Sweet Potato Baked Oatmeal
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Published Nov 27, 2019, Updated Mar 05, 2024
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Inspired by my favorite fall casserole, this sweet potato baked oatmeal is loaded with sweet potato goodness and topped with a crispy pecan topping. It’s also vegan and gluten-free.
This month’s baked oatmeal flavor is inspired by my absolute favorite Thanksgiving dish – sweet potato casserole. When brainstorming baked oatmeal recipe ideas for November I thought, why not take the main flavors from my favorite dish and turn them into baked oatmeal?
Now I get to enjoy one of my holiday faves all year long… and for breakfast, nonetheless.
Baked Oatmeal FAQs
Before we dive into the recipe, I wanted to address some FAQs I’ve been getting about baked oatmeal!
I personally love the flavor and nutrition stats for almond milk. That said, you can absolutely swap in your preferred milk of choice. Cow’s milk, cashew milk, oat milk, rice milk, soy milk… really any type of milk will work for baked oatmeal.
Rolled oats absorb more liquid than other types of oats and hold up well during cooking. I would not recommend using different oats unless the recipe calls for a specific kind of oat. I do have a delicious baked steel cut oatmeal recipe!
Yes, you can totally do this to save on time, but I personally like to prep and bake it all at once because the oats do tend to soak up quite a bit of the milk overnight (kind of like overnight oats). If you don’t have a choice and need to prep the oatmeal bake ahead of time, that’s fine. It might just seem a little bit drier than normal after baking. If this happens, just serve with a splash of milk.
Another prep-ahead option is to combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl the night before. The morning of, simply mix the two together, pour into your baking dish and bake!
Here’s What You Need
- rolled oats – the base of this baked oatmeal, make sure you get rolled oats and not quick/instant or steel cut.
- Make sure you’re using certified gluten-free if necessary. I like to use Bob’s Red Mill old fashioned rolled oats.
- baking powder – a leavening agent, this will help the baked oatmeal rise.
- spices and seasonings – pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract, cinnamon and sea salt. You can make your own pumpkin pie spice if you don’t have any on hand!
- almond milk – you can make your own using my almond milk recipe or use store bought. As mentioned above, I like to use almond milk but any milk will do!
- sweet potato – you’ll need 1 cup of mashed sweet potatoes. Try my sweet potato puree recipe or use a leftover baked sweet potato if you have one!
- maple syrup – my favorite natural sweetener, it pairs beautifully with the sweet potato.
- ground flaxseed – you won’t actually make a flax egg, but you will add it to the mixture to help bind it together. You can omit entirely and just use 1 egg if you prefer or don’t need it to be vegan or egg-free.
- coconut oil – provides moisture.
Crispy Oatmeal Pecan Topping
In my opinion, the topping is what makes sweet potato casserole so yummy, so of course I had to include it in this baked oatmeal recipe. The end result is a crispy, crunchy topping that’s simply irresistible.
- coconut sugar – brown sugar works just as well but I prefer to use coconut sugar.
- pecans – provide a beautiful crunch to this topping. You can use walnuts if you prefer.
- rolled oats – as above, rolled oats are best in this application. Make sure you’re using certified gluten-free if necessary.
- coconut oil – helps bind the ingredients together.
How to Make Sweet Potato Baked Oatmeal
Preheat Oven – Start by preheating your oven to 375ºF and spraying an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.
Mix Ingredients – Next, mix together your oats, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and salt. Once combined, add your milk, sweet potato, maple syrup, flaxseed (or egg), coconut oil and vanilla into the bowl. Stir well to combine.
Pour – Carefully pour the oatmeal mixture into the baking dish, set aside.
Prep topping – In a separate bowl mix together topping ingredients and then and sprinkle with the oatmeal mixture.
Bake – Bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden and the center is set. Remove from the oven and let cool before serving.
