Can You Cook Oatmeal In An Air Fryer

Breakfast comfort food is easy and quick to prepare with air fryer oatmeal. This healthy air-fried oatmeal can be made in just 20 minutes and can easily be customized to suit your tastes. These air fryer baked oatmeal are great for meal preparation and will get your kids excited about breakfast at any time of year.

Why You Will Love This Recipe

• Easy:  Making individual air fryer-baked oatmeal is easy. You just mix the ingredients together in a large bowl, pour the mixture into ramekins, and then turn on the air fryer. It is not necessary to blend the oatmeal in advance, or to stop the air fryer while baking. Air fryers are faster than ovens, so they’re a good choice for mornings when you’re rushed.
• Simple Ingredients:  You can find the ingredients for the best air fryer cooked oatmeal in your local grocery store. You may have to order gluten-free oats online or go to a specialty shop if you want them. Trader Joe’s does carry them if you prefer. This recipe is gluten-free, vegan, and plant-based.
• Customizable: Add in any mix-in ingredients to change the flavors. You can use any combination of nuts, fruits, nut butters and chocolate to make baked oatmeal in an air fryer.
• Budget-friendly: Baked oatmeal is a budget-friendly meal! You can make it even more affordable by substituting the maple syrup with brown sugar, regular or coconut sugar.

Ingredients

• Dairy-free milk: Use your favorite dairy-free milk (or regular milk, if you’re not dairy-free). You can also use cashew, hemp, oat, walnut, or coconut milk.
• Ground Flax or ground chia seed: The ground flax replaces an egg in the recipe, and helps oats to bind better during baking. You can use chia seed, but I recommend that you grind them first to prevent them from getting stuck in your mouth.
• maple syrup is the sweetener: I use most often in baked goods. Date syrup or honey can also be used (although they will alter the taste and honey isn’t vegan). You can substitute maple syrup with any sugar you like, but be sure to add at least 1-2 tablespoons water because the maple syrup will have lost some moisture.
• Sea salt: A small amount of salt can help balance flavors.
• Rolled Oats (also called old-fashioned oats): This recipe calls for rolled oatmeal, which is the easiest to locate and helps to give the oats a chewy texture. The texture of the oats may differ if you use quick oats. Steel cut oats will not cook properly using this method.

How to make air fryer oatmeal

Mix the dry ingredients (milk without dairy, maple syrup) and the ground flax together. Stir the flax well to prevent it from clumping.

Add the rolled oats, and a pinch of salt. Stir well.

Divide the mixture into two ramekins. Stir well and add any flavors that you want (berries, bananas cinnamon, chocolate chips, nuts, chocolate chips or nut butter).

Cook the ramekins at 360F for about 14 minutes.

After baking, remove the ramekins from the air fryer. Let them cool down before handling (they will be hot).

Enjoy topping the baked oats!

Top tips

• Check the label of your oats if you want your oatmeal gluten-free. The oats should be marked gluten-free. One Degree Organic Rolled Oats, which I purchase on Thrive Market, is my favorite. I find sprouted oats to be a bit easier to digest.
• The cooking time and temperature can vary depending on the air fryer. The air fryer baked oats is forgiving, so it should work in most air fryers.
• If you want to add fruit or nuts on top, wait until after baking. Wait until after baking before adding fruit or nuts to the top.
• You can change the flavors to suit your taste! You can create so many different variations, see all the combinations below!

Toppling and Mix-in Ideas

This recipe for baked oatmeal is a blank slate of flavors that you can easily customize based on your toppings and add-in ingredients.

• Fruit – strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, peaches, bananas, apples, pears, diced pineapple
• Jam and jelly
• Dried Fruit – dates, raisins, cranberries and blueberries
• Chopped Nuts and Seeds- Walnuts, Almonds, Pistachios (Pepitas), Cashews, Sunflower seeds, Pumpkin seeds (Pepitas), Hemp hearts, Peanuts
• Nut Butters- Peanut butter and almond butter. Sun butter, Coconut butter, Tahini, Cashew Butter, and cashew butter.
• Sweetener – honey, date syrups, agave syrups, maple sugars, coconut sugars, brown sugars, regular sugars, honey.
• Chocolate chips
• Coconut flakes
• Yogurt – dairy free yogurt (not Greek style), coconut yogurt

Flavor Combinations To Try

Divide the ingredients between the two ramekins for each combination.

