Baked oatmeal is bread pudding for breakfast! Made with a handful of healthy ingredients, this easy recipe comes together in 1 bowl and leaves you satisfied all morning.
What is Baked Oatmeal?
Baked oatmeal is a warm breakfast casserole made from oats, milk, and other kitchen staples. Stovetop or instant oatmeal has a creamy porridge consistency, but baked oatmeal, like bread pudding, combines chewy, soft, and creamy all in 1 casserole dish. You can add berries for a juicy burst and walnuts for a crunchy topping. This breakfast recipe is a texture lover’s dream and your oven does all the work.
Basically, baked oatmeal is regular oatmeal with even more texture. If you’re looking for individual serving sizes, try my baked apple cinnamon oatmeal cups or chocolate chip baked oatmeal cups.
You can bake oatmeal ahead of time and reheat it for a quick breakfast during the week. That’s exactly what I’ve been doing and the whole family, young daughter included, LOVES it. This baked banana oatmeal is a hit, too! Busy parents certainly appreciate the convenience!
And if you want even more family friendly recipes, be sure to check out this list of 30+ back to school recipes.
Gluten Free, Healthy, 1 Bowl Breakfast
This baked oatmeal combines simple and healthy ingredients and can be adapted for any allergies or flavor preferences. Stir the ingredients together in 1 large bowl, pour it into a greased baking pan, and bake. You need:
- Oats: I recommend whole old-fashioned style oats for a hearty and satisfying texture. If you eat gluten free, choose certified GF oats.
- Milk: Use the variety of milk you drink. This baked oatmeal is wonderful with whole milk, almond milk, oat milk, coconut milk, skim milk, and everything in between.
- Eggs: 2 large eggs, while adding protein, bind all of the ingredients together. Have an egg allergy? Use extra applesauce or mashed banana.
- Applesauce or Mashed Banana: Adds flavor and binds. You can use more of either to replace the eggs. For a heavily banana-flavored version, see below!
- Maple Syrup: I recommend pure maple syrup for the best flavor, but other unrefined sugars such as coconut sugar or honey work too. 1/2 cup sweetens the entire dish.
- Baking Powder: Lifts it all up!
- Melted Butter: A few Tablespoons of melted butter prevents the dish from tasting rubbery. Don’t replace with a non-fat alternative. Melted coconut oil is a wonderful dairy-free substitution.
- Vanilla, Cinnamon, & Salt: Each add sweet satisfying flavor.
- Berries: I asked, you told, and I’m delivering! Add some fruit for flavor, texture, and all-around deliciousness. Replace with chopped banana, apple, peaches, pears, raisins, dried berries, chocolate chips, or even a spoonful of your favorite nut butter.
For the BEST baked oatmeal texture: use whole oats and don’t over-bake! You want a deliciously soft & moist spoonful.
Ok let’s recap…
This Baked Oatmeal Is:
- Prepped in 1 bowl
- Made with unrefined sugar
- Not overly sweet
- Packed with fruit
- Warm & satisfies for hours
- Soft, chewy, & creamy
- Adaptable for flavors, allergies, etc
- Like a casserole version of my blueberry banana breakfast cookies
Plus it requires minimum effort—just what our mornings need!
Complete your breakfast! Serve baked oatmeal with Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage, frittata, individual breakfast egg muffins, or my crustless vegetable quiche. (Also simple, healthy, & gluten free!).And for even more inspiration, see my complete list of 30+ healthy breakfast recipes.
P.S. The recipe below calls for banana, but for a heavily banana-flavored baked oatmeal, here is my banana baked oatmeal recipe. This one is a favorite.
1 Bowl Baked Oatmeal
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: serves 9
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This baked oatmeal combines simple ingredients that can be adapted for any allergies or flavor preferences. It’s like bread pudding for breakfast—creamy, soft, chewy, and delicious all in one! Make ahead and enjoy all week long. Try my baked oatmeal cups, too!
Ingredients
- 1 and 3/4 cups (420ml) milk (dairy or nondairy)
- 2 large eggs*
- 1/2 cup (120ml) pure maple syrup*
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled*
- 1/4 cup (60g) unsweetened applesauce or mashed banana
- 3 cups (255g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats*
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups (225g) fresh or frozen mixed berries, (do not thaw)
- optional for topping: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Instructions
- Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray a 9×9 inch square pan, or an 11×7 inch rectangle pan with nonstick spray. Any similar size pan that holds around 3 quarts works, though 8×8 inch square pan would be too small. The pictured dish I’m using is this white casserole dish. See recipe Note for 9×13 inch pan.
