so that each person can flavor their oatmeal exactly as they desire.
Here are a few of my favorite Instant Pot Steel Cut Oatmeal serving ideas. Each recipe is for one serving of oatmeal.
- Vanilla Maple: 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup
- Chocolate Peanut Butter: 1 tablespoon cocoa powder, 1 tablespoons peanut butter, and 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup.
- Almond Joy: use coconut milk as your dairy or top cooked oatmeal with a bit of coconut milk before serving and top with mini chocolate chips, shredded coconut and toasted almonds
- Pumpkin Pie: mix in 2-3 tablespoons pumpkin puree, 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup, 1/2 teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger.
- Raisin Nut: top steel cut oatmeal with a dash of cinnamon and 1-2 tablespoons each of raisins and chopped walnuts.
- Apple Pie: top steel cut oats with chopped fresh apple, cinnamon, and honey or maple syrup.
- Honey Nut: stir in 1 tablespoon honey and top with toasted nuts of any variety.
- Pina Colada: top steel cut oats with pineapple chunks, toasted coconut and sliced bananas. Serve with a splash of coconut milk.
- Savory Sausage and Cheese: add in 1/4 cup cooked crumbled sausage and 1/4 cup shredded cheese.
- Savory Bacon and Egg: top steel cut oatmeal crumbled bacon and a fried egg
- Berries and Cream: stir in 1/4 cup fresh berries. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/4 cup yogurt
- Banana Chia Almond (pictured): top steel cut oats with sliced banana, 2 teaspoons chia seeds, and chopped almonds.
Tips on Instant Pot Steel Cut Oatmeal:
- In order to make gluten-free steel cut oatmeal be sure to use certified gluten-free steel cut oats.
- In order to make these Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats vegan use non-dairy milk or water.
- Leftover steel cut oats can be stored in the fridge for up to a week.
- Cooked steel cut oats can also be frozen in individual containers for up to 3 months, and reheated as needed.
- Another important thing to remember when cooking oats in your instant pot, much like rice, you will NOT need as much liquid as you do when cooking on the stove top. This is because, when you cook oats on the stove, liquid is evaporated (even if your pan has a tight fitting lid, but in the pressure cooker, no liquid is evaporated.
More Steel Cut Oat Recipes
- Strawberries and Cream Steel Cut Oats
- Maple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats
- Carrot Cake Steel Cut Oats
- Peanut Butter and Jelly Oatmeal
Instant Pot Steel Cut Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 1 cups steel cut oats
- 1 cup water plus more for the inner pot
- 2 cups milk your favorite variety
- dash salt
- 1/4 cup ground flax seed optional
Instructions
- Insert steamer rack inside inner pot of Instant Pot. Add in 1 cup of cold/room temperature water to a 6 or 8 quart Instant Pot and 1.5 cups in an 8 quart instant pot.
- Inside a 7 cup heat safe bowl, mix together the oats, 1 cup water, 2 cups dairy of choice, and flax seed.
- Place bowl on top of steaming rack and put lid on Instant pot.
- Set Valve to "sealed" and set manual or time to 6 minutes on high pressure.
- Allow pressure to naturally release.
- Remove bowl carefully from pressure cooker and then serve with desired toppings or allow to cool and store in fridge to reheat as needed.
Notes
- Use gluten-free steel cut oats for gluten free oatmeal.
- Coconut milk, almond milk, or soy milk for vegan steel cut oatmeal.
- This recipe can easily be doubled as long as it fits inside your heat safe bowl.
- When I first wrote this post, I suggested using an oven safe glass dish, since then Pyrex has come out to say that their dishes are not safe in the Instant Pot, therefore I recommend this stainless steel bowl.
You May Need the following to make Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats
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(And in case you misplace your Floating Valve, you can get an extra to fit your model on this here.)
I have made your recipe countless times and I love how my oats turn out. I want to make a batch tomorrow and I have 1 cup of coconut milk, can I use that and 1 cup of whole milk as my dairy or should I just do the 2 cups of whole milk?
Hi Alissa! I am SO glad you enjoy this recipe. My son LOVES when I make this with coconut milk. It adds a rich coconut flavor–so yes, 1 cup of each milk will be great. I hope you enjoy!
I was looking to do this Pot in Pot to prevent burning and also make cleaning easier, and found your recipe. My oats were from a bulk bin and had been around for awhile, so they were a bit too chewy and watery after the recommended time. I set it for another 6 minutes and opened the lid after about another 8 minutes and they were perfect. Next time, I’ll try 10 minutes with a full NR. I also added a cinnamon stick and 2 chopped dates to sweeten them up- very tasty. Thanks for the recipe, Kristen!
