Oh yummy, thanks for the idea!

If you want them hot, but no work in the morning, just put your oats and water into the crockpot on low overnight. Just make sure to grease the pot well and to turn it off when you dish up.

Hmm, I love steel cut oats but I've never thought of eating them uncooked. I wonder how hard that would be on my teeth, even soaked overnight LOL

What a coincidence, I just had steel cut irish oats for breakfast for the first time in months! I just bought an awesome little Zojirushi 3-cup rice steamer and used it to make my oats overnight (set the timer and woke up to perfectly cooked oats). Delish!

I love, love, love steel cut oats, but always cook them overnight in the slowcooker. I'll have to give this a try.

I love overnight oats - there are so many great flavor combinations that you can create - my favorite is to add pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice...what a great breakfast!

I never thought to try steel cut oats, I usually use rolled oats. Definitely going to try this!

WOW! I LOVE having steel cut oats in the morning and even more so love the idea of having them instantly in the morning, without much preparation! Never even crossed my mind to try something like this but will definitely be testing this out tonight! :-)

I'm assuming that this can be done with water instead of milk??

Growing up, I never knew that the way people in the US eat oats is as hot/warm oatmeal. My parents always taught us to soak loose oats in water or milk in a glass overnight and have it as breakfast in the morning. You add a little bit of sugar and cinnamon.

Eventually, I tried warm/hot oatmeal, much more refined and it's just not the same. I'm not a huge fan of cereal and there's only one specific cereal that I can eat every day without throwing it against the wall is way too pricey. So, in an effort to cut back on spending too much money on food that I can make myself, I've gone back to my childhood way of eating oats. The way I eat it now is much faster. I found there isn't a need to leave the oats soaking overnight. Instead, I serve a bowl of loose oats with milk and leave it soaking as I get ready for the day, some 15 minutes, then I add cold banana slices, blueberries, and cinnamon. Delicious! I've coined it, "My awesome breakfast." When I want to treat myself, once a week I'll add a bit of whipped cream. Other variations include adding a bit of yogurt to the mixture. If I don't have bananas, I'll add a bit of sugar. Once, I tried it with Greek yogurt. Not the same, it's too creamy/thick. Doesn't work well.

Maybe one day when I find steal cut oats around me I'll try it with those. And to answer the question about making it with water, yes, you can. My father uses water instead of milk. Having a glass of loose oats for breakfast every day also helps lower your cholesterol.

(Sorry I keep saying glass, it is a literal description.)

I've been doing the overnight oat thing for a while now too and I love it but was always fearful of using steel cut so I will try this tonight.

Question: is the 1 cup of dry oats mentioned above more than one serving? The reason I ask is that I usually do a 1:4 ratio when making it in my slow cooker and this usually lasts me all week. If I just want one serving tomorrow, will I want to use 1/4 cup of oats? If so, it doesn't sound like all that much.

Whoa! I am SO on this. I haven't had muesli in years and I've been thinking recently that I should make some, but I keep forgetting to pick up rolled oats at the store. This is a perfect solution, because I always have steel cut oats on hand. Usually I bake a 4-serving batch of steel cut oats every Sunday night and then wing my breakfast on Friday. This is totally going to be my new Friday morning breakfast...and maybe Saturday and Sunday as well! Thanks for the tip!

I am so on board with soaking grains! I soak my rolled whole grain mix (from Trader Joe's) for 24 hours, with water and a tablespoon of whey (the liquid that comes from straining yogurt), as I've read that adding a tablespoon of an acidic medium like this breaks down the phytates in the grains and allows the body to properly absorb all the good content more thoroughly, and I honestly feel like I can tell the difference. The grains don't sit like a lump in my stomach, but they keep me nicely full.

I certainly try this with the steel cut oats as well.

