Super creamy steel cut oats naturally sweetened with maple syrup and turned ultra chocolatey with a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder! These Chocolate Banana Steel Cut Oats are the perfect breakfast treat if you’re craving something chocolatey! Directions included for both stove top and Instant Pot.
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I’ve been trying to make breakfast quinoa work for several weeks now. This most recent attempt, I decided if a chocolate version didn’t work, it wasn’t going to happen.
Well, it “worked”, but I didn’t like it. It was missing something. Not even an ingredient, but a texture or a creaminess. So on a whim, I tried the exact same recipe I’d been working on but with steel cut oats instead. I loved it on the first try, which is way more than I can say for any breakfast quinoa I’ve ever attempted.
I took this as a sign that these Chocolate Banana Steel Cut Oats were destined for the blog, and the breakfast quinoa would just have to be a mountain conquered at a later date.
The good news in all of this is that these steel cut oats are SO YUMMY and chocolatey that I don’t even care the breakfast quinoa version didn’t work out. These are way better.
These steel cut oats can be made on the stovetop OR in the Instant Pot, whichever you prefer. The stove top method requires a bit of stirring occasionally while the Instant Pot method is a bit more hands off. Both methods take about the same amount of time when you include the time it takes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure.
Meal prep options for these Chocolate Banana Steel Cut Oats:
- Full make-ahead: Make the complete recipe start to finish and store in the fridge for easy reheating. Go a step further with individual containers!
- Prep ahead: Measure/prep everything ahead of time (oats, milk/water, bananas, cocoa powder, etc) for quick assembly in the morning. Let it cook while you get ready for your day.
- Modify and schedule: Sub water for the almond milk and get the recipe set up in your Instant Pot the night before you want to eat it. Add oats, water, maple syrup, cinnamon and salt to the Instant Pot insert and cover. Use the timer delay on your Instant Pot to schedule the manual pressure setting to start when you want it to in the morning.
Perhaps I’m biased because I’ve eaten this oatmeal more recently, but I think it’s even better than my very first steel cut oats recipe: Instant Pot Cinnamon Apple Steel Cut Oats. One thing I love about pretty much any oatmeal flavor – the topping options are basically endless.
Nuts, fruit chunks, chocolate (the chocolate chunks picture above are these Enjoy Life Mega Chunks, allergen free chocolate), seeds, berries, milk of any kind, cinnamon and other spices… oatmeal is SO versatile.
And apparently works out a lot better for me than trying to make breakfast quinoa.
More breakfast recipes from Project Meal Plan:
- Best Ground Turkey Breakfast Sausage Patties
- 5 Make-Ahead Greek Yogurt Parfait Ideas
- Make-Ahead Freezer Friendly Breakfast Burritos
Chocolate Banana Steel Cut Oats (Stovetop & Instant Pot)
Super creamy steel cut oats naturally sweetened with maple syrup and turned ultra chocolatey with a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder! These Chocolate Banana Steel Cut Oats are the perfect breakfast treat if you’re craving something chocolatey! Directions included for both stove top and Instant Pot.
- Total Time25 minutes
- Yield4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1 cup dry steel cut oats
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 bananas, 1 mashed & 1 cut into small chunks
- toppings: more banana chunks, chocolate chunks, nuts, almond milk, fresh fruit, etc
Instructions
Stovetop
- Combine almond milk, water, cinnamon and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, add oats, and then reduce heat to low.
- Let simmer over low heat covered, stirring occasionally, for approximately 20 minutes (cook for another 5 minutes for a more tender texture). Remove from heat and let stand for 4-5 minutes.
- Add maple syrup, cocoa powder, and bananas to the oatmeal and stir until well mixed.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days! Portion into individual containers if you want.
Instant Pot
- Combine water, almond milk, oats, cinnamon and salt in the Instant Pot insert. Stir briefly and make sure all oatmeal is submerged.
- Place the IP lid on, and make sure the steam release valve is sealed. Set the IP to Manual or Pressure Cook (new models) for 4 minutes. When it’s done pressure cooking, let the steam naturally release for 10 minutes. The oatmeal will continue to cook during this time.
- Hit the quick release to release all remaining pressure. After the float valve has gone down, remove the lid and very carefully stir to fully combine liquid and oatmeal. It will continue to thicken as it cools. Feel free to add more liquid if it’s too thick for you.
- Add maple syrup, cocoa powder, and bananas to the oatmeal and stir until well mixed.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days! Portion into individual containers if you want.
Notes
Base oatmeal recipe adapted from Basic Preparation Instructions for Steel Cut Oats from Bob’s Red Mill. Nutrition information estimated with My Fitness Pal (no toppings included).
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Breakfasts
- Method: Instant Pot
Nutrition
- Serving Size: about 1 cup
- Calories: 254
- Fat: 4g
- Carbohydrates: 52g
- Protein: 7g
Thanks for checking out the Chocolate Banana Steel Cut Oats recipe! Hope you love this almost dessert-like breakfast recipe 🙂 Tag me or use #projectmealplan on social media to share!
