Strawberry Steel Cut Oats | Instant Pot recipe
Strawberry Steel Cut Oats are an easy Instant Pot recipe for mornings when you need a hearty breakfast but want something to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Why You’ll Love These Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats: The sweet taste of fresh strawberries combine with high-fiber steel cut oats to create a lasting breakfast you’ll be excited to eat.
Steel cut oats are a favorite at our house, and we’re always in search of new flavors. One of my kids loves strawberries and asked if we could make the perfect strawberry flavored oats. We tried a few different ways, but settled in on a bit of strawberry jam paired with freshly sliced strawberries and a splash of cream.
Update: We make this recipe quite often, so we’ve updated our original 2014 post with new photos and slightly tweaked the ingredient list and instructions to reflect the way we cook this recipe now.
We really love steel cut oats here at Pressure Cooking Today! Check out our How to Make Steel Cut Oats Guide, along with all of our amazing flavor variations including Pumpkin Spice Steel Cut Oats, Carrot Cake Steel Cut Oats, and Vanilla Latte Steel Cut Oats.
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED
These easy oats can be made mostly with staples you likely have in your pantry and refrigerator, plus the fresh strawberries and cream:
- Butter: We like to toast our oats in butter before we pressure cook them to help bring out a nutty flavor.
- Steel Cut Oats: These oats are made from the whole oat groat that have been coarsely chopped into a few pieces.
- Water: Since steel cut oats are much thicker, they have a much higher oat-to-liquid ratio. You can substitute almond milk or another thin, clear liquid. Don’t substitute actual milk, though, or the mixture will curdle.
- Heavy cream: You don’t have to use heavy cream, but I really like the texture it gives the finished oats.
- Strawberry jelly: This is the secret ingredient for amping up the strawberry flavor of this dish. You can substitute preserves, but I like the smoothness of the jelly.
- Vanilla: A little bit of vanilla extract goes a long way to add to the flavor.
- Salt: I do notice the difference if this isn’t included.
- Fresh or frozen strawberries: I think the bowls look prettier with sliced strawberries, but I prefer to dice them up in bite-sized pieces so each spoonful gets a little strawberry with it. You can also use frozen sliced strawberries, which I really like to use to cool down the kids’ oats to get them ready to eat.
- Chia seeds: I love the nutrition in chia seeds, and they make a great thickener! I like to use an electric coffee grinder to pulse them into a powder. If you choose not to use them, you can decrease the liquids by ¼ to ½ cup.
- Toppings: Whatever else you’d like to add, from additional cream or milk for a “strawberries and cream” version, or brown sugar—this is how you get your bowl just right.
Tip: To amp up the strawberry flavor, the compote from our strawberry cheesecake topping is a fantastic addition. (I often plan steel cut oats breakfasts for the day after we’ve served cheesecake just because I love to mix leftover cheesecake toppings in our oats.) You can sub that for the jelly or just add it as a topping afterwards.
How to Make Strawberry Steel Cut Oats in an Instant Pot
✅ This easy recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.
It’s pretty quick and easy to make Strawberry Steel Cut oats in an Instant Pot. Most of the time is hands-off, too!
First, you’ll want to get everything measured out and ready to go. Then, melt the butter and toast the oats until they smell nutty.
Add all the liquids and salt and stir to combine. Make sure the oats are in a pretty flat layer. Add the strawberry jelly on top of the oats and do not stir. (It should be fine if you stir, but there’s a small chance that the thickeners in the jelly can settle to the bottom and cause the burn notice, so we generally avoid stirring it in as a caution.)
Note: The strawberry jelly makes a big difference in the sweetness. If you’re using really sweet, fresh strawberries, 3 tablespoons is enough. However, if your strawberries aren’t super sweet, consider adding additional preserves.
Cook at High Pressure for 10 minutes, with a 10 minute natural release. When you first take the lid off, there will be a fair amount of liquid at the top. However, once you give it a good stir, the oats will absorb quite a bit of liquid.
You can add the chia seeds to help thicken the oats further; however, keep in mind that the oats will continue to absorb the liquid as they cool, so you can just let them sit with the lid off until they reach your desired consistency.
Scoop a portion of oats into individual bowls and top with a splash of cream, brown sugar (if desired), and the sliced or diced strawberries.
Frequently Asked Questions about Strawberry Steel Cut Oats
Absolutely! This is a great template for any flavor of jelly and fruit topping! (Try lemon blueberry with a swirl of lemon curd and fresh blueberries.)
