Imagine you’re lying in bed. The smell of something cooking emanates from the kitchen and gently wakes you up. You think, is today my birthday? Nope. Is it my anniversary? Nah. Is it Mother’s Day? No. Am I dreaming? Heck no, it’s just a plain ole boring weekday morning. And creamy Instant Pot Oatmeal is a-cooking.
Instant Pot Oatmeal actually only takes 3 minutes to cook. Just dump the oats and water into the pot and BOOM, you get breakfast. But when you take into consideration the time to pressurize and depressurize, the 3 minutes turn into 23 minutes. BOO HOO. It’s a big too long for someone who wakes when her children wakes and not a minute before.
So here’s the secret: use the timer function on the Instant Pot. The night before, dump the oats and water into the pot. Set the timer function to whenever you want the oatmeal to start cooking. Go to sleep and dream your sweet dreams and wake to ready-to-eat creamy Instant Pot Oatmeal.
So why use the Instant Pot when you can make instant oatmeal in the microwave in one minute? Because instant oatmeal tastes like cardboard. The reason why instant oatmeal is sold with so many different flavors is that you need all that sugar to make the cardboard taste good!
Then why use the Instant Pot when you can make oatmeal on the stove? Oatmeal on the stove can take more than 10 minutes when you include the time waiting for the water to boil and for the oats to cook. It requires occasional stirring so that the oatmeal doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. The oatmeal isn’t waiting for you when you wake.
Need more reasons to try Instant Pot Oatmeal? There are so many different toppings you can accessorize the plain oatmeal with:
- Any fruits, like blueberries, strawberries, peaches, or whatever you have
- Nuts like roasted almonds, walnuts
- Flax Seed, Chia Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds
- Dried fruit like cranberries, dried mangos, raisins
- Sweeteners like maple syrup, honey, chocolate morsels
- Dairy like milk or even yogurt
- Whatever your creative mind can think of!
Our favorite combinations include:
- Apple and cinnamon
- Banana and walnuts
- Almonds, walnuts, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and dried mangos
- Fried egg with avocados
Oh, and remember to turn off the volume on the Instant Pot when you set the timer. Else you may be rudely awakened by the beeping of the Instant Pot in the morning!
Creamy Instant Pot Oatmeal
Equipment
- Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1½ C old fashioned oats
- 3 C water
- ¼ tsp salt
- desired toppings (i.e. nuts, seeds, fruit, egg, avocado, milk, honey, maple syrup, chocolate) optional
Instructions
- Add the oats, water, and salt to the Instant Pot.
- Cook at high pressure for 3 minutes. (If preparing the night before for ready-to-go breakfast, set the timer and turn off the volume on the Instant Pot!) It will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure.
- Natural release for 10 minutes and top with desired toppings and enjoy!
