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
Sadly, this recipe didn’t turn out at all like the photos… I used grams to measure my ingredients as I live in Europe. I didn’t have any maple syrup. Out of the oven, it came out more like an unbaked cake… I wonder what went wrong? Could I send you some photos?
Hi Susan, it’s likely the baked oatmeal wasn’t finished in the oven. (The texture is supposed to be sturdy, but still on the softer side.) Feel free to email me if you want to troubleshoot!
Could you make this recipe in a muffin tin instead?
Yes, definitely. I actually do that with my apple cinnamon baked oatmeal cups.
Delicious!! I was skeptical of the level of sweetness based on ingredients, but it really is great, to the point where I can’t stop nibbling at it. I’ll definitely freeze some as squares.
Loved this easy Baked Oatmeal recipe. It would be a great healthy after school snack for kids. I actually used only 3 oz of Maple Syrup, banana, chopped apples and no salt.
Teresa
This is so good! I’ve made it with about half the maple syrup and it’s plenty sweet. I’ve made it with blueberries, and again with diced apple and craisins. It’s great with milk and almond milk. I’ve made it at least once a week since we’ve been home. I love that it’s a one bowl recipe too!
My husband is doing the grocery shopping and bought quick oats instead of old fashioned . But I really wanted to make this recipe this morning and I’m so glad I did! It didn’t come out dry at all and had a really nice moist texture. I almost made half, but I’m glad I made the full. It’s already gone!
My family loved it. We will be making this very often.
Thank you
I wondered if this recipe could be used to make portable breakfast bars rather than a spoon food. How could I do this?
Or do you have another recipe for substantial and healthy oatmeal breakfast bars?
Hi Diana, you can bake the baked oatmeal for a little longer so it’s bar form– in fact, I just did that last week! You could also reduce the milk by 1/4 cup too. You might enjoy my peanut butter banana oatmeal bars or soft oatmeal raisin granola bars.
Super simple and super delicious. I used rolled oats, a whole banana instead of just 1/4 cup, and added about 2 cups of berries. The flavor was outstanding, the cinnamon and maple syrup make the recipe. I didn’t have baking powder so I used lemon juice mixed with baking soda and it came out perfect. Highly recommend this recipe, hard not to eat half the pan in one sitting!
Grand daughter and husband approved! Followed recipe exactly. Used coconut milk and banana. For add ins it was toasted pecans. Easy and soooooo tasty. You can eat for breakfast or dress up for dessert with some whipped cream and some more fruit on the side! Thank you for sharing.
Delicious! I wanted to make half, but wasn’t sure how I would have to change the time for cooking, so I just left it as is. I’m so glad I did too because it was so yummy and will be eaten over the next day or two!
We used quick oats because that is all we have on hand so I added more liquid. 2 cups instead of the 1. 75C milk and did a combination of milk, blend and water because I needed to save some milk for the rest of the week (possibly caused it to have different flavor?).
We put in apple, raisins, chia seeds, nutmeg and pecans on top.
I reduced the cook time to 30 minutes since we used quick oats and I don’t have a 9*9 pan, had to use a 9*13 for a single batch.
Made this morning! So yummy!
I used unsweetened blueberry applesauce since it’s all I had on hand. It worked well since we were using blueberries and apples.
Thanks for a great recipe!
Can you replace the applesauce/banana option with peanut butter? I don’t have applesauce or bananas and wondering what a good replacement option would be?
Thanks!
You can try it! Pumpkin purée works too.
Delicious, just the right hint of sweetness. I used steel cut oats and soaked them as instructed for 20 minutes in cashew milk. Also I used agave nectar in lieu of honey, omitted the berries, and added crushed walnuts to the batter. The casserole came out almost cake like, so good.
I cannot tell you how much I love this oatmeal! It’s like comfort in a bowl with the added bonus of being good for you. Thank you so much for transforming our breakfasts.
This recipe is fabulous! My 2 and 4 year old girls not only helped make it, but also devoured it! You have been our go to for quarantine fun! We have been choosing a new bake to try every couple days! I think it’s safe to safe we have a sallysbakingaddiction-addiction! We have even watched every “Sprinkled” episode a couple times! Thank you so very much for sharing your love and knowledge of baking with us!
This makes me so happy to read, Ashleigh! I’m thrilled you and your girls have been enjoying my recipes and videos 🙂
Love this recipe! Just made it and it is so tasty! I replaced the maple syrup with light agave because that’s all we had. I will definitely make this again.
Thank you!
Better than expected, and I always expect high quality from SBA recipes! I used whole milk, honey, mashed banana, frozen blueberries, and craisins/walnuts pressed on top. I used a 11×7 baking dish, baked for about 45 minutes, and tented with foil after 30 minutes. I’m pretty sure the frozen fruit added extra moisture and the oatmeal needed a few extra minutes to not be soupy. It turned out perfectly moist, soft, and browned on the edges. Sweeter than I expected, meaning my toddler gobbled it down no questions asked. This will be a regular addition to our breakfast rotation. Thank you again, Sally and team!!
Great!
My 5 year old loved mixing everything and loved our breakfast even more! Delicious and easy recipe.
This is so good! This morning I used chopped apples instead of berries and my family enjoyed it even more. I didn’t have enough milk, so I used a cup of milk and 3/4 cup of water…I couldn’t tell the difference, still as delicious as always. Thank you, Sally, for this wonderful recipe!
This recipe is FANTASTIC, held up all week! I made roughly 3/4 scale of the full recipe to fit in an 8×8 pan, worked perfectly. Seriously good stuff people! I’ve made baked oatmeal before, it was meh, this one is AWESOME.
Absolutely delicious! I made the recipe as stated, but used quick oats instead. It worked out fine! I mixed them in last and did not let batter sit before baking. So. Good.
Very yummy, easy and cheap. I was so tired of my same old weekday breakfast option. I also can’t believe I did about 5 min of prep time and now have breakfast for me and my boyfriend for the whole week!
I make this almost every Sunday and my husband and I eat on it for most of the week. It’s so easy to whip up and so delicious. I love it with blueberries and pecans.
Great recipe! Didn’t have applesauce or banana and cut the maple syrup in half. I used three different berries and it turned out great. Will definitely make this again!
I’m trying to make this dairy free and substituting the butter with melted coconut oil. Would the amount be 1/4 cup? Would that be measured solid or melted?
Hi Elisa, yes, you can substitute 1/4 cup of melted coconut oil.
Loved it, perfect for a quick breakfast in the morning all week long. My 10 month old loves it as well, YUM!!!
I love your recipe and have passed it along to many of my friends. I was thinking of using lemon extract or almond extract or both. to compliment blueberries and raspberries. Do think that would work?
Thanks Jennifer! And I can’t see why not.
Such a easy flavorful delicious filling breakfast! The sweetness is enough to make the dish delightful but not seem unhealthy. Has a wonderful chewy and soft texture.