Apple Steel Cut Oatmeal (Slow Cooker or Instant Pot)
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Published Oct 31, 2013, Updated Aug 02, 2022
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Apple cinnamon oatmeal made with steel cut oats and filled with soft apple chunks. You can make this oatmeal in your slow cooker or Instant Pot for a warm, filling breakfast that’s loaded will fall flavors.
I love oatmeal and have a ton of healthy oatmeal recipes to prove it. On Tuesday night I made a big batch of steel cut apple cinnamon oatmeal in my slow cooker. I’ve made steel cut oats on the stove top and as baked oatmeal before, but never cooked them in my slow cooker so I was apprehensive about how it would turn out.
I put the ingredients for the apple cinnamon oatmeal together and started the slow cooker around 10PM, went to bed and upon waking up at 6AM, our house smelled like baked apples and my oats were perfectly cooked and waiting for me to dig in – quite a lovely circumstance to wake up to if you ask me. The only thing I needed to whip up was a pot of coffee.
Here’s What You Need For Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
- steel cut oats – using steel cut oats in this apple cinnamon oatmeal makes for an oh so creamy breakfast. Rich in fiber and protein, steel cut oats are a great way to start the day. My go-to brand is Bob’s Red Mill Steel Cut Oats. I wouldn’t use another type of oats for this recipe as the cook time and liquid to oats ratio would differ. If you’re looking to make a recipe with rolled oats try my apple cinnamon baked oatmeal or apple pie overnight oats instead.
- almond milk – I prefer unsweetened almond milk, but any nut or dairy milk will work just fine. You can also make your own almond milk or just use water.
- apple – chunks of warm apple with this creamy oatmeal are a match made in heaven! You can use whatever apple variety you have on hand. I like sweeter varieties like Honey Crisp and Fuji.
- maple syrup – maple syrup as a sweetener pairs perfectly with apple and cinnamon. Feel free to use honey or agave instead if you prefer.
- liquid stevia – a few drops of liquid stevia makes the maple syrup a touch sweeter without the extra calories. If you want, you can skip the maple syrup and add more stevia to taste.
- vanilla extract – I love adding vanilla to my oats just to enhance the flavor a bit.
- cinnamon – the perfect warming spice to pair to the rest of the ingredients.
- salt – brings the flavors together.
How to Make Slow Cooker Oatmeal
The best part? I’ve tested this apple cinnamon oatmeal recipe in the slow cooker and the Instant Pot so I’m giving instructions for both within the recipe!
I note this in the recipe, but the big difference between cooking the apple cinnamon oatmeal in the slow cooker and the Instant Pot is the amount of liquid. For the slow cooker you need 4 cups of liquid and for the Instant Pot you only need 2 cups. It can be water or almond milk, whichever you prefer. Almond milk will make for creamier oatmeal.
Slow Cooker Instructions
Prep your slow cooker – Coat your slow cooker with cooking spray, butter or coconut oil.
Add ingredients – Add all the ingredients besides the toppings into the slow cooker and mix well. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Serve – Place in a bowl to serve and sprinkle on toppings of choice.
Instant Pot Instructions
Add ingredients – Add all ingredients except the toppings to your Instant Pot, but be sure to only use 2 cups of liquid (water or almond milk) instead of 4 cups.
Seal and cook – Cover with the lid and turn the vent to “sealing.” Press the manual button and set the time to 4 minutes on high pressure. The Instant Pot will automatically start. Once done cooking, allow the pressure to naturally release.
Serve – Once all the pressure has been released, carefully remove the lid and stir the oatmeal and serve.
Slow Cooker Oatmeal for Meal Prep
This recipe makes four servings of apple cinnamon oatmeal so you can share with others! This would be great for a holiday brunch or is perfect for meal prep so you have a quick breakfast ready to go throughout the week — just let the leftover oatmeal cool and place it in the refrigerator for up to one week. Simply reheat the oatmeal on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Tip! Just add a little water or milk when reheating if it’s too thick.
