Instant Pot Oats (Fast, Creamy Oatmeal!)

Absolutely creamy! LOVED the toothsome texture of the rolled oats. I’m clueless in the kitchen and new to the Instant Pot, but I found the timing estimates pretty much dead accurate (8 minutes warmup + 2 minutes pressure cook + 10+ minutes release). I did find the oats too soupy with the suggested ratio of liquid to oats, using 1/2 non-dairy milk + 1/2 water. I think if you let it sit long enough, it solidifies fine. However, I found the flavor a bit lacking: “thin” and, well, watery.

Because I wanted it thicker, I tried again with 1:1 ratio of oats to liquid. Over half the liquid was the coconut milk/almond milk blend, and the rest was water. Other readers’ suggestions to use a pinch of salt is a must! It rounds out the flavor nicely. I added 1 tsp cinnamon and 3+ tsp vanilla because there’s no such thing as too much vanilla for me. I still couldn’t even tell it was in there, but I think it’s because the store brand extract I used was weak. Spiraled in some maple syrup.

Even with those additions, I found it to be a very mild flavor–fine as a base with no overpowering notes of anything. Next time I might add in almond butter or something to make it taste more substantial.

Had to refrigerate overnight, and of course it was nice and thick when it came out. I reheated on the stove and found I did not need to add more liquid–but again, I prefer it on the thicker/stickier side.

Then the fun part: Loaded my cup with a little creamy PB, sprinkling of semisweet choc chips, apple/banana/strawberry slices, and a bit of crushed graham cracker. I look forward to trying this again as a healthy, easy base for other healthy and not-so-healthy toppings, lol.

I made this with sprouted rolled oats and almond milk. 2 mins pressure cook, 10 minutes release as recipe says; it came out perfect. I used maple syrup and brown sugar for sweetener & blended whole macadamia nuts for the nut butter and added fresh sliced strawberries after cooking. (Almonds instead of macadamias would have been better.)

Wow, this recipe re-ignited my love of oats!

Our mornings with a pre-schooler have been more harried these days and microwaving oats just hasn’t been doing it for us. I love rolled oats and didnt want to switch to instant for ease, I’m so grateful for this recipe, thank you!

Like a few other commenters, I like them to sit a while to absorb more of the liquid. I do 1c water 1c almond milk and theres a bit of liquid left when I open. I stir it up and put the lid back on while I empty the dishwasher.. The oats are SO plump and yet toothsome and it’s like a whole new rolled oat experience! Definitely need to plan time-wise if you want them fresh, but I find making a large batch and then microwaving portions every morning with a bit more milk works fantastically. I love that this is mostly hands-off vs constant stirring that I was doing before to achieve creaminess.

I can’t wait to try these as savory oats–thanks for the fool-proof recipe!

Once a month our family joins a group of young men and we feed the homeless in a large city on the East Coast. It can be cold and wintery this time of year. We always provide a bagged sandwich lunch w/ chips and a piece of fresh fruit. There is also 2 6 qt instant pots of beef stew, plus hot and cold beverages. We wanted to provide an extra hot meal selection and decided to serve oatmeaI knowing it might be a hit or miss, either you love it or you hate it. We decided to make it and gauge how well it was received for a future a hot meal option. This recipe did not disappoint and was a huge hit, people came back to thank us saying they just don’t get hot cereal offered to them, that it was delicious and asked that we could bring more next time! We used 2 instant pots (6qt and 5qt) filled to max lines with oats, water and a pinch of salt (served the oatmeal with 1 oz containers of brown sugar and cranrasins plus individual creamers). I took the advice of others and sprayed each pot with PAM prior to cooking. I did get the burn notice on the 6qt pot, but it didn’t affect the oatmeal consistency. Clean up was a breeze for both pots. Thank you for this recipe and giving me a great reason to dust off my instant pots.

Love your recipes. This was fantastic!!
I used 2 c rolled oats, 2.5 c water, 1 c unsweetened almond milk, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp cinnamon. I cooked on low pressure for 3 minutes, ( was worried about the burn notice).. natural pressure relief for 10 min. Wow…creamy and delicious. Won’t ever make it any other way. Thank you for such a great, easy recipe.

After making it your way several times including the one I posted recently. I now use your recipe as my starter. It works perfectly every time in my instant pot. I use 6 1/2 cups of water and 4c of whole milk. I added a half a cup of raisins, 2.tbsp of butter and a teaspoon or so of cinnamon. The butter prevents the oatmeal from sticking to the instant pot and preventing the burn notice.

I use 2 minutes for cooking time and 20 minutes natural release time. My instant pot is one that has been recalled due to burn notice issues. So I find work arounds with every recipe to prevent that.

