If you’re like me, you likely don’t have time to cook breakfast most mornings, so this delicious Pear and Date Spiced Oatmeal will be a lifesaver. The steel-cut oats give this oatmeal a nice bite and help keep the leftovers tasting chewy instead of soggy (which is usually the case with leftover oatmeal made from rolled oats or quick oats). This recipe makes a huge batch of oatmeal so you can enjoy it throughout the week (mine still tasted great after six days!). Instant Pot to the rescue, yet again!
And if you want more than 90 incredible vegan Instant Pot recipes, be sure to order my cookbook, The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook!
To see exactly how I make this Pear and Date Spiced Oatmeal, check out the video below (it’s the final recipe and starts at 08:53).
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Instant Pot Pear and Date Spiced Oatmeal
Ingredients
- Coconut oil or cooking spray
- 1 ½ cups steel-cut oats
- 4 cups oat milk or other nondairy milk
- 6 Medjool dates, pitted
- 2 large pears, peeled and diced
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
Instructions
- Lightly coat the inner pot of the Instant Pot with coconut oil or cooking spray to avoid sticking.
- Add all of the ingredients to the inner pot of the Instant Pot.
- Secure the lid and set the valve to Sealing (not Venting). Select the Pressure Cook setting (or Manual setting on older models) at high pressure and set the cook time to 12 minutes.
- Once the 12-minute timer has completed and beeps, allow a natural pressure release for 20 minutes; then switch the Pressure Release knob from Sealing to Venting to release any remaining steam.
- Open the pot and stir the oatmeal thoroughly. There may be some liquid and foam on top, but once you stir it, the liquid will incorporate into the oatmeal and thicken up.
Made this today for my family who aren’t the biggest fan of oats. Everyone was obsessed and went back for seconds, I am so impressed by this recipe. Thank you thank you thank you
Your positive feedback is the best reward for our hard work. Thank you, Lauren!
This was a very hearty recipe. I didn’t have any cardamom so I left that out. Next time, I will probably add another chopped pear, half the nutmeg and add cardamom. This was the first time making oats in my Instant Pot. It was nice to be able to prep and get some work done while it was cooking and now I will have breakfast for the week.
We appreciate your feedback and support, Jenni. Thank you for leaving a review!
I’ve made this several times, and really appreciate how easy it is!! Just enjoying a fresh batch made on a snowy day — I get cravings for it in winter.
Hi Caitlin, Thank you so much for such a fantastic review! Appreciate you taking the time!
Love everything about this recipe – so easy to make ahead, filling, delicious. Super versatile as well. I’ve used pears and apples and both taste yummy.
Hi Pat, so lovely to hear you’re such a fan of the oatmeal! Thanks for the awesome review!
Can this be cooked overnight in a slow cooker?
Hi Mrs. B, we haven’t used a slow cooker ourselves but we don’t know why the recipe wouldn’t work in one!
Tried this yesterday, but with apples since my bf doesn’t like pears, and it turned out so amazingly GOOD! Best oatmeal I have ever had. Thank you!
(Half oat milk, half almond btw, and I didn’t have medjool so substituted some other decent dates.)
Thanks for sharing, Zarah! You’re welcome!
I was looking for vegan oatmeal recipes and found this one! I made half batch with some modifications by using apples, water, and plant-based milk half-half, which turned out great! My family loved it! Looking forward to trying more of your recipes:)
Delish! Wonderful to hear it was a hit with the whole fam and we hope you all enjoy the other recipes :)
So I sprayed cooking spray, added everything, and got the burn notice. I then emptied everything out, let it cool off, scrubbed the heck outta the pot, used a TON of coconut oil to coat the entire inside, put it all back in, and got the burn notice again. What gives?
I was so excited to make this recipe, but unfortunately I kept getting a burn notice on the IP. I opened it after the first time and added water, but the same thing happened again. I then had to move to the stovetop and keep stirring and adding water/milk to get the oats to cook and keep it from drying up. Ended up taking much longer than anticipated. Overall, the flavors were really good and we will probably try making it again sometime by adapting another stovetop steel cut oats recipe to use these flavors. Appreciate the healthy recipe and inspiration!