Yes! Just double all of the ingredients! I really like to make a big batch at the beginning of the week and store it in the fridge in an airtight container. (Just make sure to not fill your pressure cooker more than halfway because the oats have a tendency to foam.)
Reheat leftovers with a splash of milk, as the oats will absorb the liquid as they cool.
You can freeze this oatmeal for up to six months. We like to freeze it in quart-sized ziplock bags, so we can quickly defrost a last-minute healthy breakfast.
If you’re in a hurry, you can skip the step where you toast the oats; just add all the ingredients and press start. Our friends Marci and Maegan also have a cool trick for Ready Mix Steel Cut Oats, which works great if dump-and-go is more your style.
MORE Instant Pot Breakfast Recipes
Try some of our other Instant Pot recipes for new and delicious ways to use your pressure cooker in the morning:
- Pumpkin Spice Baked French Toast is a breakfast bread pudding perfect for fall, thanks to everyone’s favorite pumpkin spice flavor.
- This Instant Pot Brown Sugar Raisin Farro is ultra creamy, satisfying, and full of whole grains for a delicious family breakfast on a chilly morning.
- Did you know you can make Zucchini Bread in your Instant Pot? Bake it in a mini-bundt pan and comes out perfectly moist and tender.
- Crustless Meat Lovers Quiche is a delicious egg dish made with sausage, bacon and cheese.
Do you LOVE this recipe?
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Strawberry Steel Cut Oats
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup steel cut oats
- 3 cups water *
- 1/2 cup heavy cream plus more for serving
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-6 tablespoons seedless strawberry jelly or jam
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup chia seeds ground, optional
- 1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
- Toppings, as desired splash of milk or cream, brown sugar, additional strawberry jelly
Instructions
- Select Sauté and melt the butter in the pressure cooking pot. Add the oats and toast for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until they smell nutty.*
- Add the water, heavy cream, vanilla, and salt and arrange the oats in a flat layer. Place the strawberry jelly on top and do not stir. Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and 10 minute cook time.
- When the cook time ends, turn off the pressure cooker and allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then finish with a quick pressure release. When the valve drops carefully remove the lid.
- Stir the oats well to incorporate the liquid. If you’re using the ground chia seeds, add them now. The oats will continue to thicken as they cool, so if you prefer thicker oats, allow them to sit for a few minutes until they reach your desired consistency.
- Top with a splash or cream or milk, brown sugar (if desired), and the sliced strawberries.
Notes
Nutrition
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HI just made these and the 4:1 water to oats ratio (plus 1/4 c cream) turned into very runny oats. This is the same ratio I use for the stovetop so I’m surprised people are having success with it in the instant pot. Next time will use less water.
Definitely change it up to suit your tastes, but steel cut oats absorb so much water as they cool that I prefer to use more so they stay nice and creamy.
For the 1/4 cup of cream which type of cream is best: heavy, light, table, half ‘n’ half?
Hi Anita – I use heavy cream because that’s usually what I have on hand, but any of them would work.
I made this recipe exactly how its written and it is amazing! The oatmeal is so creamy. It’s my favorite way to eat oatmeal now. I’ve done it without any fruit and it’s so good too! Thanks for another great recipe.
Thanks so much Natalie! The pressure cooker really is the best way to make steel cut oats.
Toast is mentioned in the instructions but not in the ingredients???
Hi Euayne – when you’re sauteing the oats in butter it’s called toasting the oats. There isn’t any bread toast involved.
Hi Barbara. I made this a couple of weeks ago and loved it! Do you think I could use frozen strawberries? If so, would I need to change anything else? Thanks so much for all of your amazing recipes!
Thanks Melissa – glad you enjoy it. I think thawed frozen strawberries would work well in this recipe without any changes.
I made this over the weekend and it was delicious! I used oats that included flax seed for an additional health benefit. Thanks for the recipe.
I’ve never cooked steel cut oats in my pressure cooker but looking at this recipe and your photos……I’m definitely gonna start. That looks like one amazing breakfast.
Thank you Barbara.
Thanks Carol – yes, you definitely need to start 🙂
I haven’t cooked oats in my pressure cooker yet. I’m going to have to give these a try. I like my oatmeal tender and I like that this is faster than the stove top. It sure looks beautiful.
