Overnight Slow Cooker Oatmeal

  4.2 – 40 reviews  • Oatmeal Recipes

You can have a nice breakfast ready for you in the morning by just putting these ingredients for the oatmeal in the crockpot over night. It also reheats well!

Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 8 hrs
Total Time: 8 hrs 5 mins
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  1. 2 ½ cups water
  2. 2 cups almond milk
  3. 1 cup applesauce (Optional)
  4. 1 cup steel-cut oats
  5. 1 cup dried cherries, or more to taste
  6. 3 tablespoons brown sugar (Optional)
  7. 1 teaspoon vanilla
  8. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Stir water, almond milk, applesauce, steel-cut oats, dried cherries, brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon together in a slow cooker.
  2. Cook on Low for 8 hours overnight.
  3. Add a couple of spoonfuls of almond or peanut butter when serving!
  4. Use 1 to 2 cups dried fruit of your choice. You can even use a mixture. Cranberries, cherries, and figs are some of my favorites.
  5. Depending on how sweet you like your oatmeal, you can omit the brown sugar entirely or replace it with maple syrup.
  6. Try pumpkin purée in place of applesauce for another variation.

Reviews

Alexa Howell
I absolutely loved it! I didn’t use the apples this time, adding dried chopped dates and golden raisins instead. Sliced a half a fresh banana on top with a splash of maple syrup. It tasted like a cross between a bread pudding and a fruit crisp. Excellent recipe. ?????
Lisa Walters
I used the applesauce in addition to the almond milk and water, and it came out a bit like porridge. I would recommend scaling back on the liquid if you are also using applesauce. I found it tasted really good with some candied pecans or maple sugar on top! Like other reviewers suggested, I did not use brown sugar as it already had some sweetness to it. I also had an apple which I chopped and included in the mixture overnight. The cinnamon is also a nice ingredient here!
Brent Long DDS
We’ve done this 3 times in a row & it’s our new favorite. We make our own applesauce with no sugar and we leave out the brown sugar. We find it to be sweet enough. Yum!
Lauren Torres
I am generally not a fan of oatmeal, but this has changed my mind. My family asks for it frequently. I did not use the applesauce or brown sugar, substituted fresh apples for the cherries. I put out whatever dried or fresh fruit on hand and let everyone add as desired. Also, I use non dairy milk if my daughter is visiting because she is lactose intolerant. On the rare chance there is any left over, we add some milk and microwave and it’s just as good as the first time. I will continue to make this again and again.
Terry Page
This was the perfect thing to have ready on a crazy morning, easy and tasty. I served it with a dollop of vanilla yogurt. Even my not-oatmeal-loving husband praised it!
Heather Bautista
This is a great recipe, what I like to do so it doesn’t stick to the sides is to add one or two tablespoons of coconut oil to the recipe. I also add toasted nuts and nutmeg. I am going to try making it in my instant pot and see how it turns out.
Brenda Guerrero
I followed the recipe as written, omitting only the brown sugar and half a cup of the almond milk. The applesauce and the cherries made it quite sweet enough for me, and I used unsweetened almond milk. I followed the recommendations of others and timed it for six hours, and I also greased the pot with butter, and it came out perfect with no sticking or burning. This was the first time I used my Instant Pot, and now I’m hooked! I would absolutely make this again.
John Rush
If you are an oatmeal lover this recipe is for you! I like a firmer oatmeal and so I swapped half the milk (I used lowfat milk) for water. I added cinnamon, vanilla and a pinch of nutmeg and omitted the sugar. Because I have some finicky eaters, I left out the add-ins as well, but certainly there are many fruits and flavors one could put in with the oats. I cooked it on low for 6 hours and it turned out to perfection. I turn in early and was worried about the oatmeal sticking to the crock and overcooking, but I sprayed the inside with cooking spray and even though it was on warm for several hours prior to getting up, it was fine–not crusty and not stuck to the crock. An added bonus is that as it cooks, it fills the house with the aroma of cinnamon. What a cozy, warm wonderful way to start the day! It’s a great timer-saver in the morning, too, with nothing to do but get out a bowl and spoon. 5 stars!
