Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats with Fruit Compote

I love breakfast. On the weekend, I’ll sleep in and then enjoy pancakes, poached eggs over homemade bread, or omelets stuffed with veggies and cheese. But during the week I need something that can be prepped in advance, and something that will keep me full until lunch.

Lately I’ve been loving steel cut oats. They feel more substantial than regular rolled oats, have a nice chew and a nutty flavor, and have some added nutritional benefits. I cook up a big batch on the weekends and portion it into containers so I can have an easy breakfast every day of the week. I top the oats with some homemade fruit compote, fresh berries, and stir in some greek yogurt.

You can make steel cut oats on the stove or in an Instant Pot. Since we got our Instant Pot as a wedding gift, we have been using it for everything! It makes perfect steel cut oats and brown rice. We have even made homemade greek yogurt using the yogurt setting! However, if you don’t have an Instant Pot, no problem! I made steel cut oats on the stove for years. I am including modified ingredients and instructions for the stove-top version at the bottom.

I am also including a very simple recipe for fruit compote. You can put ANY kind of fruit you like! The best part is that you can use fresh or frozen fruit – it will just take a little longer to cook if it is frozen. I usually use ½ cup of chopped strawberries and ½ cup of frozen mixed berries. The strawberries are typically from what is about to go bad from our fresh berries. The cartons never last the whole week! If I don’t need to make compote right away, I’ll just wash and chop the strawberries and throw them in the freezer in ½ cup portions. I like getting frozen berries in bulk. We get a 3 lb bag at Sam’s Club. The latest kind they had was under $8 and included raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. My favorite version included strawberries and sweet cherries as well, but it isn’t currently in stock. 

Steel Cut Oats Ingredients (Instant Pot version)

1.5 tablespoons butter (unsalted or salted is fine)
1.5 cups steel cut oats (not quick cook)
Zest of one orange
Pinch of salt (omit if using salted butter)
4 cups water
1 ¼ cup milk (I always use unsweetened almond milk)
Juice of ½ orange (about ¼ cup of juice)

 Steel Cut Oats Instructions (Instant Pot version)

Plug in your Instant Pot. Press Saute and make sure it lights up below “Normal.” Press the plus or minus keys if you need to change the setting.

Add the butter to the pot and let it melt.

Add the oats and orange zest and stir well. Sauté for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until slightly golden and the oats smell toasty.

Press Keep Warm/Cancel to stop sautéing.

Pour in the water and milk and stir well.

Put the lid on your pot, make sure to lock it properly, and set the lid to “Sealing.”

Press Manual and then hit the plus or minus buttons until the display reads “3.”

It will take ~5-10 minutes to come up to pressure, depending on how cold your ingredients are. Then it will count down the 3 minutes to cook. The machine will beep once the 3 minutes are up. Do not open the lid right away! You need to let the pressure come back down first. I always wait 10-20 minutes to let it mostly naturally release. Then, protecting my hand with an oven mitt or towel, I quickly flip the valve from “sealing” to “venting” and move my hand out of the way. Unless the pressure has already naturally released, quite a bit of steam will come out of the valve.

Once you have the lid off, use oven mitts to pull out the inner pot. Give everything a good stir (it will look too liquidy at first, but it all mixes in). Add in the orange juice and stir again.

Let cool and portion into containers, or serve immediately with greek yogurt, fruit compote, and fresh berries.

To reheat:

Spoon some compote on top of the oats. Microwave for 1 minute 15 seconds (adjust as necessary depending on the power of your microwave). Stir in cut up fresh berries* and greek yogurt or milk to achieve desired consistency.

* I like putting the berries on top before microwaving so they get cooked down a little. 

Fruit Compote Ingredients:

1 heaping cup of chopped fruit (fresh or frozen)
¼ cup fresh orange juice (from ~1/2 orange)
2 tablespoons white sugar
1.5 teaspoons cornstarch

Fruit Compote Instructions:

Add all ingredients to a small pot, stir well. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it starts to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, until berries pop and juices have thickened. 

Steel Cut Oats Ingredients (Stove-top version)

Adapted slightly from Cookie and Kate

4 ½ cups water
1 ½ cups milk (I always use unsweetened almond milk)
1.5 tablespoons butter (unsalted or salted is fine)
1.5 cups steel cut oats (not quick cook)
Zest of one orange
Pinch of salt (omit if using salted butter)
Juice of ½ orange (about ¼ cup of juice)

Steel Cut Oats Instructions (Stove-top version)

Heat milk and water in a large pot over medium heat.

Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add oats and orange zest and cook 2-3 minutes or until golden and they smell nutty, stirring occasionally.

Stir the oats into the milk and water (carefully, to avoid splashes). Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 20 minutes. The mixture should have thickened slightly.

Stir in salt and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until very thick. Stir in the orange juice.

Let cool and portion into containers, or serve immediately with greek yogurt, fruit compote, and fresh berries.