Easy Instant Pot Oatmeal

Pressure cooker oatmeal is an easy breakfast! The best Instant Pot oatmeal is made with rolled oats, toasted until fragrant then cooked for just 3 minutes.

Here’s an easy, healthy breakfast recipe for weekdays or entertaining guests: Instant Pot oatmeal! Alex and I eat quite a bit of oatmeal over here: it’s one of our favorite whole grains. In fact, most days I eat our best oatmeal recipe as a healthy way to start the day. But if you’ve got a pressure cooker, oatmeal is even easier to make. The oats are toasted in butter until fragrant, then mixed with milk and cooked for just 3 minutes. (Vegan variation is too, below.) What comes out is the creamiest, tastiest, easiest pressure cooker oatmeal you’ll find.

Looking for steel cut oats instead? Go to Apple Cinnamon Pressure Cooker Steel Cut Oats.

How to make Instant Pot oatmeal (a tutorial)

This is truly one of our easiest Instant Pot recipes! It’s so fast and it makes the creamiest, most delicious pot of oatmeal using rolled oats. Using a pressure cooker to make oatmeal is perfect for whipping up a healthy breakfast when you’re entertaining house guests. Alex and I just had my parents in town for the weekend, and it was the perfect breakfast for house guests because it’s mostly hands off. We made a double recipe: see the section below about scaling up this recipe.

Step 1: Use Saute mode to toast the oats for 3 minutes.

The first step to make the very best Instant Pot oatmeal is to toast the oats. Now, you could just go right into cooking. But we’ve found that toasting oats in butter or coconut oil before cooking makes them taste exponentially better! (We do this in our Toasted Oatmeal & Best Oatmeal recipes.)

To toast the oats, turn on Saute mode on your Instant Pot. Melt 2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil, then add 2 cups rolled oats and stir often for about 3 minutes. Side bonus: It makes your kitchen smell divine!

Step 2: Cook on High for 3 minutes.

All you need for the perfect Instant Pot oatmeal is 3 minutes! Add 1 1/2 cups milk (or almond milk), 1 cup water, and 1/4 teaspoon each cinnamon and kosher salt. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes.

Step 3: Quick release and stir!

That’s it! Remove the steam from the pot by performing a Quick Release (see the recipe below for instructions if you’re an Instant Pot newbie). Then give it a stir and you’re ready to go!

Scaling up Instant Pot oatmeal (x 2, x 3!)

This recipe calls for 2 cups rolled oats, which makes 2 large or 3 moderate servings. Instant Pot oatmeal is perfect for entertaining, so you can easily scale this up. Try doubling or tripling this recipe to make enough for many eaters.

One thing to note: doubling and tripling slightly increases prep time! The Instant Pot requires time to “preheat” and come up to pressure before it cooks. This time takes longer the more ingredients you have in the pot. So doubling and tripling the recipe increases the overall time to make it because of the preheat time. A doubled recipe takes about 10 minutes to preheat and tripled takes about 15 minutes. Of course, it will still take the same amount of time to cook: just 3 minutes! Just make sure to adjust your expectation of the prep time accordingly.

Ideas for oatmeal toppings!

The fun of oatmeal is not so much the oatmeal itself: it’s in the toppings! Here are our best ideas for how to top your Instant Pot oatmeal:

Banana slices, toasted walnuts, and maple syrup (shown in the photo!).
Peanut butter and healthy strawberry jelly.
Fresh blueberries, maple syrup and lemon zest.
Almond butter, cinnamon and roasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas).
Dried cherries, honey and a dollop of Greek yogurt.

What are your favorite oatmeal toppings? Let us know in the comments below! (Mine is #2, if you’re wondering.)

What type of Instant Pot to use?

All pressure cooker brands vary! The brand we use is an Instant Pot 6 Qt Programmable Pressure Cooker. This recipe is customized for a 6 quart pressure cooker. We also can’t speak to other brands and types of pressure cookers. For example, Instant Pot Mini works differently, so use it at your own risk.

This Instant Pot oatmeal recipe is…

Vegetarian, gluten-free, plant-based, dairy-free and vegan.