- Whisk all of the ingredients together in 1 large bowl. Pour into prepared baking pan. Top with nuts, if desired. (Or stir into the oatmeal mixture.)
- Bake for 35 minutes or until the center appears *almost* set, which gives us a soft oatmeal as pictured above. For drier and more solid baked oatmeal, bake until center has set.
- Cool for 5 minutes before serving. Spoon or slice and serve with yogurt, if desired. Cover leftovers tightly and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Bake the oatmeal, cool completely, and store in the refrigerator all week for easy breakfasts. Reheat in the microwave or cover and bake in a 350°F (177°C) oven for 10 minutes. To freeze, bake and cool oatmeal. Cover tightly and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. Warm to your liking. I love cutting the cooled baked oatmeal into bars or servings and freezing them individually for a quick breakfast to thaw. Wrap each in plastic wrap and place in a large freezer bag or container.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×9 Inch Square Pan, 11×7 Inch Rectangle Pan, or Similar Size Casserole Dish | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk
- Don’t: Do not make oatmeal batter ahead of time. The oats will soak up all the liquid! Whisk it all together, then bake right away. See make ahead instructions above for alternative.
- Can I Make This in a Muffin Pan? Yes. For baked oatmeal cups, divide the batter into a greased 12-count muffin pan. If using muffin liners, spray them with nonstick spray. The oatmeal cups stick to the liners a bit regardless, so I recommend skipping them. Fill the cups all the way to the top. Bake for 28-30 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and top appears set. If you added extra add-ins, you may have more batter and need a 2nd greased muffin pan.
- Eggs: Eggs bind the casserole and add wonderful flavor. If needed, you can replace the eggs with 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce or mashed banana.
- Sugar: I recommend pure maple syrup because the flavor is outstanding and the baked oatmeal is extra moist! You can also use packed brown sugar, coconut sugar, or honey.
- Butter: What wonderful flavor! The baked oatmeal can taste rubbery without it. Don’t replace with a non-fat alternative. Melted coconut oil is a wonderful dairy-free substitution.
- Oats: Whole oats give you the best texture. Quick oats soak up more moisture and dry out the baked oatmeal. If using steel-cut oats, soak the oats in the milk for 20 minutes, then stir in the rest of the ingredients. Add a few extra minutes to the bake time.
- Add-ins: Instead of berries, try the same amount of peeled chopped apples, peaches, pears, bananas, or other fruit. Or 1 cup chocolate chips, dried cranberries, nuts, or raisins.
- 9×13 inch Pan: Double the recipe for a 9×13 inch pan. The baked oatmeal will be extra thick and require at least 10 extra minutes in the oven. Tent with aluminum foil if the edges are browning too quickly.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 256
- Sugar: 13.8 g
- Sodium: 120.8 mg
- Fat: 6.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 38.4 g
- Protein: 5.8 g
- Cholesterol: 54.9 mg
Reader Comments and Reviews
Wow! Amazingly delicious – especially with a dollop of Greek yogurt. This is a staple for cool weather effective immediately.
Could I add a couple scoops of whey protein powder to this?
Hi Jenn, we haven’t tried, but several readers have had success adding protein powder. Let us know how it turns out if you do!
If I substitute brown sugar for the maple syrup, do I use the same amount?
Hi Cynthia, yes, same amount (1/2 cup)!
Eggs make me very sick. I think I have allergie to eggs. I will cook them longer then 35 minutes and see if they don’t make me feel terrible. If I eat eggs in a cake they don’t make me feel terrible. I will cook them for at least 10 more minutes. Mine where falling apart and so gooey.
Regarding the comment asking about adding Protein Powder….I’ve made this Oatmeal Bake for a couple years and decided I would try to get more protein into it.
I used grass fed whey protein powder with colostrum (an added ingredient is organic coconut milk powder). I subbed 1 cup of the oatmeal with the PP and also added an additional 1/2 cup milk and a bit more applesauce. The mixture was much thinner than usual so I added more berries too. Baked it at 325 degrees (what I’ve read cautions baking PP at high temps) for about an hour. Texture is great! Flavor is good too (it was a Vanilla-flavored PP).
