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. 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.
- 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 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.
Craving Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal?
I love turning this into pumpkin baked oatmeal! Here’s what I usually do: 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. You’ll love my pumpkin baked oatmeal cups, too.
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 & see note)
- 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 or 11×7 inch baking pan with nonstick spray. Any similar size or shape pan works, though 8×8 inch would be too small. 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.) 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 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 or 11×7 Inch Baking Pan | 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.
- 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 Information per Serving (with unsweetened applesauce and unsweetened almond milk using Spark Recipe Calculator): Calories 227, Total Fat 8g, Carbohydrate 34g, Dietary Fiber 4g, Sugars 15g, Protein 5g.
This is my third time making this recipe. My husband, who is not an oatmeal eater, loves this recipe too and packs it for his lunch. Today, I used honey crisp apples, walnuts, and a little extra cinnamon. Super delicious and easy!
Sally thank you so much for the quick response. I am an avid baker and I must say your recipes are spot on fantastic. I am especially delighted with the measurements in grams. I will get on this”pumpkin project ” …. stay tuned!
This is truly amazing!! I would love to add 15 oz pumpkin puree. How would I adjust the liquids?
Hi Daria! A 15 ounce can of pumpkin would be a little too much here, but you can use some to replace the applesauce, 1 egg, and some of the milk. Let me know what you try!
Sally, not that I’m surprised, but this recipe is another winner. The first time I made it, I reduced the maple syrup to 1/4c and found it was perfectly sweet to my liking since I added blackberries and sliced bananas as well. More recently, I wanted something fall-inspired so I substituted pumpkin puree for the 1/4c applesauce/banana, added pumpkin pie spice (plus more cinnamon!), and it is PERFECT. It also freezes really well and makes for a great healthy breakfast when I’m running late in the morning. Thank you for another amazing recipe!
This was absolutely fabulous and easy to make! I substituted the butter with the suggested coconut oil and milk with macadamia milk. I used blackstrap molasses (no preservatives) from a local farm.
This recipe looks delicious! Unfortunately my little boy is allergic to many foods, including eggs, dairy, and coconut. I appreciate your egg and milk substitution ideas. Instead of the butter, since he can’t have coconut oil, do you have any other ideas? Avocado oil? Spectrum shortening?
Hi Joy, avocado oil should make a fine substitution.
Sally,
I love this baked oatmeal. As a gal who eats oatmeal every morning, this is a delightful change to my regular breakfast. I also am in love with your white, slightly wavy baking dish. What can you tell me about it?
Thanks Carol! It’s from Crate & Barrel. 🙂
My first time every commenting on a food blog! This is the BEST baked oatmeal recipe I have found and I’ve made LOTS of baked oatmeal recipes. Most of them have cups (!)of brown sugar. Like another commenter, I only sweeten my oatmeal with fruit, so I just halved the maple syrup, then used an additional 1/4 C of applesauce so that I had the right amount of liquid. Perfect! This has become my go-to recipe!
This is so nice to read! Thanks so much for taking the time to write, Julie!
FYI: It’s gone in Plan To Eat as “Sally’s Baked Oatmeal” so I am sure to find the right recipe! 🙂
These are a favorite! I love them with fresh cranberries best but other berries will do when I can’t get cranberries. Thanks for sharing!!
I made this this week! Delicious! I used 11×7” pan – baked for 45 minutes & was perfect. I used blueberries, chopped apple, pecans & a scant 1/4 cup of brown sugar – definitely not too sweet. Reheated very well too in the microwave!
I had a lot of fresh strawberries and blueberries on hand so I doubled the recipe for a 9×13 pan. So glad I doubled it! It was very delicious and filling, a definite pleaser for the whole family. Will be a regular breakfast option for us, so thank you for sharing this recipe .
Delicious. Just the right amount of sweet. Thank you.
OMG – I halved the recipe, used blueberries and walnuts, 2 packets of Splenda and a little honey. It is delicious, and now my challenge is to get it into the refrigerator to have for breakfast.
Doctor’s orders to lower Cholesterol numbers so I ditched the morning eggs, toast, butter and made pots of oatmeal combinations 100 ways to Sunday trying not to get tired of oatmeal for breakfast.
This recipe came just in time as having oatmeal every-single-day was getting old fast.
I keep a wide variety of fruits and nuts in the freezer and even ventured using Mangos and coconut or almond extract. DEElish..!
FYI–using a combination of Flax meal AND Oatmeal together reduces Cholesterol numbers drastically fast. RE: this recipe it would be–in a small bowl-mix 1 TB. Flax meal to 3 TB water (let sit 5 minutes) = 1 egg.
It’s a win/win.
Sally, your baked oatmeal recipe will keep me going for the long haul. Thank You !
I halved this recipe since it’s just me and wasn’t sure how it would turn out. I baked in an 8” square pyrex dish. It came out great!! – especially with blueberries and I used honey as the sweetener – since that is what I had on hand. The only thing I should have done is baked it about 2 min longer. Next time I will definitely add some crushed nuts.
The only question I have is – what is the size/measurement of one serving?
So glad you made and enjoyed this baked oatmeal. Thanks Debra! Dividing this recipe into about 9 pieces is 1 serving. I didn’t measure the size of the square, sorry!
