Vegan Baked Oats for One (6 Flavors!)

Although the flavors and mix-ins you add to baked oats can vary greatly, the basic ingredients of baked oatmeal are fairly consistent. The base recipe ingredients for Single-Serve Baked Oatmeal are as follows:

• Fruit/veggie puree or yogurt – When using purees, I usually use mashed, ripe bananas or applesauce. You can also use pumpkin puree, but you may need to add more sweetener. For yogurt, I like to use non-dairy yogurt. The puree helps bind everything together just like regular eggs.
• Oats – I personally like to use rolled oats whenever I make baked oatmeal. They hold their shape well and give the oatmeal some texture. If I want cake-like baked oatmeal, I make this Single Serving Protein Baked Oatmeal that uses oat flour.
• Maple syrup – Maple syrup is always my favorite sweetener. It is a natural sweetener that adds a nice rich flavor. Any liquid sweetener will work.
• Baking powder – You will need a leavening agent to make your oatmeal rise and get nice and fluffy. Since there are no eggs in these vegan baked oatmeal recipes, I use baking powder instead.
• salt – Salt always makes oatmeal taste better in my opinion. It seems like an unnecessary element, but don’t leave it!
• Non-dairy milk – You will need non-dairy milk to add moisture and bind everything together. Any type of non-dairy milk from a carton will work, such as almond milk, soy milk or oat milk. Or you can make your own almond milk at home!
• spices – I almost always add some spice or flavor, like cinnamon, cocoa powder or vanilla extract.
• Mix-in – Once your basic batter is mixed together, you need to add some mix-ins or toppings! Add chocolate chips for some fall; chopped nuts for crunch; Dry fruits for chewing, etc

See recipe card for full list of ingredients and instructions.

🔀 Substitutions and Alterations

Today I’m sharing 6 different flavors of vegan baked oats, but you don’t have to stop there! There are so many different flavor possibilities when it comes to baked oatmeal that you’ll never run out of options. I’ll list some flavor ideas to start with below:

• banana bread – Use mashed bananas as a puree.
• Lemon Blueberry – Use non-dairy yogurt as a puree and add some lemon zest, lemon juice and blueberries to it.
• Double chocolate – Mashed bananas add natural sweetness. Then add cocoa powder and chocolate chips to the batter.
• apple pie – Choose applesauce for your puree, add lots of cinnamon and top with a crunchy streusel topping!
• Pumpkin spice – Choose pumpkin puree as your puree and add lots of hot spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
• Funfetti/birthday cake – Applesauce adds a bit of sweetness to Baked Oatmeal Birthday Cake, despite being quite neutral in flavor. Then just stir in some sprinkles.
• Peanut butter and jelly – Add peanut butter (or your favorite almond butter) to the batter and dollop some jelly in the middle of the batter before baking for a sweet, filling treat.
• Snickerdoodle – Add lots of cinnamon to the batter and sprinkle a cinnamon sugar mixture over your baked oatmeal.
• coffee cake – Make a streusel to go in the middle and top of your batter!
• Zucchini Bread – Stir some shredded and drained zucchini into your batter. Additionally, add some warm spices, raisins and chopped walnuts!
• Cranberry orange – Use orange juice instead of non-dairy milk and add some orange zest for extra flavor. Stir in some fresh cranberries.
• Lemon Poppyseed – Add some lemon juice and zest to this basic recipe and stir in some poppyseed just before baking.
• coconut – Use coconut curd and coconut milk as liquids in the base recipe and stir in some shredded coconut.
• nuts – For you nut lovers, add some almond extract and slivered almonds!
• Gingerbread – Add lots of garam masala to the base recipe and use molasses instead of maple syrup.

To make a single serving of Vegan Baked Oatmeal, all you need is a small mixing bowl and a spoon.

1. Ideally, start by whisking or whisking together the wet ingredients, including the puree/yogurt, maple syrup, vanilla, baking powder, salt, and non-dairy milk.
2. Then stir in the oatmeal and mix-ins.
3. Pour the batter into a greased single-serve ramekin and bake at 350F for about 18-25 minutes or until set.

To be honest, I often forget about my baked oatmeal and bake it for about 30 minutes and it still looks great! It’s just a little too dry. When the baked oatmeal is ready, carefully remove it and top with your favorite toppings. Dig in!

The best baking dish for single-serve baked oatmeal

When you’re making vegan baked oatmeal for one, you’ll need to buy a small baking dish. Fortunately there are a few options that should work! I like this 2 cup pyrex dish, but you can use 1 cup ramekins (16-18oz). Another great option is to use jumbo muffin cups.

Can I double this recipe?

Yes! I often double this baked oatmeal recipe into two servings! It’s an easy way to prepare meals or feed more mouths. If you make a double batch in a ramekin, you just need to increase the baking time to about 40-45 minutes. Alternatively, you can divide the batter between two ramekins and bake for the usual 18-25 minutes.

Can I Cook Vegan Baked Oats in the Microwave?

Cooking “baked” oatmeal in the microwave is never as good, in my opinion, as when I take the time to bake it in the oven. So yes, you can cook these vegan baked oats in the microwave, but the texture will be a little more sticky versus the light, cakey texture you get when you bake these oats. If you want to microwave your oats, you’ll probably need to cook them on high for about 2 minutes.