Steel cut oats make a warm and healthy breakfast, and today I want to show you how EASY they are to prepare in an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker, so they’ll turn out perfectly every time!
Steel cut oats have 5 grams of fiber and 7 grams of protein in just a 1/4 cup dry serving, and the insoluble fiber they contain has been associated with improved cholesterol levels and improved blood sugar levels in diabetics. They’re also a natural source of B vitamins and iron. (You’ll get 20% of the recommended daily allowance of iron if you eat a 1/2 cup of oats in the morning!)
Are Steel Cut Oats Better for you than Rolled Oats?
Steel cut oats and rolled oats both come from the same whole grain cereal, so they have similar nutrition content and really only differ in their processing. Rolled oats are steamed, then rolled to produce their signature flat look and quick-cooking texture. Because they are tender and cook quickly, they are ideal for adding to baked goods, like my Gluten-free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Steel cut oats, on the other hand, are less processed. To make steel cut oats, the oat groat is sliced with a steel blade to create more of a chopped, rice-like grain that is chewier in texture and takes longer to cook.
Though, the cooking time isn’t a problem when you have an Instant Pot (<– affiliate link for the 6-quart one). Just press a button and walk away until it’s ready! I love not having to babysit my oats on the stove top, or worrying about them burning on the bottom.
The key to cooking perfect steel cut oats in the Instant Pot is allowing the pressure to naturally release after the initial 4 minute cooking cycle. While the pressure releases, the oats absorb the water without burning on the bottom of the pot. This prevents sticking and allows the oats to become perfectly tender. You just have to be patient!
While a 4-minute cook time sounds ridiculously fast for a bowl of steel cut oats, the entire process takes closer to 30 minutes when you take into account the 5 minutes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure, 4 minutes for the cooking cycle, and then about 20 minutes for the pressure to naturally release. This isn’t any longer of a process than cooking them on a stove top, but it’s also not significantly faster.
The Benefit of Using an Instant Pot
The real benefit of using the electric pressure cooker, if you ask me, is the hands-off approach. Instead of waiting over the stove for the water to come to a boil, then adding the lid, lowering the temperature, and checking on the oats to check for tenderness, you can truly “set it and forget it” with the Instant Pot.
Just press a button and walk away until you’re ready to eat!
If you forget to check on the oats for 10 minutes, they won’t burn, and in fact, the Instant Pot will keep them warm until you’re ready to eat. I love this thing, and I hope you’ll love these easy steel cut oats just as much, too.
Are Steel Cut Oats Gluten-Free?
Oats are naturally gluten-free, but they are often processed in facilities that process gluten-containing grains, and therefore you run the risk of cross-contamination. If you need to stay gluten-free, be sure to look for oats with a certified gluten-free label on the package.
Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats (Fool-Proof Method!)
Ingredients
- 2 cups steel cut oats (certified gluten-free, if necessary)
- 5 cups water
Instructions
- Combine the steel cut oats and water in the bowl of a 6-quart Instant Pot and give them a stir. (If using a different size machine, please see the notes for modifications.) Secure the lid and turn the steam release valve at the top to "sealing."
- Press the Manual or Pressure Cook button, then set the cook time to 4 minutes on high pressure. The Instant Pot will read "ON" as it comes to pressure, which can take 10 to 15 minutes. When the floating valve in the lid pops up, you'll know the pot is pressurized and the countdown will begin.
- When the cooking cycle is complete, allow the pressure to naturally release for 20 minutes. (The timer on the Instant Pot will remain on after the cooking cycle to let you know how long it's been kept warm, unless you press the OFF button. I like to keep it on for the timer function.)
- Once the 20 minutes have passed, turn the steam release valve to "venting" to release any remaining pressure. Carefully remove the lid and stir the oats to incorporate any water that has risen to the top. They might look watery at first, but should thicken up when you stir them.
- Serve warm with maple syrup, cinnamon, and a splash of non-dairy milk, if desired. Leftover oats can be stored in individual containers in the fridge for up to a week, for a fast breakfast on the go.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Per serving: Calories: 205, Carbohydrates: 35, Fiber: 5, Protein: 8, Fat: 3
Need more healthy Instant Pot recipes? Be sure to check out my cookbook, The Fresh & Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook. You can see a sneak peek here!
Recipe Notes:
- If you follow food combining, you can top cooked oats with pumpkin or sweet potato puree, pure maple syrup, and a splash of almond milk for a properly combined meal. Sliced avocado would work, too!
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Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite breakfast this week? Do you have any favorite Instant Pot recipes already? Feel free to share them below!
Please don’t hate me, Megan, but there is an aspect of this recipe that doesn’t make scientific sense to my poor brain.
