What would be your answer if I asked you to name one breakfast ingredient that is simple yet nutritious packed, and delicious? Well, for me, it’s always oats.
However, the relatively recent addition, groat oats, may take a teeny weeny more time to cook. But wait, there is a savior: the rice cooker!
You will be happy to know that cooking them in your rice cooker will make it a faster, tastier, and more nutritious meal.
But, how to cook oat groats in a rice cooker?
It’s simple. Add one cup of oat groats to the rice cooker, three cups water, and 1/4th teaspoon salt. Next, heat on the white rice setting for about 30 minutes or until it is done. Make sure the oat groats to water measurement should be 1:3. For extra-soupy texture, you can add extra water.
There is more to learn about cooking oat groats in a rice cooker. Read below for more interesting additions to the recipe.
How to Cook Oat Groats in a Rice Cooker?
Here’s what you need to make this simple, easy, tasty, and nutritious bowl of food.
Ingredients: for 180 grams or 1 cup
1 cup oat groats
3 cups plain water or milk
A pinch of salt (optional)
Honey (for additional sweetness)
Process
Step 1: Rinse The Groats
To begin, place the oat groats in a fine-mesh sieve and run water over them until they are completely rinsed. It will ensure that your cooked oat groats are as fresh as possible.
Step 2: Soak The Oat Groats
It is recommended to soak the rinsed oat groats overnight or at least 1 hour before cooking in a rice cooker. It will soften the grains and reduce cooking time.
Step 3: Add Salt And Water
Now, put the rinsed/ soaked oat groats into the cooker. Add three cups of plain water or milk (according to your preference) for one cup of oat groats into the rice cooker.
Also, add a pinch of salt for taste (optional). If you don’t want to taste plain cooked oat groats, you can add nutmeg, cinnamon, and any other spices you like.
Step 4: Turn On Your Cooker
Once you have placed your ingredients, you can turn on the cooker and let it cook.
Step 5: Turn Off The Cooker After 30 Minutes
After 20-30 minutes or so, you will see steam coming out through the lid. That’s when you will know your oat groats are completely cooked. Therefore, turn the cooker off.
Step 6: Stir in fresh ingredients, and add toppings
Stir the freshly cooked oat groat meal, serve it in a bowl and add fresh ingredients as toppings. You can add any topping you like – honey, maple syrup, chocolate, seeds, berries, nuts, dry fruits, etc.
Now, enjoy your warm freshly-cooked oat groats!
Different Types of Oatmeals- Groats, Rolled and Steel-cut
Now that you know how to cook oat groats in a rice cooker, let us look at the different forms of oats and how they are different from each other.
1. Oat Groats
Oat groats are whole oats simply without the husk. Then they are further polished to bring out the nutty flavor before being packaged for sale in grocery stores.
Oat groats are not rolled flat like regular flaked oats or grounded into a powder. And they still have their edges intact. That is why oat groats take longer to cook than rolled or steel-cut oats.
Oat groats can be consumed raw, cooked, steamed, or sprouted (like other seeds or grains).
2. Rolled Oats
Rolled oats are also known as oat flakes. They are made from steaming oat groats and rolling them into small flakes.
These flakes are pre-steamed during processing to soften them, making them cook faster once the liquid is added. The pre-steaming step also helps to stabilize their volume so that they don’t break down quickly once cooked.
In other words, they are instant oats. Rolled oats are most commonly found in any grocery store.
3. Steel-cut Oats
Steel-cut oats are groats that have been chopped up into two or three pieces with steel blades. To make them even easier to digest, they are frequently mixed with even a softer variety of oats, such as rolled oats. Steel-cut oats are most commonly found in granola bars.
Steel-cut oats are not considered whole grains because of their chopped states. However, they contain significantly more fiber than rolled oats. In fact, one cup of steel-cut oats contains five grams of fiber- almost one-third of your daily recommended intake.
In addition to being high in fiber, they also boast a whopping 6-gram of protein per serving.
Health Benefits of Oat Groats?
Besides being a tasty porridge, there’s more to this nutritious little grain regarding health benefits. Learn more about the health benefits of this superfood in this guide.
- Oat groats are an excellent source of soluble fiber, which helps keep your digestive system regular and helps lower cholesterol levels in the blood.
