Hellooooo! I’m alive, I’m alive! Did you think after my 10-year blogiversary post that I decided to take a 10-year break? lol. It’s been a busy month with a lot of fun events going down. I just returned from WXN’s Canada’s Most Powerful Women celebrations, and I’m still riding the high of winning an award in the Entrepreneur category and meeting so many incredible people. So many happy tears this week. It felt (and feels) absolutely surreal. I’m super inspired by these amazing Canadian women to keep going forward, doing my part to give back, and creating meaningful change in this world. I’m grateful to you all who support me and what I do…truly, thank you.
Here’s a snippet of the interview I did with WXN (the rest is found on their website):
“SUCCESS all comes back to love. Do I feel love deep in my soul for what I’m doing? Are my kids and my husband happy and loved? Am I taking time to enjoy the process rather than allowing perfectionist thinking to take hold? My definition of success has grown so much since starting the blog, writing my two cookbooks, and becoming a mother. Today, success is knowing that I have the power to push through challenges while taking the time I need for myself to balance and stay healthy. After struggling with illness this past year, one of my biggest wake-up calls was realizing that it’s okay to take a break even if that means letting go of a professional goal for the time being.”
As an introvert, big social events tend to tucker me out (anyone else?!), and I find myself looking forward to my first day without any commitments (aside from, umm, two hyper toddlers, I suppose…). This creamy 3-ingredient steel-cut oatmeal recipe is the one I’ve been making once or twice weekly since fall hit. It may sound strange, but I find it calming in a way. I just love that I can throw a few ingredients in my Instant Pot, stir it up, and walk away until it’s done cooking! No stirring or watching…woot, woot. I’ll often throw it on and then get ready for the day or feed the kids and come back to a hot pot of oats. It’s a good feeling…a darn good feeling!
Don’t worry if you don’t have an Instant Pot because I also provide a stovetop version below—your oatmeal will turn out the same either way, but the stovetop version just requires monitoring and stirring as it cooks.
This time of year I love to top a hot bowl with toasted walnuts, chopped dates or raisins, cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice, maple syrup, and seasonal fruit like pear or pomegranate. So cozy! Walnuts or pecans with maple syrup, cinnamon, and peanut butter is another dreamy combo.
Before I go, a quick note that we’ll be participating in Giving Tuesday this coming Tuesday November 27, 2018. Here’s a bit about the cause:
“GivingTuesday is a global movement for giving and volunteering, taking place each year after Black Friday. The “Opening day of the giving season,” it’s a time when charities, companies and individuals join together and rally for favourite causes. In the same way that retailers take part in Black Friday, the giving community comes together for GivingTuesday.”
This coming Tuesday, we’ll be donating 100% of that day’s OSG recipe app proceeds to Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank as our way to take part. I hope you’ll consider participating in #GivingTuesday too!
The Creamiest Steel-Cut Oats
Yield
2 3/4 cups or 4 servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
My goal was to create the creamiest bowl of steel-cut oats using just a few ingredients...and this is it! This luxuriously chewy steel-cut oatmeal is the perfect base for all of your favourite topping combinations. I love adding pure maple syrup, cinnamon, seasonal fruit, toasted walnuts, and chopped dates or raisins. It doesn’t get much cozier on a cool fall or winter morning! I’ve also provided cooking instructions using both the stovetop and Instant Pot (I prefer the Instant Pot method as it's so easy). For the Instant Pot method, please see the Tip section.
Ingredients
For the oatmeal:
- 1 (14-ounce/398 mL) can light coconut milk
- 1 cup (250 mL) water
- 1 cup (172 g) uncooked steel-cut oats
Serving suggestions:
- Seasonal fruit
- Pure maple syrup
- Toasted walnuts
- Dash fine sea salt, stirred in
- Cinnamon
- Raisins or chopped pitted Medjool dates
Directions
- STOVETOP METHOD: Pour the can of coconut milk and 1 cup (250 mL) water into a medium pot and bring to a low boil over high heat.
- Add the steel-cut oats to the pot and stir to combine. Immediately reduce the heat to low (low heat is important or they’ll burn) and gently simmer, covered, for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring four to five times during cooking and reducing heat if necessary to prevent burning. This method produces a thick pot of oats. For a porridge-like consistency, stir more water in to your liking. I like to stir in about 1/2 cup (125 mL) water after cooking.
