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Baked Oatmeal

5 from 24 votes

This healthy breakfast baked oatmeal recipe will quickly become one of your family’s favorite easy and delicious homemade morning meals!

Vegan Baked Oatmeal With Berries.jpg

The best breakfast baked oatmeal

This is the original baked oatmeal recipe that started it all.

Over a decade since I first created the recipe, you can now find many new and exciting flavors, including pumpkin, banana, and chocolate baked oatmeal.

However, even after all these years, the classic original is still our favorite.

Made with simple ingredients, freezer friendly, and perfect for guests or weekly breakfast meal prep, nutritious overnight baked oatmeal is one of the most convenient and best healthy breakfast options around.

You may also like these Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Baked Oatmeal Casserole Pan 9x13

Easy baked oatmeal recipes

Apple Cinnamon: Substitute the blueberries and strawberries in the recipe below with diced apple. Add one teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

Chocolate Chip Cookie: Stir half a cup of mini chocolate chips into the batter. If desired, sprinkle an extra handful of chocolate chips on top of everything right before the casserole dish goes into the oven.

Blueberry Baked Oatmeal: Replace the strawberries with fresh blueberries instead.

Nutella Banana Bread: Use store bought or Homemade Nutella as your nut butter of choice. Use sliced bananas instead of the berries.

Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal: Stir half a cup of shredded carrot and a handful of raisins in at the beginning. Increase cinnamon to one teaspoon, and add a pinch of ground cloves, ginger, and nutmeg. Top with cream cheese frosting.

Amish Baked Oatmeal: Add a handful each of raisins and chopped walnuts. After baking, top with brown sugar and milk of choice.

High Protein Baked Oatmeal: Replace half a cup of the rolled oats with half a cup of your favorite plain, vanilla, chai, coffee, or other flavored protein powder.

Add leftover oats to a Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

Banana Baked Oatmeal Ingredients

Healthy baked oatmeal ingredients

To make the simple oatmeal bake, you will need rolled oats, fresh fruit, water or optional eggs, salt, sweetener, vanilla extract, and optional nut butter or oil.

The oats can be rolled oats or quick oats. I have not tried steel cut oats or instant oats here so cannot recommend either of those. For a gluten free oatmeal casserole, use certified gluten free oats or substitute rolled quinoa flakes.

Nut butters that work well include peanut butter, almond butter, or cashew butter. Coconut oil tastes wonderful here. For an oil free, low fat, and low calorie breakfast casserole, the fat may be replaced with additional water.

If you wish to use frozen berries, be sure to fully thaw the berry package first. Blot excess water away with paper towels.

Sweetener options that work well include pure maple syrup, honey, or agave. If you experiment with a granulated sugar or sugar free sweetener, be sure to report back.

*If you prefer blended single serving oats, try my Baked Oats or Chocolate Baked Oats.

Step by step recipe video

Watch the baked oatmeal recipe video, above

Healthy Baked Oatmeal Breakfast

How to make baked oatmeal

Gather all of your ingredients, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line a traditional rectangular nine by thirteen inch baking pan with parchment paper, or grease it well. Set this pan aside while you make the baked oats.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the rolled oats, salt, and cinnamon.

Whisk in the mashed banana, pure vanilla extract, sweetener of choice, nut butter or oil, and optional eggs or water.

Carefully stir in the blueberries or other berries, reserving about a fourth cup to press into the top later if desired.

Smooth the oatmeal batter evenly into the prepared pan.

Add the remaining berries, then place the pan on the oven’s center rack and bake for forty minutes.

Remove from the oven, and serve hot. Or let the baking pan of oatmeal cool for vegan baked oatmeal bars that are easy to slice.

A frequently asked question I receive is whether you can make baked oatmeal in a slow cooker. I have not tried and therefore do not have directions for that cooking method.

Breakfast Meal Prep Oatmeal Bars

Storing and freezing leftovers

Allow leftover oatmeal to cool before covering.

Refrigerate for up to four days in an airtight covered container. Or slice into oatmeal squares or bars, and freeze for up to five months.

