Yes, I’m a bit obsessed with breakfast! It’s my absolute favorite meal of the day! I love starting out the day with an easy, tasty, hot and healthy power-filled breakfast, and this cereal fits the bill. It’s a blend of quinoa and steel-cut oats, (which in my eyes and tummy is pure perfection) that can be made the night before, (in under 6 minutes) which is even better. All you have to do come morning is turn on the stove and re-heat the cereal, easy peasy.
I love steel-cut oats and to pair them with the protein power and nutrition of quinoa, well you have yourself a yummy and healthy breakfast. This hot and healthy breakfast requires only 3 simple ingredients, quinoa, steel cut oats and a pinch of salt! Oh yeah! I had this cereal for breakfast the other morning and it gave me the staying power and energy to bike 40 miles! 
If you’re in a breakfast rut and are looking for tasty, healthy and simple breakfast ideas, then you’ve come to the right blog, as I have tons of great recipes for you to try. I also have lots more on the way, because I’m always looking to try something new for my favorite meal of the day. Hey, didn’t your mom tell you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Well, if she didn’t, then I’m telling you. So let’s get started and make us up some quinoa oats, so you can wake up and have a power filled day tomorrow, and maybe even bike 40 plus miles 🙂
easy overnight hot quinoa and steel cut oats:
serves 4
- 1/2 cup steel cut oats – I use McCann’s Irish Oats, but you can also use gluten free oats
- 1/2 cup well rinsed quinoa – I like the brand from Ancient Harvest, as it’s pre-washed so you don’t have to rinse it
- 3 1/2 cups (28 ounces) filtered water – I recommend using filtered water as tap water can have too much alkaine in it thus causing a greenish slime to occur on the oats. The oats are totally safe to eat, but it’s not very appealing.
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea or kosher salt
All you need are these 3 simple ingredients, plus some water of course!
Get out a medium saucepan, soup pan or Dutch oven and add in the 1/2 cup quinoa, 1/2 cup steel-cut oats and the 1/4 teaspoon sea salt. If you want to jazz up the flavor, you can always add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.
Pour in the 3 1/2 cups (28 ounces) water and give it a stir.
Turn the heat up to medium-high and bring the cereal mixture to a rapid boil. Don’t stray to far as this comes to a boil within 5 minutes or so.
Turn off the heat, give it a quick stir, cover and then let it sit out overnight. Yep, that’s all there is to it. Easy peasy.
Goodnight!
Good morning!
When you wake up and patter into the kitchen, open the lid and this is what you will see. The quinoa and steel-cut oats have absorbed most of the water, genius!
FYI: Sometimes tap water can cause a greenish slime to appear on top of the oats. It’s not mold and the oats are still safe to eat, you just need to scrape off the slime. Oats can turn brown-green or even blue-green in color when they are cooked in alkaline conditions. Alkaline conditions are achieved when the water used to cook the oats has a pH balance of 9 to 12, so use filtered water when making oats, if you can. If it’s not the water, it may be your pan. Sometimes a new pan can leach metal ions into your food and that could cause the same reaction.
Turn the heat to medium and stir occasionally until the oats are heated through. There will be a bit of water in the mixture still, but the oats will thicken up as they sit. I really like this consistency because they’re not to thick, goopy or dry. I’ve tried this with 3 1/4 cups of water, but the cereal got too dry after heating.
Ladle the oats into a bowl and top with your favorite fixings. The cereal is a bit bland tasting on it’s own, so you will definitely need some toppings.
I love topping mine with fresh strawberries, raspberries, goji berries and peanut butter! I just take a big spoonful of peanut butter and mix it into the bowl of oats. The peanut butter gets all melted and blends in perfectly. SO GOOD!
I also like to mix in 1 tablespoon chia seeds into a bowl of quinoa oats. 1 tablespoon of chia is high in protein, provides energy and helps the body maintain sustained hydration! Pretty cool, right?
You can also try topping them with blueberries, blackberries and some honey drizzled on top, or blueberries and peanut butter! 
The toppings are endless, so feel free to add your favorite toppings!
Store the leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge. The leftover quinoa oats will last for up to a week.
To re-heat the leftovers, just put the quinoa oats in a sauce pan, over medium-low heat. The mixture will thicken as it sits in the fridge, so you’ll definitely want to add a bit of water or milk to thin it up as it’s cooking. I usually add almond milk to my leftover oats.
If you like hot and healthy cereals, then you have to try these below ones. They’re all super quick and easy to whip up.
Easy overnight steel cut oats. This is the simple and classic way to enjoy steel cut oats.
Toasted overnight steel cut oats. Toasting the oats in butter adds a new depth of flavor and richness, as well as a chewier and nuttier taste and texture. Double YUM!
Hot quinoa and oat cereal with goji berries. This is a similar overnight cereal that has a few more sweet additions added to it!
5 minute hot quinoa cereal. Yes, this literally takes 5 minutes from start to finish! So easy and so tasty!
Another one of my favorite g0-to breakfasts are these almond flour pancakes. They’re packed with protein and will keep you going all morning long!
As you can see, I’m a bit addicted to hot oats and quinoa! Maybe instead of being called the queen of kale, I will be called the queen of oats 🙂
Anyway, I hope you try one of these above healthy and hot cereals! They will really give you the power to blaze through the day!
