6 oat breakfasts
Oats are the cheapest breakfast in the shop and one of the most flexible. These are the ways we cook them in Cookpath, hot, cold and baked.
CThe Cookpath kitchen9 min read · 6 recipes
Chocolate Granola Yogurt Bowl
- 30 mintotal
- 39 gprotein
- 930kcal
- Beginnerlevel
- 1serving
Why it's here: The most protein on this list.
12 ingredients · 6 steps
Top of the list for protein at 39 g, and also the biggest bowl at 930 kcal. Greek yogurt holds a centre of chia pudding, with toasted oat and nut granola, banana, peanut butter and melted dark chocolate on top. It serves one and takes 30 minutes, so this is a brunch for a slow morning rather than a quick bowl.
Mix the chia pudding first, since it needs at least 15 to 20 minutes to sit while you make the granola. Toast the oats and chopped almonds and walnuts in melted butter for a few minutes, stir in the honey, then press the granola down and leave it to cool a little. The chocolate is melted with the coconut oil in the microwave for a few seconds and poured over everything.
Microwave Blueberry Crumble
- 5 mintotal
- 31 gprotein
- 360kcal
- Beginnerlevel
- 1serving
Why it's here: The fastest one here.
10 ingredients · 6 steps
Five minutes, one bowl, 31 g of protein for 360 kcal. Blueberries in a lemon sauce sit under an oat and cinnamon crumble, topped with a spoon of Greek yogurt, and the whole thing is made in the microwave. The protein comes from vanilla protein powder stirred into the oats, which puts it second on the list. There is no oven and no pan, just two bowls.
Microwave the blueberries with the cornstarch and lemon juice for 1 minute, then stir. For the crumble, mix the oats, protein powder, cinnamon, honey and a pinch of salt, then add water a splash at a time until it is crumbly. Spoon it over the berries and microwave for 1 more minute. Frozen blueberries are fine, and honey or maple syrup both work.
Chocolate Overnight Oats
- 4 h 10 mintotal
- 29 gprotein
- 440kcal
- Beginnerlevel
- 2servings
Why it's here: One of the strongest on the list.
8 ingredients · 6 steps
Chocolate oats with 29 g of protein a serving at 440 kcal, helped along by 360 g of Greek yogurt shared between two. Rolled oats and chia soak in almond milk, espresso, cocoa and maple syrup. The listed 250 minutes is almost all chilling, so the real work is a bowl and a spoon the night before. Cocoa goes in twice, once in the oats and once sifted on top.
Mix the oats, chia and cocoa, add the espresso, vanilla, maple syrup and almond milk, then cover and chill for 4 to 8 hours or overnight. In the morning, stir the oats, sweeten the yogurt with a little more vanilla and maple, and layer the two in a bowl. Sift cocoa over the top. The second serving is assembled the next day. Quick oats work as well as rolled.
Blueberry Cheesecake Baked Oats
- 55 mintotal
- 25 gprotein
- 400kcal
- Beginnerlevel
- 4servings
Why it's here: A good one to have in the rotation.
10 ingredients · 7 steps
Baked oats made in one dish: mashed banana, oats, vanilla protein powder and milk, topped with warm blueberries and swirled yogurt for the cheesecake look. Each of the four portions has 25 g of protein and 400 kcal. Fifty-five minutes in total, and most of that is the oven. It is the one baked dish among the oat breakfasts, and the portions are cut straight in the dish.
Mash the bananas right in the baking dish, add the oats, protein powder and baking powder, then pour in the milk and stir to a thick, even mixture. Spoon on the blueberries, dollop the yogurt over and swirl it through. Bake at 180 °C for 35 to 40 minutes. Keep the rest in the fridge and microwave a portion for 1 minute, or eat it cold like an oat bar.
Peanut Butter Overnight Oats
- 4 h 5 mintotal
- 20 gprotein
- 440kcal
- Beginnerlevel
- 1serving
Why it's here: A good one to have in the rotation.
6 ingredients · 3 steps
A single jar of rolled oats, chia seeds, peanut butter, honey, Greek yogurt and milk, with 20 g of protein at 440 kcal. The 245 minutes is chilling time, at least 4 hours of it, and the work itself is one step: stir everything together in a jar and close the lid. Breakfast sorted before bed. It makes a single serving, so there is nothing to portion out.
Chill the jar for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight. In the morning, stir in more milk if the oats are too thick, then add banana, dark chocolate, nuts or extra peanut butter on top. For a vegan version, use plant milk, plant yogurt and a vegan sweetener, and choose gluten-free oats if you need them. It suits anyone who wants no cooking on a weekday morning.
Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats
- 4 h 5 mintotal
- 19 gprotein
- 460kcal
- Beginnerlevel
- 1serving
Why it's here: A good one to have in the rotation.
8 ingredients · 3 steps
The lowest protein on the list at 19 g, with 460 kcal in the jar. Oats and chia soak overnight with Greek yogurt, milk, maple syrup, cinnamon and finely diced apple, then get walnuts on top. It is still a solid breakfast for one, and the 245 minutes is nearly all fridge time. Half an apple goes in the jar, and 10 g of walnuts go on top.
Dice the apple finely so it blends into the oats, and keep some back for the top. Chill the jar at least 4 hours, ideally overnight, then stir in a little more milk if it has set too thick. Do not use instant oats, as they soak to a different texture. Adding the toppings the night before saves a minute in the morning.
A bowl of oats is slow-release and filling for very little money. Cooked in water it is plain, and cooked in milk with fruit and a spoon of something sweet it is a proper breakfast. Add yoghurt or eggs and the protein goes up with it.
Some of these are made the night before. Oats soaked overnight in the fridge are ready in the morning with no cooking at all, which is why the total time on a few of them looks long. Most of that time is the fridge doing the work while you sleep.
One is baked in a tray, cheesecake style, which reheats in a minute the next day. Another is a five-minute microwave crumble for the mornings when nothing else is possible.
Use rolled oats unless a recipe says otherwise. Instant oats go mushy in anything that sits, and steel-cut take much longer to cook.
Three things that help
A few minutes in a dry pan before you add liquid gives a nuttier flavour.
A small pinch makes oats taste sweeter and less flat.
Fruit, nuts and seeds go on just before you eat, so they stay fresh and crunchy.
Every dish here is in the app with timers inside the steps, servings you can change and a shopping list that builds itself.
