Call me a late bloomer. I must be the last vegan to jump on the steel-cut oats bandwagon, but now that I’m on, I’m not planning to get off.
I’ve known about steel-cut oats for years, even tried them at least once, but they never made a big impression on me for a couple of reasons: 1) I thought they took too long to cook, and 2) I was afraid that eating something so starchy would cause me to be hungry later. As it turns out, I was wrong on both counts.
Actually, I wasn’t wrong about steel-cut oats taking longer to cook than rolled oats. They do. But I realized that it just doesn’t matter: I’m not an early morning eater, I work at home, and I can let the oats simmer on the stove while I do other things. I’m in no rush. In the past, before I made a resolution to eat breakfast regularly, I considered steel-cut oatmeal as an breakfast option for my husband and daughter and decided that unless I made it the night before (or started it the night before in a crockpot or thermos) there was no way to work it into the hectic 15 minutes my family has for breakfast on weekdays. But now that I’m thinking of my own breakfasts, I can manage long-cooking oats just fine.
Which leads to my second objection, which I’ve found was totally unfounded. In the past, I’ve had trouble with carb-heavy breakfast foods leaving me hungry later in the morning. As a result, I started looking for protein-rich vegan breakfast ideas and came up with several tofu-based recipes, including Vegan Omelette for One and Mini Crustless Tofu Quiches. But since I’ve started having steel-cut oats for breakfast, I’ve found that not only don’t I get hungry later in the morning, I also seem less hungry throughout the day. I’m snacking less between lunch and dinner–often not snacking at all–without even making an effort.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with them, steel-cut oats (also know as pinhead oats, Scotch oats, or Irish oats) are the inner parts of the oat kernel (or groats) that have been cut into two or three pieces. They’re much less processed than rolled oats (a.k.a. old-fashioned oatmeal), which have been steamed, flattened with a roller, re-steamed, and toasted. Quick-cooking and instant oats have been processed even further; though both are technically a whole grain because they contain all of the bran, germ, and endosperm of whole oats, they are digested more quickly than steel-cut and rolled oats. Also, instant oats tend to be packaged with salt and sugar, making them a very processed food.
Beyond the nutritional advantages, I really enjoy the slightly nutty flavor of steel-cut oats, as well as their chewier texture. I’ve been playing around with different ways of cooking them, varying the flavor with different fresh and frozen fruits and spices. I still have a lot of experimenting to do, but so far, these are my two favorite combinations.
Apple-Spice Oats
(printer-friendly version)
I like to make enough for two breakfasts and save half for another day.
1/2 cup steel-cut oats
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 large organic apple, coarsely chopped
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Put all ingredients in a medium-sized pot. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to very low. Cover and simmer for about 30-45 minutes, or until oats are tender and water is mostly absorbed. Serve with sweetener of your choice with a little freshly grated nutmeg on top.
Serves 2. Per serving: 204 Calories (kcal); 3g Total Fat; (14% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 38g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 541mg Sodium; 10g Fiber. Weight Watchers Core/3 Flex Points.
Cherry Pie Oats
(printer-friendly version)
These are so good that I have to be careful not to eat the whole batch at once!
1/2 cup oats, steel-cut
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup frozen cherries, unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Put the oats, water, salt, and cinnamon in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to very low. Cover and cook for 25 minutes.
While oats are cooking, remove cherries from freezer and cut each in half while frozen. Allow them to thaw a little on the counter until oats have cooked for 25 minutes. Stir in the cherries and vanilla extract. Cover and cook until oats are tender and thick, about 10-15 minutes. Serve with your favorite sweetener.
Makes 2 servings. Per serving: 200 Calories (kcal); 3g Total Fat; (14% calories from fat); 7g Protein; 36g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 541mg Sodium; 9g Fiber. Weight Watchers Core /3-5 Flex Points (depending on how calculated).
For more great oatmeal recipes, check out these blogs (veganize as necessary):
- Baked Oats at Diet, Dessert and Dogs
- Oats for Dinner at Saffron Trail
- Crockpot Oats at Playing with my Food
- Breakfast Brownies at Karina-s Kitchen
- Perfect Pan Seared Oatmeal at Don’t Get Mad, Get Vegan
- Roasted Oatmeal With Walnuts And Oatmeal at What Did You Eat?
