These easy oat bowls are a delicious, healthy make-ahead breakfast. Customize them with toppings like nuts, seeds, nut butter, or fresh fruit!
These easy oat bowls are the perfect breakfast if you love eating oatmeal in the morning but don’t have time to cook before you head out the door. The base consists of whole rolled oats soaked in almond milk overnight with a dash of maple syrup. In the morning, the oats are soft, sweet, and lightly creamy, and they have a porridge-like consistency that’s satisfying to eat.
Try one of the four variations as written below, or dress up the base recipe with whatever toppings you like! You can’t go wrong with fresh fruit, nuts, seeds, nut butter, homemade granola, or toasted coconut flakes.
How to Make Breakfast Oat Bowls
These breakfast oat bowls are so simple to make! Here’s what you need to do:
- On the night before you plan to enjoy your oats, mix together equal parts whole rolled oats and milk. I typically use coconut or almond milk, but oat milk, soy milk, or regular milk would also work here. Then, add a little maple syrup and a dash of salt. Stir to combine!
- Refrigerate the mixture overnight in an airtight container.
- In the morning, the oats are ready to eat! Transfer them to a bowl before topping and devouring them, or top and take them on the go.
These are the toppings I started with to create these 4 breakfast bowl variations – how pretty are all of these healthy ingredients?!
Oat Bowl Recipe Tips
- Know your oats. Whole rolled oats are the way to go here. DON’T use quick oats or steel-cut oats. Quick oats will be too mushy, while steel-cut oats will be too tough.
- Leave your oats plain while they refrigerate overnight, and add toppings in the morning! That way, dried fruit will stay chewy, and any nuts and seeds will be crunchy, not gummy.
- Prep a big batch ahead for the whole week! Scale this recipe up to get ahead on breakfast all week long! Store individual servings in Mason jars and use different toppings each day.
Breakfast Oat Bowl Variations
Top the oat base with whatever nuts, seeds, nut butters, etc. you like, or try one of these yummy variations:
Cherry Berry Oats with Chia & Yogurt
A classic antioxidant-filled combo. This bowl is piled with tart cherries, blueberries, Greek yogurt, chia seeds, and a drizzle of maple syrup. For a fun twist, sub blueberry compote for the cherries and berries!
Coconut Turmeric Oats
An unexpected breakfast bowl filled with anti-inflammatory spices! Make the base recipe with coconut milk, and stir in a heaping 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. In the morning, dress it up with mango, dried currants, hemp seeds, and coconut flakes.
Sweet Sesame Tahini Oats
I love tahini so much that now I’m eating it for breakfast! This pretty bowl is topped with a big scoop of tahini, pomegranate arils, chopped dried apricots, sesame seeds, and crushed pistachios. To make it sweeter, add a drizzle of maple syrup or honey.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Oats
If you’re trying to get your kids (or husband) to eat oats, this one is for you :). Add 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract to the base recipe the night before, and in the morning, top it with almond butter or peanut butter, chocolate chips, and chopped almonds for crunch.
More Healthy Breakfast Ideas
If you love these breakfast bowl ideas, try one of these healthy breakfasts next:
- Overnight Oats
- Chia Seed Pudding
- Instant Pot Steel-Cut Oats
- Whole Oat Porridge
- Baked Oatmeal
- Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
- Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
- Or any of these 60 Healthy Breakfast Ideas!
Breakfast Oat Bowls
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup whole rolled oats
- 1/2 cup almond milk or light coconut milk, more as needed
- 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup
- Pinch of sea salt
- Desired toppings from above
Instructions
- In a small jar, combine the oats, almond or coconut milk, maple syrup, and salt. Stir and chill overnight.
- In the morning, scoop the oats into a bowl, stir in more almond or coconut milk, if desired, for consistency. Top with desired toppings.
- Alternatively, for a grab-and-go breakfast, you can assemble the oats in jars with the toppings the night before.
Note: If you’re gluten free, be sure to use Certified Gluten Free Oats.
it’s good!