Rachel Foster
Perfect minus the sugars. I made this recipe but didn’t add the apple sauce, sugar or cherries. It came out perfect for my taste with just the right texture and moisture. I added a little brown sugar and milk to my individual bowl.
Jeffrey Hill
Pleased my finicky eaters!
Caroline White
I didn’t have applesauce so I finely chopped two apples. I used a small slow cooker and it was perfect overnight, 8 hours. Really creamy. I used cashew milk, was out of almond.
Mr. Gregory Solis
This turned out runny in the middle and crusty on the bottom. I cooked it for 6 hours and did not use the applesauce because I didn’t have any. It tasted good, but was pretty pasty.
Jody Bryant
I probably did something wrong, but this was a disappointment. Made it for Christmas breakfast with the family and even my parents, who are nuts about oatmeal, weren’t too jazzed about it.
Becky Graves
I didn’t have almond milk so I used cow’s milk. It was way over cooked by the morning and a caramel color. The dried cherries were mush and overwhelmed the flavor. Will not make it again.I was hoping for a way to avoid the 30 minute cook time in the morning but I will go back to the original recipe.
Jessica Williams DDS
We made the Crackpot Oat meal. It was way to runny. We will go back to the stove top oatmeal. This was more like baby food. Won’t make it again.
Daniel Mann
We love this oatmeal. I use the oats, water and a pinch of salt only. In the morning when we are ready to eat it I add a little milk or cream and stir it up. This allows for it to be very creamy. I sit out add ins for my family like sugar, dried fruit, cinnamon, and home made ham. It travels well too!
Brandon Marshall
We didn’t care for the consistency, although the flavour was pretty good. Don’t think I’ll try it again.
James Johnson
For my first attempt I followed the recipe as written…. eight hours later I came down to find it burned around the edge of the slow cooker and the middle cooked to a mush. What was salvageable tasted pretty good but lacked any texture so next time I will put the timer on for three hours and see how it’s coming along. Eight hours is much too long in my slow-cooker.
Stephen Phillips Jr.
Made the oatmeal with pumpkin puree instead of applesauce. I doubled the recipe for an event. Huge success! No burning. Served with half-and-half and other dried fruit.
Chloe Snyder
I just made this last night, and it came out great! I did add unsweetened applesauce, and I’m glad that I did for the added moisture. I was a little worried after reading reviews about it burning cause I only made a half batch, but it was great after seven hours. I did use the almond milk, and I think next time I might use all almond milk to up the protein. The only change I made was to add about 1/2t salt to enhance the sweetness of the added fruit (in my case, dried cranberries). My husband loves a good, thick oatmeal, and this hit the spot on a cold morning. He commented about how much better it was than the commercial stuff that has so much added sugar and wayyyy too much salt, not to mention the preservatives. I’ll definitely be making this often in the winter. Thanks for sharing! UPDATE, 4/12/17: I’ve made this every week for probably the last six weeks now, switching out different fruits or mixing them. BIG TIP: once you know how your slow cooker handles the recipe, PUT YOUR SC ON A TIMER!!! Mine really only takes about 6 hours to cook this to perfection, but I’m not setting an alarm to get up at midnight to start this. I can put the recipe together before I go to bed, and wake to perfectly done oatmeal. Also, I make a half batch on Sunday, and can stretch it for the whole week’s breakfasts by nuking it with a little milk and adding some dry cereal to it; my hubby likes the added texture, too. LOVE THIS RECIPE!!
Jacqueline Prince
There is way too much liquid in this recipe. It was a running mess. I ended up adding 1 ½ cups of quick oats which helped tremendously. The flavor is great. And, the process is a good one. Also, neither my husband or I are crazy about steel oaks. Next time I make it, I’ll use old fashion oats and cut the liquid I’ll also cut the time it cooks.

 

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