Popular Apple Recipes
- Vegan Apple Bread
- Apple Granola Bars
- Apple Crisp
- Baked Apple Cider Donuts
- Apple Crumble Bars
- Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Try These Other Oatmeal Recipes
- Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal
- Easy Basic Overnight Oats
- Egg White Oatmeal
- Single Serving Apple Baked Oatmeal
- Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Protein Overnight Oats
- Maple Pecan Baked Oatmeal
- Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal
Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oatmeal
Ingredients
- cooking spray, butter or coconut oil
- 1 cup steel cut oats
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1 cup chopped apple pieces
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup + 5 drops of liquid stevia, or other sweetener of choice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- toppings: chopped nuts, nut butter, extra maple syrup, coconut sugar
Instructions
Slow Cooker Method
- Coat slow cooker with cooking spray, butter or coconut oil. Add all the ingredients besides the toppings into slow cooker and mix well. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Place in a bowl to serve and sprinkle on toppings of choice.
Instant Pot Method
- Add all ingredients except the toppings to your Instant Pot, but be sure to only use 2 cups of liquid (water or almond milk) instead of 4 cups. Cover with the lid and turn the vent to "sealing." Press the manual button and set time to 4 minutes on high pressure. The Instant Pot will automatically start. Once done cooking, allow the pressure to naturally release. Once all the pressure has released carefully remove the lid and stir the oatmeal and serve.
How to Reheat
- Let the oatmeal cool and place in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week. You can reheat the oatmeal on the stovetop or microwave. Just add a little additional milk to loosen the oatmeal, if needed.
Video
Notes
- The big difference between cooking the apple cinnamon oatmeal in the slow cooker and the Instant Pot is the amount of liquid. For the slow cooker you need 4 cups of liquid and for the Instant Pot you only need 2 cups. It can be water or almond milk, whichever you prefer. Almond milk will make for creamier oatmeal.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love steel-cut oats in the crockpot and I also love having breakfast made that lasts a week. I have a blueberry banana crockpot steel-cut oat recipe on my blog, but I bet apples would be taste and smell wonderful! Happy Halloween!
Yum! This looks so good and I’ve always wanted to try making oats in the crockpot! I love all of the ingredients, so I just might try this recipe this weekend!
Thanks Melissa! Let me know what you think if you do end up trying it.
Yum this looks delicious! I have only made oats one time in the crock pot and they were plain, but still turned out delicious! I will have to give this recipe a try very soon as the temperatures are dropping!
Hi Brittany, This recipe sounds like a winner. I am going to make it soon and enjoy all week. Hope all is well with you, Isaac, Olive and your family. The pics of your little nephew were really cute!
Thanks so much Molly! Let me know what you think if you try the recipe. 🙂
Looks delicious and so easy! Do you think I could substitute rolled oats if I don’t habe steel cut oats on hand?
Hey Tiffany, I don’t think rolled oats would work well because they cook so much faster than steel cut oats.
I was just searching your site to find a recipe for slow cooker oats! Perfect timing! I will be doubling this to make for breakfast at a girls’ weekend tomorrow. Thanks so much!
Awesome Mary! Let me know how it turns out.
I’ve been eating hot apple oatmeal on the regular lately … with almond milk 🙂
I have almost the exact same recipe on my blog, just slightly different. So good! It’s really good substituting the apples for mashed banana too. It tastes just like banana bread.
Oh yum! I used to always use half of a banana when making regular oats on the stove top so I can imagine how good they would taste in the slow cooker steel-cut oats. I’ll have to try that next time.
This makes me want to go buy a crockpot! I am old school with my oats – I make them in a pot. It’s less time than microwaving in the long run because mine always explode and I have to clean. 🙂
This looks perfect for a cold blustery fall morning. I am definitely making this for breakfast this week. Thanks!
whoa… that looks AMAZING!!! I am making this very soon!!!
