Instant Pot Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal—a hearty bowl of oatmeal with apple chunks, cinnamon and brown sugar. It’s cooked quickly in the Instant Pot with any type of oatmeal. You can also make this in the slow cooker!

Instant Pot Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal (video)
365 Days email subscriber, Gail, sent me a slow cooker version of this oatmeal recipe and asked how to make it in the Instant Pot. It turned out really great in the Instant Pot! If you’re a visual learner here is a video of how to make apple cinnamon oatmeal in the Instant Pot:
What kind of oatmeal can I use?
You can use steel cut oatmeal, old fashioned rolled oatmeal or quick oats. Each type of oatmeal has a different cooking time so I made a note of that in the recipe card.
What kind of apples should I use?
Personally I like the Granny Smith apples for this recipe. Other great choices are Jonagold, Honeycrisp, Braeburn or Pink Lady.
Topping Ideas for Instant Pot Oatmeal
- Extra apples
- Chopped Nuts
- Raisins or other dried fruit
- Maple Syrup or Honey
- Milk or cream
- Butter
- Brown Sugar
Why use the pot-in-pot method?
I’ve had mixed results and reviews on the oatmeal recipes that are cooked directly in the Instant Pot liner. I wanted to be sure that this recipe will turn out for anyone who makes it. I use the pot in pot method to prevent any burning on the bottom of the pot. Clean up is much easier with this method.
How to reheat leftovers?
Sometimes I make a big batch of oatmeal and then reheat a little bowl for myself each morning that week. I usually just use the microwave to reheat the leftovers. I add 1/3 cup of milk and heat in the microwave for 1 minute and it turns out perfectly.
More Instant Pot Breakfast Recipes…
Instant Pot Bacon Cheddar Egg Casserole
Instant Pot Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cake
Want more tried and true Instant Pot recipes?
Receive FREE daily Instant Pot recipes and tips in your email box. Sign up by filling out the gray form below. Other ways to follow: join the 365 Days of Instant Pot Recipes Facebook group and subscribe to my YouTube channel where I share Instant Pot stuff with you weekly.


Instant Pot Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 7 (3/4 cup servings) 1x
Description
A hearty bowl of oatmeal with apple chunks, cinnamon and brown sugar. It’s cooked quickly in the Instant Pot with any type of oatmeal.
Ingredients
- 2 apples, cored and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (peeled or unpeeled)
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup uncooked steel cut oats (see note for other types of oatmeal)
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp butter, cut into 5–6 pieces
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp ground flax seed (optional)
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Add half of the apples, milk, water, oatmeal, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, flax seed and salt to a pan that will fit inside your Instant Pot*.
- Pour 1 ½ cups of water into the bottom of your Instant Pot liner. Place the oatmeal pan on a trivet and lower the pan into the Instant Pot liner.
- Cover the Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 15 minutes. When the time is up let the pot sit for 10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Remove the pan from the Instant Pot. Stir the oatmeal. Serve the oatmeal with the rest of the apples and any other desired toppings.
Notes
For Rolled Oats: Use 1 cup oatmeal, 1 cup water, 1 cup milk and cook for 10 minutes pot in pot with natural pressure release.
For Quick Oats: Use 1 cup oatmeal, 1.5 cups water, 1.5 cups milk and cook for 1 minutes pot in pot with natural pressure release.
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
For slow cooker: Coat slow cooker with cooking spray. Add half of the apples, milk, water, oatmeal, sugar, butter, cinnamon, flax seed and salt into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Spoon oatmeal into bowls and add any toppings you like. Top with the rest of the apples. Recipe can be doubled in a 6 quart slow cooker, increase cooking time by 1 hour.
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Instant Pot
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
I was such a skeptic on this one!
This oatmeal is amazing! Thank you for the recipe!- it’s cooking as we speak!
★★★★★
So glad you liked it! Oatmeal is the winter is my favorite.
Désolée, mais hier soir, j’ai cliqué sur la mauvaise ligne et je me suis désabonner par erreur.
Il n’en est bien évidemment pas question …
Faut-il que je me ré-abonne ? Merci Karen
PS: j’imagine que tu n’envoie pas ton livre, en France ?
Yes you can go ahead and resubscribe. And sorry no, not to France 🙁
Fabuleux et tellement gourmand …
J’ai adoré ce gruau, mais je le fais cuire dans de l’eau, sans sucre ajouté et tout se passe parfaitement!
Depuis que j’ai découvert votre blog, c’est incroyable ce que ma vie change, pour le mieux. Tu me simplifie la vie.
Je mange sainement avec l’Instant Pot, et oui, c’est possible!
Ce qui ne l’empêche pas d’être très savoureux …
Je sais bien utiliser l’Instant Pot Duo, mais j’ai encore des difficultés avec le Duo EVO Plus, beaucoup d’informations.
Un grand merci à vous, pour votre courage et votre bonne humeur, qui fait chaud au cœur !!! Meilleurs voeux pour 2021, Big Kisses
★★★★★
OUPS
Fabulous and so delicious …
I loved this oatmeal, but I cook it in water, with no added sugar and everything goes perfectly!
Since I discovered your blog, it’s amazing how my life is changing, for the better. You make my life easier.
