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)Â milk (dairy or nondairy)
- 2 large eggs*
- 1/2 cup (120ml)Â 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 | WhiskÂ
- 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.
I’ve been searching for a good baked oatmeal recipe and I finally found it! Since I don’t like baked berries, I substituted a few things. I used 1/3 cup and 1/4 cup of mashed bananas in place of the eggs, unsweetened almond milk, 1/8 cup honey, 3 tablespoonfuls butter and a tablespoon of chia seeds. I also added I scoop unflavored whey protein powder, 1/4 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes, 1/2 cup chopped pecans and 1/2 cup dark (sugar free) chocolate chips. It tasted like banana bread and was so filling I could barely finish one serving. Thanks for all the substitution tips.
If you don’t have apple sauce or bananas is there anything to replace that with?
Hi Sara, Plain Greek yogurt would work, or try replacing with pumpkin puree for a fall inspired treat!
Brilliant recipe, kids love it and can sneak in some flax seed and nuts without them even knowing
This is so good! I was looking for more recipes to incorporate oats to help my milk supply & I’m so glad I found this! I don’t know that it’s made a difference in my supply but it’s a super easy, super delicious, pretty healthy breakfast. It’s way better than the flavored instant oatmeal packets I’d been using. I’ve made it 3 times now, each time with applesauce & unsweetened almond milk. The first time I made it without substitutions & used frozen raspberries & blueberries but since my fiance doesn’t like the texture of blueberries I poured the mixture into the pan & added the fruit after so I could do a section without blueberries. I pushed the berries down in as much as I could but it definitely was not as good as when the berries are mixed in before pouring into the pan because you fit a lot more berries in & they’re throughout the whole thing as opposed to just the top part. The second time I was out of eggs so I added the additional applesauce which made it not set up quite as well & it was a little more mushy. The third time I was out of butter so I used melted coconut oil instead which started to clump together as soon as I added it in the bowl with the other ingredients. I had stirred it beforehand cuz I knew it would clump somewhat but it still ended up with clumps of cinnamon & it stuck to the plastic mixing bowl. Also you can still see the clumps once it finished baking. Both the second & third times I used my frozen berries mix with raspberries, blueberries, & strawberries. I wasn’t sure about the strawberries since they’re so big so I cut them into smaller pieces & I’m so glad I did cause they taste super good in it. Everytime I’ve made it I’ve thought it was delicious (my fiance thinks it needs sugar which is fine by me cause I’d rather not share ) but I definitely like the original recipe without substitutions the best! I just bought some apples to try apple cinnamon & also some bananas to try it with those for some variety but I’m definitely going to keep making it with my raspberry, blueberry, & strawberry mix because it’s so amazing! This recipe is so quick & easy to make. I can make it once a week & stick it in the fridge to warm in the microwave each morning for about a min for breakfast. Quick & easy is the only way I can do things these days with newborn twins so thanks for the recipe!
My youngest son loves this oatmeal bake but his favorite part is the part without berries… Crazy. I know. What would you recommend I do to make this recipe without berries and still maintain the same consistency?
Hi Sally!
This has been my go-to breakfast for a few years now, I always make sure to have some individually portioned squares tucked away in the freezer for busy mornings.
Now that fall is upon us, is there a way to incorporate pumpkin into the recipe? Similar to your pumpkin oatmeal bars?
Thank you!
Julia
I love turning this into pumpkin baked oatmeal! Here’s what I usually do and actually just made it again this past weekend: 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.
My go to baked oatmeal recipe!
Delicious! I did frozen blueberry but next week I’m Doing frozen strawberries, peaches, and banana! Super excited! Thank you!
I am so in love with this recipe!! Thank you so much, Sally. I use your recipes for just about anything I bake.
I had to make this in a toaster oven, so I halved the recipe and it worked amazing!! I also didn’t have any butter and was worried the oatmeal would be rubbery but that wasn’t the case. I didn’t use eggs and added extra bananas, as well as flax eggs. Despite all the modifications, the recipe held up great.
