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Steel-Cut Oats

Reprinted with permission from Feeding the Whole Family 3rd edition by Cynthia Lair (Sasquatch Books, 2008).

Steel-cut oats are whole oats that have been thinly sliced into pieces.  They are different than rolled oats which are oats that have been heated until soft and pressed flat.  I like to eat oat cereal with sliced apples, toasted almonds and a dollop of maple yogurt on top. This is Cynthia's version of the recipe (not Steve's).

½ cup steel-cut oats
2 cups water
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon butter

Place ingredients into a 2-quart pot and stir briefly; bring to boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and keep on a very low simmer for 20-25 minutes.

For a quicker version, soak 1/2 cup steel cut oats in 2-quart pan with 2 cups of water for 8-12 hours or overnight.  In the morning add remaining ingredients, bring to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring constantly for 5 minutes.  

Regardless of when you start and finish your oats, be sure to serve with your favorite toppings.  Tamari roasted nuts, Maple Butter Nut Granola, Sweet Glazed Nuts are some of our favorite toppings.  They add fat and protein to these nourishing fiber-rich whole grains.

Preparation time: 25 minutes
Makes  1 huge Steve-size serving or 2 regular person servings

14 Comments:

Jackie Ullrich
Where can you get bulk organic steel cut oats for less than a dollar?
November 13, 2008, 7:27 am

matt Smith
Jackie, I get them in the bins section our local grocery store. Coops and places like that usually have them in bulk. I haven't paid attention lately but I think it's still around a dollar or less...Matt
November 13, 2008, 9:32 pm

Pam Dobbeck
I love my steel cut oats and prepare them easily using a rice cooker with a timer. The night before, I add oats, water, vanilla and a bit of salt and set the rice cooker to porridge . When I wake up in the morning, I add dried blueberries and a few slivered almonds. Then enjoy! -Pam
March 11, 2009, 10:16 am

Fran Post
My husband makes our breakfasts. Since watching this video steel cut oats are in our breakfast rotation - yummm, we really enjoy them. Plus I get a morning chuckle when he mimics Steve's sound test to determine when they are ready.
March 16, 2009, 8:51 pm

Brooke de Lench
Very cool video. Thank you.I always wondered if I was making them the right way. I add dried cranberries and white grapes and maple syrup and soaking them the night before does help, and yup, walk the dog while they cook.
March 25, 2009, 2:04 pm

Shelly N
I just bought steel-cut oats so I appreciate the tips on soaking them and the peanutbutter...I think. :) Jane is great --- she has so much spunk!
September 11, 2009, 5:57 pm

Kimera Caswell
I use my rice cooker. That way i can do what ever i need to do and don't need to attend to the stove. Perfect every time.
January 13, 2010, 10:42 am

Amy Robertshaw
I also use my rice cooker, that has a delay timer. So night before I put 1 cup oats, 4 cups water, bit of salt, and a whole stick of organic butter.(My kids need some meat on their bones.) I set the timer...it soaks (which helps the digestibility as well) and in the morning cooks up on its own. It is a wonderful thing to wake to on school mornings. Hot, healthy, satisfying. This is my kids favorite breaky. They add their own individual bits... one likes yogurt, the other milk, one honey, the other maple syrup. We have it often during the school week. The easiest thing ever!! Love, love, love your vids!
March 24, 2010, 5:16 pm

Jessica Walker
Very good! I toast the oats first - throw some butter in the pan and add the oats to the melted butter and roll them around in it for a couple minutes then pour teh correct amount of boiling water on top. Yum.
July 17, 2010, 2:34 pm

Maureen Cooper
I'm officially in love with our family! Just ate a bowl of steel cut oats after watching your crazy awesome tutorial on how to cook them! I like them with just a drizzle of maple syrup, blueberries and bananas but definitely going to try the peanut butter route next time! God bless and keep up the great work!
July 29, 2010, 6:58 am

Dennis Siple
I remember whenever I spent the night at Grandma Murphy's, she'd put oats and water in a double boiler and soak them overnight on her enclosed back porch. She'd bring them in in the morning and cook them in the double boiler, constantly stirring. Grandpa taught me to use dark brown sugar and whole milk that was full of butterfat on them. The Best!
August 28, 2010, 11:56 am

Sarah Kingston
My 4 year old daughter loves this video! Coincidentally, she also loves any kind of oats. I do 1 cup oats to 4 cups water, and that's enough for the 5 of us, as long as I add something delicious to help my two boys eat it. The family favorite is whole, raw milk, a little brown sugar, and sliced up pears. Sometimes, I have to cheat and use canned pears, but any kind of pears in oatmeal somehow make the whole thing taste a little like bubble-gum. In a good way. I've also had it with halved grapes, which was lovely. My kids won't do dried fruit or nuts in their cereal, but it's hard to complain when they love fresh fruit as much as they do.
January 27, 2011, 12:59 pm

Jeff Hoyt
Well, I'll definitely try the recipe, but let me just say that this one made me laugh out loud NUMEROUS times! Very funny!
January 27, 2011, 5:08 pm

Douglas Cohn
I am sure this method works but the most nutritious and easiest way to cook is with a pressure cooker. Put your Oats in a small bowl with water. 1/2 cup oats gets 1 cup of water. I rinse them once and strain and add 1/8 tsp salt to the 1/2 cup. Cover bowl with Tin Foil. Put 2 cups water in pressure cooker. Add Trivet to bottom of cooker and place covered bowl on top of trivet. Bring up eat until your pressure cooker starts whistling and lower to a very slow steam release. Let cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat and leave cooker to cool for 20 - 25 minutes. Open cooker and eat from bowl. Amazingly delicious every time. I use Organic only for obvious reasons but different brands may cook up slightly different. Adjust water amount if too mushy or too dry. They say because you apply the heat for the shortest amount of time more of the vitamins are preserved. It sure seems logical and the taste and the texture is just amazing.
July 1, 2011, 12:15 pm

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