Ever had savory oatmeal? Steel cut oats can be made faster in a pressure cooker or Instant Pot, not to mention tastier and healthier with the addition of pistachios, egg, arugula and sriracha!
We received free samples of Wonderful Pistachios mentioned in this post. By posting this recipe we are entering a recipe contest sponsored by Wonderful Pistachios and are eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. We were not compensated for our time.
Oatmeal is one of our favorite breakfasts and when we discovered savory oatmeal, it opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Steel cut oats are also a favorite, as they have a chewier texture, however they generally take a while to cook, so it isn’t something we do often. Though with the pressure cooker, especially if you have an electric one, the cooking time is considerably less, plus more hands off than the traditional stovetop method.
So when we were saw the Recipe Redux contest using Wonderful Pistachios, we decided to combine the chewy goodness of steel cut oats, with the nutty flavors of pistachios in a faster, no fuss oatmeal.
Pistachios seemed like the perfect fit for our savory oatmeal:
- Known as the The Colorful NutTM, antioxidants give pistachios their natural green and purple hue, and added a hint of color to an otherwise bland colored oatmeal.
- Being one of the nuts higher in protein and fiber, hence the nickname The Fit NutTM, one serving of our Pressure Cooker Savory Pistachio Oatmeal has 19 grams of protein and 7 grams of fiber! Now that’s a great way to start the day.
For snacking, we are all about pistachios in their shells as it slows down how fast we might otherwise eat them. But for using in recipes, we are so glad to have the option of buying the nuts already shelled. Because let’s be honest, who wants to shell a bunch of pistachios that are then going in a recipe? Not us. And for this recipe, we ground up some of the pistachios in a food processor to cook with the steel cut oats.
Instant Pots are all the rage these days and while we haven’t taken the plunge just yet, Ann may be getting closer to doing it after making this savory pistachio oatmeal. Ann has a stovetop pressure cooker that she primarily uses for making chicken stock and preparing dried beans. While stovetop pressure cookers cook at higher pressure, which translates to faster cooking times, the set it and leave it ability of electric pressure cookers is certainly appealing on busy nights.
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The good news is that whether you have an Instant Pot, another type of electric pressure cooker or a stovetop pressure cooker, you can still make this oatmeal in far less time than in a regular pot on the stove. In all, it took about 25 minutes of total time, including coming to pressure, cooking at pressure and the natural release. Not to mention, no stirring was involved to keep the bottom from burning. Score!
You’ll notice that instead of just dumping everything in the bottom of the pressure cooker, we actually put it in a heat safe glass bowl. This was placed on top of our steamer insert after we added a few cups of water to the pressure cooker. By cooking it this way, it was much easier to clean up the pressure cooker and the oats won’t gunk up the valve in the lid.
If you’re curious about the effect of different Instant Pot cooking times on the texture of steel cut oats, this website has a great chart. If you’re thinking of using another type of oats, then use this chart for adjusting the cooking times appropriately.
Now if you do happen to be so lucky as to have an electric pressure cooker with a delayed timer feature then you can quickly throw this together the night before and set the timer to start cooking about a half hour before you wake up in the morning. And by making hard-boiled eggs ahead (which we hear are super easy to do in the Instant Pot), you can have a hardy, filling breakfast in no time.
We topped our savory pistachio oatmeal with a hard-boiled egg, more pistachios (of course), arugula and sriracha. The peppery flavor of arugula pairs well with the subtle heat from the sriracha. And don’t skimp on the sriracha! Lesley is usually pretty wimpy when it comes to spicy and she kept reaching for more sriracha. It really brings out a depth of flavor in the dish. Of course add any toppings you want, like cheese or other veggies you might have on hand. We both ended up throwing in some sun-dried tomatoes too.

Pressure Cooker Savory Pistachio Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 4.5 cups water divided
- 1 cup steel cut oats
- 1/2 cup shelled Wonderful pistachios ground
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 4 large hard-boiled eggs
- 1/2 cup shelled Wonderful pistachios roughly chopped
- 2 cups arugula
- sriracha to taste
Instructions
- Fill pressure cooker with 2 cups of water. Put in stand/steamer basket and then a heat safe glass container. Add the steel cut oats, ground pistachios, salt and 2 ½ cups water to the glass container and stir to combine.
- Close pressure cooker according to manufacturer instructions and set to high pressure. Turn heat to high and bring to pressure. Once pot comes to pressure, cook for another 12 minutes (add a few minutes for a less chewy texture). Remove from heat and let pressure release naturally.
- Open pot and stir oats well. There may still be a bit of liquid in the bowl with the oats, but it will be absorbed as the oatmeal sits. Stir in milk for added creaminess.
- Divide oatmeal between bowls. Top each bowl with a hard-boiled egg, chopped pistachios, and arugula. Drizzle with sriracha.
Notes
Nutrition
Enjoy!
Check out all the other Wonderful Pistachio recipes from other Redux Members.