Eating Vegan Baked Oats is kind of like having cake for breakfast and, quite frankly, we don’t think that’s a bad thing. It’s much healthier than cake, of course, and our spin on it uses strawberries and peanut butter to take it to the next level. Vegan baked oatmeal did the rounds on TikTok a while ago, but our version keeps the oats chunky for (in our opinion) a better texture and we’ve been rocking this recipe on our website since 2018.
🌟 Why this recipe works
- A few simple ingredients – this vegan baked oats recipe only has 8 ingredients (a couple of which are optional) so it’s pretty simple. On top of that, the method is easy too – just mix a few ingredients together, add everything to a baking tray and chuck it in the oven. Another simple breakfast idea is these vegan savoury pancakes.
- Chunky oats – a lot of vegan baked oatmeal recipes call for blending the oats to create a cake-like texture. We do like that style, but this recipe has been on our site since long before baked oats went viral on TikTok, and uses whole oats. The texture ends up perhaps halfway between a cake and a flapjack and we love it like that.
- Versatile – this recipe uses almond milk, maple syrup, strawberries and peanut butter, but all of those ingredients can be substituted to suit your taste! If you don’t like maple syrup, try agave or your own homemade vegan honey. Strawberries can be switched out for any other fruit you might fancy. Don’t like peanut butter? Omit it, or try a different nut butter or even a vegan chocolate spread. It’s your vegan baked oats, afterall!
- Alternative to porridge – we’re big fans of porridge (especially this carrot cake porridge) and overnight oats, but sometimes you’ve gotta switch things up. Baked oats are a great way to use classic breakfast ingredients in a different way. While we’re on the subject, another one of our favourite porridge alternatives is vegan congee, which is savoury and uses rice instead of oats.
📋 Ingredient Notes
- Oats – porridge oats, rolled oats, steel-cut oats – whatever type of oats you want to use work in this vegan baked oats recipe so it’s really up to you. Our personal favourite is a chunky Irish (or steel-cut) oat.
- Almond milk – sweetened almond milk adds to the flavour combinations in this recipe. We always use Rude Health almond milk which is sweetened with brown rice. We think it’s delicious. While we’d recommend giving your vegan baked oatmeal a go with almond milk, other sweetened plant milks will work as a substitute. Anything from soy, to hazelnut, to oat milk.
- Flaxseed – ground flaxseed acts as a binder and is great for using as an egg substitute. Ground flaxseed can sometimes be expensive, or even difficult to find depending on where you live. However, if you have a decent cup or spice blender you can make your own! Just buy whole flaxseed and blend it up.
- Banana – lots of vegan baked oats recipes use banana as a binder, but that’s not why it’s in our recipe. We just love the flavour! Greasing the baking tray and adding slices of banana to the bottom means you have a delicious layer of bananas on the bottom of every slice of your vegan baked oatmeal. We even found that the banana slices come out of the oven caramelised, which just adds to the deliciousness. Vegan banana bread is also a great breakfast (or snack) option.
Check out the recipe card at the bottom of this article for exact measurements to make this vegan baked oats recipe.
🔪 Step-by-step Instructions
This is a step-by-step overview with photos for this recipe. The full recipe, along with measurements and detailed instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 5/190c. In a large bowl or measuring jug, whisk together the peanut butter and a cup of the almond milk until well combined. Add the rest of the almond milk, maple syrup, vanilla, ground flaxseed and whisk until everything is combined.
2. Grease a 26 x 9.5cm baking tray with vegan butter or a neutral oil. Next, place a single layer of sliced banana across the bottom.
3. Evenly sprinkle the oats over the top.
4. Pour on the mixed wet ingredients.
5. Evenly place the strawberry pieces on top of the oats. Put the tray in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, turning halfway through to help it bake evenly.
