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Slow Cooker Banana Nut Oatmeal

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Steel cut oats cook overnight with bananas, walnuts and spices to create a healthy, make-ahead breakfast that will be waiting for you in the morning. 


If I had to offer one secret when it comes to reaching weight loss or healthy living goals it would be to start every day with a healthy breakfast. Of course, you’ve heard it 100 times but I also know that it isn’t so easy for everyone. People often tell me they don’t have time to make breakfast or they aren’t hungry first thing in the morning.

Listen up, friends. You must make eating breakfast a part of your daily routine. If you aren’t hungry in the morning, that likely means your metabolism isn’t running at it’s highest potential. Even if you just start with a piece of fruit or a slice of whole grain toast, try to eat something within an hour of waking up.

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Breakfast literally means “breaking the fast”. You haven’t eaten in close to 12 hours and your body needs a balanced meal to get going again! If you start eating breakfast, your body will begin to crave it when you wake up. Hunger is a sign of your metabolism functioning and the higher the metabolism, the more calories you burn throughout the day – even when you’re sitting on your bum playing on Pinterest.

And for those of you who claim not to have time in the morning, I’ve taken that excuse out of the pile! Take five minutes the night before to throw together this slow cooker banana nut oatmeal and you will wake up to delicious aromas of bananas, walnuts and spices. Since the slow cooker will keep it warm, everyone can help themselves in the morning regardless of their schedule. Easy as pie…er…oats.

Your spoon is waiting.

 

Slow Cooker Banana Nut Oatmeal

Steel cut oats cook overnight with bananas, walnuts and spices to create a healthy, make-ahead breakfast that will be waiting for you in the morning.
3.98 from 43 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Keyword: oatmeal, slow cooker
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 8 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 290kcal
Author: Liz DellaCroce

Ingredients

  • 1 cup steel cut oats
  • 1 ripe banana mashed
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
  • 2 cups skim milk or almond milk
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons flax seed meal
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • slices banana walnuts or brown sugar - optional garnish

Instructions

  • Place all ingredients in a slow cooker and stir until well combined.
  • Cook overnight on Low for 8 hours.
  • In the morning, stir oatmeal with a fork to loosen the steel cut oats and make sure everything is fully incorporated.
  • Serve warm with banana slices, chopped walnuts or a pinch of brown sugar if you wish.

Video

Notes

Serving Size: 1 cup
For easier clean-up and to avoid the slight "crusty" residue inside the slow cooker, place all ingredients in a glass bowl that fits into the slow cooker then add enough water to fill the lower half of the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
Nutrition Facts
Slow Cooker Banana Nut Oatmeal
Amount Per Serving
Calories 290 Calories from Fat 72
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 8g 12%
Saturated Fat 0.7g 4%
Polyunsaturated Fat 7.3g
Cholesterol 2mg 1%
Sodium 366mg 15%
Total Carbohydrates 42g 14%
Dietary Fiber 6.6g 26%
Sugars 3.9g
Protein 11g 22%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Did you make this recipe?Tag @thelemonbowl on Instagram

Photography by Alejandro Photography // Recipe by The Lemon Bowl

Want more healthy breakfast ideas? Pin with me!
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Reader Interactions

Comments


  2. Really wanted this to work. I used the. Vitaclay slow cooker so took less time (2 hours). However a lot stuck to bottom and was burned. The cinnamon taste was overwhelming. Really wanted to like this. But unfortunately the taste wasn’t good. There was also an element of burned taste due to the bottom part burning.

    Reply

  3. I don’t have a glass container that I could put in the slower cooker. Should I spray the slow cooker with cooking spray?

    Reply


  4. Made this just now. Tastes delicious! Added in a little extra banana and 1 tablespoon of chia seeds. I have made a lot of steel cut oats in my slow cooker and knew they would be done in just two hours on low. I let mine cool and then I portioned them out (8 servings) and I plop the portions onto a cookie sheet lined with foil and sprayed with non-stick spray. They are in the freeze now. I’ll put them in a big zip close plastic bag when they are frozen. Awesome recipe. Thanks.

    Reply


  5. I am a huge fan of all of your recipes. This one was great too. I think using almond milk didn’t get as nice a consistency, but it tasted lovely.

    For all your recipes it would be really helpful to have the amount of cups or grams equivalent to one serving. It really helps with portion control and adapting recipes to Weight Watchers or similar.

    Reply

    • Hi Gabi – I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! I apologize for the serving size. I am working to incorporate it for all my recipes in the “Notes” section. Unfortunately my recipe plugin program doesn’t support a serving size in cups so I’m trying to work around that. If there are any specific recipes you want specific amounts for just let me know.

      Reply

  6. I only had half and half. I used one and a half cups of half and half and the other two and a half cups of water to make the four cups of liquid. Since I used half and half will this curdle?

    Reply

  7. Looks like a time saver for those early mornings. I normally soak the oats with acv and rye overnight to neutralize some of the phytic acid. It also decreases the cooking time. Could I still do that with this recipe? Would I decrease the cook time?

    Reply

  8. Hi was just wondering if anyone knew the sun value of this recipe on slimming world or if there was a way of making it slimming world friendly?

    Reply


  9. My daughter found this recipe a few months back and I made it for the first time when the kids had state testing. I wanted to make sure they had a great warm filling breakfast. They asked for it all that week and the last month have been making it at least once a week. I have never liked oatmeal but I gave this a try for breakfast and really enjoyed it. It is just as good reheated the next morning too. I use Chia seeds in a lot of things so this is what I use instead of flax.
    Thank you for a wonderful recipe

    Reply

  10. I’m not sure what I did wrong but when I made this, the oats themselves turned out goopy and gross-looking and the mashed banana had browned and seemed like it was burned. I had my crock pot on low for 8 hours. Only things I did differently was I used classic oats instead of steel cut because that’s all I had, and didn’t have any flax seed to include. I love the idea of this but wish it had worked better. Any advice on how to fix it? Thanks!

    Reply

    • Hi Shannon – I’m afraid this recipe doesn’t work for old fashioned oats. You’ll need to use steel cut oats as instructed in the recipe in order to get the correct consistency. Enjoy!

      Reply


      • Same issue here. I even generously buttered my slow cooker and it still stuck to the sides and was browned and burned in a lot of places. Disappointing. I wonder if it would work if cooked for 5-6 hours instead of 8?

      • Shoot that’s too bad!! I will say I have four slow cookers and some are stronger than others. Try it next time for four hours. WORSE case you can always microwave a bit in the morning. Start with four and go up from there. :)

  11. Does anyone know about soaking or slow cooking with Cream of Wheat? one of my daughters and myself prefer Bobs Red Mill Creamy Wheat/Creamy Rice farina 1/2 each. We, also, like soaking oatmeal (rest of the family) overnight and cooking to get more nutrition out of it. But, can’t see what the consistency would be for cream of wheat…just wanting to know if someone else has tried it before I possibly throw some out…:)

    Reply


  12. Just discovered this recipe over the weekend…it turned out amazing! 21 Day Fixer here and it works great for me. Thank you for sharing!!

    Reply


  14. Delicious and easy once I picked out all of the burnt walnuts…I must have kept it on for too long overnight. But, my family loved it. I won’t add nuts until after cooked next time I make it!

    Reply

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