The stove top recipe for McCann’s is 1 cup oatmeal and 4 cups water — to yield 4 servings (which it does). Then your recipe (2 cups oatmeal) should yield 8 servings.
I am at a loss to understand, as clearly evaporation cannot occur with the Instant Pot.
Please help my poor tired brain 🙂
Thanks
Ha, sorry, Jeff! I just suggest servings based on how much my family eats– and this amount serves 6, the way I eat. It’s probably a larger serving than what is listed on the McCann’s package.
Face plant LOL
I should have realized that might be the case.
Thanks, again. I’m going to add a bit more water and see what happens…at least I am becoming comfortable with the Instant Pot.
Be well
We love this steel cut oatmeal recipe. It is the perfect consistency. We heat the leftovers in the microwave with a splash of water. Question: Costco sells quick cook steel cut oats. What modifications should we make if we used this instead of the traditional steel cut oats? Thanks!
I’ve never tried quick-cooking steel cut oats, but my guess is maybe a 1-minute pressure cycle with the natural release might be sufficient? If that’s too much you could even do a zero minute cooking cycle, the way I do with rolled oats in the Instant Pot.
Thanks for the quick reply. Should I use the same 1:1.5 ratio as the rolled oats recipe as well? Thanks!
Just show the recip. I don’t need to know how good steel cut oats is, or how great the Instantpot is. I already know that.
There is a very convenient “jump to recipe” button at the top of my website, if you want to skip all of the tips in the post.
Is there a way to do this and save for the next day(s) and reheat easily? I make for myself and do 1/4 cup at a time and also would love to just be able to reheat.
I usually reheat oats by adding a splash of water (since they tend to thicken up when chilled) and just stirring it in a saucepan over medium heat until it’s warm again. I assume you could do this with the Instant Pot’s saute button, if you’d rather do that, too. So in that case, you can definitely cook as much as you’ll use in the next 5 days or so, and save it in convenient portions in the fridge to reheat.
I have made this several times ams it is perfect! I want to have an oatmeal
Bar at work- can I double this recipe in my 6 quart cooker?
Do you use quick cook oats for this or regular?
Not quick cooking oats! I think those probably stick to the bottom in a 4-minute cook cycle and potentially trigger a burn error on the machine. They might in 0 to 1 minutes instead, with the natural release.
Added fruit, cinnamon coconut with a little oat milk. Love the leftovers for a quick next morning
Came out delicious with the best fluffy and nutty flavor! Only thing different is I followed the Trader Joe’s steel cut oats 1 c to 4 c water, and came out perfectly! This will make eating oatmeal more enjoyable, lol.
Do you think I can make 9 servings in a 6 at, or is that too much?
What is a serving size?
Is the cooking time different if using Quick Cook steel cut oats?
I have made this twice and both times 4 minutes wasn’t long enough. In fact the natural release didn’t even make it to 20 min. And water didn’t absorb all. So I’ve increased my time to 6 min and it makes it hotter and absorbed all the liquid. I also used part almond milk and it was just as good. Thanks for all your recipes and blogging!
Steam water came out all over the counter. What happened. My pot is new and I am a beginner
Did you let the pot rest for 20 minutes after it beeped? The screen should read L0:20 before you move the steam release valve to venting. Or, it’s possible you didn’t move the steam release valve to “sealing” before you got started? Be sure to watch my YouTube video if you want a quick overview of using the Instant Pot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAzjUvJi3x0
Absolutely perfect! Texture spot on and super easy. Thank you!!
This actually takes longer than just making the oatmeal on a stovetop, while adding extra steps and complexity. Why bother? The instant pot is supposed to save you time.
So easy with excellent results! I made this breakfast topped with fresh berries for overnight guests and they thought it was wonderful – even the self-proclaimed oatmeal hater went for a second bowl! Thank you for the easiest way to perfect steel cut oats. 🙂
Mistakenly put steel oats and water in the mail part of the instant pot. Is there anyway to clean it or is it history.
Came out as described
I have a question: I’m still new with the IP and I want to know how to make this for 2 or 3 servings, if possible. I’m also using a 6 qt, but I’m only 1 person and don’t want to eat this every day for 8 days. If I just change the ratio using 3 cups of water (the minimum) I would use 1.2 cups of oats (more than I want, but I could live with that). If this is the correct way to reduce it, how does this affect the speed of cooking? My other worry about Instant pot is that the liquid ratios don’t seem to change whether it’s a food that absorbs very little liquid or a food that absorbs all or most.
I halved the recipe for my 3-qt Instant pot and got the burn warning just before the end of the cooking phase. I turned it off and set a 20-minute timer. It was a little overcooked on the bottom, but easy to mix in, not really burned.