6. Cut into 6 slices and serve with optional toppings like coconut yoghurt, fresh fruit and/or more peanut butter.
👩🍳 Expert Tips
- Sweetened milk – this recipe calls for sweetened almond milk, that means we only need a little bit of maple syrup. Depending on how sweet the milk you use is, or if you use an unsweetened plant milk, you might want to use more or less maple syrup. It all comes down to taste – try the 2 tablespoons we recommend or try altering the amount to suit you.
- Maple syrup – we love the flavour of maple syrup and think it works great when making vegan baked oats. There are lots of great plant-based sweeteners out there that you could use as a substitute though. Agave is a really popular choice, but did you know that you can make vegan honey too?
- Blending vs not blending – we’ve created a recipe that doesn’t need blending because we don’t think a good baked oatmeal recipe needs blending. Plus, it provides a tasty option for people that don’t have a blender.
- Storage – this recipe keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days if stored in an airtight container. We often eat it cold, but it can also be reheated gently in the oven on a low temperature, or even microwaved. We don’t recommend freezing though.
- Peanut butter – we think strawberries and peanut butter are a fantastic combination (like peanut butter and jelly). However, this recipe works with other nut butters too! Almond, hazelnut and cashew nut butter all work well.
💭 FAQs
You most certainly can! Check out this recipe which doesn’t have an egg in sight. Any recipe that requires eggs can be made without, you just need to find a good recipe, even Yorkshire puddings!
Vegan baked oatmeal is a great way to make oatmeal in the oven. It’s kind of like a breakfast cake, rather than a classic bowl of oatmeal, but it packs all the same flavours in!
We like to add some protein powder to the ingredients that get whisked, that way the protein powder gets mixed nicely into the liquid mix. Alternatively you could shake some of the almond milk with protein powder in a protein shaker to work out the lumps then add this to the mix before baking. Plus, there is peanut butter in this recipe, which is a great source of protein. You could add an additional 1 or 2 tablespoons of peanut butter when serving to increase the protein content.
These vegan baked oats will keep well in the fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight container and are great eaten cold. You can also gently warm them back up in the oven on a low heat. We don’t recommend freezing.
🥞 More recipes to try
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Vegan Baked Oats
Ingredients
For the baked oats:
- 2 bananas - sliced
- 2 cups oats
- 3 cups almond milk – sweetened
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup strawberries - halved
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to gas mark 5/190c.
- In a large bowl or measuring jug, whisk together the peanut butter and a cup of the almond milk until well combined. Add the rest of the almond milk, maple syrup, vanilla, ground flaxseed and whisk until everything is combined.3 cups almond milk, 2 tbsp ground flaxseed, 2 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2 tbsp peanut butter
- Grease a roasting 26 x 19.5cm baking tray with vegan butter or a neutral oil, then place a single layer of sliced banana across the bottom. Evenly sprinkle the oats over the top then pour on the mixed wet ingredients.2 bananas, 2 cups oats
- Evenly place the strawberry pieces on top of the oats.1 cup strawberries
- Put the tray in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, turning halfway through to help it bake evenly.
- Cut into 6 slices and serve with optional toppings like coconut yoghurt, fresh fruit and/or more peanut butter.
Notes
- Any type of oats are fine – porridge, rolled, Irish, steel-cut etc. We personally like to use Irish (steel-cut) oats.
- Almond milk can be substituted for any other plant-milk – if using unsweetened more maple syrup might be needed.
- Maple syrup can be substituted for any other plant-based sweetener such as agave syrup.
- The vegan baked oats will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Eat cold, or gently reheat in a low oven or for a short time in the microwave. We don’t recommend freezing.
- Increase protein content by adding protein powder to the almond milk before mixing with the oats. Or served with more peanut butter.
Lucyinthesky
Can I use almond meal instead of ground flax seed?
Jess Saunders
Hey Lucy, we haven't made it with almond meal but would give it a go. However, I'm not convinced it will work as almond meal isn't generally used as a binder. Let us know how you get on! Jess