Loved this. Made 6c water and 2.5 c milk. Added Bocha Sweet Brown with cinnamon and chunky peanut butter. Kept in fridge and ate with berries one day, an egg the next. Every day was different and delicious.

Great recipe! First I tried a batch of oats and milk, that was decent, next I tried a batch of oats and almond milk, and that hit the jackpot! Our family favorites include brown sugar and cinnamon with bananas and sliced almonds on top.

Great recipe. Works every time. I use One Degree brand sprouted rolled oats because they’re certified glyphosate free and gluten free. I use 1/2 purified water & 1/2 unsweetened organic vanilla almond milk for the liquid. When it’s done, I stir in some organic Ceylon cinnamon powder, organic vanilla and sometimes organic almond extract. The whole family loves it. 😋

Grateful for this recipe!! Came out SO good! I did 1 cup water & 1 cup coconut milk with a pinch of salt. No more stove top oats!!!🙌🏼

Thank you for the recipe. I doubled it and made with milk mixed with water but my IP duo 8q spit a lot of milk out when I pressed to release steam. I feel I should of kept it on warm for some time instead of turning off and counting 10 mins🤷🏻‍♀️ Any ideas how to avoid milky spit?

I made this exactly as instructed putting only the oats and water in the Instant Pot. The total cook time was slightly less that stove top and gave better results. It was nice and creamy. Perfect as far as I am concerned. Thank you for posting this.

I have been using this recipe for a week now and my husband is very grateful that I found it!! It is nice and creamy and very easy to make. I often make a pot in the morning and eat my share and put the rest in the fridge for my husband and children later on. My husband prefers it after it has sat for a while opposed to freshly made. I usually use 2 cups oats, 3 cups water and 1 1/2 oat milk. I cook it on the low heat setting. I have not had a burn warning as a few others have mentioned. Thanks for a great recipe!!

I don’t have a stove at the moment & have tried soooo many recipes in the instant pot to make porridge & they’re ALL slimy & gross. This recipe is absolute perfect every time. I add a 1/4 tspn of cinnamon & half a mashed banana, my 11m & 2yr old practically lick the bowl.

I love this recipe! It’s quick and easy. For the liquid, I use 2/3 almond milk to 1/3 water. After it’s done cooking, I stir in some mashed bananas, drizzle it with honey, and sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on top.

My whole family loves this recipe!

Such an easy way! I love making several servings at a time and put it in the fridge for quick, warm breakfast ♥️

This was so easy and yielded the fluffiest, creamiest oatmeal. I will never make stove-top old fashioned oatmeal again! :) We like to use canned coconut milk and water as our liquid. Used 2.5 cups of liquid and it was definitely porridgy, which we prefer. Thank you for the great recipe!

I made this recipe using Gluten-free rolled oats and 2 and a half cups liquid (1 cup almond milk and 1.5 cups water). It came out perfect ito consistency. Just needs salt which you can add to taste. Thank you for this recipe, will definitely use again.

We made this in a 3QT Instant pot and had oatmeal coming out of the vent after a 10 minute natural release. Second time we increased the natural release to 20 minutes and it was absolutely perfect. We added diced apples and cinnamon and topped with some chopped walnuts 😋

After running out of steel-cut oats, I’ve made this several times and it always turns out great. I like it with two cups water and 1/2 cup soy milk.

I did the 1 cup of oats to 2 cups of whole milk but I got a burn warning (I saw in the comments that someone had doubled the recipe just fine so I was hoping that by doing the regular recipe but going down to the 3 quart sized instant pot I would be ok but that may have been the reason I got the burn warning?). Even with the burn warning, it seemed to turn out ok. I really liked the texture as it was bumpy but still creamy— just like the picture! Next time I might try using Pam spray prior to cooking because it was a newer pot and it’s really caked on horribly now… not going to be fun to clean. 😅

I usually make your steel cut oats recipe but had ran out, and discovered some jumbo porridge oats in the cupboard so decided to use this recipe instead. I made two portions and followed your recipe using just oats and water. My dad always tells me to put a pinch of salt into porridge so that was my only addition – he says it’s the traditional Scottish way but I don’t know if that’s accurate or not! It turned out lovely. I loosened it a little after cooking with some more boiled water as I like my porridge quite thin. And topped with Greek yogurt, fresh berries, tahini, sunflower and sesame seeds, with a quick instant pot seasonal fruit compote. It was delicious and very filling. I love all of the instant pot recipes you’ve created and shared! Thank you 🥰

Amazing recipe!! Works like a charm. Thank you

This recipe is awesome! Love it! Thanks for sharing!