- Portion into bowls and top with your desired garnishes—I love the combo of pure maple syrup, toasted walnuts, seasonal fruit, fine sea salt, cinnamon, and raisins or chopped dates, but feel free to get creative and change it up depending on the season. Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 5 to 7 days or you can freeze them for up to 1 month. I store cooled single portions in freezer-safe bags and lie them flat in the freezer for easy stacking. Reheat refrigerated or thawed leftovers on the stovetop in a small pot along with a splash of water or milk over medium heat.
Tip:
INSTANT POT METHOD:
- 1.Add the coconut milk and water to the Instant Pot, followed by the oats. Stir to combine.
- 2.Secure lid in the lock position and check that the Steam Release Handle is pointing to the “Sealing” position.
- 3.Press the “Pressure Cook” (or “Manual”) button and set the cook time to 7 minutes on high pressure. After 5 seconds you’ll hear a couple beeps and the screen will say “on”. The cooking process has begun!
- 4.Once finished, you’ll hear a few beeps letting you know that cooking is over. Now let the Instant Pot do a “Natural Pressure Release”—I wait 10 minutes for most of the the pressure to release on its own.
- 5.Carefully release any remaining steam before removing the lid. Stir the oatmeal until combined, adding more milk or water if you’d like to thin it. It’ll be oh-so-creamy and continue thickening as it sits!
- 6.Portion into bowls and top with your desired garnishes—I love the combo of pure maple syrup, toasted walnuts, seasonal fruit, fine sea salt, cinnamon, and raisins or chopped dates, but feel free to get creative and change it up depending on the season. Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 5 to 7 days or you can freeze them for up to 1 month. I store cooled single portions in freezer-safe bags and lie them flat in the freezer for easy stacking. Reheat refrigerated or thawed leftovers on the stovetop in a small pot along with a splash of water or milk over medium heat.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)You can also make pre-portioned servings so all you have to do is dump it in a pot in the morning and quickly heat it up with a splash of milk!
I always have trouble getting steel cut oats to be creamy, but this recipe is amazing!
This is such an awesome recipe. Thank you so much for sharing, I just love it. Bookmarked your website.
Absolute perfect recipe. Thx so much. Will make this often!
Hi Angie, I’m so happy you love it so much…thanks for letting us know!
Hey Angela,
i think we are finally getting an instant pot (!!!) – my question to you is whether I can make a recipe such as this in the 8qt pot without needing to double it? i like to batch cook and make larger roasts, and am planning on the 8qt but at the same time am wondering if that will force me to have to double every other recipe i want to try… do you know if you can use 6qt recipes in an 8qt pot?
Hey Allison, hmm…good question! I haven’t tried it myself, so I can’t say for sure. I know Instant Pots can be a little finicky sometimes, but I don’t see why it couldn’t work to make this oatmeal in a larger size. I’d love to hear how it goes if you try!
This oatmeal recipe just takes the idea of a healthy breakfast to a whole new level. I have been tired of eating oatmeal the same boring way for the past 1 week. Just recently decided to hit the gym again and this exactly what I needed to keep me motivated.. Thanks a ton :D
A friend recommended your site to me this weekend and I just made this for breakfast this morning. Wow!! Super creamy and satisfying! I added maple syrup, almond milk, and some fresh organic blueberries I happen to have in the fridge. It just made me smile so I wanted to say thank you!! I hope you and your family have a peaceful holiday.
Sincerely,
Michelle
Aww your comment made me smile Michelle! Thank you so much for your kind words :) I hope you find many more recipes on here that you love!
I love this recipe and I am eating it now as I message you. Nice for a warm winter breakfast. My question for you with the left overs is…… can you microwave it instead of stop top re- heat? To get to work and 2 kids out the door in the winter I don’t have the time. I plan on micorwaving the leftovers on Monday morning and see if it works.
I am not a vegan and I eat everything. I consider myself an everything-avore. I do believe in eating balanced meals and trying new foods.
Thanks for the great recipes.
Hey Michelle, Thank you so much for your kind words! Yes you should be able to microwave it just fine…I would probably add some milk to it so it doesn’t burn or dry out too much :)
My husband is a HUGE oatmeal lover. I’m a grits lover. Just depends what you grew up eating, I guess.
Anyway, I made this for him, about an hour ago, in the IP. It came out perfectly. And I’m eating some. And loving it! And wondering if Costco sells coconut milk by the case, because this is going into the repertoire.
