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Overnight Steel Cut Oatmeal


Is it really time to go back to school?  Parents  everywhere will be scrambling tomorrow morning to get backpacks packed, lunches packed, hair combed while trying to give their children a decent meal before they rush out the door.  You can lessen the misery and chaos by thinking ahead just a bit.
I've been trying various ways of making steel cut oatmeal.
Steel Cut Oats take much longer to cook than even large flake oatmeal and if you enjoy your oatmeal made with milk as we do, care and patience and lots of stirring is necessary to avoid a scorched pot.
Everyone likes their oatmeal a bit different.  Some prefer it still with a bit of chew and others prefer it with a creamy texture.  How do you like yours?  With milk, water, soy milk? Almond Milk?
or...gasp...Instant? 
Regardless of how you enjoy your oatmeal, there is no debate about the goodness and health benefits of beginning your day with a full grain breakfast.




Photo taken right after adding hot milk to the oatmeal and chia seeds in the jar.
30 mintues later the lid has popped to seal and I've given it another good shake.
There are various popular methods for overnight steel cut oats using a slow cooker and for large families that may be the way to go but with just the two of us I wanted to be able to have a formula for just enough for several days without using up valuable refrigerator space with minimal fuss and mess.
If you want to use a different liquid such as water or almond milk, it should be just fine using this recipe.
  • 1 cup Steel Cut Oatmeal  (click here if you want to know what the health benefits of steel cut oats are)
  • 2 tablespoons Chia seeds or Anita's breakfast Boost  (click here if you are wondering what the health benefits of Chia seeds are)
  • 2 teaspoons butter  (optional)
  • 3 cups low fat milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  1. Bring 3 cup milk (or water or liquid of your choice) just to a boil.  I do this in my microwave but you can certainly do it on your stove top if you watch it carefully not to scorch.
  2. Put the Oatmeal and Chia seeds and salt butter into a canning jar and add the hot milk.  You may need to experiment a bit on the size of jar you want to use.  If you want to double the recipe just use additional jars and multiply and then divide the recipe.
  3. Screw the lid on tight and give it a shake. (use a tea towel...it will be hot) Walk by every few minutes and give it another shake and after an hour, refrigerate it until the morning.  My lid always seals and so I make enough jars to last a week at a time.
  4. To serve, bring to a boil for one minute on the  stove top or else press the oatmeal setting on your microwave in  individual bowls or the entire jar..minus the lid. If you like a softer oatmeal boil for a few minutes.  
  5. Top with a drizzle of maple syrup, a bit of additional milk to your consistency preference  and fresh fruit...oh blueberries are perfect on top.  How do you top your oatmeal. I'd love some feedback on this recipe.  

36 comments:

  1. Oh, I love the idea of sealing the overnight oatmeal in jars for the week.
    Oatmeal is my ultimate favorite breakfast, though there are mornings I'm not running a good schedule and have to pass.
    I have always used the old fashioed oats, but was very intrigued to try the steel cut oats after snooping in my mom's cupboard and seeing her steel cut oats in there. That must be her beauty seceret she forgot to share with me.

    I love to put fresh slices of peaches on my oatmeal and when they are not in season i keep blueberries and chopped nuts on hand.

    I am definitley going to get a couple of jars in the fridge this evening.

    Thanks so much.

    ~Diane

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  2. That is genious! I've made individual jam jars with large flake oatmeal (layered with Greek Yogurt, Chia Seeds, Maple Syrup and Fruit) and left overnight in the fridge, but have never tried the Steel Cut Oats which is even more nutritious! I will definitely give this a try! I love my oatmeal sprinkled with cinnamon and bananas.

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  3. I love the steel cut oats too. I cook enough for me and add Greek honey flavored yogurt since I can't use milk but yogurt is ok. This is a good idea.

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  4. I will try this method. I usually use old fashioned flaked oats but I will try these.
    I also use my rice cooker/veg steamer pot. It works beautifully to cook grains and not burn.
    Thank you for sharing your methods. I love all of what you post.

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  5. What a fabulous idea for empty nesters! Thank you! I am anxious to try this as soon as the days turn a bit cooler. I have heard a rumor that Fall is on it's way. I like to top my oatmeal with chopped apple and a dash of cinnamon.

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  6. That's a great idea. Have a happy LAbor day, hugs, Flavia

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  7. When we were in Ireland, at one B&B we were served steel cut oatmeal topped with honey and Bailey's! It's lovely for a special occassion!

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  8. I love steel cut oatmeal!! I am going to try this and thanks so much for telling us about it. I love my oatmeal sometimes at night before bed b/c I get sleepy after eating my oatmeal!! It makes for a good night's sleep!!

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  9. I love steel cut oats too and was going to print your instructions but you might be interested, that when the recipe comes up in print form, all your measurements are missing for some reason.

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    Replies
    1. Winderly, I'm sorry the print button isn't working properly. Every now and then we format our recipe in a way that conflicts with the 3rd party print button and we have no idea why that happens.
      I hope you still try the Oatmeal recipe!

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  10. What a good idea! Will try it come winter.

    I love all kinds of oat/grain hot cereals, but have not tried chia...will follow your link.

    Maple syrup (always) and dried cranberries (often) are my usual additions to hot oat cereal.

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  11. Hi

    Could I use ground flax seed instead of the chia seeds
    It is perfect for People living on their own

    Blessings

    Wendy

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    Replies
    1. Wendy, I sure don't see why not. I use ground flax seed in yogurt so I wonder if it would be better just to add it in when you are going to eat it. Experiment with it both ways and let us know here.

