Zucchini Baked Oatmeal with a boost of protein makes for a delicious balanced breakfast or snack! This easy baked oats recipe has hidden vegetables for a delicious celebration of summer squash.
By now it’s probably no mystery that I’m all in when it comes to oats and zucchini treats.
Combining delicious and nutritious baked oatmeal with fresh zucchini brings a little veggie spin to the wholesome breakfast.
You can look at it like a baked oats meets your favorite zucchini bread sort of situation.
With an optional but recommended glaze, because we know how to party.
My favorite part about this recipe is it’s a lovely balance of complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and protein.
In essence, you’re getting everything you need in one spot, and it happens to taste like all your coffee shop dreams coming true.
Let’s chat about the wholesome ingredients in this delicious breakfast recipe.
Ingredients for Zucchini Baked Oatmeal:
Rolled Oats: The main star of the show here, we’re using rolled oats for the base of these yummy baked oatmeal squares. You can use quick oats or instant oats, but I love rolled oats for the best texture.
Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats if you eat gluten-free. I use gluten-free sprouted oats. I don’t recommend using steel cut oats for any oatmeal bake because they require much more time to cook.
Protein Powder (Optional): Because I try to get a decent dose of protein in any meal or snack, I love adding protein powder to zucchini baked oats. This way, in addition to a treat, you’re getting a balanced meal.
Coconut Sugar (or Granulated Sweetener of Choice): To sweeten the baked oats, choose your favorite granulated sweetener.
I use coconut sugar for a refined sugar-free option. You can use regular white sugar, brown sugar, maple sugar, or sugar-free sweetener.
Feel free to scale the amount up or down depending on how you like your sweets. If you prefer keeping recipes sugar-free, use one large ripe banana instead of sweetener.
Ground Cinnamon and Sea Salt: A little cinnamon brings warm flavor to the oatmeal and sea salt enhances all of the flavors.
Eggs: Used to make the baked oats fluffy, rise, and hold together, we need a couple large eggs.
For a vegan option, replace the eggs with flax eggs. Just note that baked oatmeal turns out relatively flat and dense when using a flax egg replacer.
Milk of Choice: I love using full-fat canned coconut milk for a luxurious richness. While this does add a decent amount of fat to the recipe, it also makes the baked oatmeal nice and tender and flavorful.
Pick your favorite milk. Regular cow’s milk, almond milk, oat milk, flax milk, and cashew milk are all great options.
Unsweetened Almond Butter: Almond butter adds richness, healthy fats, and lovely texture to baked oats. You can replace it with peanut butter, cashew butter, sunflower seed butter or any nut butter you like.
Vanilla Extract: A little splash of vanilla brings warm flavor. Skip it if you don’t have it on hand.
Fresh Zucchini Squash: One large zucchini squash gets grated and added to the recipe for a little hidden vegetables action. Be sure to measure the shredded zucchini to be sure you’re adding two cups worth.
The best part is I designed the recipe such that you won’t need to drain excess liquid from the zucchini ahead of time or squeeze the shreds with a paper towel.
While the zucchini oat squares are amazing on their own, here are some options for adding a glaze or serving.
Optional Glaze:
Because I use canned coconut milk as the milk portion of the recipe, I mix the rest of it (about ⅓ cup) with a little coconut sugar and more almond butter. This makes a rich, creamy, sweet glaze that isn’t overly sweet.
As an alternative, you can make a classic powder sugar glaze by mixing 1 cup of powdered sugar with two tablespoons of water or lemon juice in a bowl until well-combined.
A third option is to enjoy a single serving of zucchini oatmeal with your favorite toppings. A dollop of Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, dark chocolate chips, pumpkin seeds, and a drizzle of honey or pure maple syrup are all great options.
Optional Additions:
- Add up to 1 cup of chocolate chips for a real good time!
- If you like adding chia seeds to your zucchini bread oatmeal, add 1 tablespoon. Any more than 1 tablespoon, you will want to add some additional liquid.
- Add up to 1/4 cup of hemp hearts.
- Use yellow summer squash if you have it on hand.
- You can replace the protein powder with collagen peptides or omit it altogether.
Now that we’re familiar with the simple ingredients, let’s make this healthy zucchini baked oatmeal recipe!
How to Make Zucchini Baked Oatmeal:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 9” x 9” baking dish or cake pan with parchment paper or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Trim the zip and tail off of the zucchini squash and use a box grater or a food processor (with a grating attachment) to shred it.
In a large bowl, combine the oats, protein powder, coconut sugar, ground cinnamon and sea salt (dry ingredients) and mix until well-combined.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, almond butter, and vanilla extract (wet ingredients).
Mix until well-combined. Note: if you store your almond butter in the refrigerator and it is very cold, you can microwave it for 20 to 30 seconds to soften it up and make it easier to mix.
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
Transfer the grated zucchini to the mixing bowl with the oatmeal mixture and mix well.
Pour the oat mixture into the prepared baking dish and spread it into an even layer.
Note: if you’re making the recipe ahead of time, wrap the baking dish with plastic wrap until you’re ready to bake.
Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the oatmeal is golden brown on top and tests clean.
Allow the zucchini baked oats to cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing into 9 individual servings and serving.
If you’d like, you can drizzle the baked oats with drippy almond butter. For a sweeter treat, make a powdered sugar glaze by mixing together 1 cup of powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of water or lemon juice in a small bowl.
Serve in individual portions, and enjoy!
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. You can also freeze individual slices in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
And that’s it! A delicious healthy breakfast to celebrate zucchini season!
A creative way to get picky eaters to enjoy vegetables, or a great way of adding extra nutrients to a meal.
If you grow a garden and have an abundance of zucchini, this is a great recipe to use it up.
Also check out these healthy baked oat recipes, which are also popular!
More Oatmeal Recipes:
- Banana Blended Baked Oatmeal
- Peanut Butter Banana Baked Oatmeal
- Mixed Berry and Apple Baked Oatmeal
- Blueberry Banana Baked Oatmeal Cups
- Vegan Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal
Enjoy zucchini season!
Zucchini Baked Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- ½ cup protein powder optional
- ½ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups milk of choice*
- ⅓ cup unsweetened almond butter
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups grated zucchini
Optional Glaze:
- ⅓ cup coconut milk**
- 2 to 3 tablespoons almond butter
- 1 Tbsp coconut sugar or brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 9” x 9” baking dish or cake pan with parchment paper or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Trim the zip and tail off of the zucchini squash and use a box grater or a food processor (with a grating attachment) to shred it.
- In a large bowl, combine the oats, protein powder, coconut sugar, ground cinnamon and sea salt (dry ingredients) and mix until well-combined.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, almond butter, and vanilla extract (wet ingredients). Mix until well-combined. Note: if you store your almond butter in the refrigerator and it is very cold, you can microwave it for 20 to 30 seconds to soften it up and make it easier to mix. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Transfer the grated zucchini to the mixing bowl with the oatmeal mixture and mix well.
- Pour the oat mixture into the prepared baking dish and spread it into an even layer. Note: if you’re making the recipe ahead of time, wrap the baking dish with plastic wrap until you’re ready to bake.
- Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the oatmeal is golden brown on top and tests clean.
- Allow the zucchini baked oats to cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing into 9 individual servings and serving.
- If you’d like, you can drizzle the baked oats with drippy almond butter. For a sweeter treat, make a powdered sugar glaze by mixing together 1 cup of powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of water or lemon juice in a small bowl.
Notes
Nutrition
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