I have always really liked eating oatmeal for breakfast. I like those little instant packets, quick cooking oats, old fashioned rolled oats, but my absolute favorite is Steel Cut Oats. Steel Cut Oats is a less refined oatmeal. It is actually oat groats or the oat kernel or berry, cracked or cut into a smaller size. You can actually do this to a lot of different grains. I love to crack wheat berries, or rye, or barley. In their “whole” stage, all of the grains look a lot like rice in shape. I usually take the whole “berry” and place them in the blender and give them a whirl for a few seconds. You’ll see how quickly you can create your own Steel Cut Oats or Cracked Wheat. I do have a rather large supply of ready to go Steel Cut Oats though. You can find them in any grocery store. They go by a lot of different names. Irish Oats, Steel Cut Oats, Cracked Oats. There is something a little extra special about Steel Cut Oats. It’s the chewiness and heartiness of the Steel Cut Oats that just make them delicious!
As a kid never used the word oatmeal. To all of us Garner children, we knew oatmeal as “Man Mush!” My mom always made our oatmeal out of the red and blue cylinder shaped container from Quaker Oats with the man on it. Get it. That Quaker Oat man smiled at us every morning as we ate our oatmeal.
I love the fact that I can get a really good cup of oatmeal in quite a few places if I’m out and about early. My absolute favorite place to get oatmeal is Jamba Juice. Hot Steel Cut Oats are placed in a perfectly sized insulated cup and then it is topped with a warm berry sauce, brown sugar, and chopped nuts. It is absolute heaven!! I usually add a little milk to my oatmeal at home, but these Jamba Juice oats are perfection as is. I wanted to recreate my favorite breakfast at home. Oats are cheap, and I figured it really couldn’t be that hard to make them and enjoy any day I choose. It worked. I’m completely in love with them. And it’s quite simple to make. I use my rice cooker, but a pot and the stovetop will work just as well. I’ll be eating my favorite breakfast most days now, and my heart will love me for it!
Ingredients
- 1 C. Steel Cut Oats
- 2 C. water, milk, soy milk, or almond milk (Your choice! Jamba uses soy milk, but I love using the almond milk.)
- a pinch of salt
- (This amount of dry oats will make approximately 3-4 good servings.)
- Warm Berry Sauce
- 2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries (Any berry of choice will work.)
- 1/2 c. water
- 1/2 c. sugar
Instructions
I cook my oats in a rice cooker. Place oats and liquid of choice and pinch of salt in rice cooker, and cook according to directions. It takes about 20 minutes. If you are cooking your oats on a stovetop it's pretty simple. Place the oats, liquid and salt in a good sized pan and cover with the lid, and turn the heat to high. You want a pretty good sized pan, because as the mixture comes to a boil it will sometimes boil over creating a mess if your pot isn't big enough. This is the main reason I have moved to my rice cooker. Once the mixture comes to a boil reduce the heat to low, and simmer gently with the lid on for 15-20 minutes. Check for doneness, and if all of the moisture isn't absorbed let the pan sit covered off the heat for another 5 minutes and it should absorb all the liquid. Top with sweetener of choice. Brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, cinnamon sugar or the warm berry sauce that follows.
Leftovers can be placed in a tupperware container and refrigerated. To reheat just place desired amount in a bowl and microwave for 1-2 minutes and it will be just like you made it that morning! I love making a big batch and having it easily reheated for the next few days. Easy breakfast!
Warm Berry Sauce
Place the berries water and sugar in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Boil for 2-3 minutes or until the berries have burst. The sauce will thicken as it cools. It's perfect hot over your oats though. I use this sauce on pancakes, or pound cake, cheesecake, or even yogurt. It will keep in your refrigerator for 1 week or so.
For the perfect bowl of Steel Cut Oats, I place a big spoonful of the oats and then drizzle some blueberry sauce on top and then sprinkle a little brown sugar and chopped almonds. It's perfection!
http://abakerswife.com/2014/04/steel-cut-oats-jamba-juice-style.html
Hello, i just want to know instead of using regular sugar what else can i use to substitute it? I mean, were adding regular sugar plus the brown sugar? Please help! Thank you!
Hi Maricela!!
Sorry I’m slow to respond! What a slacker I am:) You can add any sweetener in place of sugar. You can use honey, agave, stevia, or nothing at all. The sugar amounts are just suggestions. I like sweet oatmeal, but my husband is different. He could eat it without any added sugar, and just use fresh fruit. I like the warm berry sauce to be sweet, but really fruit is plenty sweet on its own most time. So just improvise, and add as little or as much sweetener as you’d like. My mom actually uses apple juice to sweeten her oats a lot of times. Good luck!!
Thanks i”ve been looking for this recipe as i love to eat jamba juice style oatmeal. Now i know how to do it.it’ll save me a lot of money as i always buy from jamba everymorning before i go to work. Thank you so much!!!
You are welcome Marilou! Enjoy it for me!! I’m on a carbless diet:(
How long does it take in the slow cooker ?
Hi Jesse! I’ve never made the oats in a slow cooker. I use a rice cooker and it takes about 30 minutes. I hope that’s helpful:) Lisa
Thanks for the recipe. I tried making the berry sauce but it didn’t thicken. It’s still is runny, even the next morning. Any suggestions on how to thicken it?