Made this recipe with 2.5 cups liquid because I wanted more porridge style. Recipe and instant pot steps were on point and easy to follow, experienced no problems, came out great, will make again. Thank you kindly.

Just got done making this for breakfast this morning!
I used quick oats
almond milk
added frozen blueberries
and doubled the recipe. It turned out amazing!

Just wanted to thank you for this amazing recipe! I made it this morning using Quaker Old Fashioned Oats, 1 cup of unsweetened coconut milk, and 1.5 cups of water. I did the pot-in-pot method, used the same cook times, and it came out just awesome!

I had overnight guests last weekend so needed a simple recipe that could feed a bigger crowd. I followed this recipe and the oatmeal was creamy and delicious! I doubled your recipe and used water. It was so easy. For cleanup, I filled the empty pot with water to loosen any remaining bits of
oatmeal while I did the rest dishes. It cleaned easily. Thank you for this recipe!!

I added raisins and raw sliced almonds and the oats came out amazing! Thank you for the recipe.

I really really wanted to love this, as I’m fighting a stomach infection and a promise of a quick, easy, creamy oatmeal was everything I needed. I have made and LOVED many of your recipes so your name is kinda like a guarantee for me.

Well, it was a disaster and I ended up unscrewing the bottom of my IP to get it clean!
I doubled the recipe but kept the ratio! I used only water.
I switched the valve to secure.
When it had preheated and before starting countdown it informed me my food was burned, so I cancelled the program
Upon releasing the steam all hell broke loose, gooey liquid everywhere (it had also filled up the condensation collector, I saw that today when I did the deep cleaning, it was a solidified pudding!)

I honestly don’t know what went wrong. One advice I’ve read before (and I don’t know whether that’s true) is to not stir starchy food so it doesn’t stick to the bottom, *unless specified in the recipe* – which it is here.

Pretty sad with this :/

At about the 2 minute mark, the pot began spouting steam out of the release valve (it closes automatically so I know it was not open)
I did a manual release and it spouted more liquid all over the counter

Do you know what happened?

I always thought I was not an oatmeal person. But recently I decided to try to get onboard since I am FREEZING! (also for the many health benefits). I am an instant pot fiend, so was so happy to find this recipe. It worked like a charm. I made it in advance for a breakfast to heat up at work. I used water and added a small amount of soy milk after reheating. But the oats were really so creamy that the extra milk wasn’t really necessary, although it was nice. I added maple syrup, frozen blueberries, and cinnamon after the instant pot and before reheating.

The recipe worked fine for me. I paid attention to the comments and used half water and stirred thoroughly before sealing up the pot. I used low temp. I added a handful of currents before cooking along with a pat of butter and a tiny pinch of salt.

I did one BIG change from the directions. I used a pot in the pot for the oats. This eliminates the danger of burning. Otherwise the same timing.

We love it! I made it with 4 cups of unsweetened almond milk, one cup of Premier Protein vanilla drink, 2 cups of Quaker old fashioned oats, 2 tablespoons vanilla, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt. Delicious!

One to avoid. This doesn’t work at all and burns every time. Far better to use the steam setting for lovely oats.

Turned out Great!! So easy ;)

Thank you for posting this – it prompted me to get my never-used Instant Pot out of the pantry in order to try this! Two weekends ago I tried a slow-cooker recipe overnight and it wasn’t good. Last weekend I made oatmeal on the stove-top, stirring, stirring, stirring! It was good, but annoying to make and the oats weren’t creamy enough. Google led me here and this morning I tried this simple recipe; delicious, creamy, and easy! I used half skim milk and half water…no burning whatsoever. This is my new go-to for making oatmeal for my family…thank you!

I’m so glad I stumbled on this. I love oatmeal, but hate standing around stirring and keeping an eye on it. It’s makes the easiest, creamiest oatmeal. I sometimes do the next day oats cold with greek yogurt and fresh berries. Thanks for the tips.

I only had quick oats and it still turned out awesome!!!

I seriously did not know oatmeal could be this good. I have made it every single morning on the stove for years, but I tried this recipe today and it was PERFECT! The creamiest, most delicious oats I have ever had. I used 1 cup of rolled oats and 2 cups of cashew milk, and I was able to prepare my toppings while it cooked instead of constantly stirring and adjusting the heat. Total game changer! Thank you for this recipe, Dana!!

I love the texture of the oatmeal and how hands off it is! Made it with 3 cups of oats and 7 cups unsweetened almond milk. Thanks for all the instant pot recipes!

Hello! I just wanted to say that I love your recipes. I made this recipe this morning, and it worked really well! It produced filling, soft, creamy oats that my family loved. I used 1.75 cups of old-fashioned oats, 1.5 cups of flax milk, and 1.5 cups of water. I served it with chia seeds.