Instant Pot Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal (2024)

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Published: September 10, 2018 Last Updated: June 23, 2022

Quick and easy - this is what breakfast is meant to look like!

For years, we thought that slow cooker oatmeal was the greatest thing since sliced bread. It was true, too. Talk about a great way to make from-scratch steel cut oats without spending all day laboring over the stovetop. Well, now we have the Instant Pot, and I can officially say the slow cooker version is out. This Instant Pot apple cinnamon oatmeal is in – and it’s one of my new favorite breakfast recipes.

This recipe is filled with whole, natural ingredients that are easily stocked in your pantry. That means that you can whip up a batch of this 6-minute oatmeal at a moment’s notice! But, before we get to the recipe, we want to talk about the different types of oats. This recipe won’t turn out the same if you use instant oats – and you’ll see why in a minute!

What Exactly Are Steel Cut Oats?

You may have heard a few terms thrown around when it comes to oatmeal. Steel cut oats, rolled oats, and instant oats all come from the same base ingredient – oat groats – but they’re all vastly different. Let’s take a peek into the difference so you know which one is best for you.

Steel cut oats (which we use in this recipe) are chopped whole oat groats. Because they’re not rolled or crushed, they look very similar to a grain of rice. They take the longest to cook, but they have the chewiest texture of the three types.

To make rolled oats (sometimes called old-fashioned oats), the groats are first steamed before they’re flattened by a large rolling machine. After being rolled, they look like flat discs instead of grains of rice. They cook faster than steel-cut oats and absorb more liquid, giving them a softer texture.

Instant oats (or quick oats) are fully processed. They’re pre-cooked, dried, and then rolled on the thinnest setting possible. As their name indicates, they cook the fastest of the three types of oats. Since they are well processed, they’re also the mushiest form of oatmeal.

Since steel-cut oats have most toothsome texture, which is why we think they’re the best choice for this Instant Pot apple cinnamon oatmeal. They’ll be slightly chewy, but fully flavored. This is the perfect introduction to steel cut oats if it’s your first time!

We’d love to know about your experience with the different type of oats and what you think about our choice of using steel-cut oats in this recipe.

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