This is on repeat in our house (with three young kids). We’ve used all kinds of different fruits, usually sprinkle a little cinnamon and coconut sugar on top and have added some chia, hemp & flax seeds to give it a nutritional boost. Thanks for a great recipe!!
Much better than the other recipe I tried. I made it with my homemade premium meusli, which uses about half oatmeal and half mixed grain meal, plus lots of roughly chopped walnuts, almonds and pecans, plus a little oat bran and crushed chia, as well as a sprinkling of Realsalt and vanilla, and a large sprinkling of cinnamon. I used fresh raspberries and chopped peaches. Yeah. You can imagine. “Pretty yummy,” says my aged parent.
Sally,
Thank you for all your recipes, but especially this one! This has been my go to breakfast for the past several months. I’ve made mixed berry, apple cinnamon, cherry almond and pumpkin variations, and they are all amazing! My family has been trying so many of your recipes this year (being cooped up extra at home = more baking and cooking!) Thanks again, and keep up the awesome work!
I want to be certain I understand the above. By cutting the maple syrup to 1/4 cup and replacing the remaining syrup with applesauce the recipe would end up with a 1/2 cup of applesauce when completed, correct?
Hi Loir, You can use 1/4 cup of maple syrup and 1/2 cup of applesauce OR 1/4 cup of applesauce. This recipe is very forgiving. (I make different variations all the time!)
I baked it almost every week. I use raw unfiltered honey with mine. And I put in my fruit after its in the pan just so I can put the fruit exactly where i want it. I like to have a section of blackberries and a section of blueberries. I love how you can change up the recipe if you get tired of it one way.
Its good hot or cold.
So so so so so good! It gives it a nice almondy flavor if you substitute almond extract for the vanilla.
Absolutely love this recipe! Been my go to breakfast for the last few months. I do both mixed berries and some dark chocolate, portion it up and freeze individually so I can just warm it through for breakfast. When I’m feeling a bit indulgent I have it warm with a drizzle of Nutella!
Adding dark chocolate is such a good idea!
This is delicious! I used fresh strawberries and almonds – delish.
This is my favorite baked oatmeal yet! I’ve tried a couple from other sites I follow but this one seems to be the best of the bunch. I just used two big bananas I didn’t measure that part and I added 1/4 tsp of nutmeg to really bring out the richness of the butter. Everything else I followed exactly. It’s delicious. I used a 9×3 inch round springform pan and it worked perfectly as I didn’t have either of the other sizes mentioned. Thanks for the recipe!
Made it this morning and the flavors were fantastic. I must double it the next time.
Love this recipe. I always have a pan made in the fridge. It’s a quarantine staple.
Hello Sally! to be honest i am addicted to your blog! thank you for sharing all these recipe with us!
today i tried the 1 bowl baked oatmeal even my 14 months old baby girl loved it so much.. we’ll try it again for sure
Hi…could I make this in a muffin tin?
Tried this today, and I ran out of milk so I used leftover sour cream and some water. It didn’t come out with the lovely golden brown colour like your’s, but still tasted delicious!
I was wanting a healthy but yummy baked oatmeal with good chew. This was amazing. Per usual. We’re up to 2-3 of your recipes per week because they never lead us astray, but this blew my expectations. I want it for breakfast, dessert, snack. So. Good.
I used frozen cherries and my blueberries that were on the edge of bad– perfection.
The only thing i do differently is I add a scoop of protein powder and sugarfree syrup but it is still amazing!!!
For diabetic or prediabetic I would reduce maple syrup to 1/4 cup or less. If using applesauce, use unsweetened.
Moist and delicious!!
This was **excellent**.
Made this with 1c fresh cherries and 1/2c chocolate chips. I was running low on honey so did 50% honey and 50% brown sugar and subbed coconut oil for butter. Sooo good! Highly recommend!
This is so delicious! I’ve only made it with apple (as noted as an alternate fruit in the recipe), and it is a hit! It reheats fantastically and has become a go-to breakfast.