Have you ever made these in mini muffin tins? Any idea how the cooking time would vary?
Hi Channing, this batter would work well as mini muffins. We’re unsure of the exact bake time for mini oatmeal cups, but bake until the edges are lightly browned and top appears set. Enjoy!
Can this be good for meal prep? If so how long will it last?
Hi Zoe, yes, this is great for meal prep! Cover leftovers tightly and refrigerate for up to 1 week. Or, see recipe Notes for longer freezing instructions.
Delicious-I added frozen blueberries and on top a few cinnamon chips and pecans. I tell everyone about your recipes.
Hi, Can this be made with either previously soaked oats or by soaking the oats in the wet ingredients for a period of time before baking? I know you advise against letting them soak before baking in the notes, but I’m not sure why. My goal would be to soften the oats and make them more digestible.
Thanks!
Hi Katherine! Soaking the oats will make for a very mushy baked oatmeal. You can try soaking the oats first, but results will vary. We’re unsure if you’ll need to add extra liquid. Let us know if you try!
There used to be a pumpkin variation to this recipe in the blog post. It was one of our favorite fall pumpkin recipes! I do not see it anymore. Is it posted elsewhere?
Hi Patricia, yes, we removed that because it’s going to be given its own recipe post soon! But in the meantime, here are the instructions: Reduce milk to 1 and 1/2 cups, remove the applesauce and 1 egg and replace with 3/4 cup of pumpkin puree, add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, keep the cinnamon in the recipe, leave out the berries and replace with chopped nuts, chocolate chips, dried cranberries, or leave plain. Glad you love this recipe!
Made as written and found it really good texture wise but could not taste any sweetness at all. I drizzled some extra honey on top and that really helped the flavour. It really is a bread pudding texture for oatmeal which I love! Will be making again and trying different flavours!
I make this all the time using the pumpkin version, but now I can’t find it on this recipe. What happened to that?
Hi M, yes, we removed that because it’s going to be given its own recipe post soon! But in the meantime, here are the instructions: Reduce milk to 1 and 1/2 cups, remove the applesauce and 1 egg and replace with 3/4 cup of pumpkin puree, add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, keep the cinnamon in the recipe, leave out the berries and replace with chopped nuts, chocolate chips, dried cranberries, or leave plain. Glad you love this recipe!
Did I miss the info of what a serving size is?
Hi Yvonne, this recipe serves 9.
Have you tried adding protein powder to this recipe? I need more protein than this, but the powder can be finicky.
Hi Kelly, we haven’t tried, but several readers have had success adding protein powder. Let us know how it turns out if you do!
This looks wonderful and very adaptable for food allergies. I feed about 125 rowers for regatta season and wondered about making this ahead and then reheating? Any advice?
Hi Jonni, cover and bake in a 350°F (177°C) oven for 10 minutes (or until warm) to reheat. Happy baking!
Okay, so I just made a double batch of this because my pan is 9 x 13. So glad I did. This was amazing, like sooo good just give me spoon and the whole pan and you go make your own good! It was like WOW!!
Even my nine year old grandson liked it and he is one picky eater. Oddly he preferred it cold. I used blueberries, blackberries and one diced banana. A mixture of walnuts and pecans and GF sprouted oatmeal.
This will have to be a staple. Now I want to try the banana baked oatmeal!
Sally, I love your recipes, you are the best! ❤️
July 31,202
Made it with fresh blueberries, frozen strawberries. Wasn’t sure if I would like mashed banana “subbed” for applesauce, but I did (don’t use nasty brown banana, imo) and quick oats as what I have at moment. Absolutely delicious out of the oven!!! Guess I had an early lunch
This recipe is outstanding!! My whole family loves it!! I have made this recipe several times with the berries as suggested in the recipe and with peaches as suggested in the notes. I used 1/4 cup of mashed banana instead of the applesauce. Delicious! Thank you, Sally, for another fabulous recipe!
I am not much of a baker/cooker, but I’ve been on crutches and needed an easy way to have oatmeal available in the morning. This came out PERFECT!! I was worried it might be too sweet for my taste, but it wasn’t — it was perfectly balanced! Fantastic recipe!