Reheat leftovers in a frying pan on the stove top, or in the microwave, toaster oven, or even an air fryer. If you prefer, you may also eat the baked oatmeal bars cold, like refrigerated energy bars.

These healthy baked oats are freezer friendly and great for meal prep, meaning you will never again have to worry about breakfast on rushed mornings!

Healthy Strawberry Oatmeal Recipe

Baked oats with no banana

If you are allergic to bananas or simply do not like the taste, this healthy breakfast recipe can easily be modified for a banana free version.

Use an equal amount of applesauce, Greek yogurt, pumpkin puree, or sweet potato puree as a substitution for the mashed banana.

To make up for the difference in sweetness, increase the pure maple syrup to half a cup. Decrease the water to one third cup.

For sweet potato or pumpkin baked oatmeal, I recommend adding a teaspoon of cinnamon and half a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.

Berry Baked Oat Bars

Using grams instead of cups

If you would like to measure out the ingredients with a food scale, here are the amounts to use:

360 grams of oats, 360 grams of mashed banana, 120 grams of water, 80 grams of pure maple syrup, 80 grams of nut butter, 180 grams of diced fruit, and 10 grams of pure vanilla extract.

Remember to also include the salt and cinnamon.

The amount of banana is around three bananas worth. I like to buy four just in case. You can always use up the extra to make Banana Oatmeal Cookies.

Baked oatmeal health benefits

With just over 100 calories and more than five grams of protein, homemade baked oatmeal is a wonderful heart healthy breakfast recipe.

In addition to being low calorie and high protein, the whole grain oat bars can also be low fat, high fiber, dairy free, egg free, cholesterol free, gluten free, oil free, and vegan.

The banana adds potassium, and the antioxidant rich blueberries are considered one of the healthiest berries, packed with vitamin C, vitamin K, manganese, and fiber.

Also high in protein is this Protein Banana Bread

Morning Baked Oats Healthy Recipe Low Calorie
Pin it now to save for laterPin Recipe

Baked Oatmeal

This healthy baked oatmeal recipe may quickly become your family's favorite delicious and easy breakfast!
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Yield 18 squares
5 from 24 votes

Ingredients

  • 4 cups rolled oats
  • 3 cups mashed banana (or see banana free version above)
  • 1/3 cup nut butter or oil, or additional water
  • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup or agave or honey
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs or a half cup of water
  • 3/4 cup blueberries or berries of choice

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9×13 inch pan with parchment paper, or grease well. Stir all ingredients except berries. Carefully stir in the berries, reserving about a fourth cup for the top if desired. Smooth into the pan. Press remaining berries on top. Bake 40 minutes. Serve hot, or let cool for easily sliceable bars. Refrigerate leftovers for up to four days, or freeze for up to five months.
    View Nutrition Facts

Notes

The recipe was adapted from this chocolate Brownie Baked Oatmeal.
 

Have you made this recipe?

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Published on October 22, 2023

Meet Katie

Chocolate Covered Katie is one of the top 25 food websites in America, and Katie has been 
featured on The 
Today Show, CNN, 
Fox, The 
Huffington Post, and 
ABC's 5 O’Clock News. Her favorite food is chocolate, and she believes in eating dessert every single day.

Learn more about Katie

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58 Comments

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  1. sam says

    Hello Katie.
    Thank you for your website work and creativity. Question on this recipe about the calorie count if it is made as the sugar free option. What would it be?
    Thanks.

    • shan says

      it appears as though it is already calculated using the sugar free (and oil free) option. if you made it using the maple syrup it would have 125 calories and 10g sugar per serving.

    • Lauren says

      Reporting back: It was delicious! The kids devoured their servings and even my husband gave it his thumbs up of approval. I followed the recipe exactly and was very happy with the results.

      Thank you!!! 🙂 🙂

  2. Sana says

    Gorgeous photos, and as a mom of three I will be trying the recipe. I usually skip over the single serving recipes (except for your chocolate mug cake. Love that one!)

    Thanks for all your hard work. We use your recipes often.

