Made with fresh or frozen blueberries, these Instant Pot Blueberry Steel Cut Oats are perfect for meal prep breakfast! This recipe is dairy-free as is and is easy to adapt to your preferences.
Steel cut oats cook so quickly in the Instant Pot, you'll never want to make them any other way! In fact, I pretty much only cook steel cut oats in my Instant Pot because it's completely hands-off and results in perfectly cooked oatmeal every time.
I've been using my Instant Pot to make steel cut oats for years now using this recipe for Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats. I wanted to make a recipe that works with fresh or frozen fruit, and blueberries are perfect for that.
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Why you'll love this recipe
- Dump & bake: No sauteing, simmering, or chopping is required. Simply add all ingredients (except for the lemon juice and zest) to the Instant Pot and cook.
- Versatile: While this recipe is written for fresh blueberries, it also works with strawberries or other fruit. It also works with frozen blueberries.
- Flavors: Light and fresh, thanks to lemon zest and lemon juice. Adjust the sugar to taste.
- Vegan: My Instant Pot steel cut oats are always dairy-free because cow's milk is more likely to burn when cooked on high pressure. The solution is to just add a splash of milk after cooking, if that's how you like your oats.
Ingredients
- Steel-cut oats: Do not use quick-cook steel cut oats, rolled oats, or instant oats as they require different liquid volumes and cooking times.
- Milk and water: Because cow’s milk can scald/burn in the Instant Pot, I use non-dairy milk which makes this recipe dairy-free! Unsweetened, unflavored soy milk is my go-to but oat milk, almond milk, or other dairy-free milks are all great options.
- Blueberries: Fresh or frozen blueberries work. Frozen blueberries will turn the oatmeal a light blue/purple color, similar to these blueberry overnight oats.
- Lemon: We'll use the zest from one medium lemon, though you can add more to taste, if desired. Lemon juice is added after cooking because adding it before curdles the milk.
- Brown sugar: My go-to oatmeal sweetener. Granulated sugar, honey, maple syrup all work here. Adjust to taste.
Cooking tips
All of my Instant Pot recipes are made in a 6 qt DUO60 Instant Pot.
Contrary to making oatmeal on the stovetop, steel cut oats should not be stirred before pressure cooking.
When cooking in the Instant Pot, ingredients are added in a certain order. This ensures that they cook evenly and helps to avoid the burn error.
If you get the burn error:
- Carefully do a quick pressure release. Carefully remove the lid and check for any stuck-on bits on the bottom of the pot. Remove them and return to cooking.
- Add an extra ½ cup of liquid, then return to cooking.
- Add ingredients as written in the recipe and avoid stirring before pressure cooking.
FAQ
No, this recipe only works with steel cut oats.
Yes, water can be used in place of milk.
If the oatmeal isn't cooked all the way through, simply cook them for 1 more minute. Let the pressure release manually. You can add an extra splash of milk or water if the oats seem dry.
More ways to cook oatmeal
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Recipe
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Instant Pot Blueberry Steel Cut Oats
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups water
- 2 cups non-dairy milk see note #1
- 2 cups steel cut oats
- 1 cup blueberries fresh or frozen
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar see note #2
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract optional
- ⅛ teaspoon table salt
- 1 medium lemon juiced and zested
Instructions
- Add the water and non-dairy milk to the Instant Pot.
- Sprinkle in the steel-cut oats, blueberries, brown sugar, optional vanilla extract, and salt. Don't stir together.
- Lock the lid into place. Set the steam release valve to "sealing".
- Press the manual button and set it to high pressure for 4 minutes. It will take about 10 minutes for the Instant Pot to reach pressure.
- Once the 4 minutes are up, allow the Instant Pot to release pressure naturally. This will take another 10-12 minutes. The oats are ready when the float valve drops down. Carefully remove the lid and stir the oatmeal.
- Add in 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice and the zest from the lemon. Adjust sugar to taste and add an extra splash of milk, if desired. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Milk: I don't recommend using cow's milk as it is more likely to burn and curdle in the Instant Pot than non-dairy milk. I typically use soy milk, almond milk, or oat milk. This recipe also works with 4 ½ cups of water instead of milk and water.
- Sugar: Adjust to taste. Any variety of sugar works here, such as honey, maple syrup, or granulated sugar.
- Leftovers: For best quality, keep leftovers refrigerated for 3-4 days. You may need to add an extra splash of milk to loosen the oats up prior to reheating.
Anna says
This was my first time making steel cut oats in the instant pot. Excellent recipe! It’s a keeper.
Tina says
Easy, healthy, great for a hands off breakfast, and meal prep. It made 6 hearty servings for us. Thanks for a great recipe!
Cassidy Reeser says
Perfect, that's just what I hoped this recipe would be! Thanks for the review!