Fantastic Five Grain Porridge

Instant Pot Five Grain Porridge

I'm on a porridge, congee, steel cut oats kick. I think it's the cool weather. Someone mentioned Pret a Manger the other day and how they had the best porridge. So I looked it up on their site and they have a five grain porridge, the site lists the grains, but not the recipe, though they have recipes for other things on there. The grains are what I had on hand so I set off to find a recipe or at least some clue on what to do. My search lead me to Bon Appetite. They have a recipe for this 5-Grain Porridge Bee Pollen with Apples and Coconuts on their web page. It has brown rice, quinoa, millet, wheat bran, and amaranth. Well I didn't want rice. I love steel cut oats. I didn't have millet. I don't really like bee pollen, I used to take it as a kid for allergies, so it's just not my thing now. I still wanted to pull grains from my pantry and see if I could make a mix of my own up. So you should use any grains you have also, just like the Bon Appetite recipe says, "Use what you have". Just pay attention to cooking times and water ratio.

Five Grain Porridge.

The grains I did have on hand that I wanted to use were the oats, amaranth, chia seeds, flax seed, and quinoa. Normally for something like this I would make up a jar and shake it up each time I wanted to use it so I wouldn't pull out my scale each time. Although after a few times, it's easy to just eyeball each ingredient and toss it into the pot for this. The reason I don't do this is the quinoa. I like to rinse my quinoa or it tastes bitter. I buy organic pre-washed quinoa and I still like to rinse mine. If you don't rinse your quinoa, the best thing to do is make this mixture ahead of time, keep it in a mason jar or air tight container. Shake it up and measure out about a cup and 1/3 to prepare each time. I do like this with more amaranth, they are so creamy. Occasionally I will skip the quinoa and use more amaranth.

Often times I'll just use three grains in the pot, oats, chia, amaranth. After cooking I'll sprinkle the flax seed on top for crunch. The kids have recently decided they don't like quinoa. So I often leave it out as stated above.

I like to toast my oats/grains, it's not a necessary step as far as cooking. I just prefer them toasted before I cook them. If you prefer to not add any fat, skip it and skip the saute/toasting!

Instant Pot Five Grain Porridge.

Find other versions here:

Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats

Tropical Steel Cut Oats

Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oats

Stove Top/Rice Cooker Steel Cut Oats

Fantastic Five Grain Porridge

1/2-1 tablespoon butter, coconut oil, or cooking oil (Optional*)
1/2 cup steel cut oats, 80 grams
1/4 cup quinoa, 45 grams
1/4 cup amaranth, 50 grams
2 tablespoons chia seeds, 22 grams
3 tablespoons flax seed, 30 grams
Pinch of kosher salt
3.5 cups water, 830 grams by WEIGHT

Instant Pot

1. Rinse the quinoa and drain well. (Optional)
2. On saute mode, heat the butter.
3. Add all the dry ingredients to the liner of the pot and stir to coat.
4. Add water and stir well.
5. Close the lid and set the pot on MANUAL, HIGH pressure, FIVE minutes.
6. Let the pot naturally release pressure for 10-15 minutes.
7. Stir well and serve with any sweet or savory toppings and mix ins.

Stove Top

1. Rinse the quinoa and drain well. (Optional)
2. Melt butter or coconut oil in the pot. 
3. Stir in grains to coat.
4. Add water, plus ONE extra cup of water or milk to the pot.
5. Stir, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to a low simmer.
6. Cover the pot with a lid and cook for 30-40 minutes, adding water as needed.
7. Stir well and serve with any sweet or savory toppings and mix ins.

*I like to toast my oats, it's not a necessary step as far as cooking. I just prefer them toasted before I cook them. If you prefer to not add any fat, skip it and skip the saute/toasting!

Savory- Top with a poached, fried, or soft boiled egg. Sprinkle with furitake, or nori pieces. Add salt and pepper. Eat as you would congee with salted duck eggs, century eggs, pickled vegetables, and/or pork floss. Top with kimchi and slices of Ginger Soy Pork Ribs. Top with marinated tofu.

Sweet- Top with fruit, fruit butters such as Pumpkin Butter, Lemon curd, Tropical Oats toppings, fruit compote, milk, half and half, cream, nuts, syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, pie spices, etc.

Thanks for reading Give Peas A Chance!

If you like what you just read please consider pinning it and sharing with friends on social media.

Find me on

 Facebook, Twitter (@peasblog), Instagram (@peasknees), Google +