- ½ cup steel cut oats - I use McCann's Irish Oats, but you can also use gluten free oats
- ½ cup well rinsed quinoa – I like the brand from Ancient Harvest, as it’s pre-washed so you don’t have to rinse it
- 3½ cups (28 ounces) filtered water – I recommend using filtered water as tap water can have too much alkaine in it thus causing a greenish slime to occur on the oats. The oats are totally safe to eat, but it’s not very appealing.
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea or kosher salt
- Get out a medium saucepan, soup pan or Dutch oven and add in the ½ cup quinoa, ½ cup steel-cut oats and the ¼ teaspoon sea salt. If you want to jazz up the flavor, you can always add ½ teaspoon of cinnamon.
- Pour in the 3½ cups (28 ounces) water and give it a stir.
- Turn the heat up to medium-high and bring the cereal mixture to a rapid boil. Don’t stray to far as this comes to a boil within 5 minutes or so.
- Turn off the heat, give it a quick stir, cover and then let it sit out overnight. Yep, that’s all there is to it. Easy peasy.
- Goodnight!
- Good morning!
- When you wake up and patter into the kitchen, open the lid you will see that the quinoa and steel-cut oats have absorbed most of the water, genius! FYI: Sometimes tap water can cause a greenish slime to appear on top of the oats. It’s not mold and the oats are still safe to eat, you just need to scrape off the slime. Oats can turn brown-green or even blue-green in color when they are cooked in alkaline conditions. Alkaline conditions are achieved when the water used to cook the oats has a pH balance of 9 to 12, so use filtered water when making oats, if you can. If it’s not the water, it may be your pan. Sometimes a new pan can leach metal ions into your food and that could cause the same reaction.
- Turn the heat to medium and stir occasionally until the oats are heated through. There will be a bit of water in the mixture still, but the oats will thicken up as they sit. I really like this consistency because they’re not to thick, goopy or dry. I've tried this with 3¼ cups of water, but the cereal got too dry after heating.
- Ladle the oats into a bowl and top with your favorite fixings. The cereal is a bit bland tasting on it's own, so you will definitely need some toppings.
- I love topping mine with fresh strawberries, raspberries, goji berries and peanut butter! I just take a big spoonful of peanut butter and mix it into the bowl of oats. The peanut butter gets all melted and blends in perfectly. SO GOOD! I also love them topped with blueberries, blackberries and honey! The toppings are endless, so feel free to add your favorite toppings!
- Store the leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge. The leftover quinoa oats will last for up to a week.
- To re-heat the leftovers, just put the quinoa oats in a sauce pan, over medium-low heat. The mixture will thicken as it sits in the fridge, so you’ll definitely want to add a bit of water or milk to thin it up as it's cooking. I usually add almond milk to my oats.
Made this. Its soooo good and so easy. Thanks so much for the recipe. Will be a regular. Its a great time saver for the mornings.
Awesome Jayne! So happy you made and love it! I’m making a batch for breakfast tomorrow as well. 🙂
This sounds absolutely amazing! I always eat instant oatmeal & was recently educated on steel cut oats. I am going to try this. I was wondering though, can I use part milk & part filtered water in the cooking process?
Hi Ariel! Sure, you can totally use milk and water. I would let it cool after heating and then store the covered pan in the fridge overnight rather than the countertop, just because there’s milk in there! I hope you love it! 🙂 xoxo, Jacquelyn
Tried this the other night and it was delicious. Loved the idea of adding peanut butter. Yum! Can you reheat this in the microwave if you add some almond milk? Just thought that might be quicker on a weekday morning. I’m new to your site and have found several delicious recipes. Keep them coming!
Hi Robin! Thanks so much for saying hi and for letting me know that you’re digging the recipes! I love hearing that! Ok, so yes, you can totally use almond milk and re-heat this in the microwave, but I’m kind of trying to get away from using my microwave, as it kill’s the nutrients in food, so if you can re-heat it on the stove, I would suggest that. Re-heating it only takes 5 minutes or less if you have a small pan. I re-heat mine while I’m making up my coffee or tea. Oh, one other suggestion. I’ve been adding frozen blueberries to my oats and such when they’re re-heating in the pan. Tastes amazing! Great way to get blueberries in your diet in the winter months! Let me know if you have any other questions! 🙂 xoxo, Jacquelyn
Hi – I am a 62 year old survivor – always trying to get healthier. Steel cut oats are a new thing for me and I wasn’t crazy about them this morning – so I looked for recipes and found yours. Being me – I “adjusted” the recipe a bit and WOW – nice and creamy! I put the oats, filtered water, HImalayan salt, and 1 tsp of cinnamon in all at once, brought it to a rolling boil, boiled and stirred for one minute, then I covered it and let it cool some (slime after an overnight sounded yuck!) and then I put it in a container and into my fridge. Tomorrow morning I will just take what I need, warm up and add berries, Peanutbutter, or dried fruit and nuts. Thanks for the prep ahead idea! I go back to school Wednesday….no time to fuss.
Hi Corinne! Awesome! I’m so happy that you found and tried this recipe. I hope your oats taste fabulous tomorrow morning! I love them topped with peanut butter and fresh fruit! Yum! It’s the best. Best of luck going back to school. I’m enrolling in a Natural Chef’s program starting in September and I’m super excited as well. Never too late to go back to school, right? Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by and saying hi Corinne! 🙂 xoxo, Jacquelyn
I go back to teach! I have been at the same high school for going on 16 years now – I teach English in all grades, and also teach public speaking and debate. Good Luck in Chef’s School!