XxOo Tasha
I made this recipe yesterday and it came out just ok. I greased the crock pot with coconut oil and the oats ended up sticking to and burning the bottom and sides of the pot. 🙁 I’ll try it again, because my family still enjoyed it, but it was not fun to clean the mess. Next time I’ll grease with cooking spray.
Oh no! I’m sorry yo hear that Monica. I’ve heard this happening before with overnight cooked oats in the crock pot — it could be that they cooked for too long or that they were cooked at too high of heat. I hope they turn out better next time.
Thanks for the advice! This was my first attempt at crockpot oats, so I wonder if it’s just the timing… I did use the low setting but maybe it went too long. They cooked right at 8 hrs, so will try 6 for the next batch.
I will add that I was hoping to have leftovers for the week, but my family ate all of it! Once I get the temp/timing issues right, I think this will be a recipe we use throughout the winter, and I’ll re-rate the recipe. 😉
To make cleanup super easy, use the crock pot liners from Reynolds. ( http://www.amazon.com/Reynolds-Metals-00504-Cooker-Liners/dp/B00578EKRY/ref=pd_sim_hpc_2 ) I don’t use my crock pot without them anymore!
I’ve done overnight oats before in a “double crockpot”. I put a small crockpot liner with oatmeal mix in a larger one and put water in the space between the crocks. The sides didn’t burn and I didn’t have to grease the crocks either. They turned out perfect. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
Cook on warm …
low makes apples raisens burn…
Just had to pop in this am and let you know, I was inspired by this recipe to purchase a small slow cooker and make this. Woke up to this yummey goodness this am!
Thanks Brit, wonderful blog and your recipes have never failed to deliver
Thank you Peg. I’m so glad that you enjoyed the steel cut oats! Thanks for reading and trying my recipes.
I made this recipe this weekend and it was perfect on a chilly morning. I even had some leftover to bring to work this morning! Thanks for the great recipe!
Any tips on baking this in my oven?
Can this be made only with milk instead of milk and water ?
Definitely!
Delicious! I did substitute 2% milk for the almond milk because that’s what I had, and omitted the sweetener. I will definitely make this again and will share it with my friends.
Can’t wait to try it. My family will love it.
Thank you Andrew. Let me know what you think if you try the recipe. I’m so glad you found my blog.
Turned out great. We didn’t have steel cut so it got a little mushy. But, the kids & I loved it. Great to wake up to a warm meal ready to go. We make an overnight oats in the warm months with our B’more Organic Vanilla skyr in the ‘fried. So, this is a wonderful version for the colder months.
Hi there, this recipe sounds great! I am going to give it a try tonight and double it up. Do you think it would freeze well?
Awesome. I’ve never frozen oatmeal so I’m not 100% sure but let me know how it goes if you try it! 🙂
Just put this in the crockpot for the morning, I can’t wait to see how it turns out. Thanks!
Hi. I just made this and it was great! I have lots of leftovers. I know I can freeze them but j was wondering if anyone knew a way to.use them in something such as cookies or muffins.
Found this page through Google. U tried it last night & it must have been good because there was no more when i got up. My daughter ate two servings. I did use less water by 1/2 cup and I added craisins before starting the cooker. Thanks for the recipe.
Oh wow! I’m so glad your daughter liked it. You’ll have to make another batch. 🙂
I made this last week, and I’m making it again tonight. So delicious and easy!! Thank you so much for this recipe!
I’m not a good guesser when it comes to what size crock pot a recipe was cooked in. Could you please post that? I’m thinking 2qt but I’ve been wrong before. Thank you. It looks delicious!
Hi Lauri, I cooked this in a 6 qt crockpot.
Anyone have nutritional info. for this recipe (as prepared above, minus any toppings)? Need it to convert to WW Plus points.
Making it tonight – can’t wait for morning! 😛
Do you peel the apples? I like to include skins when I can (for nutrition) but I’m not sure if it will work well in this recipe.