Question: Can this be left out or does it need to be refrigerated? I’m traveling for a week and would like to take this along for breakfast/snacks in a place with no refrigeration. What do you think?
Hi Carol, with its fresh ingredients– it’s really best this is stored in the refrigerator. Instead, how about banana bread or whole wheat apple cinnamon muffins?
Thanks for your quick reply! Both the banana bread and apple muffin suggestions sound great… I might have to bring both! 🙂
What can be the replacement for applesauce?..or how can I make it at home
Mashed banana works wonderfully!
Hi Sally, I’ve now made this twice, including once for some friends and it is so delicious! Both times I subbed the extra applesauce instead of eggs and coconut oil instead of butter. I made it with blueberries the first time, and the second time I mixed half a peach with blueberries. The peach one tasted even better! I’m thinking of making this a third time without using any extra sweetener such as maple syrup as I think that sugar is having a negative effect on me right now. I hope it’s still delicious even without the maple syrup! I’m not too worried about the texture changing as I use plenty of applesauce. Thank you for this wonderful recipe, so filling and I love be able to customize depending on what’s on hand.
I just made this and my husband wanted it for dinner. I’m not a fan of oatmeal, but I really liked this and my husband loves it. I will definitely be making it again. I followed the recipe exactly, but will try with some different fruits.
Hi, Sally! I have been making this recipe on a regular basis since you first published it. I’ve previously left a 5-star review. ☺ I LOVE autumn/pumpkin season and was wondering if I could adapt this recipe accordingly. Maybe pumpkin for applesauce? I’m not very experienced with ingredient substitutions so appreciate any advice you can give. Thank you!
I think it would be a great idea to experiment by substituting the applesauce or banana with pumpkin! You can also kick up the fall flavor by adding pumpkin pie spice.
Excited to make this! Can I replace the eggs with a flax egg instead?
Hi Margaux! I haven’t tried this recipe with flax eggs but don’t see any problems with this substitution. If you try it, I’d love to know what you think 🙂
I, too, love this recipe! I am an oatmeal junkie and I make all different kinds: quick oats on the stovetop, steel-cut oats in the Instant Pot, overnight oatmeal, etc. I was a bit afraid this recipe would be too dry or not soft enough, but neither is true. I used coconut-almond milk for the milk and fresh blueberries and strawberries for the fruit. Thanks, Sally!
Emily, since you’ve tried doing oatmeal in an Instant Pot, would you, possibly, make your favorite version of Sally’s recipe in that pot and give us your feedback? I’d love to know your comments on that outcome, and I notice another follower, above, asked about doing it is an Instant Pot, too! So, I know there’s considerable interest in some investigating, if you’re game!!
This oatmeal has totally changed my morning routine! I’ve started making it every week and having it for breakfast instead of cold cereal–so much tastier and more filling. The only adaptation I make is to mix in some of the nuts (usually slivered almonds) in addition to sprinkling them on top, since I like the extra crunch.
Baked oatmeal delicious? Yes, yes it is! In an attempt to eat healthier breakfast I made this recipe. I was quite surprised that I actually enjoyed it. I used the honey instead of maple syrup and banana instead of applesauce options.
Love this recipe! I’ve made it 4 times with different mix-ins (chocolate chips, frozen raspberries, and frozen strawberries and blueberries). I use the applesauce sub instead of eggs so I don’t have to worry about raw eggs with clean up. I also use salted or unsalted butter depending on which is handy. Finally, I have tried almond extract instead of vanilla, and it’s a delicious twist. Turns out well every time! It freezes and reheats well for breakfast at work. Can’t say enough good things!
Staple in our home!
Hubby & toddler love it!
I’m expecting, and plan to bake this closer to my due date to have ready for those zombie mornings coming soon!
Any suggestions on substituting the maple syrup all together? This recipe looks so yummy!
See recipe note on the sugar! Let me know what you try.
I made this baked oatmeal, but unfortunately, it didn’t turn out very well. This was disappointing, considering how wonderful it looked in the photos and how positive all the other reviews were! My problem was that the oatmeal turned out dry and a bit gummy. It wasn’t moist or soft as I’d hoped it would be. I don’t know what went wrong! I did end up using brown sugar instead of maple syrup because I had none on hand at the time, and I substituted another egg for the applesauce. Could either of these switches be the culprit? I baked it for around 40 minutes, because it still looked quite wet when I checked it after 35 minutes. Did I over-bake it? Thanks for the help, Sally! I think I’ll just stick to healthy muffins instead of baked oatmeal 🙂
Hi Erin! If it tastes dry and gummy, the baked oatmeal was likely over-baked. It should be fairly moist. Try limiting to 35 minutes next time and I recommend sticking with applesauce instead of the 3rd egg. (An extra egg likely contributed to the gummy texture.)
I made this with chopped apple, E.D smith low sugar syrup with a dash of maple extract to make up for lack of flavour in the syrup. I also forgot the salt and can definitely tell. It came together so easily and turned out great!
I have this recipe printed out (I make it quite often) so when I came across it again on your blog just now I realised I had never told you how I liked it!!! Definitely five stars – I have made it with so many different fillings (berries, chocolate chips, nuts, fruit chunks) and each time it delivered beyond my expectations….thank you Sally!!