The Best Peanut Butter Oatmeal
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Simplify your morning routine with this creamy Instant pot peanut butter oatmeal recipe. Ready in just 15 minutes, this hands-free recipe makes a filling and satisfying breakfast for busy weekday mornings. Easily customizable and simple to make in advance, this hearty and healthy breakfast is a great way to start your day.
Breakfast is hands down one of the most important meals of the day. While I love a healthy smoothie for the on-the-go, sometimes I need something a little heartier that will stick with me all the way to lunch.
Mornings can get crazy sometimes, and making a healthy and filling breakfast like oatmeal isn’t always an option because it is such a hands-on dish.
But thanks to Instant Pot, we now have a hands-free option to make creamy, delicious, and filling peanut butter oatmeal bowls hands-free in under 15 minutes!
Reasons to love this recipe
Some of my top reasons you should make this peanut butter oatmeal bowl in your Instant Pot include:
- Perfect for newbies. It’s a simple recipe with very little room for error.
- Easily customizable with different mix-ins and toppings.
- Hearty/satiating/satisfying – Thanks to the high fiber and protein, a bowl of oatmeal will keep you full from breakfast to lunch.
- Budget-friendly – Oats are relatively cheap compared to other breakfast foods on the market.
- Perfect for busy mornings – It is a great make-ahead breakfast and stores well in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
- Good for you – Adding peanut butter to the oatmeal enhances the flavor and provides a healthy dose of protein and fat.
- Meal prep – Since they can be made and stored up to 5 days in advance, you can easily whip up a batch of this Instant pot oatmeal and eat it all week long.
Why are oats good for you?
For being a rather unassuming grain, oats pack a surprising amount of health benefits that make them one of the most nutritious grains. Some of the main health benefits associated with oats include:
- Naturally gluten-free – Unprocessed oats and oats processed in gluten-free facilities make this a delicious and gluten-free breakfast option.
- Great source of protein – In each cup of oats, you can get about 13 grams of protein making them a highly nutritious breakfast.
- High in fiber – With 8 grams of fiber in a cup, oats are a filling and healthy snack.
- Rich in vitamins and minerals – Manganese, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, and zinc are some of the many vitamins and minerals in a serving of oatmeal.
For more information about the wonderful health benefits associated with eating oatmeal, you can check out this HealthLine article: 9 Health Benefits of Eating Oats.
Selecting the best oats for oatmeal
When it comes to selecting the best oats for this recipe, you might feel overwhelmed by the different oat options available on the grain aisle. Some of the main kinds of oats you can buy include:
- Oat groats – These are the whole oats before they are processed in any way. They take the longest time to cook and, for that reason, are often skipped over when it comes to selecting the best oats for oatmeal.
- Steel Cut Oats – A roughly chopped version of the oat groat, steel-cut oats take longer to cook than rolled or instant, but they also maintain their shape and have more of a bite after cooking.
- Rolled Oats- Also called Old-Fashioned Oats, these oats have been steamed and pressed into a flat disk-like shape. They retain water well and still hold their shape relatively well during cooking. These are some of the most commonly used oats for making oatmeal.
- Instant (Quick) Oatmeal– This is the most processed version of the oat groat. While they take the quickest amount of time to cook, they often have a mushy texture.
For additional information about the different forms of oats, you can check out my Instant Pot Cream Oatmeal Recipe, where I dive in a little more on the processing of each oat variety.
Even though each of the types of oats has undergone different processing, they all retain the same nutritional profile as they are simply a slightly processed version of the oat groat.
Here’s what you need to make this recipe
Ingredients (with substitutions)
- Old-fashioned oats (you can use steel-cut oats to make it chewy)
- Milk (Whole milk or plant-based milk such as oat milk, almond milk, etc.)
- Water
- Creamy peanut butter (you can use homemade peanut butter or any store-bought natural peanut butter with no processed ingredients)
- Cocoa / Cacao powder / Chocolate chips
- Sweetener of your choice: honey/maple syrup / brown sugar/coconut sugar
- Salt
Tools
Instant Pot – You can also make this recipe over the stovetop, but I prefer to make it with Instant Pot since it is hands-free.
Stackable Containers – These are perfect for making oatmeal pot-in-pot.
Though I prefer making this recipe in an Instant Pot, you can also do it over the stovetop or microwave.
Instant Pot Peanut Butter Oatmeal Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup steel-cut or old-fashioned oats
- 2 cups whole milk or milk of your choice – almond milk, coconut milk etc.
- 1 cup water
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Toppings
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder optional
- 1 banana, chopped
Instructions
- Add milk, water and salt in the Instant Pot.
- Next add the oats. Mix well.
- Cover the Instant Pot with the lid. Set the vent to sealing. Select the Porridge mode and cook on high for 3 minutes. If your Instant Pot doesn't have the porridge mode, pressure cook on high instead for the same amount of time.
