Slow-Cooker Oatmeal

This Slow-Cooker Oatmeal is the breakfast recipe you didn’t know you needed. With a little prep the night before, you can wake up to a warm and creamy pot of oatmeal that’s ready to serve a crowd (or just yourself for the week). Get your slow cooker going the night before, and by morning the oats will be perfectly cooked without you lifting a finger (or endlessly stirring a pot). Oats are the unsung heroes of breakfast, packing in fiber to keep you feeling satisfied and your gut running in tip-top shape. Whether you enjoy this overnight oatmeal as is or with your favorite toppings, you’ll be a breakfast rock star, all before your first sip of coffee. Read on for our best tips and tricks for making this easy oatmeal part of your regular routine!

Tips from the EatingWell Test Kitchen

These are the key tips we learned while developing and testing this recipe in our Test Kitchen to make sure it works, tastes great and is good for you too!

• Steel-cut oats, sometimes labeled “Irish oatmeal,” look like small pebbles. They are toasted oat groats—the oat kernel that has been removed from the husk—that have been cut into two or three pieces. Do not substitute regular rolled oats, which have a shorter cooking time.
• The oats should be toothsome, with a creamy texture, not pasty. If you need to thin out your oatmeal, add more liquid, either water or milk, about ⅓ cup at a time until the desired consistency is reached.

Nutrition Notes

• Steel-cut oats are a great source of fiber, a key nutrient that can help you feel full for longer periods of time. The fiber in oats may also help relieve and prevent constipation. Oatmeal is also great for heart health, as eating oats may help improve your cholesterol levels, thanks to the fiber.