We’ve made it to another pandemic Hump Day! It’s also pumpkin everything season, so today I’m sharing the recipe for these Instant Pot Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats. They. Are. Awesome. Over the weekend I did a bunch of Instant Pot experimenting and I’m really happy with how these turned out – the oats still have good chew without feeling “al dente” in the middle, the pumpkin flavor shines through, and they’re lightly sweet. After eating them for 4 days straight, I’ve found that my favorite toppings after reheating are a bit of brown sugar, raisins, and roughly chopped pecans. Yum!

What are steel cut oats, you might ask? Well they’re basically a less processed version of the rolled or quick oats you might be used to. Instead of being rolled flat, the grain is just cut up using a steel blade. This means they absorb less liquid and maintain more texture than the other types of oats. And because they’re less processed, they take longer to cook. You really can’t sub out another type of oats for the steel cut ones in this recipe. You’d totally have to change the cooking method. But we’re here for an INSTANT POT recipe today, so let’s do that…

I tried making a recipe like this a few years back but kept finding that the bottom oats in contact with the pot were getting scorched in the Instant Pot. I don’t know why I didn’t figure this out back then, but the trick is to keep the pumpkin out of the picture until AFTER cooking the oats in the Instant Pot. Not only do you get to keep all of your oats nice and creamy, but the pumpkin retains all of its glorious flavor and mixes right in after cooking to make an even creamier bowl of oats.

You’ll want to give this one a try ASAP, trust me.

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Instant Pot

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Steel Cut Oats

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Recipe

4.15 from 14 votes

Instant Pot Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats

Prep: 5 minutes mins

Pressurizing and Release Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 6 minutes mins

Total: 26 minutes mins

Servings: 4 servings

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Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk, (16 oz)
• ▢ 1 cup steel cut oats, (176 grams)
• ▢ 1 cup pumpkin puree, (240 grams)
• ▢ 1 cup water, (8 fl oz)
• ▢ 1/4 cup maple syrup, (2 fl oz)
• ▢ 2 tbsp brown sugar, packed, (25 grams)
• ▢ 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla extract, (you could instead use 1/2 tsp maple extract and 1/2 tsp vanilla)
• ▢ 1 cinnamon stick
• ▢ 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

• Add all ingredients except pumpkin puree and brown sugar to the Instant Pot bowl and mix until combined.
• Close the lid to the Instant Pot and ensure the spout is set to "Sealing" before turning on high pressure for 6 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of natural release. Once the 10 minutes of natural release are complete, quick release any remaining pressure.
• Stir pumpkin puree and brown sugar into the oats until completely combined.
• Serve with extra almond milk, maple syrup, pecans, whipped cream, or any other desired toppings (not included in nutrition info).

Tips & Tricks

• Click here to log this food into My Fitness Pal.
• This recipe yields almost 3 1/2 cups and each serving size is a generous 3/4 cup.
• If you want to add powdered protein to this oatmeal, mix it in at the same time as the pumpkin and brown sugar.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 293grams, Calories: 282kcal (14%), Carbohydrates: 54g (18%), Protein: 8g (16%), Fat: 4g (6%), Sodium: 234mg (10%), Potassium: 193mg (6%), Fiber: 7g (29%), Sugar: 20g (22%)