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    2. Do you live in BC or Edmonton
      I was there there webpage to see if I get it here I send them a e-mail to find out where if I can get it here
      I will let you re Flax seed

      Blessings

      Wendy

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    3. I would be careful cooking flax seed as it absorbs A LOT of water and makes stuff thick and gloopy. If you want to use flax, I would grind it and add it to your oatmeal just before you eat it. This advice comes from experience (aka failures:) in the kitchen.

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  12. I will try this method since I have some Steel Cut Oats BUT a recipe for a Pork Stew came up on my reader from you folks, but its nowhere to be found. If you are not going to publish it, would someone just e-mail it to me?

    Thanks,

    Jo
    letoile@arvig.net

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    Replies
    1. HI Jo, Sorry about that glitch. It was being worked on for a future post and every now and then we press publish when we mean to save for another day. Watch for it on Oct 3rd.

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  13. I just made it with almond milk, coconut oil instead of butter and chia & hemp seeds ...can't wait for breakfast!! :)

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  14. Whoa! Genius! I love oatmeal, but hardly ever make it because of the attention is requires.

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  15. I love to add chopped dried apricots and a few drops of almond extract to my oatmeal. . . Can't wait to try this recipe out. Must find chia seeds. Sure enjoy going daily to your web site. I have made many fabulous recipes. Keep them coming !

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  16. Thank you Lovella!! Perfect new way to start our morning and quick for my farmer husband who is eating on the run during harvest season.

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  17. definitely going to try this. I tried refrigerator oatmeal with steelcut oats but it didn't work because the oats needed some cooking. Going to try the hot milk method with rice milk (my fave). Will let you know how it turns out.

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  18. I tried this last night. Used water, also added a handful of raisins. Included the butter & a little salt. The quart jar did seal itself....followed these directions, except for the Chia seeds (we use flax seeds-but didn't include them). The jar contained approx. 3 cups of steel-cut oatmeal & the top cup was just water. The oats were still 'crunchy'. I put it back in the refrigerator for several more hours & it looked the same. Could the raisins affected the process? It's edible but not a quart of oatmeal.

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    1. Hi...I adjusted the directions to say to bring it to a boil for one minute. If you pop it in the microwave, I select the oatmeal settting and that works perfectly to absorb the remaining liquid. If you only want to do one serving, give the jar a shake and pour out as much as you want to heat up in the morning. Chia seeds do absorb liquid so you may want to add a bit more oatmeal. It really should be heated up. If you like it softer boil it for a few minutes. We prefer ours with some chew left in it.

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    2. Thanks for the tip. I didn't bring the 3 cups of water to a boil, just an 'almost' boil....w/the 1 cup of steel-cut oats, the handful of raisins, the water came right up to the top of the jar. In the hour it sat on the counter, you could see the oatmeal swell but at some point, it just stopped. My husband is a charter member of the clean-plate-club, so we don't throw food away. Currently the oatmeal has plenty of chew...a bit too much. I'll heat it up in the microwave tomorrow & cook it a bit longer than just heating it up.

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    3. Perfect...let me know if tomorrow's breakfast is better. :)

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    4. Better today.....cooked it in the microwave on high for about 2 minutes to absorb more of the liquid. Next time I'll try boiling the water and/or milk.

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  19. I'm curious to try this. I cook a pot full and freeze in four portion containers, and although I really like the results of the traditional method, I'm looking for a way other than all the stirring and simmering for about an hour. I will try this, but will keep one aspect of the method I use. I'll still toast the steel cut groats first. During summer I mix my cooked Steel Cut oats with an equal amount of yogurt and pile in a sundae glass, topped with fresh fruit. I'm worth it. You know?

    Sharon

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    1. Thanks for these hints Sharon. I need to make another batch as well and will use your method of toasting the oats first. I can imagine this would add another layer of flavour. Let me know what you think as opposed to stirring for the hour. Regardless...I agree, you are worth it!

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  20. Rushed this a.m. and missed reading the comment about the oats not being soft enough to eat. If you want to try toasting them first, as I mentioned above, do that in a dry pot over a medium high heat, constant stirring with a wooden spoon, until you see them beginning to turn golden and you can smell them, then, proceed with Lovella's technique. I think that should work for the too-crunchy result.The toasting is a slight cooking, like toasting nuts. Really brings out a nice flavour too.

    Sharon

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  21. I tried this and the result is delicious! I used almond/coconut milk since that's all I had on hand. After heating one serving the next morning, I stirred in some raisins, coconut, a bit of maple syrup and a teaspoon of almond butter. SO GOOD!

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  22. I just put water over the steel cuts oats in the pan overnight, and then cook like regular oatmeal. Works great!

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  23. I discovered steel cut oats a year and a half ago and tried lots of different methods for cooking. What I found works perfectly for me. 1 Cup of steel cut oats into a cast iron pot on the stove on med heat. 4 cups water in the kettle and bring to a boil. Add the boiled water to the pot on the stove, stir for 9 minutes (that's what works in Calgary, turn off stove, cover pot with lid and leave on the stove overnight. In the moring, put ALL the oatmeal into plastic container, put in lunch bag and head to the train. I keep the container in the fridge at work for the week. I'm a brown sugar and milk gal so naturally I have a small container of brown sugar in the fridge as well. I just reheat a portion in the microwave, add milk and brown sugar....ta-da! Brekkie for a week. Raisins and dried cranberries are great additions (add at night). I add a pinch of salt when I reheat the oatmeal in the morning - was told that yes you add salt but not till AFTER they are cooked so that's what I do.

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  24. I have made this recipe dozens of times! We love it. The next time I am going to add dried fruit also

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  25. AWESOME! I varied the recipe by using 1t. butter and 1t. coconut oil. Next time I'm going to try 2 t. Coconut oil. Added fresh strawberries. NO ADDED sugar, that's GREAT!

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