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 baked oatmeal is delicious! I made it with frozen strawberries and blueberries. I have found my new favorite recipe. Easy to make and perfect way to have my breakfast prepared for the whole week. I can’t wait to make it again with some different fruits or chocolate chips. Yum!
This was absolutely delicious! I only had an 8×8 inch pan so I put some of the batter in that and some in a smaller pan (can’t remember size exactly but it was roughly half as big as the 8×8 inch) and it turned out great! I’m pregnant and having major sweet cravings and this totally satisfied that craving but I love how healthy it is too!
I made this recipe over the weekend and both my husband (who’s not a big oatmeal eater) and I loved it!! The recipe is a keeper, looking forward to making it again. The leftovers the next morning tasted even better. I already passed on the recipe to my sister who also made it and loved it. Thanks for an awesome recipe!
I loved how easy this was to pull together (I actually mixed it and put it in the oven while I was making your lightened chicken noodle soup) and how delicious it turned out. Such a great breakfast to prep for the work week. Thanks for the recipe!
The perfect amount of sweet w/ fresh blueberries & raspberries. I used skim milk & think this is a delicious, healthy recipe. I will definitely make again, thank you!
This was sooo good! Been wanting to do healthier, more filling breakfasts for my family and this is definitely going into the regular rotation. I added a handful of chocolate chips for the kids but it totally doesn’t need it and I’ll probably leave it out next time. The kids loved it so much they wanted it for snack after school, breakfast tomorrow and in their lunch lol. Thanks for a great recipe!
Oh my word – so good! I’m currently eating a bowl of this right now and it’s delicious! It was so easy to toss together and now I have at least a week of breakfasts. I used a cup of frozen raspberries and 1/3 a cup of chocolate chips. Thanks for the recipe!
Today I made Sally’s new oatmeal breakfast dish using brown sugar, banana, and slivered almonds on top. Easy to put together out of everything I keep on hand and baked up perfectly. As a huge oatmeal fan (even for dinner sometimes) I will be making this often. Great idea to make when out-of-state family come to stay. Thank you!
I just baked and mine came out very soggy and mushy as well. I even baked an extra 10 minutes and turned heat up 5 degrees. I was hoping for some chewy texture (chewy granola like) like the pictures look. I used large eggs and followed recipe exactly. Next time I will cut back milk and add a little brown sugar to make it a little sweeter. I used frozen berries. I wonder if that where extra moisture came from.
Hi Amanda! The center of the baked oatmeal is very soft– not chewy at all. I tried to explain that, so I’m sorry if you were expecting differently! Feel free to bake for longer if you want your baked oatmeal more “set” especially if you are using frozen fruit. 🙂
I made this with apples and craisins because that’s what I had on hand. It was delicious. I’m looking forward to making it with fresh berries. I had been making and freezing steel cut oats regularly, but I’m going to switch to this recipe. It has a much better texture and flavor.
With this snowy weekend, I knew I had to make this baked oatmeal. I’ve made other baked oatmeal recipes and found it wildly disappointing, but I knew a Sally’s baked oatmeal would be different. And I was right. I prefer a firmer texture so I baked it for a full 45 minutes. Turned out to me more like soft oatbars. Not very sweet, but that’s kind of the point. Great option to make breakfast for the week ahead. Super easy and very healthy.
I was afraid to make this because I’ve tried others and I hated them. I cannot believe how surprised I was! It is so good and it really keeps you full all morning! I was so skeptical, but as my daughter said , it was a Sally recipe, so of course, I wasn’t disappointed!
Thank you, Sally, for this deliciously awesome recipe. I made it this morning as written with fresh blueberries and strawberries and loved every mouthful. My hubby enjoyed it as well. I love cereal with fruit for breakfast, but this is so much better. Next time I’m thinking bananas and brown sugar instead of maple syrup would be yummy.
In this crazy world we live in, it is wonderful to have you there to distract us with delicious adventures in the kitchen. Thanks so much. You are an inspiration.
Hi Sally!
I just baked this and it smells absolutely amazing! Thing is, I cut into it (after letting it cool for 10 mins) and it was soggy inside. Still tastes pretty good, but definitely looks nothing like yours 🙁
Could this be because there was too much liquid? I used two small-ish to medium eggs and the recipe calls for two large. I added extra mashed banana to make up for the eggs and may have overcompensated.
Any suggestions/help to make my second attempt a success? Looking forward to hearing from you! 🙂
Ps. Thank you for your endless wonderful recipes!
Hi Lauren! There could have been extra moisture from the added banana. Did you use whole oats? Bake for a little longer next time if desired.
I made this last night and had my first serving of it for breakfast this morning. Delicious! Nice to know I have a new delicious breakfast option for work mornings!
I made this baked oatmeal this week with frozen mixed berries and my daughter and I have been really enjoying having it for breakfast. It is so good and a nice change up from my regular breakfast of cold overnight oats.
This is so good! Thank you!!!
Delicious! I made it today with fresh strawberries, frozen raspberries and frozen blueberries that we picked last summer. Amazing! The whole family loved it. Used 1/2 dairy and half cashew milk.
I made this last night and it was absolutely wonderful and delicious – thank you so very much for this one!!!!
My 20 month old and I loved this oatmeal this morning! Easy to throw together and very yummy!
I made a double batch and took it to work. I followed the recipe and used half fresh and half frozen blueberries. My co-workers gave the recipe great reviews and asked for the recipe! I served it warm with Greek Yogurt. The one comment I did get…it would have been great to have Maple Syrup to drizzle it over the Yogurt. A keeper for the recipe files.
When I came across this recipe I knew I had to make it ASAP! I start my Spring semester next week and I’m always looking for something quick, healthy, filling, and delicious in the morning. This recipe is all of those things, so I’m excited to add this to my breakfast mix!
I just made this recipe and it turned out soooo good! I followed the recipe exaxtly- I used whole milk, frozen berries and topped with unsweetened shredded coconut. I broiled it for one minute at the end to get the coconut extra toasted. This is a great recipe for cleaning out the pantry, and using up milk that is about to expire. I feel full and ready for the day! Thank you Sally 🙂 I love making your recipes, it brings me so much joy!
I made this yesterday so my husband can easily take a piece to work in the morning. It’s delicious! I thought I had exhausted all the breakfast possibilities long ago. Thank you, Sally, for a new idea for breakfast!
So delicious!!! and filling, without being sugary. Thank you once again for such a great recipe that is very easy to make!
I made this and it’s absolutely yummy. Instead of the full measure of maple syrup I substituted 1/2 peanut butter and 1/2 maple syrup. I also used some yogurt instead of straight milk.
Made this on rainy day as an afternoon snack for the kids. I made it exactly as the recipe is written. Used chocolate chips for the add in, no nuts. It was delicious, will definitely a make again!
I made my four year old daughter and I this right away this morning! I used frozen blueberries and it was so delicious! I will try using less sugar next time because my banana was so ripe, it added lots of sweetness. I couldn’t even taste the banana! I make oatmeal for my daughter once a week and we also still make your oatmeal blueberry muffins often. I am excited to have this recipe to make weekly because I adore them! The texture is perfect! Soft insides (not mushy) but slightly crunchy outsides! The best baked oatmeal I’ve ever had! Thanks again for another wonderful recipe to add to my favourites!
I literally just pulled this out of the oven & already had a piece warm! It’s perfect for a cold day! Great simple recipe. I baked as presented and used all blueberries. Mine took 30 mins. This is a keeper for sure!