Baked oatmeal is not only easy to prepare and makes a delightful breakfast, it can be chock full of nutrients when done correctly. The comforting warmth of freshly baked oatmeal, paired with the naturally sweet, sweet potato makes for a wonderful combination. Not just for casseroles on Thanksgiving, try this baked oatmeal with sweet potato for breakfast soon!
I’m pretty picky about my baked oatmeal – I like to use more oats than liquid so that it doesn’t turn mushy while baking. I also love variety so I tend to use what fruits or squash I have on hand. If I have leftover baked potato or butternut squash I’ll use that. Other times we do mashed banana and raisin. When we have fresh berries in the summer, blueberry (with the crumb topping) is a hit and diced apples is one of our favorites.
This healthy baked oatmeal is great to serve right away or make a double batch and keep it in the fridge for a few days for a quick and easy breakfast (or freezer for longer).
Baked Oatmeal with Sweet Potato
Ingredients
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup yogurt
- 2 eggs
- 3 Tbsp coconut oil melted, or butter
- 1-2 Tbsp maple syrup or sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup mashed sweet potato approximately 1 med potato, steamed ahead of time
Optional Crumb Topping
- 3 Tbsp softened butter
- 4 Tbsp almond flour or all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- For best digestibility, place oats, milk, and yogurt in a bowl and let sit in a warm place overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F with a 10 inch cast iron skillet in the oven.
- Stir in all remaining ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Grease pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
- Crumb Topping: Use a fork and mix ingredients together until it's a coarse crumble consistency. Sprinkle over the top before baking.
Notes
Donielle Baker
Homemade Peach Lemonade
Thanks for the recipe! I made it this morning for my little guy and he seemed to be a fan (I was, too)!
@Melissa, Thanks for letting me know! Glad you liked it!
I think I might try this with cooked, mashed butternut squash. It tastes like pumpkin, so we’ll have pumpkin oatmeal!
I made this on Sunday for my family – YUM! I made the crumb topping, too – it was so good! They kids wanted a bit of syrup over the top, but DH and I ate it as is and I LOVED it!!!
What if I used coconut milk instead of reg milk?
@tash, Tash – coconut milk will work just fine! If you make coconut kefir you could use that in place of the yogurt if needed as well.
@donielle, Thanks! I’m really excited about tryint this!
@tash, So I really like this recipe! I just made my second batch which is sitting on the stove cooling; I’ll eat it for breakfast in the morning. I actually thought it tasted better the second day! I did substitute regular milk for coconut milk and used honey instead of sugar; very yummy! Thanks for sharing!
I drink light vanilla soymilk,can I use this in this recipe?
@Darla, Personally I’d stay away from soy milk due to the problems it can cause because of the high phtytic acid content and the issues it can cause with hormones. I’d suggest using coconut milk instead.
You say [“I firmly believe that a diet low in grains is one with the most health benefits”]. I have bad cholestrol and blood pressure and I was under the impression that grains are a good thing. What’s Up????
@Doug Warren, Yes – if you read what the USDA and the medical community say about grains, they seem like the best food ever. But when eaten in excess, especially if a person has a damaged gut due to gluten intolerance, antibiotic use, high sugar diet, etc, they can cause more harm than good. And the majority of us do not prepare them in a way that allows for the best nutrient absorption. (soaking, sprouting, fermenting)
http://www.naturallyknockedup.com/diet-investigation-primalpaleo/
http://www.naturallyknockedup.com/diet-investigation-gluten-free/
(I too had bad cholesterol -even when eating low fat- until I switched to a whole foods/good fat diet (good fats = butter, coconut oil, evoo, not the processed vegetable oils)
I must admit that I have wondered about the fact that they use grains to fatten up cattle and hogs.
Thanks so much for the baked oatmeal recipe and comments. We still have butternut squash so we look forward to some delicious eating. We have begun soaking our oats before cooking in the morning and I do feel better after breakfast since we’ve begun doing it.
Thanks again, Jerry and Jeannette
You just say “oats” – rolled oats? Steelcut? I have steelcut and happen to have a random sweet potato so I’m trying it that way tonight, but it’d be nice to know for the future!
@Ally, Oh dear – you’re completely right, I didn’t specify! I used rolled oats in this recipe, though it also work with steel cut if you add extra milk/water. (I’m unsure of the exact amount though…… you would use just less than half of the liquid you normally would when making them. ex. I normally use twice the amount of water when I make rolled oats- 2 cups of oats to 4 cups of liquid. In this I use 2 cups of oats to 1 and 3/4 cup of liquid.)
This might make me a lover of sweet potatoes . . . 🙂 I currently dislike them. But oooh la la this sounds so good!
I have a question about the soaking process. Is it really ok to leave the dairy out overnight? I’m new to traditional foods, so this seems odd to me.
Thanks!
@Melissa C., Yes – especially if you use fresh, unprocessed milk (also known as ‘raw’)! Raw milk doesn’t go “bad” like pasteurized milk does. If you use pasteurized milk, you can put it in the fridge to soak if you’re apprehensive, but I would soak it that way for at least 24 hours (so start it at breakfast one day to cook for breakfast the next). Another way to go about it would be to use coconut milk.
Just keep it covered so bugs don’t get in there. 🙂
My, My, My! Made a double recipe this morning and the ‘Crew’ polished it off in short order with lots of sounds of delight. Thank you!
This looks great! Will be making sooon 🙂 Will it still turn out if you soak for only a few hours instead?
@Kati, Sure thing!
If we only soak it for 10 or 11 hours, does it still work?
@Suzann Lewis, Yes, it’s just the longer you soak, the more phytic acid is neutralized. But some soaking is always better than none! And I routinely only soak for 10-12 hours. 🙂