Instant Pot Oatmeal
This instant pot (affiliate) oatmeal recipe is the BEST; super creamy and delicious! If you like oatmeal, you’ve gotta try this steel cut oatmeal recipe.
These instant pot oats are one of the best ways to enjoy oatmeal! In fact, it’s this instant pot oatmeal recipe that finally made me love oatmeal.
For years now, if I’m eating oats they are usually baked oatmeal or cold as overnight oats. But, with two young kids, I wanted a way to get a creamy bowl of oats ready for breakfast, fast.
Even if you think you don’t love oatmeal, you’ve gotta try these instant pot oats. Made with steel cut oats for extra nutrition, they are incredibly creamy and perfectly sweet. If I had known that regular oatmeal could taste this amazing, I wouldn’t have wasted so many years not eating them.
Table of Contents
Ingredient Notes
- Light coconut milk: This is essential to creating the creamy flavor of the oats. You can sub in other milks, but I highly recommend using the coconut milk for best results.
- Uncooked steel-cut oats: Regular oats won’t work the same way and can’t be substituted.
- Ground cinnamon, Vanilla and Nutmeg: The cinnamon and nutmeg provide flavor, especially with only a small amount of sweetener. I don’t recommend skipping, but you can sub in almond extract or other extracts for the vanilla, if desired. Nutmeg gives a warm taste and I love it with cinnamon.
- Maple syrup: Just a touch provides sweetness. You can omit, but I think it’s a nice touch for the instant pot oats.
How to Make Instant Pot Oatmeal
Combine All Ingredients in the Instant Pot
Add the canned coconut milk, water, oats, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup and a pinch of salt.
Cook and Serve
Cook for 7 minutes, then let naturally release for 10 minutes. Divide into two big bowls, or 4 smaller ones, and serve.
Why this Recipe works
The secret is that the Instant Pot cooks the oats without stirring them, letting them soak up all the yummy spiced milk and then getting stirred together at the very end. I used coconut milk for extra richness, but any milk option would work here.
We’ve been playing with lots of different variations and they are all great- almond with a little pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice, soy with peanut butter powder. Everything seems to have been a hit so far!
I used to believe that oats needed a lot of sweeteners to be palatable. Perhaps that’s from my instant oat days, where my flavor options would rotate between Peaches and Cream, Strawberries and Cream, or Brown Sugar. When you make them this way, you don’t need much sweetener at all!
A little maple syrup goes a long way, especially with fresh, sweet berries. Some mornings, I skip the syrup all together and mash half a ripe banana into the oats for extra fiber and flavor, and it’s delicious. A drizzle of nut butter, some seeds… oh my… this instant pot oatmeal is just so, so good.
Do you have to use Steel Cut Oats?
Yes, you do. I haven’t tried this with regular oats, but once you see how much more flavorful steel cut oats are you won’t want to go back. Denser than regular oats, they create the creamiest bowl of oatmeal when cooked this way. Using the Instant Pot also cuts down a lot on stove-top cooking time!
If you prefer to use instant oats, then I recommend considering my other oatmeal recipes, or my overnight oatmeal recipes.
What are the health benefits of Steel Cut Oats?
Oats are a whole grain, therefore full of vitamins, minerals, and soluble fiber. Just like a wheat kernel, an oat kernel contains all the parts of a whole grain: the fiber-rich bran, the nutrient-rich germ, and the endosperm.
Steel-cut oats are roughly chopped whole oat kernels that have a chewier, heartier texture than rolled oats. If you don’t love regular oatmeal (like me!), then you’ll definitely want to try steel-cut oats instead.
The image below is a bag of steel-cut oats– check out all that yummy texture!
More Oatmeal Recipes
- Instant Pot Raspberry Steel Cut Oatmeal
- Vegan Baked Oatmeal
- Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal
- Peanut Butter Overnight Oats
- Carrot Cake Overnight Oats
- Overnight Muesli
If you love this steel cut oatmeal recipe, then you’ll love these other healthy breakfast recipes: overnight muesli, vegan egg Benedict, fluffy vegan pancakes, vegan baked oatmeal with fresh berries.
Instant Pot Oatmeal (using steel cut oats)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 14 ounce can light coconut milk
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup uncooked steel-cut oats
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon 100% maple syrup
- pinch salt
- Fruit and chopped nuts, for serving
Instructions
- Add the can of light coconut milk, 1 cup water, 1 cup steel cut oats, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 tablespoon maple syrup and a pinch of salt to the base of an Instant Pot. Stir to combine.
- Add the lid and secure, checking that the steam release handle is pointed to the “sealing” position.
- Press the “manual” button and set the cook time to 7 minutes on high pressure. Let the pressure come down naturally for 10 minutes, then quick release to remove any other pressure.
- Open the lid and stir the oatmeal, adding in more water if needed to achieve desired texture. Divide into bowls and serve with fresh fruit and chopped nuts. Makes 4 normal-ish bowls and 2 large ones.