- When the cooking cycle is complete, wait for 10 minutes before releasing pressure.
- Stir the oatmeal. Add peanut butter, vanilla essence, and honey. Mix well.
- [optional step] To make chocolate peanut butter oatmeal, add cocoa powder and mix well.
- Top it with chopped banana and drizzle it with more peanut butter. Serve warm.
Notes
- This will ensure that your oatmeal will not burn.
- As the oatmeal cools down, it will absorb all the liquid making it creamy. If you use less liquid, you’ll notice that the oatmeal is dried out and clumpy by the time you are ready to eat.
Pot in Pot Oatmeal
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Pour 1 cup water into the inner pot. Place a trivet over it.
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Place a stainless steel bowl over the trivet. Add milk, water, salt, and oatmeal to it. Mix well.
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Cover the Instant Pot with the lid. Set the vent to sealing. Select the Porridge mode and cook on high for 10 minutes. If your Instant Pot doesn’t have the porridge mode, pressure cook on high instead for the same amount of time.
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When the cooking cycle is complete, wait for at least 10 minutes before releasing pressure.
- Remove the bowl carefully using tongs
- Stir the oatmeal. Add peanut butter, vanilla essence, and honey. Mix well.
- Serve with desired toppings.
Disclaimer: Approximate nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and can vary depending on the exact ingredients/brands used. If you have health issues, please work with a registered dietician or nutritionist.
Nutrition
TIPS
- How to avoid the burn error – Some use cooking spray, but I prefer to add the liquid first and then oats. I also prefer cooking it pot-in-pot for easy cleanups.
- Don’t cook the oatmeal with peanut butter. Instead, add it just before serving. That way, you can make a big batch of oatmeal and customize it in different ways, and also, you’ll need a lot more peanut butter when you cook it with oatmeal to get that peanut-y taste.
- Is your peanut butter too thick? Microwave it for 30 seconds. If that doesn’t help, mix it with a teaspoon of avocado oil or any oil without a strong flavor profile.
- Prefer naturally sweetened oatmeal? Skip all the sweeteners and use ripe bananas instead. Mash them in with your oatmeal to evenly sweeten the bowl.
- Make it creamy – Add more milk (dairy / non-dairy)
- Don’t skip the salt – it brings together the flavor.
Variations
Every time you make this recipe, you can customize it endlessly.
- Chia seeds/flax seeds
- Cocoa/cacao powder/chocolate chips
- Serve it with fresh fruits such as sliced bananas and berries such as strawberries, raspberries, etc.
- A pinch of cinnamon
- Jams / Jellies – Any berry jam will go well with this recipe.
- Dried fruits
- Chia seeds
- Nuts for that extra crunch- peanuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts, cashews, etc.,
- Shredded coconut (sweetened).
- Use brown sugar or maple syrup instead of honey.
Need more variations?
You can always mix up the nut butter. Try any of these homemade nut butter recipes
Prep ahead and storage tips
This creamy instant pot oatmeal recipe makes the perfect meal prep recipe. Here are some tips for prepping ahead and storing your instant pot oatmeal.
- Make up to 5 days in advance – These creamy oats last in the refrigerator up to 5 days ahead of time, making them an excellent breakfast to eat all week.
- Refrigerate in air-tight containers – When I make this oatmeal recipe for a week of breakfasts, I like to store them in individual containers that I can take and heat when I am on the go.
- Reheat in the microwave – Heat in 30-second intervals until your desired heat level is reached. Add a splash of milk to loosen up the oatmeal after reheating.
- Skip the peanut butter until you are ready to serve. If you are making this creamy peanut butter oatmeal for the week, simply save adding the peanut butter until the day you serve and eat to keep from drying out the oatmeal.
Frequently asked questions
I would not recommend swapping the old-fashioned oats for quick oats. Both the liquid-to-dry ratio as well as the cooking time would need to be adjusted to substitute, and you run the risk of burning the quick oats.
Yes! Peanut butter adds an extra boost of protein and fiber to a hearty bowl of oatmeal.
Add a few tablespoons of milk (dairy or non-dairy) and heat it in a microwave for about 45 – 60 seconds.
Sure! But remember the cooking time won’t change.
Oatmeal is naturally gluten-free but could get contaminated if packaged in a facility that processes other grains. For healthy safety reasons, buy oats that are labeled gluten-free
There are a number of different ways to make oatmeal creamy. Add a splash of half-and-half, heavy whipping cream, creamer, or coconut cream to the cooked bowl of oatmeal.
Other easy breakfast recipes to try
- Instant Pot Creamy Oatmeal
- Easy Chocolate Overnight Oats
- 5-Minute Mango Overnight Oats
- Banana Oats Muffins
- Creamy Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
