Nothing annoys me more than cooking steel cut oatmeal.
Last weekend I spent what felt like my entire Saturday morning hovering over a pot of said oats. Stirring — worrying I added too much liquid — stirring — turning the heat up — stirring — snatching the overflowing pot off the burner, cursing at the loss of half my tiny (still hard) oats now sizzling directly on the burner — stirring — adding more water — more stirring — walking away for one second to grab a snack (seriously) — cursing that the now too thick oats are burning to the bottom of the pot!
Why do I endure such agony? Because the hearty, chewy texture of steel cut oatmeal can’t be beat. As the weather turns frigid, we trade our vegan overnight oatmeal for a warm, substantial bowl of steel cut oats. So, does this mean I micromanage a pot of oats every morning as it cooks at a snail’s pace? Hell. No. I have a trick up my sleeve for making steel cut oatmeal ridiculously, unbelievably, laughably easy to make.
My trick? The crock pot. Turn on, dump in, go about your business, return to a week’s worth of cozy breakfasts. From now on, only subject yourself to the harsh punishment of steel cut oats on-demand when you forget to plan ahead. Which, let’s be honest, merely requires you to acknowledge that you’re going to want to eat breakfast on the upcoming days.
- 2.5 cups uncooked steel cut oats
- 10 cups water
- ½ cup ground flaxseed
- Optional toppings: frozen berries, sliced bananas, nuts, pumpkin puree, peanut butter, cinnamon, etc.
- Turn crock pot on high and add oats, water, and flaxseed. Cover and cook for about 4 hours, or until thick and creamy.
- Portion oats into microwave-safe storage containers and let cool before refrigerating.
- When ready to eat, add water or non-dairy milk (oats will thicken in fridge and will need to be diluted a bit) and optional toppings. Heat in microwave for about 3 minutes until warm throughout, or heat in a saucepan over low-medium on the stove.
I love this post! I’m such a huge fan of oatmeal and have been using my slow cooker to deal with the steel cut madness too. I actually like it more now than ever before thanks to using my slow cooker. I’ll be sharing this post with my readers tomorrow in my Ten Things Tuesday post. Thank you for writing it, I know they’ll love it and hope they’ll give your tips a try!:)
Hi Heather! It’s a game-changer isn’t it? So glad to hear I’m not alone in my steel cut oat struggle 😉 Thank you so much for sharing our post! Be sure to tag me on social media so I can help you get the word out!