Baked Oatmeal for One
Single serve baked oatmeal is perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack and can easily be customized based on what you are craving! Easy to make for meal prep too, so you can have a portable breakfast ready in the fridge all week long! Four variations to ensure all your cravings will be met!
Why you will love this recipe
- Baked oats for one are so simple! All you need is one bowl for mixing, and ramekins for baking. No special equipment needed.
- Easy to find ingredients. All four of these variations for baked oatmeal for one use ingredients that are easy to find in most grocery stores!
- Great for meal prep! Even though these are single serving, you can make as many of these as you need to early in the week for grab and go breakfast! They are freezer safe too, so grab some extra ramekins so you can make a big batch and freeze extras for later!
- Customizable! These baked oats are so easy to customize based on what you have on hand and what you are craving. You can use fresh or frozen fruit or omit the fruit completely!
- Naturally sweet, but not overly sweet. These are 100% kid friendly and will not send them into a sugar coma! There is a good balance of fiber, quick carbs, healthy fats and some protein. You can add more protein as well (see tips below).
Ingredients
The core recipe on which all the variations are built includes:
- Dairy free milk – use whatever your favorite dairy free milk is (or you could use regular dairy if you can tolerate it).
- Maple Syrup – this helps to sweeten the oats naturally. You could use honey (not vegan), date syrup or your favorite low carb liquid sweetener.
- Ground flax – ground flax + some of the dairy free milk helps to act as the egg to bind together the oatmeal. If you don’t have ground flax, you can also grind chia seeds and use those. Note: I have not tried this with eggs but I’m guessing you could use 1 egg in place of the flax.
- Rolled oats (old-fashion oats) – Be sure these are certified gluten free if needed. I have not tested this with quick oats, but I imagine you will need 1-2 more tablespoons of quick oat
- Spices: Cinnamon, pumpkin spice – these help to add a depth of flavor to the oats. They are 100% optional and can be omitted without substitution if needed.
- Pinch salt – this helps to elevate all the flavors.
- Fruit (fresh or frozen) – fruit helps to keep the oats moist and gives another flavor profile to the oats.
- Optional: chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, peanuts, pumpkin seeds) – are added for crunch and healthy fats. They also help make the single serve baked oats more filling.
How to make single serve baked oatmeal
Start by preheating the oven to 400F.
In a bowl, combine the wet ingredients and ground flax. Stir well to ensure flax doesn’t clump.
To this mixture, add the oats, salt and spices. Stir well. Let sit 2 minutes so oats can start to absorb the liquid.
Add the chopped nuts and any other add ins and stir well.
Spray 2 ramekins with non-stick spray like avocado oil or olive oil spray.
If you are adding fresh or frozen fruit, add it to the bottom of the ramekins (this makes it easy to evenly divide the fruit).
Divide the oatmeal mixture between the ramekins, trying to get equal amounts of oats and liquid into each.
If you added fresh or frozen fruit, take a moment to stir the ramekins to distribute the fruit before baking.
Bake at 400F for 20 minutes.
Carefully remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes (preferably 10 minutes) before serving.
Top tips
- If you don’t have ramekins on hand, you can use an oven safe mug or use muffin tins (be sure to use a liner to ensure they don’t stick).
- Be sure to spray the ramekins with olive oil or avocado oil so the oats don’t stick to the sides (easier clean up). Greasing the ramekins is necessary if you will be removing the oatmeal and storing in the fridge (and you need the ramekins) or if you will be store these in the freezer.
- Great for meal prep. Can pop these out of the ramekins after baking and store in the fridge or freezer for easy grab and go meals. These small glass containers hold a single serving so well!
- You can also bake these in the air fryer or in the microwave! See tips below on how to make these in the air fryer or the microwave if you are short on time.
Flavor Variations
Blueberry Pecan
See the step by step story on how to make blueberry single serve baked oats.
Add 2 tablespoons of water or extra milk to keep it from drying out and cinnamon for flavor (optional). Optional addition of chopped pecans to add crunch and flavor. Put fresh or frozen blueberries on the bottom of the ramekin before adding the oats.
Pumpkin Spice
Add pumpkin puree to the wet ingredients, use pumpkin pie spice and add chopped pecans for crunch. You could also add dried cranberries or dairy free chocolate chips for a fun twist.
Apple Cinnamon
Check out this step by step story on how to make apple cinnamon baked oats!
Add applesauce (unsweetened) to the wet ingredients. Reduce the maple syrup to 1 tablespoon to account for sweetness from applesauce. Use cinnamon for flavor and add chopped peeled apples and chopped walnuts for crunch.
Banana Bread
Check out a step by step story on how to make chocolate chip banana bread baked oats.
Add ½ banana, mashed to the wet ingredients. Reduce the maple syrup to 1 tablespoon to account for sweetness from bananas. Use cinnamon for flavor (optional) and chopped pecans for crunch. Add chocolate chips for a fun dessert for breakfast feeling!
Common questions
What size ramekins to use
Each flavor of this recipe makes 2 servings, which will fit in 4-ounce ramekins. I have also tested this in larger 8-ounce ramekins and had success as well. You can also make these single serve baked oats in 8-ounce ramekins and double the ingredients if you like a larger single serve serving.
What else can you add to these single serve oatmeal cups
- Protein – you can add hemp hearts, collagen peptides (not vegan), 2 tablespoons vegan protein powder (plus 1 tablespoon dairy free milk), or top the baked oats with high protein Greek style yogurt (can be dairy free or dairy if you can tolerate it).