Flavor Variation
Not a sweet potato fan? You can use pumpkin instead! Use 1 cup of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) in place of the mashed sweet potatoes. Mmm…
How to Store Baked Oatmeal
Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days. To reheat the whole baked oatmeal, cover with foil and reheat in a 350°F oven for about 20 minutes. For individual portions, set your toaster oven to 350°F and bake for 5-10 minutes or reheat in the microwave for 1 minute.
Love Baked Oatmeal? Try These Other Flavors
- Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal
- Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal
- Zucchini Bread Baked Oatmeal
- Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal
- Peach Baked Oatmeal
- Blueberry Baked Oatmeal
- Pear Baked Oatmeal
More Oatmeal Recipes
Be sure to check out all of my baked oatmeal recipes as well as all the popular oatmeal recipes here on EBF.
Sweet Potato Baked Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 1 cup mashed sweet potato
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup, plus more for serving
- 1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed*
- 1 Tablespoon coconut oil, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
- ¼ cup brown sugar or coconut sugar
- ¼ cup chopped pecans or walnuts
- 2 Tablespoons old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 Tablespoon coconut oil, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix together the oats, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and salt. Stir to combine.
- Add in the milk, sweet potato, maple syrup, flaxseed, coconut oil and vanilla to the bowl. Stir well to combine.
- Carefully pour oatmeal mixture into the prepared baking dish.
- Mix together topping ingredients in a small bowl and sprinkle over oatmeal mixture.Â
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden and center is set. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Portion and serve.Â
- Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- To reheat the whole baked oatmeal, cover with foil and reheat in a 350°F oven for about 20 minutes. For individual portions, set toaster oven to 350°F and bake for 5-10 minutes or reheat in the microwave for 1 minute.
Video
Notes
- You can use 1 large egg instead of the ground flaxseed if you’re not worried about the oatmeal being vegan or egg free.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I really liked this recipe! Next time I’ll make more nuts to the topping.
I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for the review, Brandy. I so appreciate it!
I am interested in the recipe I saw that is some kind of chocolate bar with pecans, etc. Thank you.
Hey Olga – Are you talking about my sweet potato breakfast cookies?
This was so yummy! It tasted like the best of Thanksgiving. I had leftover sweet potatoes and knew you’d have a great recipe I could use them in. Next time I think I’ll top with sliced bananas and maybe a sprinkle of dark chocolate chips!
Ahh yay!! So glad you loved this baked oatmeal recipe, Abigail. Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it!
Made this today! So far I have made 4 kinds of baked oatmeal. And all your recipes are all soooo good!!! I post it usually on my IG and always get people askong for the recipe.
Woo!! So glad you’ve been loving the baked oatmeal recipes, Natasha. Thanks for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it!
This oatmeal turned out so good. I didn’t use an egg or flax egg, and it was still creamy and delicious! A must make anytime of year!
Ahh yay!! So glad you loved it. Thanks for the review. I so appreciate it!
I’ve always wanted to bake one, it was yesterday when i just realized that i had every ingredient for this one (its hard to find mapple syrup here), so i just prepped ahead and bake it this morning! It is way more flavory and delicious than i though it will be.
Im gonna try banaba and pb tomorrow!!!
I love when that happens!! So glad you loved this baked oatmeal recipe, Ana. Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it!
I have made a few of the baked oatmeal recipes and this is my favourite! Loved the flavour of all the spices and the crunch on top, yum!
Yay!! So glad you loved it. Thanks for the review. I so appreciate it!
Sweet potato casserole is one of my favorite dishes at Thanksgiving and with Thanksgiving being cancelled this past year I had a sweet potato casserole-sized hole in my heart. This dish was the perfect solution to satisfy my craving. It was so moist and delicious and reheats so well for work breakfasts.
Loved this dish! So easy to make and super delicious 🙂
So glad you loved this recipe, Skyler! Thanks for the review. I so appreciate it. 🙂
I love this recipe! I’m counting calories and watching sugar intake so instead of sweet potatoes I use butternut squash and I just recently switched the brown sugar to Swerve brown sugar that doesn’t affect blood sugar levels. I eat it every single day and love it! Thank you! Soooo good!
So glad you’ve been loving this recipe! Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it, Ellen.