Hi! I just downloaded the 7-day meal plan but couldn’t wait to try this recipe! I kept getting a burn message on my IP even before it fully sealed. Any advice on this? I added the full amount of liquid and sprayed down the inside of my pot, so I can’t figure out where I went wrong. Please help!
Hi Haley, I’m sorry to hear that. The burn error is certainly annoying. What I’m coming to learn is that there are subtle yet significant differences in Instant Pot models (the newer ones seem to be more sensitive) and the thickness of certain ingredients, dependent on brand, such as plant-based milk. Also, oats have a tendency to stick so something that can help is using a thinner plant-based milk and/or adding a bit of extra water to thin out the milk. I hope those suggestions help!
Hi Nisha,
Can this be adjusted to make a half batch?
Made this today – LOVED IT! I just got an instant pot so I have having so much fun trying out your instant pot recipes! I like the subtle spice and sweetness. It allows the nutty flavor of the steel cut oats to shine.
It made ALOT so I froze half of it in muffin tins. Excited to see how those turn out!
This is such a delicious and healthy way to have oats. Especially love that it makes cooking steel cut oats so quick and easy! I had a huge bag of steel cut oats that i didn’t use as much but now already made this recipe so many times! :D
I have lost count how many times I have made this recipe, especially in the winter months! I make a batch on Sundays and then warm up individual portions in the morning for breakfast. Perfect!
Hi Nisha,
I made this recipe using rolled oats in a pan. I added the pears in the end, once everything was cooked. It was delicious!
Hi Bhawna, so nice to hear you were able to adapt this to the stovetop. Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I made this oatmeal this morning as part of your 7 day vegan challenge. It was fantastic! I may never make oatmeal with rolled oats again.
Yay! I am so happy you are doing the 7 day vegan challenge, Kim! I agree – making oats this way (steel cut, in the IP) is so much better tasting and better for you!
Just found out about your blog and channel, and decided to make this. It was so delicious I had to order your cookbook! However I was a little confused about how much a serving is? Or what you would recommend as a serving size?
Thanks!
Hi Luke! Thank you so much for stopping by and I’m so happy to hear that you are loving my Youtube channel and blog, and now my cookbook! That means so much to me. In this recipe, I indicate it makes six servings. But for anyone with a big appetite, probably closer to 4 :) If you store leftovers, the oatmeal tends to thicken up in the fridge, so I recommend thinning it out a bit with some plant-based milk when you reheat it.
Hi Nisha,
So glad I found your recipes and you! I made the baked tempeh last night and I marinated it in the almond butter-soy sauce and I have to say it was so good! I steamed some brown rice and some broccoli with sautéed onions and garlic. It was so healthy, filling and delish! As for this oatmeal, I haven’t tried with a pear but I make something similar with baked Red Kuri pumpkin or is it a squash? Anyway, it’s in season now and it taste like pumpkin but it’s more dense and it’s smaller. I also like to add dried mission figs from Trader Joe too. I love you recipes and your outlook on life! Keep up the great work! I’m going to order your cookbook.
Hi Laurie, Thank you for your sweet and thoughtful comment! I love that marinade for tempeh – it’s sooo good! Sounds like a delicious way to serve it too. I love red kuri squash – it’s such a beautiful vegetable too, and combined with dried figs sounds so intriguing and delicious! I am so happy you are loving my recipes and I hope you will enjoy my cookbook as well!
Nina, this recipe is gorgeous! I make this every week and eat it for lunch at work. Thank you for sharing 💕
Nisha, so sorry. My phone autocorrected! Apologies
Hi Liliana! So so happy to hear that! That is so cool you make it every week :) I love making this recipe too – so easy and the leftovers are great!
This recipe is perfect! The texture and thickness of the oatmeal is perfect for adding some plant milk on top of my bowl of oats. This is the first time I haven’t wanted to add extra sugar to my oats too!! The way the dates mix in once they’re cooked is so good. The only thing I did different was use an apple for a pear and I halved the recipe. I will forever make oats this way and just mix up the spices and fruits. Thank you!!
Hey K! Thank you so much for letting me know and so great to hear that you’ll be making oats this way from now on! So happy you enjoyed this recipe. It’s a staple in my household (even my partner who allegedly hates oatmeal loves it haha). I love how the dates melt into the oats too!