Apple Cinnamon Pressure Cooker Steel Cut Oats

It’s back to school time for many! For school day breakfasts, we’ve created the perfect solution: this pressure cooker steel cut oats recipe. Our kiddos are huge oatmeal fans, and they cannot get enough of this apple cinnamon oatmeal!

Steel cut oats vs rolled oats

So, what are steel cut oats, and how are they different from “normal” oats? Steel cut oats and rolled oats are made out of the same whole grain oatmeal. You’ll notice that the steel cut oats have more of the grain kept intact and look more like pieces of rice! To make rolled oats, the oats are processed through a roller that flattens them, allowing them to cook more quickly. Nutritionally, steel cut and rolled oats have the same benefits: lots of fiber and plant-based protein to start your day. A potential health benefit of steel cut oats is that since they are processed the most minimally, they may be digested more slowly and have a lower glycemic index. This may allow you to feel fuller and have less of a “spike” of energy after eating. But the difference is very slight! For more, go to Steel Cut vs Rolled Oats.

How to make pressure cooker steel cut oats

Cooking steel cut oats on the stovetop takes about 40 minutes. This pressure cooker steel cut oats recipe cook time is just 4 minutes! The entire process of making steel cut oats in a pressure cooker takes about 30 minutes total including prep, preheat and cool down time. The even bigger benefit is that cooking steel cut oats with a pressure cooker is totally hands off. You don’t have to “babysit” the oatmeal make sure it’s stirred or at a perfect simmer. Simply add all ingredients to the pot and set the cook time for 4 minutes! After cooking, wait for 10 minutes for the natural release process and then it’s ready to go! We’ve created this pressure cooker steel cut oats recipe to be a large batch. This way, you can cook it up at the beginning of the week, and munch off of it all week long. It’s one of our favorite apple recipes and perfect for busy mornings.

How to serve it

On this pressure cooker steel cut oats, the serving size for an adult would be about 1 to ½ cups cooked. For kids like our 1 ½ year old Larson, the serving size is much smaller, maybe ½ cup or so. So he can eat off of this batch for days and days! In terms of toppings, you can go wild and use whatever fruits, nuts, and nut butters you enjoy! Here we’ve topped with a drizzle of maple syrup, some fruit, and cashew butter! We love how the creamy cashew butter adds additional protein to keep us full throughout the day. For us, we love to add our best Chemex coffee or cold brew coffee.

More pressure cooker recipes

If you’ve read our other pressure cooker posts, you’ll know Alex and I used to be skeptics. We thought that pressure cookers were totally unnecessary to add to our kitchen. Instead of being just another kitchen appliance, we’ve enjoyed using the pressure cooker to simplify some of our vegetarian basics like sweet potatoes and chickpeas! Here are some of our other favorite healthy pressure cooker recipes:

How to Cook Sweet Potatoes in an Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) Instant Pot Thai Sweet Potatoes How to Cook Chickpeas in an Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) Chickpea Couscous Bowls with Lemon Tahini Dressing All our pressure cooker recipes!