Savory Steel Cut Oats

This Savory Steel Cuts Oats makes for an amazing protein packed and wholesome nutritious meal. Steel cut oats are cooked with lentils, vegetables, spices and herbs for a delicious one pot meal. It tastes good on its own but a veggie salad, raita, pickle or plain yogurt makes a complete satisfying meal. In this post I share how to make the savory steel cut oats in a pot and in a pressure cooker.

If you are trying to eat healthy vegetarian foods, give this a try. It is vegan and gluten-free if you cook it in oil in place of ghee or butter. You can have this any time of the day, but I make this often for a quick one pot dinner. It actually makes for a great breakfast, keeps you full longer and keeps the hunger pangs away till noon.

Many years ago when we were learning to cook with different kinds of oats, we researched and found the whole oat groats and the steel cut variety are the least processed. While all kinds have nearly the same nutritional values, steel cut oats and oat groats have extra fiber.

This extra fiber helped us keep full for longer hours as it digests slowly. So this dish is one of the staples in our kitchen. The recipe is very adaptable and you can use different kinds of lentils, vegetables and even leafy greens. You can also make this savory steel cut oats ahead and store for 2 days in the refrigerator. Reheat until bubbling hot. Here are some details about ingredients and substitutes.

Ingredients & Substitutes

• Oats: Use steel cut oats. You can also use rolled oats and I have a separate post for that here – Oats Khichdi
• Lentils: I use moong dal aka split skinned yellow lentils. You can also use red lentils if you want. But yellow lentils give a thicker consistency to this dish.
• Spices: You need spices like cumin, red chili powder, ginger and hing/asafetida which is optional. I have not used spices like garam masala or curry powder. But feel free to add a little if you want extra flavor.
• Vegetables : You can use carrots, potatoes, green peas, tomatoes and even leafy green like spinach.

Expert Tip : If you intend to cook the steel oats in a pot, soak them for 1 to 2 hours. This cuts down the cook time and saves your fuel. On occasions I have cooked them without soaking and always felt they take very long compared to the soaked oats. The dish is much smoother.

More Oats Recipes
Oats Upma
Oats Dosa
Easy Oats Chilla

Photo Guide

Step by Step Photo Instructions

1. Add steel cut oats and lentils/dal to a bowl.

2. Wash a few times and drain. Soak in water till the veggies are chopped.

3. Heat oil or ghee in a pot or cooker. Add bay leaf (optional or use curry leaves) and cumin seeds. If you don’t have seeds you may use ground cumin later along with chili powder.

4. When the cumin splutters, add hing. Add onions and saute until they turn pink or golden. Add grated ginger and saute for a minute.

5. Add tomatoes, turmeric and salt.

6. Saute until tomatoes turn soft & mushy. Add red chili powder and garam masala if using. Saute for another 1 minute.

7. Add chopped veggies like carrot, peas, bell pepper.

8. Drain the water from oats and dal. Add them here and saute for 2 mins.

9. Pour water and stir well.

10. Cover the cooker. Pressure cook on a medium heat for 2 to 3 whistles. If cooking in a pot, bring the water to a rolling boil, reduce the heat and let cook until lentils and oats are tender. If it becomes too thick, add some hot water as you cook.

11. When the pressure drops, open the lid and give a good stir.

Serve savory steel cut oats with pickle, papad or salad.

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