(I found about soaking flours and grains from this post, if anyone is interested: http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2008/04/whole-grains-grinding-soaking.html)

@rosebud, yeah - I eat about 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of cereal, plus the milk. They are a lot more dense than the cooked oatmeal (and calorie-counters be aware: the raw cereal is 600 calories/cup).

i don't think i've ever seen steel-cut oats in Australia. we've only got the quick stuff and the rolled stuff. what a pity. maybe i should ship some over here.

I tried this last night/this morning and it was fabulous! I love steel cut oats, but not when they are "overcooked" (IMO) to the point of being mushy. I soaked 1/3 cup of oats in 2/3 cup of water over night - about 10 hours - and then this morning added a couple splashes of milk, some blueberries and a squeeze of honey. The result? A bowl of chewy, delicious cereal that will keep me full until lunch without all the fuss. Thanks for this post!

Okay, I tried this last night too but was initially dismayed when I looked inside my bowl. I had expected the steel cut to soak up the milk like the regular old fashioned oats so assumed I used too much milk (I did 1/2 cup steel cut to 1 cup of milk ratio) and threw the whole thing out. After seeing the photo above, I realized that I shouldn't expect full absorption like I would with the regualr oats. I will definitely try this again and I'm bummed I wasted food.

I will be trying this! I love steel cut oats.
The method I've been using is add 1/3 cup oats to 2 cups boiling water the night before. Turn off, cover, and leave overnight. Cook for 10-15 minutes in the morning. It works really well, but still no cooking would be easier. Thanks!

Woops-typo. I meant 1/2 cup oats.

I just put a bowl in the fridge spiced with orange zest, maple syrup and nutmeg. I am excited for breakfast.

I like them cooked.
4 cups water + 1/4 cup NF dry milk powder
1 3/8 cup steel cut oats

1. Bring water & milk combo to a boil
2. Throw in the oats and bring to a boil again.
3. Cover pot tightly and turn off flame and step away from the stove!!

99% of the liquid is absorbed and you have warm oats and enough for the rest of the week cold. LOVE IT!!

I add freshly ground flax seeds. They're not pretty and don't have any taste really but they lower cholesterol.

In April my doc recommended Crestor for 210 cholesterol. I said, "No way. give me a few months." Eat oats and flax everyday and 3 months later it's down to 190 and doc withdraws the recommendation. 3 months later, continuing the oats & flax, and it's down to 168!!!

Wish I could edit or delete/edit/repost. I meant to say 99% of the water gets absorbed. Takes about an hour maybe. I never time it because I always forget about them and a few hours later maybe I go look and voila, gorgeous oats. 1 1/4 C oats and it's a little too watery for my taste. 1 1/2C oats and it's too chewy.

This was okay, but I prefer the cooked version. Even after soaking overnight and then some, the oats were very, very chewy, as though they didn't absorb any of the milk. I still ate my bowl, but I wish there was a way to semi-cook them instead.

I read this post today and already had this twice. I saw the comment that it was not necessary to soak overnight and did a two hour prep, it was delicious just milk, oats, dried cranberries and sliced bananas. I just made the original recipe. Can't wait to try it. I must say this is my new favorite breakfast.

I eat homemade mueslix/raw oats virtually everyday, I can't wait to try this with steel cut oats. And orange zest? That's brilliant!

limecake - you can get steel cut oats in australia. i bought mine at 'about life' in rozelle/balmain. and i would be willing to bet that you can get them at other health food style stores

After being inspired here, I tried something last night.
I put about 1/4 cup Trader Joe's quick cooking steel cut oats in a mug, added about 2/3 cup boiling water (I bet milk would work too), added cinnamon and a little vanilla. Stirred. Let sit on the counter for 30 min, then into the fridge. It was thick, hearty and delicious this morning. Added nuts, rasins and honey and had a luscious, filling breakfast!

I made these with almond milk and dried cherries, with a bit of maple syrup. I love the taste, but there was too much liquid. I ended up draining off most of the almond milk, because it was more like a soup than a cereal otherwise. It did fill me up and make me feel energized, though!