As an update I did not peel the apples and it was great. The skin just gave it a little crunch. I also used sweetened almond milk (it was all I had in the fridge) and skipped the sweetener and maple syrup and it still came out really tastey. I would rate the recipe 5 stars but my phone is being silly about it.
Hi Kelly. I’m so sorry I missed your first comment. I didn’t peel the apples either. I like the extra crunch too. So glad you enjoyed the recipe.
How big is a serving size?
About 3/4-1 cup.
Hi! This looks fantastic! We have a slow cooker that I need to use more often and am going to give this a whirl today – I’m just wondering: My family recipe for apple oatmeal includes shredding the apple and throwing it in the pot – do you think I could do that here or would it release too much of the apple juice? The recipe we use (I think??) cuts down on the milk to allow for the apples to cook more in their own juice but I’d really like to not screw this up! I don’t have a basis for “normal” liquid ratios in steel cut oats so I’m wondering if you think I could get away with shredding the apple.
Hi Elizabeth. The recipe calls for 1 cup of apple pieces. I think it would be fine if you used shredded apple instead! I hope it turns out well for you!
Thank you, I will let you know!
i luv this & have it every morning i top it with chia & hemp seeds then mixed berries its a bowl full of nutrition & sustained energy
I just finished making this recipe. Can barely wait to taste in the morning. Have recently changes my diet to include healthier food. This seems healthy and filling! Will let you know the outcome. Thanks!
Yay! I hope it made your Sunday morning extra delicious.
My doctor said I needed to quit eating my highly processed, heavily sugared maple brown sugar oatmeal, so I gave this a try. As I ate a bowl his morning, I went from “well, it’s okay” to “steel cut oatmeal, where have you been all my life?” Thanks for posting the recipe!
if you would post nutrition values, that would also be a big help. Thank you.
Just updated the nutrition info for you, Julie. If you ever see a recipe that doesn’t have it, you can always use the recipe importer function on MyFitnessPal as well. That’s what I use and it’s pretty awesome! 🙂
I enjoyed this today with a red pear instead of apple. And I didn’t have stevia so I added an extra half tablespoon of maple syrup instead and that resulted in the right level of sweetness for me. Also because the last time I made steel cut oats in the Instant Pot I thought they were too hard, I added an extra half cup of liquid and the texture was more to my liking. Thanks for another great recipe!
I tried making this in my 8qt instant pot but halved the recipe. I got a burn notice so added another cup of water and tried again and still got burn notice ;-(
My new Instapot mini arrived yesterday and I broke it in making a soup. But I’ve been wanting to try this recipe in the slow cooker so I set it up as a slow cooker for 8 hours and it turned out perfect.
I used 4 cups of water since I don’t keep any non-dairy milk around. I also used two tablespoons of maple syrup.
I was delighted with the results. It couldn’t have turned out any better! This breakfast will become a staple for me.
Woo-hoo! Thanks for trying this recipe, Terry. I’m so glad you enjoyed it. 🙂 And thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment + star rating. The reviews are super helpful to other readers, so I appreciate it!
Just made this in the crockpot for the first time and it was a huge hit with myself and two young kids! Healthy, delicious, and so convenient! I love how simple it is and that it’s already ready for breakfast the next morning. Will definitely add this to my weekly breakfast meal planning list! Thank you!
Ahh that makes me so happy to hear, Allie. I’m so glad this oatmeal was a hit. Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. I really appreciate it. 🙂
For the instapot option, are you suggesting only 2 cups water or to choose between 2 cups water or 2 cups almond milk? Thank you! I love your oatmeal recipe options!
For the instapot, you only need 2 cups of liquid total – so either 2 cups of water, 2 cups of milk or 1 of each. 🙂
If you only use milk in the instant pot do you wait to add it or add it with everything?
For the instant pot you only need 2 cups of liquid total, it can be water or almond milk, whichever you prefer and you’d want to add it in with everything else.
Instant Pot directions say “add all ingredients except almond milk”??
