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As if I needed another reason to love steel-cut oats, now I can make them without cooking at all. It’s all thanks to the brilliant minds over at The Kitchn.
Unlike the more commonly available rolled oats, steel-cut oats–also called Scotch, Irish or Pinhead oats–are the whole oat grain, or groat, that is has been cut into thirds (with, you guessed it, a steel blade).
Although both rolled and steel cut oats are equal in nutrition, porridge made from steel cut oats has a particularly toothsome, hearty texture.
It’s mighty fine eating, especially (1) when drizzled with maple syrup and scattered with berries, and (2) it’s freezing cold outside.
The downside? It’s pushing 100 degrees this time of year, back-to-school crazy mornings have returned, and even if my mornings were carefree and cozy, it takes about 30 minutes to stir up a batch of steel-cut porridge.
Enter no-cook, overnight steel-cut oats.
It’s as easy as this:
Step 1: Combine the oats and milk in a covered container.
Step 2: Refrigerate oats overnight.
Step 3: Eat.
Yep, cold steel-cut cuts. The texture is markedly different from cooked steel cut oats, but it’s a great variation, somewhat akin to Grape Nuts. They are chewy, satisfying, filling (as in, you will not be hungry until, oh, 2 p.m.), empowering (e.g., 10 mile run? No problem!), ideal for hot weather, portable, easy, fast, scrumptious, and so versatile. I like adding some vanilla protein powder and a pinch of salt, then topping with fruits and seeds in the a.m.
I am loving these oats–I hope you will, too!
No-Cook, Overnight Steel Cut Oats
- Prep Time: 2 mins
- Total Time: 2 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk (dairy or non-dairy) or water
- 1 cup steel cut oats
- Optional add-ins:
- 1/2 scoop whey or vegan protein powder (any flavor)
- 1/2 cup chopped dried fruit (e.g., apricots, cherries, cranberries, raisins)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of fine sea salt
- Optional toppings:
- Additional milk (dairy or non-dairy)
- Fresh or dried fruit
- Nuts or seeds
- Sweetener of choice (e.g., maple syrup, honey, Turbinado sugar)
- Yogurt
Instructions
- In a small covered container or thermos, combine the milk, oats, and any optional add-ins, if desired.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight or for up to 3 days.
- When ready to serve, stir the oats well. Serve cold, topped with any of the suggested toppings, as desired.
Notes
*I used unsweetened almond milk to make my nutrition calculations; nutrition information is for the oats and milk only, not any of the optional add-ins.
*Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats if you wish this to be gluten-free.
Nutrition
- Calories: 190
- Sugar: 0 g
- Sodium: 182 mg
- Fat: 6.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 29.7 g
- Fiber: 5.1 g
- Protein: 6.4 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Are steel cut oats safe to eat raw?
Hi LC,
Yes, they are safe to eat raw, but is best to soak them. I would not recommend eating them dry (it could crack your teeth, too!)
Hi Camilla,
I tried your recipe last night and was wondering if I am doing something wrong. I used the one cup of steel cut oats and 2 cups water (since my husband did not want it with milk), added the salt, and teaspoon of salt. I didn’t use any of the other ingredients.. Then I mixed all the fore mentioned ingredients together and put it in the fridge and after 15 hours, there is a half inch of water on top of the oats. Checked again after several more hours and it still has the half inch layer of water sitting on top and the oats were not softened at all. Maybe because it wasn’t absorbing all the water? Is there something I’m doing wrong? I thought the steel cut oats were not supposed to be boiled beforehand, as it’s a no cook overnight recipe. Please give me your thoughts on what i may have done wrong in preparing your recipe. I used regular steel cut oats (Red Mill brand), not instant. Thank you so much!
Hi Dawn,
That sounds right, you ae doing everything correctly! Just be sure to give the oats a good stir before serving (if using all water, stir more vigorously so that the water mix is more creamy, essentially oat milk). The part that does sound odd is that you note that the oats are not softened at all. They should definitely be softened after one night and will continue to soften up the longer they sit. It is not the same texture as cooked oats; as I mention in the post, the texture is chewy and toothsome, similar to grape nuts cereal. I hope that that helps!
I just had the steel cut oatmeal prepared this way for the first time. Wow, what an amazing and simple concept. There really is no need to cook or heat the oatmeal. It was delicious. Thank you so much for sharing.
My brother had got me some steel oats instead of regular. I don’t like the time it takes to cook steel so I looked up overnight steel oats and found this recipe.
I am excited to try it! I very tried cooked grape nuts and they are slightly soft which I’m thinking that is how this will taste.
I’m sorry someone had to be so negative about the calories.
Thanks so much!?
Terri
I tried this last night. Steal oats, Cashew milk vanilla flavour 25 cal a cup, with dried Cranberries and sunflower seeds. Yes a little chewy, I microwaved for 1 minute, they were delicious. I like the texture.. Thank you for the great recipe .
You are so welcome, Billie–glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
I’ve always had these overnight and never thought about leaving them up to three days in fridge, but why not? Makes meal planning even easier; thanks for the tip!
You are so welcome, Jen! 🙂
So excited to try this! Thank you so much! I am using toasted coconut milk, raisins, cinnamon, a little maple syrup, a tad pink sea salt and Bobs Red Mill Steel Cut Oats. My husbands excited to try this too and I love the puréed date idea in the milk. I’ll try that the next time.
My coworker has been telling me about no cook overnight steele cut oats. That’s all he eats for breakfast every morning at work. I have my first batch in the refrig and and excited about trying them tomorrow. My first try at it is steele cut oats/soymilk/agave sweetner & will add blueberries when ready to eat.
Great!!!