Thank you so much for this recipe.
p.s. I added a bit of vegan butter, salt, dried cranberries and maple syrup to it for serving!
Thanks Lisa! :)
Can this recipe be doubled or tripled? Advice…
Hi Lisa, I’m sorry I haven’t tried it before so Im not certain. I cna’t see why not (might need a bit of tweaking though!)
I have doubled it and it has been fine. Didn’t change anything. Had it with pomegranate this morning. Yum!
Can you move in with me and my family to cook and decorate? ;o)
That sounds like fun! ;)
Thank you for this wonderful recipe, Angela! I don’t have Instant Pot and I especially did like that you published stovetop version of the recipe. I plan to try it soon and I am sure that my children will love it.
Wish you a Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too, Michael!
Hi Angela,
My husband gave me your first cookbook some years ago and recently I have begun reading your blog. I noticed that you mentioned hormone issues in the piece about the matcha. I also have noticed that I don’t see you using seaweed in your recipes. Since my husband and I have a wild-harvested seaweed business in Maine (he is The Seaweedman!) I wanted to offer you a sampling of our products to try. They might help you with your health issues. Check out our website, theseaweedman.com and send me a note through the contact page and I will send you some seaweed!
Thanks for the recipe! Just got an instant pot and looking for ideas. Your recipes are my absolute favorite.
What size instant pot do you recommend?
Hi Sara, Congrats on your new IP! I use a 6-quart size and I find it’s a nice size for a family or 4 and also for standard-sized soup, stew recipes, etc.
This is so yummy! Made exactly as described for the instant pot. I put a homemade chai spice blend in for seasoning, pure maple syrup, raw walnuts, and pomegranate seeds. So warm, creamy and delicious! Thank you ?
Hey Mary, I love how you added the chai spice blend. Sounds delicious :) Thanks for your review!
Happy New Year, Angela!
Quick question: I am desperately searching for an soup you posted several years ago (and which I might have modified slightly over the years.) I know for sure it was originally called “Indian spiced red lentil soup,” or something similar. It contained cauliflower, greens, red lentils and sweet potato. I can find a few other similar soups, ie your 10 spice soup, etc. but all those contain tomatoes and this definitely used broth as the liquid base. Anyway, I don’t see the soup in your recipe base. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Hey Karen! Happy to help :) I know how frustrating it is to lose a recipe (it has happened to me before and it’s so sad! haha). Could it be one of these recipes? They are so popular on my blog:
https://ohsheglows.com/2016/04/03/glowing-spiced-lentil-soup/
https://ohsheglows.com/2016/11/23/cozy-butternut-sweet-potato-and-red-lentil-stew/
Can I add a cinnamon stick to this or will that flavor be too strong?
Hi Michelle, I haven’t tried it yet but I think it would be delicious. You may want to see if you can find an IP oatmeal recipe online that uses cinnamon sticks successfully (my only worry – would they break apart somehow due to the pressure?)
Hi there, my husband and I don’t like coconut. Can you sub out the coconut milk for almond milk using the instant pot? And if I were to triple the recipe how long would I cook it for. I’m still fairly new with the instant pot. Thanks ?
Hey Heather, I haven’t tried anything except the coconut milk so I can’t say for sure, though I think it should work just fine! It won’t be quite as creamy of course. I’m not sure about making a triple batch, but if you try something I’d love to hear how it goes.
Just curious why you don’t e add your new recipes to your app.. I’ve got it and it’s easier to find since it’s all in one place
Hey there! Thanks so much for your app support ? Hmm it sounds like you’re not getting our new app recipes as each new blog recipe also gets added to our app (usually a day in advance). Please try uninstalling as reinstalling it and let me know if that does the trick. Thanks!
Hi! I love this recipe but I get the “burn” error message on my IP 2/3 of the time. Any tips for preventing this? Thanks!
Oh no! That’s strange. I would add more liquid (3/4 c?) and that should do the trick. If that doesn’t work you can try not stirring the oats.
This is sooooo delicious! I’ve been searching for a great dairy free steel cut oatmeal recipe and this knocks it out of the park. Creamy, thick and just chewy enough this is perfect oatmeal. Thank you, Angela! I will be making this all winter long to keep warm.
Aww so happy to hear that! I make it at least once a week (hooked!). Happy oat eating ;)