The button hadn’t dropped by 20 minutes, but I think it was just stuck from the oatmeal starch. It fell down when I lightly pressed on it. I actually think less than 20 minutes would have been better as it was no longer piping hot. Maybe advise shorter release time for smaller pots?
Can I add sweetener and mixins like blueberries before I start the pot?
Today I got the burn message on my instant pot. Any suggestions on how to avoid that? Thanks
So good? So easy
I love my instant pot and I love Irish oats!
I top mine with apples, jumbo golden raisins, yogurt and maple syrup.
My husband tops his with apples, jumbo golden raisins, chopped walnuts, honey, and yogurt.
And, there’s 3-6 more breakfasts in the fridge!
if I want apples and dry cranberries. can I just add them…in others have them in during the cooking?
I think you could go ahead and add those while it cooks, so the cranberries will plump up. Let me know if you try it!
I tried, but “BURN” alert happened. Any suggestions? Made them once before without issue.
Used half the oats in my three quart instant pot with 3.5 cups water (before I saw your recipe). The Trader Joe’s package label said four cups of water for conventional stovetop cooking. The whole thing foamed up pushing thick fluid out onto the countertop. I depressurized and tried again with a tablespoon of oil to quell the foaming. Maybe butter works for that too.
This recipe works! I rotate adding all kinds of stuff (vanilla/cinnamon/fruit/nuts/maple/Splenda brown sugar blend) after it’s done. I freeze it in single serve containers.
I love steel oats and have always cooked them in a large quantity for 12 on top of the stove in a huge pot. I used equal parts No Fat 1/2 & 1/2 and skim milk for the liquid. Your recipe called just for water so I decided to just use the No Fat 1/2&1/2 and water for the liquid. Well, the message burned came up before they were through. They really were not burned on the bottom but were the color of the oats and just hard. I scraped off the oats and put in a bowl. They do not taste burned. Can I use 1/2&1/2 to make them richer? What do you suggest so I can use the Instant Pot & not watch them for an hour on the stove. Thanks!
I’m not someone who gets paid to cook or to post recipes, but it occurred to me that, similar to rice, it’d be possible to cook the full recipe in a small instant pot without any mess by rinsing and straining the oats first. The additional time needed to do that turned out to be well less than the time required to clean all of the expelled starch off the exterior of the instant pot if the oats aren’t rinsed. And the oats turned out the same.
My IP goes nuts when I cook steel cut oats in the existing pot, but pot in pot cooking woeks like a charm. One cup of water in the IP, one cup of steel cut oats in a smaller pot, two cups of fluid with that and then cook the whole lot for 4 minutesn 20 minutes natural release. Today I used 1 cup of full far coconut milk and one cup of water with the oats (so in the smaller pot). Ik looked a bit liquid and runny whi.e piping hot, but after a bit of cooling time I had perfectly cooked oats. Thanks for getting me ont hhis IP-track, I just love it !
sorry for the typo’s… didn’t wear my glasses while typing 😅
This recipe for steel cut oats works great in Oregon with our old instant pot ( and a half recipe). We just bought a Duo plus in Arizona and it has failed to pressurize and gone to food burn 3 times. Any thoughts? I will go back to 5 stars if somebody can solve my problem
Recipe worked out well. We used the Instant Pot Ultra Mini (3 quarts?) and did the 4 minutes high pressure with the 20 minute natural release— the pin actually dropped within seconds of our 20 minute timer going off. As mentioned we did have a bit of water on top but it mixed in and the oatmeal thickened up before long.
This is our go-to recipe, we’ve been returning to it for years. I set them up the night before and use the Delay Start feature on the IP. Perfect oats every time.
Do you have a bow in a bowl recipe for steel cut oats?
My daughter told me she read not to use the Pyrex bowl as inner liner for my Instant Pot because it can explode and cause injury and a huge mess. I had been using a Pyrex bowl to minimize the mess since I uae half or more of the liquid as whole FIT milk in order to increase my protein. Do you have suggestions for a glass liner. I add a cup of water, then place the silicone trivet inside the pot prior to inserting the Pyrex bowl. Clean-up is easy and I just cover with the lid. Now she has this 82 year old afraid to use her Instant Pot after being a pressure cooker user for years. Suggestions, please.
My go to recipe for Steel Cut oats in the Instant pot!
My husband spends at least an hour cooking breakfast in the morning and this was a cure for that! We live at 7,200′ so I figured that it would take longer since water boils sooner here. Threw in a small handful of hard dried apricots, used hot water to begin with, cooked for 10 minutes, turned pot off and let sit for 30 minutes. Perfect and the apricot dissolved in the oatmeal. So great not to stand at the stove and stir forever!