You are so welcome! Glad you enjoyed Cheryl. Also, what pot did you use to cook your oats in? Some pots can require a bit longer cook time.
Thank you for the recipe! The best part of using your “pot in pot” strategy was that I could store the leftovers right in the pyrex I cooked them in! That’s a huge win in itself. When I cook my oats with milk on the stovetop, the bottom of the pan always gets a film of milk that takes forever to clean. This was quick, easy, and minimal clean up! Thanks.
I am so glad you enjoyed this method Karen!!!
My oats didn’t fully cook…oops, just realized I forgot the salt!
Hi Joyce, the salt should not impact the cook time. Be sure to use cold water and if you like your oats super soft, you can add 1-2 minutes to the cook time. I hope that helps 🙂
Looking forward to trying your method this week. Love some of your mix-in ideas, but a question. Do you ever do any add-ins before cooking? Like apple chunks or dried fruit, or just stir in the pumpkin or peanut butter when you mix oats and water/milk? I would be doing pot-in-pot, so no worries about burning. I just prefer a more cooked taste to some ingredients and spices.
Hi Colleen! If you are using pot in pot and prefer a more cooked taste, by all means add in before cook time.
Thanks! I did a trial run of half a recipe in my IP Mini with just dried cranberries and spices and it worked fine. I may add a little more water and another minute of cook time as they were a little chewy (I’m not sure how soft they’re supposed to get!), but that might be because I used the mini. Did pot-in-pot and they were super creamy!
Hi Colleen! So glad you enjoyed! If you want the oats softer, I would try adding another minute for sure.
Did you use whole flax seeds or did you grind them?
Hi Jeri! I always use ground flax seed to be able to absorb the most nutrients from them 🙂
Hi, thanks for the recipe. I’m hoping to try it out this weekend. Just wondering if I could use a stainless steel pot instead of a glass dish for the pot in pot method, and if it would require adjusting the cook time? Also, any idea if steel cut quick oats would work the same as regular steel cut oats? I’m having trouble finding steel cut oats that aren’t “quick.” Excited to give it a try. I’m hoping my kids will like it as much as the super sugary quaker oatmeal packages they want every morning. Thank you!
Hi Cass! A stainless steel pot will work for pot in pot, but it would depend on it’s thickness if it would effect the cook time. Most should not. As for the time difference between quick cook and regular steel cut oats it would be different, I just have not tested it myself. On the stove, quick cook oats take half the time as traditional steel cut oats, so I would start by cutting the cook time to 3 or 4 minutes. I hope you all enjoy! I love serving oatmeal to my kiddos each morning as well.
Happy to report, this breakfast was a kid-approved success! I used the stainless steel pot and did not adjust anything else (I used regular steel cut oats, not quick oats). I used whole milk as my dairy of choice because that was all we had on hand. I also did your vanilla maple version, and added a sprinkle of brown sugar. With those additions, it was the perfect amount of sweetness. My four year old had two big bowls and my two year old also ate happily. I also enjoyed a big bowl. I’m looking forward to this instead of their daily sugar-filled quaker oatmeal packets. Thank you!
I am so glad you kids enjoyed Cass! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review 🙂
Thanks so very much for the tip about using a bowl inside the pot! Cleanup is so much easier and the oats turned out beautifully.
Hi Deborah! I am so glad you had such great success and easy clean up with this oatmeal recipe.
I’ve tried making the steel cut oats this way, but I end up getting the “burn” notice and the water seeps out from the water catcher on the back (I don’t remember the technical term for that small part). I used the exact oats: water measurement and set for just 5 mins – what am I doing wrong??
Hi Jen! It seems your instant pot is not sealed, which would cause water/water vapor to escape and leak out of the pressure cooker. It may be that your vent knob is not closed, your inner ring is not on correctly, or a few other issues. Here are some common reasons your Instant Pot is not sealing. Hope that helps.
In the article portion it says to put 1 cup of oats and 3 cups of liquid in the inner pot but in the Recipe box at the end it says 1 cup oats and 2 cups liquid. I was wondering which was correct?
Hi Michael, I am not seeing where it says 1 cup oats to 2 cups liquid (the recipe card states 1 cup water and 2 cups milk for 3 cups total) You definitely want to use 1 cup oats to 3 cups liquid. I will look through again to see if I can catch mistake 🙂
Since I have to make individual servings, I wonder if I could use mason jars. I was thinking of following the recipe as is, then, evenly pour in mason jars, and place them in the instant pot to cook. Do you think that would work?
Hi Brandi! Yes, it would work perfectly. I do recommend placing your Mason jars on the trivet though to protect them for direct heat.
What kind of pot did you use inside the pot..was it stainless steel?
I actually used a glass oven safe dish.