A healthy and delicious sweet corn and steel-cut oats soup made in Instant Pot! A light and quick dinner option on those busy weekdays.
When it comes to quick dinners, apart from idli and dosai (the South Indian staples), different kinds of pasta dishes and filling soups are my go-to options. Recently I had shared cream cheese pasta and taco pasta salad that are great for lunch and dinner. And coming to soups, tofu taco soup and noodle soups like thukpa, miso ramen, and khao soi are great options.
Jump to:
Today I am combing the flavors of sweet corn, carrots, and goodness of steel-cut oats for this healthy and delicious oats soup. Savory oats recipes, especially for breakfast, are trending, and this steel-cut oats soup is perfect for any meal. The preparation is also straightforward.
Savory oat recipes
Oats are not meant only for cookies, oatmeal, and overnight oats. You can make quite a few savory recipes with them. This recipe will be a great choice if you are trying to get used to steel-cut oats. You will start loving steel-cut oats in this soup, and this soup will become your staple. I have several savory oat recipes like oats bhel with rolled oats and khichdi with quick-cooking steel-cut oats, savory overnight yogurt oats. Give these oats recipes a try, and I have a few more lined up, so stay tuned.
Let’s get straight into the ingredients and procedure.
Ingredients required
Oil – I have used peanut oil here. You can use peanuts, sesame, or any other oil you choose.
Shallots, ginger, garlic, and green chili – I love shallots, so I went with that. You can also use regular onion. Add approx. ¼ cup finely chopped if you are using regular onion. I highly recommend fresh ginger and garlic instead of the store-bought ginger garlic paste. Green chili is optional. You can skip it for a mild version.
Carrots and corn: I added these two veggies to this soup. Adjust the measure to taste. I have always used frozen corn for this recipe, as I always have it handy. You can also use fresh corn on the cob. The procedure varies slightly; please check the variation section.
Steel-cut oats – I used the traditional (the non-quick cooking steel-cut oats). But I have tested this recipe with rolled oats and quick-cooking steel-cut oats. Do not use instant oats of any kind.
Soy sauce: To get the restaurant-style flavor of sweet corn soup, we add soy sauce. I always prefer dark soy sauce, which changes the soup’s color. Alternatively, you can opt for light or regular soy sauce.
Salt, sugar, and white pepper- We add salt and white pepper to flavor the soup. You can swap white pepper with black too. To balance the flavor, we add sugar too.
Cilantro- Yet another flavor enhancer. I highly recommend not skipping it.
Veg stock bouillon cube: You can use 4 cups of vegetable stock or one veg bouillon cube and 4 cups of water: homemade veg broth or store-bought works. If you don’t have veg stock, you can skip it.
Storing recommendations and reheating
As we add steel-cut oats, the soup thickens as it cools. You can refrigerate this soup for up to four days. You can also freeze this soup for two to three weeks.
When required, take the required portion and add water to thin it down and reheat it in the microwave or on the stove-top. Check for seasoning and add salt, pepper, and some soy sauce to taste.
Variations
Adding more veggies – Along with carrots and corn, you can add cabbage, green beans, and peas. For this measure, you can use 2.5 cups of mixed vegetables.
If using fresh corn – You can steam the corn separately and use the kernels. Alternatively, you can steam the corn along with the soup using a tall trivet. (Pot-in-pot method) After cooking, extract the corn kernels and grind half cup of kernels and add it to the soup. Then add the remaining kernels directly to the soup, add the spices, and simmer the soup.
If making the soup in a stove-top pressure cooker – Follow the same procedure and pressure cook for two whistles and let the pressure release naturally, and then add the spices and soy sauce and simmer the soup.
How to make corn and oats soup
Prep-work
- Rinse the steel-cut oats and soak them for 10 minutes or until you chop the vegetables.
- Grind ½ cup of corn into a coarse paste and set them aside.
- Chop all the required vegetables and set them aside.
Saute the veggies and pressure cook.
- Set the Instant Pot in saute mode, and when the display turns “HOT,” add the oil after 30 seconds, add the chopped shallots, garlic, ginger, and slit green chili. Saute for a couple of minutes and turn off the Instant Pot.
- Now add the chopped carrots, sweet corn, and ground corn.
- Next, add the steel-cut oats and salt. Drain the water and add, then add the oats. Add the crushed bouillon cube and water. Mix well.
- Close the Instant Pot. Make sure the vent is in the sealing position. Select manual/pressure cook and set the time to 6 minutes at high-pressure mode. When the cooking is complete, naturally release the remaining pressure. Carefully open the lid after releasing the pressure; this is how the soup will look.
Add the seasonings and simmer the soup.
- Mix the soup and set the Instant Pot in saute mode. Add the sugar, white pepper, soy sauce, and cilantro.
- Combine them all and let the soup simmer for five minutes.
- Turn off the heat and enjoy the soup warm.
Recipe Notes
- Adjust the salt and spices to taste.
- If using rolled oats or quick-cooking oats, reduce the cooking time to 4 minutes.
More soup recipes
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📖 Recipe
Sweet Corn and Steel Cut Oats Soup
Equipment
- Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
Measurement Details: 1 cup: 240ml; 1 tbsp: 15ml; 1 tsp: 5ml;
- 1 tbsp oil
- 3 shallots approx 50 grams, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves approx 12 grams, chopped
- 2- inch ginger approx 12 grams, chopped
- 1 green chili slit, optional
- 1 cup corn thawed to room temperature
- 1 cup carrot approx 150 grams, chopped
- ½ cup steel-cut oats
- 1 veg bouillon cube
- 4 cups water
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp cilantro
- 1 tsp white pepper or to taste
Instructions
Prep-work
- Rinse the steel-cut oats and soak them for 10 minutes or until you chop the vegetables.
- Grind ½ cup of corn into a coarse paste and set them aside.
- Chop all the required vegetables and set them aside.
Saute the veggies and pressure cook.
- Set the Instant Pot in saute mode, and when the display turns “HOT,” add the oil after 30 seconds, add the chopped shallots, garlic, ginger, and slit green chili. Saute for a couple of minutes and turn off the Instant Pot.
- Now add the chopped carrots, sweet corn, and ground corn.
- Next, add the steel-cut oats and salt. Drain the water and add, then add the oats. Add the crushed bouillon cube and water. Mix well.
- Close the Instant Pot. Make sure the vent is in the sealing position. Select manual/pressure cook and set the time to 6 minutes at high-pressure mode. When the cooking is complete, naturally release the remaining pressure. Carefully open the lid after releasing the pressure; this is how the soup will look.
Add the seasonings and simmer the soup.
- Mix the soup and set the Instant Pot in saute mode. Add the sugar, white pepper, soy sauce, and cilantro.
- Combine them all and let the soup simmer for five minutes. Turn off the heat and enjoy the soup warm.
Notes
- Adjust the salt and spices to taste.
- If using rolled oats or quick-cooking oats, reduce the cooking time to 4 minutes.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Who doesn’t love a warm bowl of this type of soup on a cold night? Love the way it looks, so moreish…
Thanks Rafeeda.
Spectacular recipe for a cold, winter weeknight when you just want to curl up in front of the TV with a good, ol’ bowl of soup!
Thank you for this Vidhya, I’ll be making it very often now :)
Thank you so much.