Spiced apple Instant Pot steel cut oatmeal

Nutty, hearty Spiced Apple Instant Pot Steel Cut Oatmeal with cozy touches of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Your breakfast game just leveled UP!

This spiced apple Instant Pot Steel Cut Oatmeal is a hands-off breakfast that's super satisfying. While the oats cook, you can get showered and ready to start your day!

Confession: I am terrible about eating breakfast during the week. Our mornings are hectic. The alarm goes off at 6:30, and my kid has to be at the bus stop at 7. From there, I head to the Y to work out, then pretty much slam into work the moment I get out of the shower.

A breakfast that cooks itself while I wash the gym off of me is basically ideal, and the Instant Pot makes that possible.

Jump To:

• Easy pantry breakfast recipe
• Steel cut oats vs. rolled oats
• How to make Instant Pot steel cut oatmeal
• How to store and reheat
• Spiced apple Instant Pot steel cut oatmeal

Easy pantry breakfast recipe

Of course, right now, chances are a lot of you are less worried about hands-off breakfasts and more worried about pantry recipes.

Good news!

These vegan steel cut oats use almost all pantry ingredients. The only fresh ingredients you need are two apples, which will keep for ages in the fridge.

More Easy Vegan Breakfast: 16 Easy Vegan Breakfast Ideas to Kickstart Your Mornings

Steel cut oats vs. rolled oats

Both steel cut oats and rolled oats are from the same part of the same plant. They're made from oat groats.

To make steel cut oats, companies literally cut the oats up with a steel blade. Steel cut!

To make rolled oats, they steam the groats, then roll them out. The steaming and the flatter shape are the reasons that rolled oats cook more quickly than steel cut.

You're probably familiar with what rolled oats taste like. They're the most common oats you use to make oatmeal. Steel cut oats have a slightly nuttier taste and chewier texture.

The taste and texture difference is similar to the difference between brown and white rice.

Rolled oats cook up a lot faster, which is why they're more common, but steel cut oats are super tasty and worth the extra time, if you have it!

Of course, you can decrease that cooking time by using your Instant Pot to cook your steel cut oats. Plus, you don't have to be there while they're cooking.

How to make Instant Pot steel cut oatmeal

Cooking steel cut oats on the stovetop takes around a half hour, but not in the Instant Pot! Like with other grains, pressure cooking steel cut oats cuts the cooking time down significantly.

In the pressure cooker, it takes five minutes at pressure with a 10-minute natural release. That's about half the time!

Some recipes will tell you to use your Instant Pot's "Porridge" button, which will also work fine. The Porridge button sets the pot to 6 minutes at high pressure, so it's just one extra minute of cooking time.

To make this spiced apple steel cut oatmeal, just stir together uncooked steel cut oats with water, diced apples, ground cinnamon, and ground ginger. Set the Instant Pot to cook at high pressure for 5 minutes, and go about your morning until your piping hot oatmeal finishes cooking.

Give the oatmeal a taste, and then sweeten it to taste with some maple syrup, unsweetened applesauce, or both. Do what works best for you!

How to store and reheat

Cooked steel cut oats will keep for 4-6 days in the refrigerator. Just store them in an airtight container.

You can reheat them in the microwave. They may be thicker than the day you made them, which is not a problem. Just stir in a splash of vegan milk to thin them out to your desired consistency.

To reheat on the stove, transfer your oats to a small pan and warm on medium heat, stirring, until they're cooked through. Have some vegan milk handy to add, as needed, to thin them as they warm up.