- Oat groats also help slow down the absorption of sugar in the blood. It results in better insulin sensitivity and blood sugar regulation, making them helpful for both people with diabetes and people at risk of developing diabetes.
These nutrition benefits make oat groats an excellent food choice to include in your diet.
However, for people with coeliac disease or gluten intolerance (or simply prefer not to eat gluten), eating oats in any form is not recommended.
Oat Groats Nutritional Value
One cup of cooked oats contains about
● 160 calories- about 20 percent less than wheat berries;
● along with 3 grams of fiber (about 12 percent of daily value),
● 8 grams of protein (about 16 percent of Daily Value).
How to Store Oat Groats
Oat groats last longer when stored in a cool, dry place. Just be sure to store them in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag to keep out any moisture that could cause them to spoil.
It also helps to refrigerate them for maximum freshness. Because of their relatively short shelf life, most grocery stores do not keep oat groats. Instead, you can find them at most health food stores and online.
Common Ways to Eat Oat Groats
It’s easy to incorporate oat groats into your diet because they can be eaten on their own or added to various recipes. A few ways to eat oat groats include
● Sprinkling them over yogurt, mixing them with warm milk for breakfast
● Adding them to homemade granola
● Using them in baked goods like cookies, muffins, cakes, and bread.
● You can also add oat groats to soups for extra texture and flavor.
What are the Best Oat Groats
It can be hard to find the best oat groats in the market. To help you out, we have listed the top three best brands of oat groats so that you can pick one easily.
| Oat Groats | Pros | Cons |
| Yupik Organic Oat Groats -2.2 lbs | ● Perfect for vegans ● Non-GMO ● Sulfite-free ● Gives a pleasant nutty taste ● Great texture- like a fluffy rice ● Grains have nice consistency | ● Some grains inside the package are black. So, they need sorting before cooking. |
| Gerbs Oat Groats – 32 Oz. | ● Gluten-free ● Anti-allergen oat groats ● Does not contain saturated fats ● Great chewy texture after being cooked ● Grains grown 100% organically in the USA | ● Does not have a naturally nutty flavor to it. |
| GF Harvest Gluten-free Organic Oat Groats – 5 lbs (2 bags) | ●100% vegan ● Gluten-free ● Does not contain added sugar or preservatives ● Best value- 2 packets of 5lbs ● Has longer shelf life ● Has a nice chewy texture ● Organic certified | ● The packaging is not up to the mark. |
Which Is Better For You?
All the oat groats come from trusted brands to ensure quality and safety. You can pick any according to your preference and budget.
As we know, oats, in general, contain avenin. It is the same as gluten. So, if you want to go gluten-free, you can choose GF Harvest Gluten-free Organic Oat Groats – 5 lbs (2 bags) or Gerbs Oat Groats – 32 Oz.
Both of them are gluten-free oat groats.
If you have no issues with gluten, then you can go for Yupik Organic Oat Groats -2.2 lbs and enjoy a rich nutty taste.
FAQ‘s:
- Do oat groats need to be soaked?
Like other whole grains, oat groats do need to be soaked before cooking. The reason for soaking is they contain phytic acid, which interferes with our ability to digest certain nutrients in the grain.
Therefore, it is recommended to soak the oat groats if you want to intake full nutrients from them. However, it is not very important or necessary to do.
- How much water do oat groats need?
Cooking oat groats requires measuring one part of dry oat groats with three parts of water. However, you can adjust the ratio according to your personal preferences. Add more water if you like soft, mushy, or soupy oats.
- How long do I need to soak oat groats?
You need to soak the oat groat overnight for 8-12 hours. However, if you don’t have time, you can soak it for a minimum of one hour before cooking.
- Are oat groats steamed?
Yes, oat groats are steamed before packaging. It helps enhance their nutty flavor and ensures any hard bits are made soft for easy preparation.
Final Thoughts
Oat groats are for those lazy Sunday morning breakfasts where you have enough time to cook a nice bowl of porridge, not for busy quick-meal mornings. But, when it comes to cooking oat groats, your rice cooker is all you need.
Now that you know how to cook oat groats in a rice cooker don’t hesitate to add this tasty and nutritious meal to your diet. Although the cooking process is a bit lengthier, it will be worth it.