• Banana Bread – Add 1/4 cup of banana slices (about half a banana), two tablespoons of pecans chopped and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• Add 1 tablespoon of your favorite nut spread and 2 tablespoons jam or jelly to peanut butter for a delicious treat.
• Strawberry Walnut: Add 1/4 cup of sliced strawberries to 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
• Add 1/4 cup chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to the Chocolate Chips.
• Cook 1/2 an apple chopped and peeled in the microwave for 1 minute. Divide the mixture between ramekins once it is done cooking.
• Pumpkin Pie – Reduce the dairy-free milk in this recipe to 2 tablespoons, and add 2 tablespoons pumpkin puree. Add 1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice or cinnamon.
• Add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar to the mixture.
• Add 1 tablespoon of peanut butter to 2-4 tablespoons chocolate chips.
• Add 1/4 cup grated carrots, 1/2-1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, and 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts or pecans to the cake.
• Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 1-2 tablespoons your favorite sprinkles to the cake.
• Add 2 tablespoons chocolate chips and 1/4 cup chopped cherries to the chocolate cherry.
• Add 1/4 cup of blueberries (fresh, frozen or both) and 2 tablespoons of chopped almonds.
• Add 1/4 cup fresh or frozen raspberries and 2 tablespoons chocolate chips to the recipe for raspberry chocolate chip.

Common Questions

What is baked oatmeal?

Baking oatmeal in an oven or air fryer is a healthier alternative to cooking it on the stovetop or microwave. The oatmeal becomes soft and tender when baked. A crust forms on the outside, which makes it extra delicious.

What kind of oats to use for air fryer baked oats?

• Rolled Oats: are oats which have been steamed, pressed or rolled flat. The tough outer hull is removed, so they cook quickly. It is this that I recommend for air fryer baked oatmeal.
• Quick Oats: quick oats are rolled oats finely chopped. These oats cook faster because they are so small. If you only have these on hand, the texture may be different. It will look more like cake than oatmeal.
• Steel-cut Oats: steel-cut oats have the tough hull or groat still around them. They take longer to cook, and so are not suitable for this recipe.

Ramekin size – use the right ramekin size

This recipe yields 1 serving of oatmeal, divided into two 4 oz. ramekins. ramekins. You can change the flavor of each ramekin or even make them both the same with the mix-in ingredients.

Note: I can fit three 4 ounce ramekins into my air fryer at the same time. You may be able make four at once if you have a bigger air fryer basket.

You can make it in 8 oz. ramekins, but you will only get one large serving, not two smaller ones. If you are using an 8 oz. ramekin, the cooking time will increase from 14 to 16 minutes. ramekin.

Can you freeze cooked oatmeal?

You can freeze cooked oatmeal. Remove as much air around the oatmeal as possible and freeze it for up to one month.

You can freeze the oatmeal directly in the ramekins. You can freeze oatmeal right in the ramekins. You can freeze the oatmeal directly in the ramekins if you have a large amount of leftovers. Make a bigger batch, divide it up and freeze them individually.

How to add protein to air fryer baked oatmeal

• After baking, top the greek yogurt with oats
• When you add the oatmeal, stir in collagen-peptides.
• Add 1 scoop of your favorite Vegan Protein Powder. It may be necessary to add an additional 1/4 cup of dairy-free milk to make sure the protein powder is well incorporated and that the oats do not become dry during baking.
• Add 3 tablespoons hemp hearts to your oatmeal mixture.

Can you bake oatmeal in the oven?

Yes! Yes! If you’re making large quantities for meal preparation, these can be an excellent option.

Can you make this like the tik tok baked oatmeal?

The Tik Tok air-fryer baked oatmeal recipe went viral because it blended the oats up with the other ingredients. It made the oatmeal more like cake. If you want to make it more like a cake, blend the ingredients in a high-speed blender and then divide the batter into 2 ramekins sprayed with avocado or olive oil.

Storing Leftovers

Fridge:  Store leftover baked oatmeal from the air fryer in the refrigerator for up to five days. Make sure the oatmeal is well-covered (in an airtight container, or with plastic wrap on top).

Freezer: Store the frozen product in the freezer for up to one month. You can either freeze the mixture directly in the ramekins, or you can spoon it out and store it in an airtight bag or container. Before reheating, let the ramekins defrost overnight in the refrigerator.

Reheat the food in the microwave for 11:30 minutes or in an air fryer set to 350F at 3-5 minute intervals.

Substitutions

• Dairy-free milk: You can use any dairy-free milk that you have. If you do not have dairy allergies, you can use regular milk. You can substitute water for dairy-free milk if you don’t have any on hand.
• Ground Flax:  You can substitute ground flax with chia seeds, but I recommend first grinding them.
• Maple Syrup:  You can substitute the maple syrup in the recipe with honey or date syrup (not vegan). In place of maple syrup, you can use coconut sugar or maple sugar. You can also substitute brown sugar with regular sugar and add 1-2 tablespoons water.