I eat healthy with the Instant Pot, and yes, it is possible!
Which does not prevent it from being very tasty …
I know how to use the Instant Pot Duo well, but I still have difficulties with the Duo EVO Plus, a lot of information.
A big thank you to you, for your courage and your good humor, which is heartwarming !!! Best wishes for 2021, Big Kisses
★★★★★
Best wishes to you too!!! Keep at it!
If I were to cut this recipe in half, would the pressure cook time stay the same?
Yep for sure!
Thanks!
Hey there and thanks for this site….. I feel like a stalker but these recipes get me thinking. I do have a question however…… Do you think using Gluten Free Steel Cut Oat? I haven’t tried this yet so if anyone has tried, I would love info.
I bet it would be the same!
I always use gluten free steel cut, and it works perfectly!
Could I set this up the night before on a delay timer so it’s ready to eat when we get up?
You could try. I wonder though if soaking the oats overnight would have an impact on the cooking time and the texture of the finished result.
Thanks!! I’ll give it a shot and see how it goes!
would it be safe , though, to have the milk sitting all night????
Oh shoot, no it wouldn’t!
When I use the delayed start, I put ice-cold water under the trivet, and ice cubes for the water in with the oatmeal. Low tech hacks, but it’s been working for me so far! Use your best judgement 🙂
How tall is the pot that you used for this recipe? Your link is for the Daddio 7 by 7 by 3 inches pan, which is the pot I own. The pot used in your video looks like it might be taller. When I made the oatmeal in my pan, it overflowed even though I reduced the amount of water I used in the pan to 1 cup (plus 1 1/2 cup milk). I fished out the apples that overflowed with a slotted spoon and added to the inner pot but left the small amount of oatmeal that overflowed in the outer pot and dumped it out with the water. Despite all this, the flavor of the oatmeal was absolutely delicious. Do you think adding an aluminum foil collar to the inner pot would prevent the overflow?
Oops yes mine was a 7 x 4 inch pan. I’ll correct the link now.
Hi Karen,
I checked the link for pot size and it still comes up 7 x 3. I checked the link as i also thought it looked bigger than my 7 x 3. I have ordered the 7 x 4. I love following your IP recipes. As a new user I find your recipes and notes are very thorough. Love the nutritional info too. Thanks!
Oh Karen, a kitchen re-do! How fun! We did ours last year and I love it! I wish ours was bigger, my dream was to have a dropped down section of counter dedicated to my slow cooker and Instant Pot having electrical outlets and an exhaust fan right there. My counters are over 37″ and I am 5’1″ so I actually would have been able to see inside the IP, lol. I use mine on my glass top cooktop on tippee toes, under my exhaust fan. Are you going to have a dedicated area?
Oh my that would be amazing wouldn’t it? Mine won’t have that sadly. But now I’m rethinking it lol!
Do you have suggestions for how to prevent overflow from the pot-in-pot method? I’m still figuring this all out, and you advice is GREATLY appreciated!
Do you have a pan that is deep enough? Try this one! http://amzn.to/2Eji6Jn
Thanks! I will check it ou and will know for next time that a deeper pot could solve my overflow problem.
This was awesome. I made it for breakfast meal prep and just heated it up for 1 minute in the microwave. This one is a keeper.
★★★★★
Glad you liked it 🙂
My oats spilled over into the other pot. I used the 8 quart IP DUO. Any suggestions for how to prevent this in the future? It tasted yummy!
Could you use almond milk instead of regular?
Yes
Have you had any experience with using the instapot mini for this?
No but I bet you could do it without the pot in pot method just fine. I would decrease cooking time to 6 minutes with a 10 minute natural pressure release.
It says to put the 1 1/2c of water in bottom of pot in IP, but it also says in the smaller pot to put oatmeal, water and milk. How much water goes in the oatmeal? Water And Milk?? (3c liquid total w/ oats????)
Yes you’re right. 3 cups liquid in with the oats. And then 1.5 cups in the bottom of the liner.
Tasted good. I sprinkled a bit more cinnamon when serving it. Had a bit of issue with it spewing even after letting it sit for 10 minutes. Next time, will reduce the amount of water in the liner to 1 cup.
★★★★★
Let me know how it goes next time!
Using only 1 cup of water in the liner helped a lot. I also used 1% milk this time instead of skim. Some of it still spilled outside the pan though.
★★★★★
Recipe with steel cut oatmeal took 35 minutes total. Did 15 minutes, waited ten and oats not even close to done. Put it on for another 20 minutes more, waited 10 and have very soupy oatmeal. Husband did not like. Very disappointing recipe.
Sorry that it didn’t work for you. What kind of pot in pot dish did you use?
I just made this for “comfort food” dinner using instant oatmeal in a 3 qt instant pot and halved the ingredients. It turned out great! Thank you so much. I tossed in some walnuts to add more protein.
★★★★★
Glad you liked it Kathleen!
Hi Karen, does the pot in pot need to be covered with foil before cooking the oatmeal?
I didn’t cover mine Bonnie.
Could you link to the bowl you used in this recipe?
yes it’s right here: http://amzn.to/2EH7OR8