Crock-Pot oatmeal with chocolate

Making this quick and easy crock-pot oatmeal with chocolate and pineapple for mornings when you don’t have time. The breakfast cooks itself overnight and ready when you wake up.

How many times have you had no time for breakfast?

How many times have you realized it was lunch time and you wonder where breakfast time went?

“Too MANNNNY Times!”, said all of you!

Well, this breakfast recipe is for all of you!

Tips for making this Crock-pot oatmeal

• I recommend you use steel cut oatmeal for this recipe. They will not get soggy
• For the pineapple, I used crushed pineapple. I didn’t like the chunks because they were too big for the oats
• I used vegan chocolate chips for this recipe, so, they are perfect part of a vegan breakfast
• Hazelnut milk worked best with this oatmeal. If you can’t find it or if it’s too expensive, go with almond milk or milk of your choice
• For best results, use old-fashioned oats in this crock-pot oatmeal recipe. It will cook evenly and not get soggy
• I prefer using the “high” setting on the crock pot. It will be ready in about 1 hour. On “low” setting, it will take about 2 hours
• Choose fruit of your choice, if you are not a fan of pineapples. Add it at the very end, when there are only 5 min left. Or top them on the bowl right before serving.

Why make it in the Crock-pot

Because, I (and you) will actually eat breakfast!

I am one of those people who hardly ever eats breakfast. In the last decade, I can count on one hand, the number of times I have eaten breakfast

The night before I will plan to eat breakfast. Yet, when morning comes around, I am busy doing other things! Or, I am so busy getting others ready to go out the door that it’s 10am before I realize that I didn’t eat breakfast!

By then, I am closer to lunch time and I tell myself that I will eat lunch instead!

But, if I have breakfast ready and waiting by 8am, I will DEFINITELY eat breakfast!

I was inspired by Dizzy Busy and Hungry’s slow cooker oatmeal recipe. She is the QUEEN of slow cooker recipes, so, I knew her idea of making breakfast in the slow cooker would work perfectly.

So, the first thing I do when I wake up, I dump the ingredients into the crock pot. It takes me 2 minutes or less, especially if I have everything ready before I went to sleep

This crock pot breakfast is a life-saver in so many ways.

I bet this has inspired you make your own breakfast

More ingredient ideas for oatmeal

• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Dark Chocolate
• Coffee
• Bananas
• Nuts of your choice
• Coconut flakes
• Seeds like flax, sunflower, hemp or chia

Steel-cut vs old-fashioned or rolled oats

Steel-cut oatmeal is when the oat groats are harvested and cut into 2 or 3 pieces only. This way they are not over processed.

Old-fashioned (AKA Rolled Oats) are when they groats are steamed and rolled. They are more processed so that they cook faster than the steel-cut oatmeal.

Quick oats are rolled oats that have been chopped finer so that they cook even faster than the other 2 types of oats.

Personally, I am a fan of old-fashioned and that is what I used in this crock-pot oatmeal recipe. Feel free to use your favorite and note the time it takes to cook them. Send me that info and I will be happy to credit you in this post.

Source: Healthline and San Francisco Gate

Common questions

Have questions about making oatmeal? Here are some questions that I think you may have. If you have more questions, please free to comment below.

Is oatmeal vegan

Oatmeal is a grain that is harvested and sold after a some processing. Since there are additional ingredients added to it during the processing, they are absolutely vegan.

Plain rolled-oats, steel-cut oatmeal and quick oatmeal are vegan. They don’t have any additional ingredients in them. So, you never have to worry about it not being vegan.

If you get flavored oatmeal or sugary oatmeal from the grocery store, check the ingredient list. It could be vegan, depending on the type of sugar they used.

Get my full list of what’s vegan and vegetarian friendly here.

Is oatmeal keto-friendly?

No, oatmeal is not keto-friendly because it’s high in carbs and is also a grain. Both attributes are no-no on keto.

Rolled oats AKA Old-fashioned oats have 23g of Net carbs per 1/2 cup (about 40g). If you eat only 1/2 cup of it, you will get about 23g of carbs in your diet.

Keto’s goal is to keep carbs under 20g-25g a day. So, if you consume a half cup of oatmeal, you won’t be able to eat anymore carbs for the day.

Can I refrigerate it after cooking?

Yes, you can refrigerate crock-pot oatmeal, but, it’s not a good idea.

It will get soggy, hard and tougher to chew.

What I would suggest is to refrigerate it by adding extra milk to it. Make the recipe as instructed below, then transfer to a glass container with a lid.

Add about 1 cup of extra milk on top of the oatmeal and close the lid. Refrigerate it and use it within 2 days. Heat it in the microwave or stove top.

How to make oatmeal in the Crock-pot

In the crock-pot container, add 1.5 cups of old-fashioned oats

Add 3 Tbsp of demerara sugar

Put about 1/4 tsp of cinnamon powder over the sugar

Add 1.5 cups of almond milk

Add 1 cup of water (room temperature)

Mix well and close the lid

Set the heat to high and cook for 45 min.

Open, mix and add 1/4 cup crushed pineapple

Add 3 Tbsp of vegan chocolate chips

Mix well and close lid. Continue to cook on high for 15 more minutes. After 15 min, open, mix and serve immediately

Serve this oatmeal with chocolate chip waffles!

A few other breakfast recipes