My favorite way is to use pear nectar to soak the oats, then I pour off the excess liquid and add that in a smoothie later or the next day, to eat the oats I add hazelnuts or almonds, chopped fresh or dried pear, tart cherries, hazelnuts or almonds, and a pinch of cardamom or cinnamon.

I love muesli, made with rolled oats and for soaking. Cooked steel cut oats are chewy enough for me, but to make them on a weekday morning, I soak them in about half the usual amount of cooking water overnight, then the next morning, bring measure out the other half of the water, bring it to a boil, and add the soaked oats. Then I cook until thickened. It ends up taking about the same amount of time as cooking rolled oats when the steel-cut oats are presoaked.

Now I'm going to go to the kitchen to soak some rolled oats for muesli tomorrow.

600 calories in one cup?!?!?! I've been wanting to try steel cut oats and when I started reading this post I thought I finally would, but... 600! I need to eat too much to be satisfied to make that doable. I guess this is only healthful if you don't eat much or snap-bone thin.

@kushkush
considering that one portion of 1/4 to 1/3 is extremely filling, this amount to 150 to 200 cals for the oats, which isn't any worse than eating two slices of bread (and that's before toppings for the bread of the oats). I don't get why you complain.

Personally, for one portion I use 1/3 c. oats, 2/3 c. milk, some cinnamon and 2-3 dates, chopped in small pieces. The dates naturally sweeten the oats and it's delish. Hell, I even converted the bf.

I make really great oatmeal in my crockpot once every couple of weeks. A big ol batch will last me through the week and its delicious! steel cut oats, walnuts, cinnamon, brown sugar, honey, apple, the works! Or sometimes I'll make it plain and add honey and blueberries in the morning. This is my favorite way to prepare oatmeal, but this sounds really interesting. I'll definitely be trying this! Especially in the warm weather when I want my favorite oatmeal, but the summer heat is too stifling for a hot breakfast!

Yum...eating this right now. This is a genius idea! Used Trader Joe's quick cook steel cut oats with 1% milk. It's a good amount of milk, but then maybe mine soaked more because it's quick cook.

I just tried these oats for the first time and they are delicious. I used the 1/3 oats and 2/3 milk recipe, added raisins and flaxseed, and let them soak for about 11 hours. I seriously doubt that I will need my mid-morning snack, as it is quite filling.

I have never seen the steel cut oats but, I always use the quick cooking oats. Don't have to soak them overnight. I only soak mine for 30 min. on my trip to work. Then I eat my breakfast before I start the day. You can put about anything you want, I love blueberries and brown sugar!!! Sometimes substitute for Honey

I was skeptical this would turn out but I've had delicious, chewy oats for the last two days. Right before bed I put 1/4 C steel cut oats, 1/2 C almond milk, honey, a dash of cinnamon and a few dried blueberries in a mason jar.

Looking forward to trying other dried fruits and spices!

I have been soaking regular oats in orange juice for years -- orange juice and water, sliced apples and raisins, overnight in the refrigerator. Delicious. Sometimes I eat them as a dessert and even put them on ice cream.

I made this last night and when I went to check on my oats this morning it was green. What happened?

Here's an even quicker version:
Pour a short glass of milk and microwave for 1-2 minutes. Meanwhile, put a handful of rolled oats in a bowl with about 1/4 cup of nuts/dried fruit and a heaping tablespoon of ground flax seed. Stir in the milk, cover with a saucer and let it sit for 10-15 mins. Good to go.

I make muesli all the time but I make it from rolled oats. In my rolled oats, I add apple cider with a splash of milk, just under covering it all. I also add flax seeds and almonds. Place it in the fridge overnight and the rolled oats have saoked up all the goodness. Top it off with yogurt, a drizzle of honey and some chopped fruit (any berry or apple). and Voila!