  3. Vicki says

    Hi Katie,
    I’ve been looking for a baked oatmeal recipe and I’m looking forward to trying this. Can you tell me how many liquid stevia drops to use instead of the maple syrup. Thanks.

  4. beth says

    I simply treat your breakfast cupcakes as individual servings of baked oatmeal, freezing what I won’t get through in a week. These are a staple for my husband and I (and now our 8 month old). Fantastic stuff.

  5. Hailey says

    I can’t wait to try this; looks like a great fall breakfast. I am a big fan of leftovers!! We are always eating leftovers!! 🙂

  6. Jeni says

    Katie, I’ve noticed you use pure maple syrup on a couple of your recipe’s. I don’t particularly like the taste of Stevia…is there another substitute for either one of these ingredients I can use? I would love to add maple syrup but we don’t have PURE maple syrup in Ecuador only the fake stuff… 🙁 Would love if you could help with this. I love your recipes…follow you on instagram too!
    Thanks! TC
    Jeni

  7. EVA says

    Leftovers are a godsend for me as college lunches and dinners for the four nights a week when I’m too drained to make anything. I’ve also begun “take-out Tuesday” to give myself a break from cooking- but I ALWAYS choose the healthy places, I swear! My stomach wouldn’t be able to fare a Chipotle bowl every week.

  8. Sadye says

    Oh man, I love leftovers and bulk cooking. It boggles my mind that some people *don’t* want to take home food from restaurants that they didn’t finish but that they did like.

  9. Leslie says

    I could totally do this for breakfast! I love it because I could bring a square all week and make them on Sunday nights. I’ve pinned this, thanks for sharing!

  10. Ella says

    Hooray for leftovers! This looks great, Katie, I might make it while my cousin is in town this weekend. Thanks for sharing! By the way, I put up the first video I’ve edited with Final Cut Pro (uber fancy video editing software) and shot in 1080p on my YouTube channel the other day and it would mean so much to me if you would take a look, Katie! I really admire your food photography skills and I worked really hard on getting the shots for this video perfect. Here is the link if you’re at all interested: http://youtu.be/eoWC-3IfG74
    Thanks for the recipe and consideration of watching! I hope you have an awesome day 🙂
    http://www.youtube.com/sparklesandsuch26

  11. Aashna says

    Hey Katie! You know what you should do?? You should make a yogurt sauce like the stuff they dip pretzels in but make it healthy and drizzle it over the oatmeal bars to make it a fun 4th of July breakfast!! Let me know what you think!

  12. Robin says

    SO happy you created a family size! Thank you! Looking forward to more baked oatmeal recipes that serve families. 😉 (hint, hint…)

  13. Heather @ Shards of Lavender says

    Katie, thank you for taking the time to test this recipe out:) I’ll be trying it out for my family this weekend. Have a great day!

  14. Mrs. O. says

    Thank you for this recipe! I have one that has eggs and a whole stick of butter in it that I no longer want to use since going plant based.

  15. Justin says

    This is perfect! I’m gonna make this for my family when I go home for fall break in a few weeks to celebrate us all together.

    I usually don’t have enough self control to make intentional left overs…I just end up eating the rest as a late night snack…oops.

    Hope you are doing well. I’m assuming I could sub peanut butter for the oil in this recipe as I’ve done it before with your single servings (would be great with chocolate chips! more like a dessert!!)

  16. Tracy says

    Thank you for posting the “Family Size” recipe! We have 4 kids and we are always making “something from Chocolate Covered Katie” for dessert! I usually to quadruple your recipes (or more) to make sure there is enough yummy goodness to go around! Keep the yumminess coming!

  17. Maura-Leigh says

    I can’t wait to make these! Is the quantity of maple syrup for stickiness as well as sweetness? I’d like to reduce the amount of sweetness without making them bland. Thanks!

  18. Kaitlin says

    This is a great recipe!! I got into the autumn spirit and used canned pumpkin instead of apple sauce and added pumpkin spice. It turned out great! I always love your recipes!

    • Melissa says

      Great minds. I thout this would work as I was mixing up the ingredients per the recipe. So glad to know it’s yummy, too!!

