We fake this instant oatmeal classic by using milk and the oat’s own starch as the cream. Whenever I could talk my mother into bringing home an Instant Oatmeal Variety Pack – the strawberries and cream packets would be the first to go. They were the only convenience food my mother would allow in a household were just about everything was cooked from scratch.
It makes my stomach turn to read the what’s in those packets today. Did you know that they don’t actually contain any strawberries or cream?!? The strawberries are actually little pieces of dried apples dyed red with a sprinkle of “artificial strawberry flavoring” and the cream is a “creaming agent” made mostly of sugar, oil and salt. Ugh.
Seriously, make your own oatmeal packets with dried fruit you choose using milk you buy. I do.
If you can’t get freeze-dried fruit any dried fruit will do – check the label as some dried fruits (cranberries, for example) are boiled in a sugar syrup before drying. This isn’t a big deal, just give your oatmeal a taste before adding the sugar – it might not even be needed.
Ditto for the milk. If whole cow’s milk does not work with your family’s diet, use a nut milk or even water.
| Pressure Cooker | Accessories | Pr. Cook Time | Pr. Level | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 L or larger | steamer basket, heat-proof bowl(s) | 10 min. | High(2) | Natural |
(per serving)
- Serves: 1 serving
- Serving size: 1
- Calories: 207.8
- TOTAL Fat: 7.3g
- TOTAL Carbs: 28.3g
- Sugar Carbs: 10.3g
- Sodium: 75.8mg
- Fiber Carbs: 2.8g
- Protein: 8.6g
- Cholesterol: 23.1mg
- ⅓ cup (35 g) rolled oats
- ⅔ cup (150 g) whole milk
- 2 tablespoons (4 g) freeze-dried strawberries (or your favorite dried or frozen fruit)
- 1 pinch salt
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) white sugar
- Prepare the pressure cooker with 2 cups of water and the steamer basket.
- In a small heat-proof bowl or mug, add the oats, milk, strawberries and salt.
- Close and lock the lid of the pressure cooker.
- For electric pressure cookers: Cook for 10 minutes at high pressure.
For stove top pressure cookers: Turn the heat up to high and when the cooker indicates it has reached high pressure, lower to the heat to maintain it and begin counting 10 minutes pressure cooking time. - When time is up, open the pressure cooker with the Natural release method - move the cooker off the burner and wait for the pressure to come down on its own (about 7 minutes). For electric pressure cookers, disengage the “keep warm” mode or unplug the cooker and open when the pressure indicator has gone down (7 to 15 minutes).
- Vigorously mix the contents of the bowl, sprinkle with sugar and serve.
Is it possible to make this in a bigger bowl to feed four? Does the timing change? I have an 8 qt Fagor Duo.
I have the pressure cooker xl. Do you have a book or know of one that would be useful for me.
Thanks Dave
The best book bar none on pressure cooking, especially for Electrics is Hip Pressure Cooking. You can find a link on this page.
Thanks Greg!
Dave, we also have pressure cooker recipe booklets from manufacturers that you can download for free here:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooker-manual-library/
Ciao,
L
Is it possible tho prep this the night before and do a delay start with the Instant Pot? I’m afraid to try it
Yes, but I would use a vegetable or nut milk. Unless your kitchen is very cold this winter I would not leave cow’s milk out overnight!
Ciao,
L
If you use kefir or yogurt or even half kefir/yogurt and half water, you can leave it out all night on the counter. In fact, you should as they need a warm temp to then do something awesome…
You will also be doing your gut a great thing by deactivating the phytate in the oats, it also won’t pull minerals from your body then. Add a tsp of rolled barley as the oats dont have enough phytase to deactivate the phytate.
Can I use frozen fruit in this recipe?
Yes. I have not tested it myself but it would keep the liquid colder so the oatmeal will need to pressure cook for longer. Try it out and let us know how it went. I would start by doubling the pressure cooking time – it won’t matter if you’re doing the overnight bowl as they will defrost.
Ciao,
L
i thought it just takes longer to come to pressure, as its defrosting the frozen items, but it needs the same amount of cook time?
It takes longer for the pressure cooker to come to pressure if the frozen ingredients are in the BASE of the cooker. But since this bowl is steamed, only cold water will be in the base and frozen ingredients in the bowl will not affect the time to pressure. ; )
Ciao,
L
Becuz I soak my grains before cooking, I’ll use water (with yogurt or kefir for acidifying the water to inactivate the anti-nutrients) to cook it and then add cream once its done. It cools it down even, SCORE!
Wow, please come back to let us know how it turned out. Sounds great – you’ve just reminded me to feed my kefir!
Ciao,
L
But you need quick cooking oats to make it like the packets? They are instant oats, which are even tinier pieces than the quick cooking, let alone the regular rolled oats.
Im trying to make this for someone who only the packets so it needs to be as close to the yucky stuff as possible. Thanks!
Helene, you can use any kind of oats that you like – just adjust the cooking time and water ratio according to the table here:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooker-oatmeal-how-to/
What a thoughtful gift!!!!
Ciao,
L