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For those of you who enjoy steel cut oats as much as I do, but can’t always find the time to make them, this recipe is for you.
All you have to do is boil some water and cook your oats for ONE minute before you go to bed and when you wake up in the morning you will find perfectly cooked, steel cut oats waiting for you.
And when I say perfectly cooked, I mean p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y cooked.
I’ve been hearing about this technique for years and finally decided to give it a try. Not only is it the easiest way to make steel cut oats, but it yields the creamiest, lightest version of steel cut oats I’ve had to date. I highly recommend giving this method a try.
Overnight Steel Cut Oats
Prep Time5 mins
Total Time5 mins
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 4 cups filtered water
- 1 cup dry steel cut oats
- A pinch of salt
Instructions
- Heat water in a large, heavy bottom pot. Once the water comes to a boil add the oats, stir, and cook for one minute.
- Turn off the heat, pop on a lid and let the oats rest on the stove until the morning. When you wake up, turn the heat on a low for just a couple of minutes to warm up you perfectly cooked, steel cut oats. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Sodium: 13mg | Calcium: 8mg
Conny
What a great idea! Do you think this would work with regular oats too? I haven’t found steel cut oats in the supermarket yet. Or can I make them my own by putting them in a cutter?
Larry
Dani, I make steel cut oats (4:1) but also add quinoa, chia seeds and rice bran (half teaspoon of each). I will also add a few dried prunes or “small” handful of dried cherries or blueberries. Let that combination sit with water while I do an hour walk.
Microwave 1 min, stir, 1 min stir, 45 sec stir, 30 sec stir and 20 sec stir at 1100 watts depending on how wet you want the oats while I eat a freshly picked grapefruit or orange.
Comes out very hot and delicious.
Ronalyn Hurley
Hi Dani. The written recipe is incorrect…should be 4 cups water and 1 cup oats. Love your videos!
Ronalyn
Krista Santora
This is great – I have the steel cut oats, but it takes so long to cook, they continue to sit in my pantry. Not anymore! And I love the idea to add chia seeds and dried fruit.
New Jersey Cricket
Dani, I make this all the time and double the batch so I can have it for a few days! Makes life so much easier. Leftovers go in the refrigerator in a covered container. Thanks so much for all your great recipes and videos!
Cricket
Kandi
I make this often, and it always turns out great. You can spice it up each time by adding different fruits, nuts, coconut, etc. Just delicious and so simple.
Patricia
Hi Dani:
It didn’t work for me. All the water didn’t absorb. I had to cook it for about 20 minutes longer this morning. I used a nice heavy non-stick pot. I know you used your coated cast iron but mind is too big for only two portions.
I’ll keep trying. I’m a fan. Tonight I made your tomato spinach and fennel soup – I love it. Patricia
Patricia
Hi Dani: There is too much water in your recipe. You only need 3/4 cup water to 1/4 cup of oatmeal. I made a two portion amount and used 1.5 cups of water to 1/2 cup of oatmeal and it worked out great. I’m glad to learn about your process because cooking for half an hour was way too long in the morning. Patricia
Michal
Thank you for this great idea! I made it last night exactly as directed and it came out perfect!
I just had it for breakfast and I can’t even tell you how happy I am. I added chopped apples, cinnamon and a tsp of natural PB, just like you suggested. I was surprised that I did not even need to sweeten it with stevia or brown sugar, as I normally would.
A winner!
cecilia
This was great!-awesome time saver. Gonna try a little less water next time because I like a little more texture. Also had it with apples, cinnamon and PB. Yum!!
john
Can this be made into a smaller batch for a single person?
Dani
sure. you can half it or quarter it – but i would use a smaller pot.
john
Do you mean a smaller and shallow pot?Would a shallow pot absorb the water better?
Dani
exactly.
Gayle
I made this recipe for the first time and it turned out perfectly for me too!! I love the nutty taste and texture of the steel cut oats!! Yummy! Just wondering if quinoa would cook as well using this method.
Gayle
I have to comment that I tried this recipe using quinoa. It turned out perfectly fluffy and cooked to perfection. I used one cup of quinoa to just a tad over two cups of water and voila! Perfectly coked quinoa in the morning!!!
D.J.
I had the steel cut oats but had never made it till last night. So glad I found your site and this recipe. So easy and was very good. This morning I warmed mine up with a smashed banana and cinnamon. YUM!
Dani
That sounds delicious! I love the idea of the added smashed banana!
Jennifer
I made these and followed your instructions exactly and when I woke up in the morning there was mold on the top of my oats! I had to throw the who thing out. And I used my LeCruset pot. I thrived it a second time and same thing. I don’t know whey this is happening and why it’s not working for me
Dani
Oh no! I have never seen or heard of this happening! I wonder why? i wish I could offer more insight here, but I am stumped. Anyone else reading have any thoughts?
Sherry
Came out fab…
Thanks dani…
Myth
This is in reply to Jennifer – “Sometimes tap water can cause a greenish slime to appear on top of the oats. It’s not mold and the oats are still safe to eat, you just need to scrape off the slime. Oats can turn brown-green or even blue-green in color when they are cooked in alkaline conditions. Alkaline conditions are achieved when the water used to cook the oats has a pH balance of 9 to 12, so use filterd water when making oats, if you can. If it’s not the water, it may be your pan. Sometimes a new pan can leach metal ions into your food and that could cause the same reaction. ” – Jackiegrandy from Marin Mama Cooks blog
Dani
This info is so insanely insightful! Thanks for sharing Jackie!!
Jennifer
To Myth- thank you so much! I’m going to try them again using spring water. I did use water from my tap! Thanks ladies everyone is so helpful!
Dani
Jennifer – I would love if you can come back and let us know how it goes!!
Ami Bass
I was so excited to make this and even doubled the batch…but when I woke up this morning I found it had already started growing mold in the night! I decided to toss the whole thing : (. What did I do wrong?
Ami Bass
Oh wait- just saw that this happened to someone else. I used filtered water so maybe it was my pot that caused the green slime to develop. I think I’ll stick with the slow cooker recipe for now….thanks!
Dani
Question – was it mold or just a skin over the top of the oats? Often the starch from the oats will settle on top – it almost looks like a thick film. But this is not mold…. I would just scoop it off, warm the oats and enjoy.