- Healthy fats – add hemp hearts, coconut flakes, almond butter, peanut butter, coconut butter, sunbutter or your more chopped nuts.
- Fiber – you can add ¼ cup cauliflower rice and use larger ramekins to bake the mixture.
How to cook baked oatmeal in the air fryer
Follow all the directions above. Place ramekins filled with single serve oats in air fryer basket and cook at 360F for 12 minutes. Allow to cool at least 5 minutes before enjoying. Check out all my tips on how to make air fryer baked oatmeal!
How to cook baked oatmeal in the microwave
Cooking this baked oatmeal for one in the microwave will not create that crispy crust you are get from baking them in the oven. You can put the ingredients for the single serve oatmeal in a larger microwave safe bowl or large ramekin and cook for 2 minutes. Do not try to microwave these in the small 4 oz. ramekins as it will spill over the sides and all over your microwave (trust me).
How to freeze
Use a butter knife and go around the sides of the ramekins to loosen the baked oats from the sides. Flip the ramekin over and use the knife to pop the baked oatmeal out of the ramekin.
Wrap the baked oats in parchment or saran wrap and then place in a freezer safe bag or freezer safe container.
Freeze for up to 3 months. Don’t forget to label the bag with the date, name of the recipe, reheating instructions if needed and use by date.
Storing leftovers
Store leftover or meal prepped single serve baked oats in the fridge for up to 5 days. I like to remove them from the ramekins and store them in single serve small glass containers for easy transporting. The baked oats cooked in 4 oz. ramekins fit perfectly into these small glass containers that often come with the larger sets sold.
Substitutions
- Ground flax – you can also use ground chia seeds. Simply blend chia seeds in a high speed blender until they are finely ground. This helps ensure the chia seeds don’t get stuck in your teeth. The ground flax in this recipe replaces egg. If you can tolerate eggs, you could also use 1 egg in place of the ground flax.
- Dairy free milk – you can also use water, just know the oatmeal won’t be as creamy as when you use a dairy free milk.
- Maple syrup – you can also use honey (not vegan) or date paste. If you are looking to make this lower in carbs, you can use your favorite low carb liquid sweetener.
- Rolled oats (old fashion oats) – you can try this recipe with quick oats as well, but you will likely need to add 1-2 more tablespoons of quick oats to get the same texture.
If you love this recipe, you should try
- Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Muffins
- Pumpkin Protien Oat Bars
- High Protein Oatmeal 4 Ways
- Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal
- Mocha Overnight Oats
- Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal
- Zucchini Bread Baked Oatmeal
Baked Oatmeal for One
Ingredients
Blueberry Pecan Single Serve Baked Oats (makes 2 servings)
- 1/2 cup dairy free milk
- 2 tbsp. water
- 1.5 tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 tbsp. ground flax
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/16 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
- 2 tbsp. chopped pecans (optional)
- 1/4 cup frozen blueberries
Apple Cinnamon Single Serve Baked Oats (makes 2 servings)
- 1/2 cup dairy free milk
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tbsp. ground flax
- 1 tbsp. maple syrup
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/16 tsp. sea salt
- 1/2 medium apple, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 tbsp. chopped walnuts (optional)
Banana Bread Single Serve Baked Oats (makes 2 servings)
- 1/2 cup dairy free milk
- 1/2 medium banana, mashed
- 1 tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 tbsp. ground flax
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/16 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
- 2 tbsp. chopped pecans
- 2 tbsp. dairy free chocolate chips
Pumpkin Pie Single Serve Baked Oats (makes 2 servings)
- 1/2 cup dairy free milk
- 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1.5 tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 tbsp. ground flax
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/16 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp. chopped pecans (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Combine the wet ingredients in a bowl (dairy free milk, water, maple syrup, pumpkin puree, mashed bananas, applesauce).
- Add the ground flax to the wet ingredients and stir well to ensure flax doesn't clump.
- Add in the rolled oats, salt and spices (cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice). Stir well and let sit 2 minutes to start to absorb liquid.
- Add chopped nuts and any other add ins. Note: If using frozen fruit wait to add that to the ramekins.
- Spray ramekins with non-stick (avocado oil, olive oil).
- Add frozen fruit to bottom of ramekins (this helps ensure fruit is evenly divided and doesn't turn the oats a color before baking).
- Divide the oat mixture between the ramekins, trying to ensure that each one has the same amount of oats and liquid.
- If you added frozen fruit, stir it in the ramekins to ensure it's well distributed.
- Bake at 400F for 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool at least 5 minutes (10 minutes is prefered). Can also bake in air fryer.
Notes
- If you don’t have ramekins on hand, you can use an oven safe mug or use muffin tins (be sure to use a liner to ensure they don’t stick).
- Be sure to spray the ramekins with olive oil or avocado oil so the oats don’t stick to the sides (easier clean up). Greasing the ramekins is necessary if you will be removing the oatmeal and storing in the fridge (and you need the ramekins) or if you will be store these in the freezer.
- Use a butter knife and go around the sides of the ramekins to loosen the baked oats from the sides. Flip the ramekin over and use the knife to pop the baked oatmeal out of the ramekin.
- Wrap the baked oats in parchment or saran wrap and then place in a freezer safe bag or freezer safe container.
- Freeze for up to 3 months. Don’t forget to label the bag with the date, name of the recipe, reheating instructions if needed and use by date.