Wow! Amazing! I just discovered steel cut oats. I tried making it in the microwave using the recipe on the package. What a mess. It boiled over no matter what I tried. I can’t wait to try this version. THANKS!!
Hi Camilla, I left my steel cut and rolled whole wheat outs overnight(7-8hours) but their texture is still a bit hard, is it supposed to be like that? But never the less it tasted good specially with the banana. Thank you!
Would adding some Greek yogurt before refrigerating work?
Absolutely 🙂
I hate to tell you, but your calorie count is WRONG. There is no way. 1/4 DRY steel cut oats.. across the board are 140-150 calories depending on the brand. It’s on the label. This calls for a full cup. 150×4 is 600 calories. Make this into two servings, not taking into account ANYTHING else you put into it (dried fruit and nuts are heavy in calories per ounce) it is 300 calories per serving… not 190. Very misleading and, frankly, uncool. 🙁
I am sorry that this upset you Mis, but I have to disagree: my calculations are correct. I used Bob’s Red Mill steel cut oats (170 calories per 1/4 cup dry) and , as specified in the notes for the recipe, I used unsweetened almond milk for the milk (40 calories per cup), which adds 20 calories to the 170 per serving, equaling 190, as printed.. All of the toppings and stir-ins are optional, and it is noted as such (as well as the fact that I did not include optional toppings in the calculations). All the best.
I mean, it does say 4 servings… If you eat all 4 at once you would be correct. Probably not recommended though.
Go watch food matters
Change your eating lifestyle and you won’t have to worry about calories
Americas “diet food” and “”diet ideas” are such a lie
Stop eating prossed food
Don’t consume artificial sweeteners
Switch to honey or maple syrup
Buy organic no gmo
Make at least 51% of your food raw being primary fruit and vegetables
Stop drinking pasterized milk ecspecially low fat milk which actually will make you fat
find a farmer and bring your own containers and buy raw milk
Cutt out wheat which is highly contaminated with glyphosate
And get some good quality probiotics
And you WONT have to “count” calories
It’s just so ridicules
People didn’t count their calories 200 years ago they just ate real food and were healthier than we are today
You should probably double or triple check your facts before writing such an unnecessarily rude comment… and if you’re not accustomed to reading and following a well written standard recipe maybe ask a friend or take a course before trying anything more advanced than boiling water. Lol …you have to agree that’s funny! You did blast a total stranger for no good reason. 😉
Loved this! I puréed a date with my almond milk in place of a sweetener it was perfect!
Yay!!!! 🙂 Love the idea of adding pureed dates 🙂
Or.. simply bring to a quick boil, remove from stove, or turn off stove, let sit to cool, then refrigerate overnight. Same creamy texture, no mess and no time/effort at all. You can make a larger batch, it keeps in the fridge for a few days. Tastes great cold.
I don’t do so well with unfermented milk products, so I have cooked steal cut oats in a pressure cooker with half water and half apple juice (prefer fresh). The result is quite amazing. When using this method just boil til the pressure cooker locks up, then turn off stove and let sit til it cools down and refrigerate. Tastes great with yogurt or kefir and some seeds (flax, pumpkin etc) and fruit. Might work just as well with method above without the pressure cooker, although I like the pressure cooker because nothing can boil over and create a mess.
Thanks so much for the great tips/options, DH!
Hi Camilla,
I’ve been eating these no-cook oats for the past week and they’re such a fun change of pace — instant while packed with nutrients. Who knew?! I eat mine with a lot of milk, raisins, walnuts, and some sort of sweetener every morning and I love it! Supercharged Cereal. This has got me thinking…what else can this be done with? I am a buckwheat fanatic; I grew up eating buckwheat porridge (“Grechka” in Russian) and it’s cooked just like oatmeal, though it could be toasted in a pan first. I love having it with milk and sugar. I am really curious as to whether this technique can be applied to buckwheat!
Thanks for posting <3
Wow, what a wonderful comment, Liz! Thank you so much for sharing, and I am so glad you are enjoying the variation for your oats!
Can this be warmed up in micro or on the stove before eating after it has been made for putting in the refrigerator?
Hi Sandy,
Yes, definitely! You can warm it a little or go ahead and cook it for 5 to 10 minutes (stovetop) to get a more traditional creamy steel cut oatmeal (the soaking shaves off a lot of cooking time). You may need to add a little bit more liquid (water is fine, or milk). 🙂
Why refrigerate? Completely unnecessary.
Hmm, I completely disagree; I don’t recommend leaving milk out for up to 3 days, even in a thermos.
I am also a fanatic of steel cut oats. I’ve tried the 30 min, the 3 min, and the microwave kinds. What about heating the overnight oats in the morning? Maybe simmer them for 2 minutes or microwave them (I like to avoid this when possible) for 1 minute.
-SM
sure, you could definitely heat them , too; it will only take a few minutes, as you noted, once they have had a long soak (as opposed to the typical 30 minute cook time) 🙂
I microwaved some overnight steel cut oats with some more non-fat milk for one minute, thirty seconds, covered. I let it set in the microwave for another minute or so. Then I mixed in a little more cold milk (I like my hot oatmeal a little runny). It was creamy, chewy, and delicious!
Great!
hi there!
i was so excited to try this since i usually use the slow cooker overnight method
i used 4 cups of almond milk to two cups of steel cut oats
the result: steel cut oats that soaked in milk overnight…they looked nothing like your pic or the soft chewy cooked oats i’m used to
i know my portions were doubled, but it shouldn’t have made much difference right?
not sure what went wrong ;(
Hi Michael,
Sorry they were not as expected! The texture is definitely different from cooked oats, as mentioned; more like grape nuts in texture (not creamy).