Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Pumpkin Oatmeal (Vegan)

Pumpkin oatmeal is a great breakfast for fall season. Make this healthy, pumpkin-aromatic oatmeal in your slow cooker or Instant Pot.

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What Is Oatmeal

Oatmeal is a great way to have a tasty and filling breakfast while also keeping warm in the frosty winter months. One of my favorite ways to make my oatmeal is with the fall flavor of pumpkin, and then pair it with a warm cup of coffee for an outstanding breakfast that is going to kickstart your day the right way! Oatmeal is a term used to describe a porridge made from ground, steel cut, or rolled oats. Each of these terms just means that the oat has been removed from a husk and is ready to cook! Oatmeal may also be called hot cereal, which also covers cream of wheat and grits, but we are just going to focus on making oatmeal today. Most people are familiar with the quick oatmeal that you can get in many flavors and from many brands at your local grocery store, but what many people don’t know is how cheap and easy it is to make your own oatmeal at home. You can even copy your favorite flavors from the name brands! When you make oatmeal at home, you can add a variety of healthy ingredients to it like fruits and nuts to increase the benefits you get from your morning meal! Oatmeal is a whole grain, too, so you can feel better about making it for your children over sugar filled breakfast cereal.

steel-cut oats

Is Oatmeal Good For You

Oatmeal can be a particularly good breakfast for you if you are careful about what ingredients you add to it. Sticking to natural and whole ingredients like fruits and nuts when prepping your oatmeal will make sure you are making healthy meal choices. It is when you add unhealthy ingredients, like too much sugar, that oatmeal becomes unhealthy. It is easy to cut back on the sugar when making oatmeal at home instead of buying the premade packages because those are packed with unnecessary sugars. Instead of sugar, use spices like cinnamon or nutmeg to flavor your oatmeal and you might even notice that you don’t feel like you have to put much sweetener in at all. Regular unsweetened oats have about a gram of sugar per serving to start with, so keeping most of your added sugars to pieces of fruit will make this a healthy breakfast for you and your family. Another great benefit of oatmeal is its 40 grams of whole grains per serving, which is most of the recommended 48 grams per day. These whole grains will help you feel full for longer, so you don’t get that afternoon hunger slump right before lunch. Whole grains are also known to help you lower your risk for heart disease, adult diabetes, and certain types of cancer and other health problems. Oatmeal also boast a healthy four grams of fiber per serving, which helps with digestion and can even help manage blood sugar levels!

pure pumpkin puree

Is Pumpkin Good For You

In addition to slow cooker/Instant Pot oatmeal being packed with vitamin A (one serving is 245% of your recommended daily amount), it is also filled with other vitamins and nutrients. For example it has a decent amount of vitamin C and potassium as well as antioxidants. Pumpkin’s nutrients can help boost your immune system and might even help protect your eyesight even better than carrots can.

Steel Cut or Rolled Oats?

Slow Cooker or Instant Pot oatmeal is best made with steel-cut oats. Steel cut oats are one of the healthiest grains; they’re minimally processed, and contain more fiber than rolled oats. Personally I always use steel-cut oats for my oatmeal and rolled oats for baking or making oat flour. If you’re using the slow cooker and intend for this to be an overnight oatmeal recipe, you cannot use rolled oats, they will turn to mush during the long cook time. Having said that, yes you can use rolled oat if you must but you will need to make adjustments. For the slow cooker, the cook time will be 1-2 hours on high or 2-4 hours on low. For the electric pressure cooker (Instant Pot), the cook time remains the same but you have to change the oat/liquid ratio.

Liquid/Oatmeal ratio for slow cooker or pressure cooker:
Steel cut – 3 cups liquid to 1 cup oats
Rolled – 2 cups liquid to 1 cup oats

This recipe does not work with instant oatmeal.

before (Instant Pot)

How Much Pumpkin To Use

First off, I should clarify that this pumpkin oatmeal recipe uses pure pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling. You can make your own  pumpkin puree or buy it from a can. I use 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin. Personally I don’t find the pumpkin to be overpowering at all. But if you think that you might, for your first time making this oatmeal, start with 1/4 or 1/3 cup.

Water or Milk?

For the liquid in this oatmeal, you can use the milk/water ratio I list in the recipe card or you can use all water or 3 cups of your preferred milk. Milk will make the oatmeal creamier than plain water. For this recipe to be vegan, you have to use either water or something like a nut milk or coconut milk. Personally I use almond milk. For the sweetener, in order for this to be a vegan oatmeal recipe, you will need to use maple syrup. If you’re not worried about that, you can use honey. The measurements and cook time will remain the same regardless of which sweetener you decide to use.

Other oatmeal recipes you might enjoy:

Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Creamy Berry Oatmeal (Vegan)

Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal (Vegan)

Doubling The Recipe

Need to cook oatmeal for a larger crowd? You can double or triple the recipe without having to make adjustments to the cook time. The oatmeal will still cook for 8 hours or 4 minutes (slow cooker vs pressure cooker), you will just need a larger appliance.

Notes About This Recipe….

• It’s important to spray the slow cooker or Instant Pot with cooking spray to help keep the oatmeal from sticking. The oatmeal will still probably stick to the sides a bit but it won’t be nearly as bad as it would if you didn’t spray.
• Top your oatmeal with your preferred toppings. Suggestions include additional sweetener, chopped nuts, fruit, granola, etc.
• Refrigerate your cooked oatmeal for 5-7 days. To reheat the oatmeal, add some milk or water, before heating in the microwave or on the stove top.

I used a 3.5-quart slow cooker for this recipe but it easily could have fit in a smaller 2-quart. I only have a 6-quart Instant Pot so I use that when making this recipe.

PIN FOR LATER

Oatmeal is one of those recipes that can be tailored to your taste buds. If you like your oatmeal sweet, use more sweetener. Do you like your oatmeal thick or thin? If thin, add more liquid. If thick, use less. Please note that the oatmeal will thicken as it cools.

Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Pumpkin Oatmeal (Vegan)

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• Author: Fit SlowCooker Queen
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 4 hours
• Total Time: 4 hours 10 mins
• Yield: 4 servings 1x

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Ingredients

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• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon)
• 2 cups milk of your choice (I used almond milk)
• 1 cup or water
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey (or more)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

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Instructions

Slow Cooker

1. Spray slow cooker generously with cooking spray.
2. Add all ingredients to the slow cooker. Stir to mix well.
3. Cook HIGH 3-4 or LOW 6-8 hours.
4. Stir well before serving.

Instant Pot

1. Spray the Instant Pot generously with cooking spray.
2. Add all the ingredients. Stir gently to mix well. Select manual setting. Adjust pressure to high, and set time for 4 minutes.
3. Allow for pressure to natural release.
4. Stir well before serving.

Notes

Your oatmeal will thicken slightly as it cools.

Cook time calculated using slow cooker.

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