20 Oatmeal Recipes to Start the Day

This hearty whole grain makes the ideal easy and healthy breakfast: oatmeal! What’s the best, easiest way to make it? Here’s our master recipe: exactly how to make oatmeal on the stovetop and in the microwave! It's creamy, hearty, and so satisfying.

Try this delicious Peanut Butter Oatmeal recipe! Oats can be gloppy, gooey, or under-seasoned. But cook up a pot the right way, and it tastes like a dream. The best way to top oatmeal is with a little nut butter, in our opinion. We make this every day (no joke) and it’s incredibly filling…and satisfying!

Try this creamy Banana Oatmeal! Adding banana to your morning oats adds a little natural sweetness and creamy texture. Here it’s offset with warm spices and vanilla to make a cozy and easy breakfast. We’re always looking for ways to mix up our daily oatmeal intake. This one is a fun variation that’s perfect to fit into the rotation!

Are you a steel cut oats fan? These chewy oats have a porridge-like texture and feel like a cozy hug in the morning. They’re a fun way to mix up the standard Old Fashioned oats, and may have some slight benefits over them: though both are an incredibly healthy way to start the day! You can make a big pot of steel cut oats in 25 minutes and eat off of the leftovers all week.

Here’s a secret that’s been powering our mornings every day: you have to try this microwave oatmeal! It’s the quickest way to cook oatmeal around, and it comes out just as good as the stovetop version. . Here’s the thing: you don’t need those purchased microwave packets! All you need is Old Fashioned rolled oats, a microwave, and 2 minutes.

Try this Blueberry Oatmeal! This pot of oats has an irresistible sweet berry flavor that’s nuanced with cinnamon, allspice and a hint of vanilla. Even better is the color: the brilliant-purple hue makes it that much more fun to eat your breakfast. 

Here’s an oatmeal recipe that’s so full of cozy-spiced flavor, you’ll wonder where it’s been all your life. Meet this incredible easy and healthy baked oatmeal! Here’s that perfect breakfast or brunch recipe you search for when you have house guests to impress. But guess what? It also works for quick mornings! Bake up a pan in advance and then grab a square to go. It’s beyond easy, and the combination of the cinnamon, allspice and maple makes magic. Use any fruit mix-in you like!

Have you tried savory oatmeal? If not, it’s high time to start. The American breakfast is built on sugar. But want more savory breakfast ideas? This recipe is the place to start! This makes a pot of chewy toasted oats that are irresistibly tasty. Top the bowl with a fried egg and garlicky sauteed kale, and the yolk makes a creamy sauce that covers everything in goodness. Eating a veggie-filled healthy breakfast just got easier.

This oatmeal recipe tastes incredible: it's full of toasty flavor! It’s vegan so it’s a plant based way to start the day. AND it is full of plant based protein so it is seriously filling: you’re literally full for hours after you eat it. Top it with peanut butter and healthy strawberry jam, and it's a revelation.

Here’s an easy, healthy breakfast recipe for weekdays or entertaining guests: Instant Pot oatmeal! If you’ve got a pressure cooker, oatmeal is even easier to make. The oats are toasted in butter until fragrant, then mixed with milk and cooked for just 3 minutes. What comes out is the creamiest, tastiest, easiest pressure cooker oatmeal you’ll find.

This homemade instant oatmeal recipe is so simple we wish we would have thought of it ages ago! Instead of standing over the stove in the morning, this instant oatmeal can be made in just 2 minutes in the microwave. Simple as that! And in terms of flavor, this truly is the best instant oatmeal.

Another great oatmeal recipe, this one involves no cooking at all. In fact, you can mix up a jar in just 2 minutes! Leave rolled oats in the fridge overnight with milk, and it magically makes them into a sort of porridge. Eat them cold topped with berries or nut butter and they’re absolutely fantastic! This easy breakfast has been trendy for years now, and you need to jump on this bandwagon.

Here’s the ideal healthy oatmeal recipe, easy and full of irresistible flavor: banana baked oatmeal! This incredible recipe is wholesome and filling, and it’s made with good-for-you ingredients: mostly oats and bananas. It happens to be a vegan baked oatmeal, but it pleases absolutely everyone. Serve it for guests or even better, make up a big pan and eat off of it all week! Topped with a little nut butter and banana slices, it’s a decadently wholesome treat.

Here's another tasty baked oatmeal recipe: cherry baked oatmeal! This spinoff on the concept features dried cherries and cardamom for a seriously cozy breakfast. (It almost tastes like cherry crisp!) It takes 45 minutes to bake—but only 10 minutes to whip together, and it saves for breakfasts for the rest of the week.

Here’s our very favorite way to eat apples for breakfast: this Baked Apple Oatmeal! It’s easy to make with ingredients you might already have on hand. And the flavor of tender, sweet apples paired with maple syrup, cinnamon and allspice…well, you’ll want to make it every day! It works as a brunch recipe for entertaining, or you can make a big pan and eat off of it for breakfasts all week.

Steel cut oats are much different from Old Fashioned oats, but they're mega delicious in their own right! Pressure cooker steel cut oats cook up in minutes and make for better for you breakfasts all week! This apple cinnamon oatmeal is a cozy Instant Pot breakfast, creamy and perfectly spiced. Top with cashew butter and apple slices for a tasty breakfast.

This oatmeal recipe combines the chewiness of steel cut oats with the velvety, spiced-up goodness of pumpkin pie. After cooling, the oatmeal sets up and can be cut into squares for devouring. It tastes just like a light version of pumpkin pie! And who doesn’t want to eat pie for breakfast?

This carrot cake baked steel cut oatmeal recipe is cozy and comforting, flecked with orange carrots and flavored with cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. It takes over an hour to put together, so make sure to make it when you have plenty of time for prep. But the leftovers save well and make for a healthy breakfast recipe that lasts throughout the week!

Here’s a recipe for cool mornings: pumpkin oatmeal! On that first chilly morning, it’s like a switch flips. Pumpkin is instantly the most crave-worthy, novel flavor for everything from cookies to to soup to smoothies. So why not incorporate it into the first meal of the day? This oatmeal is perfect for using up that extra little bit in the can after you make pumpkin bread. It’s perfectly cinnamon-spiced and just sweet enough: the ideal fall breakfast!

Also try: Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal

Looking for an oatmeal recipe that’s a little outside the box? Meet these incredible oatmeal pancakes! They’re fluffy, they’re made with 100% oats, and they’re easy to whip up in a blender. Even better: they taste like vanilla cake! Yes, these are the best oatmeal pancakes we’ve had! Many oatmeal pancakes can be very dense or fall apart easily. These work like a charm, and they’re full of fiber and protein. Breakfast just got better.