Easy Slow Cooker Porridge Recipe {2 Ingredient Breakfast}

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Here's how to make slow cooker porridge with just 2 ingredients and have a healthy breakfast ready for when you wake up the next morning.

single white bowl full of creamy slow cooker porridge with blueberries, strawberries and yogurt on a white and red tea towel

Sometimes cooking a wholesome breakfast for the family can be the most challenging part of the day. And in all honesty, given the option, I'd rather have a less healthy bacon sandwich than slow cooker oatmeal.

But I've learned to trick my future self. And that is to make this slow cooker porridge recipe overnight because it's harder to refuse in the morning than cooking it on the stove top.

And the best thing is, it's full of complex carbohydrates to keep you fuller for longer and help you get through the morning. It can also help lower cholesterol levels and balance your blood sugar levels.

close up of slow cooked oatmeal with strawberries, blueberries, yogurt and a stainless steel jug of milk

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✔️ Why You'll Love This Recipe
🛒 Ingredient Notes
📋 Instructions
👩‍🍳 Substitutions
⚖️ Variations
🔪 Equipment
❄️ Storage
💡Pro Tips
🍽️ Serving Suggestions
❓ FAQ
➕ More Slow Cooker Recipes
➕ More Breakfast Recipes
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

✔️ Why You'll Love This Recipe

Feeds the whole family
30 seconds of meal prep time
Easily vegan by swapping the milk
Breakfast is ready in the early morning if needed
Full of fibre and vitamins, making it perfect for healthy eating

🛒 Ingredient Notes

Please see the printable recipe card with exact ingredient quantities and preparation instructions at the bottom of this post.

labelled ingredient photo of slow cooked porridge oats

Jumbo oats - which are available from Scott's called Old Fashioned Porage oats or Flahavans. Or use steel-cut oats (AKA pinhead oatmeal). Alternatively, you could add more whole grains such as buckwheat, brown rice, barley, etc
Milk - this could be full fat milk or a 50/50 mixture of milk and water, or plant-based, such as coconut and almond milk. For more calcium, opt for skimmed or semi-skimmed milk. For keto, use full fat.

Extra Options

Fresh or dried fruit - (we use blueberries and strawberries)
Sweetness - honey, sweetener, maple syrup
Spices - cinnamon stick, pinch of nutmeg, etc
Salt - pinch of salt to enhance the flavour
Cream - natural or Greek yogurt for an extra creamy porridge

📋 Instructions

1. First, place your large rolled oats in the slow cooker bowl or crockpot.

jumbo oats in a slow cooker with cups of liquid

2. Pour in your milk of choice or a 50/50 milk and water mix for lower calories.

person stirring oats and milk in a slow cooker before cooking

3. Give it a quick stir.

If you want to add any spices, you can do this now.

Note: I add sweetness at the end as it's easier to control for each person.

tin foil covering a slow cooker with oatmeal and milk inside and a lid to seal moisture while it cooks

4. Cover the slow cooker (or crockpot) with tin foil and place your lid on top to help retain the heat and avoid moisture escaping.

If cooking overnight: set on the lowest setting, such as warm or keep warm mode for 7-8 hours. If you find it is still too milky, then cook it on high heat for a final 30 minutes.

Low heat setting: cook for 3 hours if you're an early riser.

Top tip: For cooking crockpot oatmeal, it is very important that you do not use instant, quick oats, or smaller oats, otherwise it will turn to mush.

two bowls of slow cooker porridge oats and two silver spoons with a jug of milk

👩‍🍳 Substitutions

Depending on your dietary needs, here are a few simple swaps you can make:

Jumbo oats - swap rolled oats for pinhead oatmeal for slow cooker steel cut oats which are less processed and take longer to digest, which should help you feel fuller for long periods of time. For Gluten Free, check the manufacturer's guarantees
Milk - swap for coconut milk for vegan, or simply cups of cold water with just a splash of milk at the end
Sweetener - if not following a low sugar diet, swap for brown sugar

close up of sliced strawberries, blueberries and yogurt on oatmeal

⚖️ Variations

Here are a few different ways you can add flavour or find some new your favourite toppings for porridge:

Chocolatey - add 1-2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and desiccated coconut along with a dash of vanilla extract
Fruity - add mashed ripe banana and frozen berries and give it a good stir before cooking, or top as a garnish
Deluxe - stir in maple syrup and crispy bacon
Kid friendly - a few little tricks you could do is stir in their favourite fruit, like grated apple or pear with peanut butter. Or what about mixing banana Nesquik in the milk first?

See this baked oats breakfast version here and more tasty combinations here!

a white Denby natural canvas bowl of slow cooked porridge topped with fruit on a white marble kitchen counter

🔪 Equipment

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Slow cooker*
Tin foil
Kitchen weighing scales
Measuring jug
Ladle or similar to serve

*Plus a large casserole dish to place inside with a water bath for easier clean up

❄️ Storage

Storing - we prefer eating crockpot porridge freshly cooked in the morning, but it can be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Freezing - cool to room temperature and again, store in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.

Reheating - If you want to eat the next day, defrost in the fridge if required and add a little milk to loosen and microwave until piping hot, or on the hob or stove.

💡Pro Tips

My best advice is to avoid using quick cook oats, otherwise, they will turn mushy, or reduce the cooking time significantly
If you want to cook your oatmeal on low heat overnight or for a longer cook time, you can place scrunched-up tin foil in the bottom and add 2 cups water for a water bath and place a sturdy ceramic bowl inside and add the porridge ingredients
To minimise clean-up with the crustier bits sticking to the sides of the bowl, add a slow cooker liner or follow above
For the first time you make it, try to make it in the day as an after dinner dessert so you can monitor it for next time as all slow cookers cook differently
To shorten the cooking time to a couple of hours, you might want to add everything the night before and place it in the fridge to let the oats soak in milk

🍽️ Serving Suggestions

Side dish - eat it as a side dish with a small bowlful of fresh fruit like peaches, stewed plums and toasted nuts for a scrumptious dessert

Nuts - add toasted nuts, flaked almonds (along with chopped dates) and seeds, or nut butter

Veggies - another great way to make porridge is, for example, a grated parsnip and carrot cake porridge with spices for a warming and nutritious breakfast

Meat - it may sound unusual, but crispy bacon with maple syrup or sweetener works for a salted caramel infusion!

❓ FAQ

What Type of Oats Do I Need?

In order for these slow cooker oats to work, you can't use regular instant porridge oats. That is unless you like a wallpaper paste consistency.

This recipe is absolutely not sponsored, but you will need jumbo rolled oats like Scott's Old Fashioned Porage Oats. They are large enough to hold most of their integrity throughout cooking and I believe offer a luxuriously creamy texture.

Other oats that will work are steel cut oats which haven't been as processed as the above, offering much more fibre per bowl.

Is this porridge Slimming World friendly?

At the time of writing, you can eat 40g of porridge oats as part of an allowance and milk as part of your allowance. You may want to swap some of the milk with 2 cups of water for easier counting of syns.

Can I make porridge in an instant pot?

You'll find it's just as quick to make porridge with rolled oats in a pan as it is in a pressure cooker. However, cooking instant pot steel cut oats is a great option as it takes much longer.

Place everything in your instant pot and secure the lid on top and switch the steam release valve to Sealing.

➕ More Slow Cooker Recipes

Looking for more sweet slow cooker recipes? I've got you covered!

➕ More Breakfast Recipes

Here are some more budget-friendly healthy recipes that use oats as a staple-ingredient for fibre and protein:

📖 Recipe