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
Loved this! Thank you Sally for turning me into a baked oatmeal fan! This recipe is very tasty and really quick and easy to prepare.
I was very pleasantly surprised by this recipe! I have never been a fan of baked oatmeal before, but this was delicious. I used fresh blackberries. Yumm! I didn’t have any banana or applesauce so I subbed flavored yogurt. Worked perfectly! I baked it exactly 35 mins and the texture was perfect- just set but not dried out. Thanks for another keeper, Sally!!! 🙂
I baked this today. I doubled the recipe for 9×13 and baked it 50 minutes. I realized I only had 5 cups of oats so I added 2 packets of TJs instant, which worked fine. I used fresh chopped dates, dried cranberries and walnuts. I tasted it still warm and it really is like bread pudding! Except for the oat mixup I used the exact amounts of the originally suggested ingredients. Thanks again for another great recipe!
Super tasty!! I made it with a mix of blueberries and raspberries. Baked it in a 9×13 inch pan, but only did the recipe x 1.5 so it wouldn’t get too thick. I baked it for about 45 minutes which was perfect. I’ll definitely make this again, it’s quick to throw together and so satisfying that I didn’t need anything else for hours!
Made this with bananas and walnut and it is amazing!
It is a little sweet for me, does reducing the amount of maple syrup affect the recipe?
I’m glad you enjoyed it! You can try reducing the maple syrup by half.
I, too, thought it was too sweet for my tastes. I only used slightly less than 1/4 cup of syrup, and it was just right for sweetness for me. (When I make oatmeal, I don’t use any sweetener…just fruits.) I added a couple more teaspoons Granny Smith apple sauce to replace the moisture of the syrup. I would think you could just cook it a minute or two less as well.
Very tasty! I’ve tried several different versions of baked oatmeal with fruit; while all are good, this one was the best by far.
Any thoughts about baking it in muffin cups?
I’m glad you liked it, Laura! You can certainly make it in muffin cups – how fun!
I made these in muffin tins and it worked out great! I sprayed the tins with a good amount of cooking spray, filled them to the top and baked for slightly less time (about 28-30 min) and they were perfect. Just had to let them cool a little longer in the tins so they wouldn’t break apart when I popped them out.
How many “muffins” did you get? Sounds like a perfect single serving option
I made them in a no stick muffin pan. They were divine! I could get into trouble eating these little pieces of heaven.
I’m obsessed with this recipe. Sally you did it again!
Great recipe! I’ve made it several times and now make a few tweaks. I don’t like overly sweet oatmeal, so I find that 2T of honey is sufficient in place of the maple syrup (especially if using bananas instead of applesauce). 2T of butter has worked instead of 1/4 cup, too! I love making this with bananas, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.
I love this oatmeal, so handy for a quick breakfast! I’ve made it on a regular basis since the recipe was published and it has become a stable in our house. I like it served with honey on top and berries and kiwis on the side 🙂
Can I halve this recipe?
What pan should I bake it in?
Yes, you can cut it in half. You can use a loaf pan or anything similar and you will decrease the baking time.
I halved it, worked great in a loaf pan! Baking it for 30 minutes was perfect.
We only had steel cut oats at home, so I didn’t want a full recipe since you recommend rolled oats. It’s delicious, but I think rolled oats would have been even better! The texture is a bit too tough with steel cut.
Can I use apples instead of berries?
Absolutely!
This will probably have a permanent home in my fridge each week. I used about a cup of frozen cranberries and the zest of one orange, plus a little bit of a spice blend that contains nutmeg, allspice, clove, and cinnamon. The base recipe is the perfect sweetness and texture, and it tastes just as good on days two and three as it did the day I made it. Next up will be a peanut butter banana version with a few chocolate chips sprinkled in!
I love this recipe! I am about to make it for my third week straight. I have been eating it for breakfast everyday. Just what I was looking for, fast and easy to make, delicious everyday. Thanks!!!
Exceeded my expectations.
This is in the oven cooking right now. I can’t wait to try it! Question: can I put in grated carrots and carrot cake spices to make carrot cake baked oatmeal?
YUM! I can’t see why not. Let me know how that turns out because I would love to try it sometime.
I’ve already made this three times! It’s light yet very filling and reheats very well.