  19. Paula says

    Could this be made using the same amount of mashed bananas in place of applesauce like your other recipes? Or would I then need to lower/omit the added sweetener?

    • Unofficial CCK Helper says

      You can always experiment! Katie can only vouch for substitutions she’s tried, but if you try it, be sure to report back!

  20. Ann says

    I just had to get back here and thank you for this wonderful recipe. It is so perfect for a busy college student like me! I made it more than once already, once adding 4 tsp cinnamon (it ended up tasting quite apple-pie like!) and another time going crazy with several different add-ins (molasses, chopped pecans, chocolate chips, finely shredded coconut). I absolutely love the texture, too–it almost gives me the illusion of eating cake, which somehow manages to satisfy my never ending craving for sweets. Love love love love it!! Thank you so much!

  21. Ann says

    I already commented on this post, but I wanted to pop in again and share what I thought was a brilliant flavor variation for this recipe. When I first tried this baked oatmeal, I noted that the applesauce gave it a slight apple flavor. I just picked up a package of Celestial Seasonings Caramel Apple Dream tea, and an idea struck me. Why not turn this recipe into caramel apple baked oatmeal?? I’m thinking of heating around 4 tea bags with the amount of milk called for in your ingredients, adding lots of cinnamon and apple pie spice, and adding some caramel extract to intensify the flavor. Just the thought is making me hungry….I would go whip it up now, but I have soooo much oatmeal in the freezer and I’m the only one eating it……

  22. Olivia Grace says

    I combined this recipe with the pumpkin one and had it for Thanksgiving breakfast… I have almost two weeks of breakfast in my freezer right now and I’m so excited 🙂 What a yummy recipe!!! How long will they last in the freezer?

  23. Anna says

    Hi Katie! I was craving chocolate cake but didn’t want to eat something with flour, so I turned this recipe into luxurious chocolate baked oatmeal! I used 3 2/3 cup water (didn’t have milk; still turned out so rich and chocolaty!!), 8 oz Tofutti cream cheese instead of applesauce, 2 tbsp oil instead of 1/4 cup, a little more salt, 1/3 cup xylitol, a little stevia, 1/3 cup Dutch cocoa, a hefty drizzle of Hershey’s Simple 5 syrup, and 2 eggs. I put all the ingredients minus oats through the blender, then mixed them with the oatmeal. The rest I followed according to the recipe. OMG how can I describe how amazing that tasted!! Holy moly!

  24. LKS says

    Thank you Katie! I just discovered your site and my husband loved your healthy chocolate chip cookies 🙂 For this recipe I used unsweetened applesauce in the amount recipe states, 1/2 cup brown sugar instead of maple syrup (don’t like maple flavor), and almond butter as a direct swap for the oil. Turned out amazing, but so sweet for me it is like dessert – I guess due to all the applesauce. May try it with 1/4 cup brown sugar next time or eliminate entirely. Can’t wait to try your other recipes!

  25. Cindy Craner says

    Hello, this baked oatmeal recipe looks great and I can’t wait to try it. However, I am a bit confused as I want to substitute greek yogurt for the banana but in the directions it states: To make up for the difference in sweetness, increase the pure maple syrup to half a cup. Decrease the water to one third cup. Is the water you are referring to with the eggs (I plan on using eggs) or is it the nut butter, oil or additional water, because that is already 1/3 cup?

    • CCK Media Team says

      Hi, sorry for the confusion! That is indeed the water in place of the eggs. If using eggs and yogurt, you do not need to decrease anything when adding the extra maple syrup, because the eggs will enable it to set up regardless.

  26. Donna says

    Oh no! This looks great, but it isn’t the recipe I had bookmarked. I made the vegan family-sized baked oatmeal several times and love it for its ease and flexibility. I had all the ingredients for it, but though don’t quite match up to these ingredients. Would so love it if the other recipe could be still available!

  27. Julia says

    Hi Katie,

    Where did your other family-sized baked oatmeal recipe go? Also 4 cups of oats, no peanut butter or bananas in it. I’ve relied on it for years and it seems to have disappeared from your website recently.

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