Hi Lisa! I can see where that’s confusing. It was instructed like that because you only need 2 cups of liquid instead of 4 cups. I’ve updated the instructions so it’s more clear!
Can I substitute GF oats instead of steel cut? And if so would I need to adjust the liquid for slow cooker? I have fresh picked apples I’d love to use for this for a warm yummy fall treat! Thanks!
Hey Missi, If you’re looking for an apple oatmeal recipe to make with rolled oats, I would make this apple baked oatmeal. I don’t think the recipe would work with rolled oats since they cook much faster than steel cut oats.
If you don’t have almond milk on hand wpuld oat milk work?
Totally. Actually any milk you have on hand will work. 🙂
Sounds amazing and can’t wait to try this. What do you think about replacing some or all of the water with apple cider or apple juice? Think it would work?
Definitely! It will just add more sugar, but I bet it’d be delicious!
What other liquid sweeteners s would work? Could I use honey? How much would you recommend, or just use more maple syrup?
Yes, you can use honey or agave or any liquid sweetener of your choice and it can be subbed 1:1 with the maple syrup!
Thanks for the recipe can’t wait to try I’ll let you know how it turns out , love steel cut oats
I love recipes that are effortless but healthy and tasty. I made this recipe before in my crock pot and what a treat. The leftovers were as delicious as the first dish. I’m about to make another batch – love not having to always think about what’s for breakfast when I wake up. Also want to give kudos to Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk. Use it all the time.
Ahh yay!! So glad you loved this recipe, Patricia! Thanks for the review. I so appreciate it!
Haven’t tried this yet, but I’m wondering, if I only have rolled oats, what would be the timing for the Instapot? I’ve never liked steel cut oats.
Hey Lija – I haven’t tried rolled oats in the instant pot, so I’m not too sure. Here’s an instant pot recipe that maybe you could use as a reference! Let me know if you try it and how it turns out.
Doubled the recipe and followed the instant pot method and it turned out great! Delicious fall breakfast!
I just made this, and what a great recipe! I used 4 cups of Trader Joe’s maple oat milk instead of almond milk and water, and omitted all other sweeteners. After cooking down, the sweetness from the apples and oat milk were enough for some of us, but it allowed for others to sweeten to their taste. It’s a great recipe to play with. Thank you!
Woo!! Happy to hear you enjoyed this apple cinnamon oatmeal, Taylor! Thanks so much for coming back to leave a review and star rating. It means so much to me!
I live in an area that only has quick cook steel oats. Would this work in the crockpot?
I wouldn’t recommend using quick cooking steel cut oats for this recipe as they will cook too quickly and likely become mushy!
I loved this recipe with a few tweaks. I put in 1 whole chopped apple( it was a bit more than 1 cup, 3 tbs of pure maple syrup, no stevia & the rest was how OP did, mixed well in crock pot (slow cooker) & it was ready in 3 hours! Thx!
YAY! I am excited to hear that this recipe is a hit, Jennifer. Your substitutions sound like they worked great. Thank you for sharing your review + star rating, I so appreciate you being here.
I’ve made this many times in my instant pot on “slow cook”. Sometimes I vary the fruit or spice but it is always delicious!
That is a great option as well, Jacquie. Thanks much for sharing. I also love there versatility of the different fruits and spices that can be used in this recipe. Thank you so much for your review + star rating, I so appreciate it!
Can I make this in a 4 qt crockpot?
Yes – that should work great. Enjoy!
I overall liked this but thought it was a bit lackluster and more of a base recipe. I appreciate the simplicity but the next time I’ll add in almond butter and more mix ins.
Absolutely, Katie! I alway recommend either adding in or especially topping with your favorite toppings to take it to the next level. Thank you for your review & star rating, I appreciate it!
I did this the Instant Pot way andddd I’m not a fan. I followed the recipe and it came out bland and not very creamy. I added some more maple syrup and nuts after, but it was just… fine.
Hi Kat – I am so sorry to hear this recipe did not turn out as you had hoped. Did you change anything about the recipe?