I’m just making it and I think that there are two things in this recipe that don’t work:
1) The melted butter solidifies into chunks after mixing all the ingredients with frozen berries (recipe says to mix everything at the same time in one bowl),
2) It’s hard to mix the all the ingredients well AFTER also adding the berries. It takes too long and frozen berries release juices and make the batter purple. I think it would be best to add berries after mixing all the other ingredients and just gently fold them. .
I hope it turns out okay though. It’s baking in the oven now.
Update: it was really good in spite of the above problems 🙂
I love this recipe! I added frozen raspberries and dark chocolate chips to mine. After cutting into squares and freezing them I’ve been pulling one out at a time, microwaving until slightly warm, and serving with a scoop of Greek yogurt. Delicious!
Made this for breakfast this morning and we just loved it! I used a mixture of frozen cranberries and blueberries. (So pretty!) My super picky 2yo gobbled it up. Thank you for another fabulous recipe! I’ve made many versions of baked oatmeal before, but yours is my favorite. 🙂 I really appreciate how reliable your recipes are. All that testing sure pays off!!
Outstanding and easy breakfast!! I’ve made this for my family twice now (exact recipe the first time and apple cinnamon the second), and they commented on it for days after it was gone. I made it Sunday night, and it was great reheated for breakfast for the next few days with maple syrup, peanut butter, or in a bowl with extra milk!! This recipe will now be in my regular rotation!
I’ve made this recipe every week since it was posted, it’s fantastic and makes for delicious breakfasts all week! Thanks Sally!
I finally made this baked oatmeal on Sunday. It’s the best one I ever made and will be my go to recipe now! This is the creamest baked oatmeal I have ever had and love the banana in it. I put 2 chopped Bosc pears in it and the juice of 1 orange. Topped it off with chopped pecans. Thank you Sally for this awesome recipe!
This is my new breakfast staple Sally, it’s amazing and I got genuinely upset yesterday morning when I realised I had none left haha. A new batch is baking as we speak, with blueberries, strawberries, pecan nuts and some mixed seeds. Amazing quick brekki, especially with a 20 week old baby in the house.
I was so skeptic all of this, I love oatmeal and thought I wouldn’t like it. Call me converted, it’s amazing, not overly sweet and so quick and easy to throw together. Thanks for getting me to try something new I can totally see this being in regular rotation here.
I’ve already made it twice this week, first for a breakfast meeting at work where I served it with plain yogurt. It was devoured! I had to make another pan for the house and I’m looking forward to having it the rest of the week — if it lasts that long in the fridge. I only had brown sugar on hand and found the oatmeal to be drier than described, even after I took it out after only 30 minutes. It was still delicious but I’d like it softer and creamier. Should I increase the milk to 2 cups? Decrease oven temp or time in the oven?
Hi Geri! For a creamier baked oatmeal, add a little more milk. 2 cups should help!
I wanted to try and mix it up for breakfast for the kiddos. I made a pan to try out and my 8 year old son cannot get enough. I’ve made 4 large pans in two weeks and he constantly asks for it for dinner, as well! Thanks for a another great one, Sally!
I am constantly struggling to find healthy breakfasts that my kids will eat. I feel like I am always losing the battle to Cheerios…anyway, I made this last night with frozen strawberries and blueberries and reheated it this morning. 4 out of 5 of our family members devoured it, there’s hardly any left for tomorrow! And I just loved how easy it was to make with pantry items. Thanks so much, Sally, for another great recipe!
I absolutely love this recipe. I cut it into squares and heat a square up for my husband to eat before he goes to work! Thanks for another great dish!
My batch is delicious! I am a bit surprised at how yummy it is… it is, well, oatmeal. I’m looking forward to having this over the course of the week as a nice breakfast alternative to the same ‘ole store breakfast bars. I especially love the easy one-bowl recipe with ingredients I typically have already stocked.
This is going to become a regular breakfast in our house. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
This was absolutely delicious! About a year or so ago I tried a different baked oatmeal recipe and did not really like it. But this one is so good!! I used blueberries, strawberries, chopped walnuts, and coconut oil subbed for butter. So easy to make, easy to customize, healthy, hearty, and really tasty. Thanks, Sally, for a great breakfast option!