- Beyond Cereal: Are You Eating Enough Oatmeal, a whole slew of oatmeal links by Kalyn Denny, at BlogHer
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I love your website. I love you apple oats. I also grind my oat groats sometimes. I also make the whole oats with hot boiling water and put them in a widemouth thermos overnight. In the morning it is perfectly cooked.
I eat steel cut oats almost every weekday, and I make them in about 5minutes!***I like my oats a little chewey so this recipie does not make them super soft. I believe this is better for your body too.
I usually bring 1/4 cup uncooked steelcut oats, a bit of honey, and some almonds in a microwavable plastic container to work.
I mix in about 1/2 cup of cold water, or fat free milk and microwave on high for 1 min. 30 sec. I then stir for 30 seconds, and back in the microwave for another 30 sec. watching to make sure they don't boil over.
I stir for about 2 minutes until cool enough to eat, and mix in some fresh peaches, and blueberries.
Oats give me daylong sustained energy and are good for cleaning out the digestive system.
I have a better recipe that requires no cooking.
Simply poor some quick oats in a bowel. Open a can of sugar-free cherry filling and pour to taste on oatmeal. Delicious.
I did update my photos on the steel cut oatmeal recipe, and am still getting lots of visitors from your link here. So, thanks again!
I love steel cut oats too. I cook it in a double boiler (a pot of boiling water with an insert on top to put the oats and water), this way it cooks without the need for any stirring and it doesn't get stuck on the bottom of the pot – I put in any combination of the following: dried apricots or raisins, fresh apples. It stores well cooked in water – when I prepare it to eat I add milk or yogurt – Yummy. I make enough for a few days. I have even taken it with me when I travel for work.
I'm a little late to the party, but I just wanted to say, the cherry pie oatmeal looks fantastic!
I've been cooking my steel cut oatmeal overnight in the crock-pot. I slice quince and lay it over the oats. By morning the quince and the oats are cooked to perfection.
I can't wait to try my oats with cherries!
Okay, don't knock this until you try it: Prepare your SCO as described above. At the end of cooking add 1-2tbsp of Hershey's Extra Dark Cocoa. Eat with bananna, walnuts and dried cranberries.
Absolutely the best oatmeal I ever had. I love the slight crunch of the steel-cut oats. I made this recipe yesterday, enjoyed some and put the rest in the refrigerator. I just enjoyed another bowl for breakfast this morning. I'll be trying this again with some different fruits. This is a keeper!
I love steel cut oats…I eat them every weekday morning and top with 1/2 teaspoon of raw sugar or agave and 1 tablespoon cinnamon. In the winter time, while the oats are cooking (forever) I sautee some seasonal fruit with a little earth balance and cinnamon..pears are the best…delish!
Stirred into steel cuts at the last minute, a half a sliced banana or so, dried cranberries or cherries, walnuts, ground flax-seed, cinnamon and sea salt make for excellent breakfast, and no further sweetener needed!
I'll have to try each of these as soon as I get some apples and cherries in stock… I never have apples…
I normally choose quick cooking oats because I'm lazy, but I'm going to try the trick of putting SCO into boiling water the night before!
Also, I love-LOVE-love adding peanut butter and soy protein to my oatmeal; I'm full and fueled for well into the day.
Thanks for FFVK. x
A couple of suggestions that might make for quicker cooking and for a nice sweet natural flavor. Frozen bananas are wonderful when sliced and added to any kind of oatmeal. Just peel older bananas and freeze in a freezer bag, sliced, or slice them when you add to the oatmeal. I can't eat oatmeal without frozen bananas now.
I haven't tried it for SKO, but it works perfectly for long-grain brown rice, so I'm sure it would work for SKO, too. I put the rice in the pressure cooker, cover with extra water, cook on high until the cap rocks, turn the burner off, set the timer for 9 minutes (at sea level), and remove when done. Perfect brown rice every time. SKO probably cooks in about the same time, but experiment removing earlier, then just reheat until you get the ideal cooking time and make a note for future reference.
Thanks for the recipes.
I’ve never really been a fan of oatmeal, but these recipes are great. The cherry is especially awesome, and I think oatmeal might start making a regular appearance at breakfast time!
I must have done something wrong, but I was very careful in my math! I quadrupled the Cherry Pie Oatmeal recipe, since I wanted to feed my family and then have some left over as well. But there seemed to be far too much water because the oatmeal never really set up. But we tried it anyway, and it was TOO SALTY!!! Eh-yechk! It was inedible!
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