Thanks Bonnie – I always have to cook the oats for much longer than the package recommends on the stove top to get them as tender as I like them. I’m sure you’ll like them in the pressure cooker.
Thanks for this recipe! I LOVE oatmeal/porridge and steel-cut oats and have been looking for pressure cooker recipes after getting a stove-top one for Christmas last year. I usually make a batch of porridge overnight in the slow cooker so it can soak up the maximum amount of water, but I would love to try the pressure cooker soon.
Hi Jessica – definitely give it a try. Let me know what you think.
I love steel cut oats toasted in butter and pressure cooked. I share with my great-grandson (age 4) who loves them as well. I haven’t cooked with the brown sugar in them, we just sprinkle on top, but I’ll try that. I don’t usually put fruit in them to heat so I’ll try that as well. However, I do find that steel cut oaks or any oatmeal raises my blood sugar something awful so I have to be very careful about how much I eat. If you are diabetic or pre-diabetic, watch out for that.
Hi Gayle – I didn’t know that about oatmeal raising blood sugar levels. Luckily, that’s something I haven’t had to deal with yet.
Gayle, I’m so glad you mentioned the blood sugar spike issue for people with impaired glucose metabolism or diabetes (any grain can spike glucose levels, actually, no matter how “whole” it is, because grains’ high starch content is quickly broken down into glucose and absorbed).
I Do love oats, but after experimenting using the suggestions at bloodsugar101 dot com, I find I must strictly limit my oat consumption (a few years after a gestational diabetes pregnancy I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes due to impaired first phase insulin response, and I’m working hard to avoid progressing to full-blown diabetes by sticking to a minimally processed real food diet and testing my blood sugar after meals often). When I do eat oats, it’s in VERY small portions (no more than 1/2 cup cooked) and always with other foods that contain fat and protein (like an equal or larger portion of whole milk yogurt and a handful of nuts) to avoid a blood sugar level that goes up too high for too long. Less processed oat forms (such as steel cut oats) cause might raise blood glucose a bit slower and lower than super-high spiking highly refined oats like those in Cheerios* and instant oat products, but my own repeated blood glucose testing after eating various forms of oats have shown me that I need to be careful even with steel cut oats. All starch converts to glucose eventually – so limiting starch minimizes the stress on my ability to utilize glucose.
*Cheerios is not the “heart healthy” cereal the manufacturer and AHA would have us believe – Cheerios is a highly refined and processed form of oats – practically an instantly absorbing bowl of glucose – the highest blood sugar level I have ever had from food was after a bowl of Cheerios with a little milk equaling 75 grams of carbohydrate – sort of like a home version of a glucose tolerance test. Research very strongly indicates that chronically high post-meal blood sugar levels are a much better predictor of heart disease than any cholesterol numbers, but the fear of natural fat & cholesterol and processed grain food industry influence over the past half century overshadowed the stronger BG-CVD evidence.
I do frequently cook whole oats (from the bulk bin) or steel cut oats in the pressure cooker for my teenage son, however, I always soak the (untoasted) oats overnight (or at least a few hours) in filtered water and a spoonful of plain live culture yogurt to neutralize the substantial amount of phytic acid (phytate) content in oats that can bind with minerals and prevent absorption. I just start the soaking after dinner or before bedtime in a bowl inside my electric Instant Pot pressure multi-cooker (with a trivet and water in the liner pot) and cook it in the morning – it’s so easy and finishes cooking in a few minutes (soaked oats also cook very fast in a regular pan on the stove or in the microwave). I often also include a bit of untoasted buckwheat groats or buckwheat flour with the soaking oats because buckwheat contains a substantial amount of phytase (oats don’t contain much phytase, and human digestive systems don’t make very much); phytase is an enzyme that breaks down grains’ high phytate content).
Essentially, the traditional method (pre-industrial) of preparing oats and other grains by soaking before cooking improves digestibility, nutrition content, as well as neutralizes problematic anti-nutrient compounds that are high in all grains (soaking imitates nature – contact with moisture initiates the seeds’ sprouting process by neutralizing sprouting inhibitors – but it also makes seeds easier to digest). When my dad was a kid in the 30s and 40s, oatmeal containers always included instructions to soak before cooking, but for some reason they don’t now, so that knowledge has been lost by the generations raised on processed, packaged foods. More info is at http://www.westonaprice.org/beginner-videos/proper-preparation-of-grains-and-legumes-video-by-sarah-pope