Jess Dang Jess Dang is the Founder of Cook Smarts where she also wears the hat of Chief Kitchen Coach. She left the corporate world in 2011 to start Cook Smarts because she was passionate about bringing food education back to our schools and family dinners back into our lives. Follow me here
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I love this oats-for-the-week concept - I've recently experimented by adding protein powder and almond butter to mine. Jess - what are the differences you notice between cooking in slow cooker for 8 hours vs over the stove in 45min?
@Taylor Yes, almond butter and protein powder would be good additions. I haven't noticed really any difference between the two cooking methods. Slow cooker is just a lot more low maintenance for me. I'm sure we've all burned oatmeal before on the stovetop, which doesn't really happen in a slow cooker
I love steel-cut oats in my slow-cooker, and after several attempts here's what I've learned.
1. Smaller batches, if you live by yourself, work best. Make a cup at a time.
2. For these smaller batches, use a smaller slow-cooker. You can get a one-quart slow-cooker for less than $20, usually. And if you're buying a new one anyway, you might as well buy one with a "warm" setting, because
3. My best oatmeal is made like this: put a cup of steel-cut oats in a slow-cooker. Boil a quart of water. Pour the boiling water over the oats. Cover the slow-cooker, and leave it on WARM overnight.
4. Yum.
@scrivener When you say 1 cup at a time, do you mean 1 cup dried or finished? I'm sure your oatmeal is delicious! And I agree with you on the smaller slow cooker if you're mostly cooking for 1. I've definitely made smaller batches of oatmeal in our large 6 quart and it's not as great
I love that this post is still getting comments, and just noticed that I never answered your question. I meant one cup of dry oats, which does nicely in the smaller crock. I hope someone tries it my way; it really has given me the best results. :)
I followed these instructions for my first try with steel cut oats in the crock. I used 3 cups water & 1 cup milk, but will use all water next time. 1 Cup up Steel Cut Oats was enough for me to share with my baby and my teenager. It was SO nice to wake up to warm breakfast whenever I was ready!
Oh, and I used a regular sized Crock. AND I saw this size at the store today for $20!
Momma Jorje, Thanks so much for stopping by and so glad this steel cut oats recipe worked for you. You can make it different every single time with different fruits and nuts.
Great info, thank you. I did this Every night while I was working. Now that I am retired I will practice again.
For anyone reading this now (OP comment was a while ago), leaving on the warm setting is dangerous as it won't be in a food safe temperature range, and given that the recipe calls for milk to be used, the likelihood of bacteria growth is HIGH. Warm setting should be used after cooking and for no more than 2 hours.
For fewer people, go ahead and make a full recipe. When done, transfer individual servings to a couple of small microwavable freezer containers & freeze. Then you have microwavable breakfast, even faster than overnight method. I make a double batch. Enjoy breakfast next day. Refrigerate the rest. My husband and I eat steel cut oats a couple of times that week. I freze some, too, for later. Then you don't have to prepare as often.
Hi there. The current Food on Friday on Carole's Chatter is collecting links to posts about breakfast dishes. I do hope you link this in. This is the link . Please do check out some of the other links – there are a lot of good ones already. Cheers
This looks amazing! You say you 'package' it away for the week - how long do you find it lasts, and how best to store it?
@Courtney, thx for the question! So, for us, it lasts almost the entire work week M-F. You can always freeze too if you don't think you'll get through it within 5 days. Just store it properly - whether fridge or freezer - in airtight containers and use the reheat setting in a microwave. This will get it to safe heating temps but not re-cook your oatmeal.
Made this today - my second attempt at crock pot oatmeal. First time was a horrible, disgusting disaster! LOL This time I cooked it during the day so that I could keep an eye on it. After 5 hours it was perfect. So, no overnight for me but I can easily double the recipe in my 6 quart cooker and make plenty to freeze for later on a weekend.
Thanks for the recipe!
PS - Don't forget to spray the pot with non-stick cooking spray. It saves tons of time during clean up.
non-stick cooking spray. I can testify that something like that would have been smart. I just made my first batch and I'm afraid I've lost a significant amount of the valuable steel cut oats to them sticking to the walls of the pot.
Sam, thanks for that suggestion! We'll definitely update our recipe too to make this a step.
Slow cooker liners are the best invention since sliced bread! Cleanup is a snap!
Great to know! Thanks for sharing.
Made this overnight and it came out as described. My wife LOOOOVED them. I personally did not. I don't think this is due to the recipe though. I'm used to the instant packets with all that yummy sugar!
Would you suggest adding some fruit to add some sweetness to them?
Hi Vinnie, so sorry you didn't love this but glad your wife enjoyed it. Did you put the apples in? Next time, try adding a few tablespoons of jam or preserves to add sweetness and then fresh fruit at the end. I personally love adding strawberries, shaved coconut, and some sliced almonds
I use honey for sweetness instead of any sugars...my boys never notice the difference!
That's great! We think that sweeteners are such a personal thing that you can just substitute what you feel best about using.
If you are making a single serving, you can eliminate the mess completely by mixing the oatmeal in a heat-proof dish and then putting the dish in your slow cooker and then filling your slow cooker with a few inches of water. In the morning, just use an oven mitt to take the bowl out of the slow cooker and let it cool a bit before eating.
Lori, Thanks so much for this tip. I love it and will have to try it out next time.
I made this last night, for our breakfast this week...and I have to say- I am impressed. This is my first experience with steel cut oats, so I was not sure what to expect. I did 2 cups of oats and 8 cups of water (instead of milk- I read on another site it keeps better with no milk?), plus 2 T butter, 1 t salt, and 2 apples. My husband is not a fan of cinnamon, so I didn't want to take the chance of "ruining" a whole pot of oatmeal for him. I wish that you had posted some pictures of what it looked like in the crock pot- I found that mine never "thickened" as much as rolled oats seem to- although I can see on your picture, under the nuts and stuff, that it does look about the same in the bowl. I will make this again :) Thank you for posting!
hi,
Thank you for all the post.
I have a question, about the ratio of liquid. In the Quaker box, of Steel Cut Oats, it seems to recommend 1 cup of dry oats for 2 cups liquid to yield 4 servings.
If I am using the Quaker brand , what do I do?, What about other brands ?
Thanks
Hi Roshni, typically it's a 1:4 ratio, and I've never used the Quaker brand. However, if that's what the box says, I'd follow those directions.
Thank you! Thank you! We made this for Christmas morning and it was perfect!