What is baked oatmeal and why is it different than regular old boiled oats? I had the exact same questions, my friends.
Baked oatmeal is the thicker, almost custard-like cousin, to oatmeal. How can that not be good, right? Well, it took me a couple tries to get the recipe right but I’m happy to say that last weekend I had baked oatmeal success!
You can use any fruit on the bottom. Apples are always an economical choice but use whatever is in season (peaches were on sale this week). I also used some frozen blueberries because I keep a big bag of those in my freezer. You can also try adding things like nuts, ground flax seeds, or other spices. Banana would be incredible with dulce de leche drizzled on top… ooooh.
One word of warning: I don’t like things too sweet so I used a very minimal amount of sugar here. If you want a richer, more decadent, dessert-like baked oatmeal, double the brown sugar.
Baked Oatmeal
Baked Oatmeal
Servings 6Ingredients
- 2 med. peaches ($1.06)
- 1/2 cup blueberries ($0.71)
- 1 1/2 cups milk ($0.56)
- 1 cup plain yogurt ($0.50)
- 1 large egg ($0.18)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar ($0.08)
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats ($0.34)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp baking soda ($0.01)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1 tsp ground ginger ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon ($0.02)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Clean the peaches and cut them into chunks. Place the peaches and blueberries in the bottom of an 8×8 baking dish coated with non-stick spray.
- In one bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (milk, yogurt, egg, sugar). In a separate bowl, stir together the dry ingredients (oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon). Combine the two bowls and stir until evenly mixed. Pour the mixture over the fruit in the baking dish.
- Cover the dish with foil (to keep the moisture in and steam the oats) and place in the preheated oven. Cook for 20 minutes. Remove the foil at 20 minutes and continue to bake until the top is golden brown (about 25 minutes more).
- Serve warm with cold milk, whipped cream, vanilla yogurt or just plain!
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Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!This dish can be refrigerated and eaten either hot or cold throughout the week.
Step By Step Photos
These big beautiful peaches were on sale this week so I had to grab ’em up! Use whatever fruit you want. You’ll need about 2 cups worth of chopped fruit.
Preheat the oven and coat a baking dish with non-stick spray. Use an 8×8 inch dish or something close in size. A 9×13 dish will be too big and will make a very thin, flat baked oatmeal. Not good.
Whisk together the wet ingredients in a bowl (milk, yogurt, egg, sugar).
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger). Stir until evenly mixed.
Combine the two bowls and stir until mixed.
Pour the oatmeal mixture over the chopped fruit.
Here’s a side view before cooking. It’s not very thick now but as it cooks, it will plump up. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for about 25 minutes more or until the top is golden brown.
See how much thicker it got? The oats soaked up all of that moisture and the milk/yogurt/eggs created an almost custard like texture. Awww-yeah.
Serve it warm or keep it in the refrigerator for a quick breakfast every day of the week!
I like a cold/hot temperature contrast so I like to pour cold milk over top.
I love oats.
Do you think cranberries would work well with this? I want to try it with apples, but I’m not sure how their texture would hold up over the course of a week.
wow!!!!looks yummy but can u recommend anything that can replace the eggs?
I’ve made this once with blueberries and bananas, and once with apples and cinnamon. It’s delicious! I make one batch on Sunday evening and my husband eats it for breakfast throughout the week, with milk. He loves it. I use a Pyrex dish with the plastic cover and it stays in the fridge throughout the week just fine. I don’t know if this will be relevant to anyone, but just in case…I was out of yogurt so I substituted kvark / fromage blanc for it and it was perfect. Thank you so much for this recipe, and my husband thanks you too: his breakfasts have vastly improved from the cold cereal he was having before. :)
I’ve made this several times and am about to make it again right now! SO good! Even the kids I babysit loved it, their parents were surprised I got them to eat oatmeal. I am thinking about adding applesauce and less sugar this time. Also, Chia seeds are a nice addition.
I’ve made this twice in one week! Apples are great in this. I’ve used banana instead of egg, as I was out, and it substitutes perfectly!
I can’t wait to try this. I’ve been wracking my brain lately on how I’d eat healthy in the a.m. now that we’re back to school. This will work perfectly! A pan for the whole work week! Less dishes (cuz I’m not washing the pot every day) and less work. I’m sold.
Anybody tried this with steel cut oats? Just wondering how that would affect the cooking time and taste.
Rachael, you can use quick oats although the overall texture will be more gooey. Old-fashioned oats are larger pieces so you get better texture. I’m sure it would still taste yummy, though!
This looks really good! I am out of old-fashioned oats, but I have quick oats. Will those work with this recipe?
Oh, and if you halve the recipe, you can still use a whole egg.
Natalie – you might have some water seepage after thawing… but not totally sure. Egg mixtures can sometimes act funny when frozen. Instead, I would suggest halving the recipe and then just keeping it in the fridge. I ate this one for about 5-6 days and it kept pretty well in the fridge :) I even ate it cold most mornings!
Beth – do you think this would freeze well in smaller portions? I’m the only one in my house who eats oatmeal. :)
I see that this comment is from a few years ago, but in case anyone else is wondering the same thing, I thought I’d mention that I made a batch of Beth’s pumpkin baked oatmeal and froze it. The night before I wanted to eat it, I put it in the fridge to defrost and microwaved it the next morning. It worked fine; I suspect this recipe would be similar, though the fruit might give off a little juice, as Beth mentions.
Thanks so much!!
I think you can just substitute the milk and yogurt with soy milk ( so 2.5 cups total) and then add an extra egg to help solidify everything. I haven’t tried it, but I think it will work! :)
My son is lactose intolerant- any ideas on how this would work without the yogurt or how to substitute? Can’t wait to try to recipe for me and the hubby either way :)