This breakfast of steel cut oats with orange blackberry sauce is the perfect weekend meal. Make a bunch of servings and enjoy all week long!
Let’s be real, steel cut oats are a pain in the ass.
That’s why this is a Sunday post, because nobody has time for this stuff during the week.
Boiling down sauces, simmering and stirring oats for 30 minutes, yeah right.
Monday through Friday I wake up as late as possible, barely leaving myself 15 minutes to get somewhat composed (I work from home), eat breakfast and get myself in front of the computer.
That’s probably why I’ve had the same bag of steel cut oats from the bulk bins in my pantry for at least 6 months.
Continuing on my mission to use up those blackberries in things like this sweet potato salsa and blackberry smoothies, I figured I’d put in the time with these blackberry orange steel cut oats since I was simmering up a fruit sauce anyway.
Two words: Good idea.
Every time I make steel cut oats, I play with the ratios, the add-ins, toasting the oats, not toasting the oats, stirring constantly, leaving it alone…
This time the steel cut oat gods aligned or something though because this bowl was like a creamy, orangey heaven made even better by fresh, tart blackberries swirled in.
Tell me you don’t want to jump right into that!
At the last minute, I decided to make a big batch and just use up all the oats I had on hand instead of just making one serving.
Best decision ever.
I can’t tell you how excited I am for leftovers. I never really thought to make a bunch of servings on the weekend and just reheat throughout the week but that makes these time consuming oats much more worth the effort.
Might even give me another precious 5 minutes in bed during the week.
Guess who used up all the blackberries?
Moi.
Guess who went grocery shopping and couldn’t resist the 2/$3.00 pints on sale again?
Moi.
I see more steel cut oats in my future.
Steel Cut Oats with Blackberry Orange Sauce
Ingredients
Steel Cut Oats
- 1 cup steel cut oats
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 3 cups water
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 cup 2% milk
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- zest of 1 orange
- juice of 1 orange
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Blackberry Orange Sauce
- 1 1/4 cup blackberries
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 1 teaspoon honey, or agave
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Instructions
Steel Cut Oats
- In a skillet over medium heat, toast oats in coconut oil for 3-5 minutes, until fragrant. Set aside.
- In a medium sauce pan, bring water and milk to a boil.
- Add toasted oats, reduce heat to low and cover for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- After 25 minutes, mixture should be considerably thicker. Add salt, orange juice, zest, vanilla and cinnamon.
- Cook and stir frequently for another 5-10 minutes until creamy.
- Remove from heat and serve.
Blackberry Orange Sauce
- In a small sauce pan over medium heat, combine all ingredients and simmer.
- Stir frequently until blackberries are broken down and mixture thickens to desired consistency, about 8-10 minutes.
- Stir into oatmeal.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
I love steel cut oats and these look amazing – AMAZING :)
I am not an oats fan, but you make it look good. I think for me, its the cook time, I love my breakfast to be quick and fast.
that looks so delicious & CREAMY!!
Those oats look so creamy and delish! Time well spent! I bet the sauce is a great complement.
Alright. I make steel cut oats every Sunday for the week — since they are the only oats that I can have. I make them by the package. Boil water / add oats/ wait forever / stir once in a while / voila. Tonight I made it this way (sans orange and topping) … OMG! You’ve changed my breakfast! Time for your to write a cookbook, missy.
Steel cut oats are good, but damn, they take a long time to cook. I’m so hungry when I wake up that I never have the patience to make them!
I get steel cut oats at costco and cook the in the micro on 70% power for 5 min or as the package says the brand is Coaches Oats
This looks super-delicious, Gina! Great idea for the sauce!
I forgot to mention that I add a few tbspns of brown sugar to the mix! Our kids top their oatmeal with more when we serve it. Not healthy, but delish!
Have you tried making steel cut oatmeal in the slow cooker? This is probably my all-time favorite way to use the slow cooker. Just combine cup steel cut oats and 4 1/2-5 cups water, 1/2 tspn cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Cook high 4 hours or low 8hrs. I lightly butter the crockpot before I load it, or spray with non-stick spray to keep from sticking. In the morning, just stir and serve with your favorite toppings. This makes it so doable on a weekday!
I’ve heard of people doing this, I should definitely give it a try because I don’t use my slow cooker nearly enough!