We LOVE this dish! I’ve made it probably 2 dozen times and every time it’s a hit. Our favorite is with apples. So, so good.
I have made this recipe close to a dozen times and have loved all variations I have made. Until last night. The only differences I made in the recipe last night were doubling the recipe (which I do each time), subbing 1/4-1/2 cup quick oats (because I only had 5.5 cups oatmeal left), and using a cream of tartar & baking soda mix (because I ran out of baking powder). Otherwise, I followed the recipe to a “T” and made it as I always do. It looked perfectly normal when mixing and after pouring it into the pan. However, when it came out of the oven, the entire bottom 1/4-1/2″ was like mushy scrambled eggs. I have no clue what went wrong and how to prevent this from ever happening again. We still ate the top portion, but man was the bottom gross. Any ideas?
Hi Amber! Happy to help. Our best guess is perhaps there was a mis-measurement while doubling? This happens to us all! Otherwise, the baking powder substitute is likely the culprit.
Made this for the second time. Even though we have some ridiculous heat and it is close to 100, I still want my baked oatmeal!! This is so delicious. I added fresh blueberries and fresh local strawberries. Can’t wait to have breakfast tomorrow! Thanks for this easy and wonderful oatmeal.☺️
If I add additional banana into the mix as fruit, do I cut that up? Can banana also be added with other fruit? Thanks!
Hi Samantha, definitely! See the recipe note re: Add-ins: “Instead of berries, try the same amount of peeled chopped apples, peaches, pears, bananas, or other fruit. Or 1 cup chocolate chips, dried cranberries, nuts, or raisins.” Enjoy!
Hi Sally,
Another great recipe! I was wondering could I use 1/4 cup of nut butter instead of a mashed banana/applesauce?
So easy, so delicious AND so versatile. I made this for Mahjong and mimosas brunch and it was a hit. Instead of 1/4 cup mashed bananas, I ended up with 1/2 cup simply because I misjudged. It still turned out great.
I’ve made this many times and have always enjoyed it! Super easy breakfast 🙂 I’ve recently had to go dairy free- can I replace the butter with coconut oil? If so, how much? Thanks!!
Hi Grace, yes, you can substitute 1/4 cup of melted coconut oil.
Can you add protein powder or cottage cheese to this recipe to amp up the protein? If so, how would you adjust the ingredients?
Hi Cheryl, We haven’t tried, but several readers have had success adding protein powder. Let us know how it turns out if you do!
Cheryl, I made this as written last week and it was good. This week I tweaked it with cottage cheese and it turned out great.
I replaced half the milk with cottage cheese. I blended it as I don’t care for chunks.
I didn’t have applesauce today so I replaced the applesauce with pumpkin, and used an extra tsp of pumpkin pie spice and it turned out fantastic.
I added an extra egg, 4 tbsp of a mixture of equal parts hemp seeds, chia seeds, and an extra 1/4 c of milk. Otherwise I stuck to the recipe and it was delicious! Thank u for a simple and convenient version of this great dish.
Made this wonderful baked oatmeal yesterday and enjoyed some for breakfast today. I added fresh blueberries and chopped up dried mandarin oranges. I baked it for 40 minutes and it was perfect. We will be making this often for a healthy and delicious breakfast. My husband served his portion with a little more maple syrup and I added more frozen berries that I thawed overnight. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
I have been making this recipe every week and I love it! I was wondering if I can omit the maple syrup or other sweeteners? Maybe I can replace it with more applesauce or milk if it’s needed for moisture?
Hi Annie, we’re so glad this is a hit! The flavor will be a bit flat without the sweetener. We don’t recommend swapping with more applesauce for fear it would become a bit rubbery tasting.
I know it says not to but I baked in an 8×8 glass pan at 325 (I typically decrease baking temperature by 25 degrees when using glass) and baked for close to an hour. Did this twice now and it worked wonderfully! Just wanted to add my tip for other readers that don’t have a 9×9 and don’t want to double the recipe and use a 9×13.
Thank you so much for this comment. Very helpful, as I do not have a 9 x 9“ pan and I don’t always want to double the recipe.
Can I bake this as oatmeal cups in muffin tins?
I saw you linked the oatmeal
Cup recipes but I love this exact recipe so much is why I ask about this recipe specifically.
Thanks!
Can’t see why not, Lexie!