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Slow Cooker Oatmeal couldn’t be easier to make. You can even make it the night before! It’s healthy, delicious and can be topped with anything you love!
I’ve been making Slow Cooker Oatmeal for as long as I can remember now. It’s one of the recipes everyone in the family can agree on in the morning. Plus, it’s inexpensive and can be doctored up any way you like it. We top ours with everything from hemp seeds, to berries, sliced bananas, chopped walnuts, maple syrup, honey and more.
As the seasons change and the weather gets colder, I have a growing desire to make warm, hearty foods for breakfast. To me, a hot bowl of oatmeal before heading off to school on a chilly morning gives kids a sense of comfort — not to mention enough energy to carry them through to lunch.
How to Make Slow Cooker Oatmeal
This recipe is about as easy as 1, 2, 3 and basically cooks itself. Here’s how to make it:
- Place 1 cup steel cut oats, 2 cups water, 2 1/2 cups milk and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in your slow cooker.
- Cook the oatmeal on low heat for 2-6 hours. The amount of time can vary depending on your slow cooker. Some that don’t have non stick surfaces can get hotter then others.
- Stir in your desired toppings and serve!
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Got a Rice Cooker?
Don’t have a slow cooker? You can make this recipe in your rice cooker on the porridge setting. Super duper easy!
More Oatmeal Recipes
- Coconut Cream Baked Oatmeal
- Refrigerator Oatmeal
- Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal in the Crock Pot
- DIY: Oatmeal Buffet
I’ve now made this recipe five days in a row now, so there must be something about it that’s working! Let me know what toppings you always add to your oatmeal and tag me on Instagram if you make this recipe!
Slow Cooker Oatmeal
Instructions
- Place the first 4 ingredients in a crock pot and stir to combine.
- Cook the oatmeal on low heat for 2-6 hours (the amount of time can vary depending on your crock pot. Some crock pots that don’t have non stick surfaces can get hotter then others). Oatmeal will stay warm overnight.
- Stir in desired accompaniments and serve.
Video
Notes
- I like to let the kids squeeze in their own honey to get them involved.
- Swirl in a bit of extra milk to cool it down for kids.
- Optional ingredients: berries, fresh or frozen fruit, chopped nuts, chocolate chips, maple syrup, pumpkin pie spices or other toppings you enjoy.
- Don’t have a crock pot/slow cooker? You can make it the same way using a rice cooker on the porridge setting.
I have a crock pot that only has a low and a high setting so, the first time I made this, it came out really runny with a thick, burnt crust all around the inside of the crock. Last night I made it and it turned out perfectly! I had to use the glass bowl in a water bath method…and I only used 2 cups of milk instead of 2 1/2 cups. I like thicker oatmeal so we can add ice cubes or cold milk to cool it down. It was just too soupy last time but this did the trick. The oats still had texture to them, too. Thanks for all the ideas! 🙂
Thanks for the awesome recipe! It was a hit with my husband, who doesn’t normally get excited about oatmeal, so I’m super excited about it! Can’t wait to try all the add-ins everyone suggested!
[…] looking recipes. Some I’ve found are not really for babies, but for the whole family – oatmeal in the crockpot, black bean soup in the crockpot, and hummus. There are lots of other good ones […]
yes!! 🙂
Can you use rice milk for this recipe?
I’ve been making oatmeal in our crockpot for quite a while but I make enough at once to last us for several days if not the whole week. While it does stick to the sides, i just turn it off and let it set and after a while it tends to scrape down with a rubber spatula pretty well. That part becomes my fav on subsequent days. I put raisins in ours when I set it up at night. It makes it sweet enough not to need any added sweetner in the morning!
My bowl is a pyrex bowl that was my mothers. I know it can withstand any heat. I’ve even made date pudding in it in the oven.
The only way I think she can do it overnight is if she has a super fancy one with a timer. I make it at 10pm and turn it off at 6:30 once I get downstairs. That barely makes it under the 9 hours. But it reheats really well and my son eats it for 3 days straight. So if you are a fraid of burning, you could cook it for 6 hours during the day and see how that works.
Would like to try this. Love so many of the recipes on this site. However, I’m concerned about the burning issue. Catherine, how does this NOT happen to you? Those of you using a “bowl liner”, what type of bowl does it need to be in order to safely “cook” all night?
[…] favorites would be Miso Salmon, Rice Pilaf, Rice Cooker Mac and Cheese (always a crowd favorite), Oatmeal in a Crock Pot, Baked Ziti and PB&J Breakfast Cupcakes. It’s tough though, they’re my best […]
Ahh I see now that I’m not the only one! I had only read the first half of the comments before. The second half is ALL about the burning. I’ll try the bowl liner and/or low setting and see how it goes. I really want to make it again for my son but was discouraged about the cleanup.
I loved the texture of it and my 2 year old gobbled it up two days in a row and cried when the last bite was gone but… Am I the only one that had half of the oatmeal stuck to the crockpot? It was easy and yummy but the clean up was no fun. Any tips?
Highly inappropriate and cowardly to anonymously leave snide comments. If you don’t like Catherine, or her site, then please just find somewhere else to go.
Most recipes are not originals. How many times have you seen the same recipes on cooking shows? I hope you can find piece in your life.
I can’t believe how many people have never tried this! It’s fabulous and has been published just about everywhere on the web, like so many of the recipes and ideas here. Nice that they are all making it to a forum that gets attention due to the writer’s (former) status.
Made this for breakfast this morning, and it was fabulous! Just wrote about it on Facebook 🙂
Just wanted to say that cooking on the warm setting all night and turning to high for about an hour in the morning made this PERFECT! No sticking, no clumping, soooooo creamy and yummy! My two year old is on his second bowl as we speak. :))