Name: Vegan Savory Oatmeal
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 1 cup old-fashioned oats ((use gluten-free, if needed)); 2 cups water; 1 tbsp nutritional yeast; ⅛ tsp salt (or more to taste); ⅛ tsp ground black pepper (or more to taste); ½ lb firm tofu; 1 green onion (scallion) (chopped); 1 tbsp nutritional yeast; ½ tsp onion powder; ¼ tsp garlic powder; ⅛ tsp ground turmeric; ⅛ tsp salt; ⅛ tsp pepper; oil for cooking; 6 cups fresh baby spinach (tightly packed); ½ cup grape tomatoes; salt and pepper (to taste)

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This vegan Savory Oatmeal can be enjoyed any time of day - as a savory breakfast, for lunch, or dinner. Just 15 minutes to make, gluten-free, and super nutritious and filling!

A friend of mine asked me if I've ever tried savory oatmeal, and I'm going to be honest, I couldn't even understand why someone would want to try that... I mean, we have all kinds of delicious sweet breakfast oatmeal options, such as vegan oatmeal with almond butter and fruit, or mango oatmeal... why mess with oatmeal?

But then I realized there is something super satisfying about a savory breakfast, especially when you know you're loading up on healthy veggies and plant protein for your first meal of the day.

So savory oatmeal is now on regular rotation for us, and I am so excited to share my recipe with you! I hope you give it a try! Just keep an open mind! It definitely tastes different than regular sweet oatmeal. Think of it as a risotto type of texture and flavor. 🙂

More savory breakfast recipes: Savory Vegan Mung Bean Pancakes

Ingredients

This recipe makes 2 portions, but feel free to scale up or down as needed.

For the savory oatmeal:

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (use gluten-free, if needed. I prefer old fashioned over the quick-cooking oats because of texture)
2 cups water (or use an unsweetened plain plant milk, if you want it creamier)
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
⅛ teaspoon each salt & pepper (or more, to taste)

(Note: ⅛ teaspoon is pretty much a generous pinch, I don't always measure that out!)

For the tofu scramble:

½ lb firm tofu
1 green onion, diced
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
⅛ teaspoon ground turmeric (optional, for color, but this stuff is so good for you so I always add it!)
⅛ teaspoon each salt & pepper (or more, to taste - you can use black salt for a nice "eggy" taste)
Oil for cooking

You can also try other seasonings for the tofu scramble, such as my vegan chicken seasoning, a pinch of cayenne pepper, or some smoked paprika.

For the veggies:

6 cups fresh baby spinach (or as much as you want, this stuff really cooks down!)
½ cup grape tomatoes, halved
Olive oil for cooking, salt, pepper (or try adding garlic powder and onion powder)

Related recipe: How to Make Oat Milk

Other toppings for savory oatmeal

I load up my oatmeal bowls with scrambled tofu, sauteed spinach and tomatoes because those are the fastest toppings ever, and they're super nutritious. However, any of these would be AMAZING on top of savory oatmeal:

Sauteed mushrooms and onions
Sliced avocado
Vegan bacon bits
Egglant bacon (soy-free!)
Everything bagel seasoning (I love this stuff!!!)
Caramelized onions
Crumbled vegan sausage
Pulled jackfruit
Shredded vegan pepper jack or cubed vegan feta
Fresh microgreens
Toasted pepitas or sunflower seeds
Vegan chicken strips
Hot sauce or salsa

Related recipe: Banana Oat Cookies

Instructions

This dish cooks up really fast, so it's kind of hard to multitask. Unless you're a kitchen ninja, I recommend starting to cook the oatmeal first and letting it sit, since it will thicken and stay hot for a while, and then cook the toppings once you have the oatmeal going.

Step 1 - cook the oatmeal: In a medium saucepan, combine the oats with water, and cook over medium heat, or until the oatmeal thickens but there's a tiny bit of liquid remaining.

Stir in the seasonings (from the nutritional yeast to the salt and pepper), stir, and set aside. Give it a taste (careful! It's hot!) and adjust the seasonings or add more liquid, if needed.

Step 2 - make the tofu scramble: Break apart the tofu into 1-2 inch chunks. Preheat a large skillet, add some oil to the skillet, and saute the tofu chunks for 2-3 minutes, breaking them up a little more as you cook. Add the seasonings and stir together until well combined. Remove from the skillet.

Step 3 - prepare the veggie toppings: Add a little olive oil to the same skillet where you cooked the tofu. Add the baby spinach and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the spinach wilts down. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the spinach to your oatmeal bowl, and add the halved tomatoes. Turn the heat up and cook the tomatoes over medium-high heat for a few minutes, or until the tomatoes soften and start to blister. Season with salt and pepper, and transfer to your oatmeal bowl.

Step 4 - assemble the oatmeal bowls: Divide the cooked oatmeal between two bowls (stir in a bit of water, if it thickened too much), top with half the tofu and half the veggies. Add any of the other toppings (I LOVE Everything Bagel Seasoning and salsa!!), and enjoy!!

Related recipe: Mushroom Oat Burgers

Tips for cooking oatmeal and oatmeal meal prep

Water to oatmeal ratio:

The general ratio I use for cooking oatmeal is 1 cup old fashioned oats to 2 cups water. This results in a pretty thick oatmeal, which is how I like it. If you like your oatmeal a little thinner, add a little more water. If it ends up being too much, just cook it a little longer until the water is absorbed. Or let it sit out a little longer before eating, since oatmeal thickens as it cools.

Meal prep tips:

This recipe works just okay for meal prep - it's not ideal for me. This is because cooked oatmeal thickens as it sits in the fridge overnight, so I always want to stir in extra water and reheat it in a saucepan until the water is thoroughly incorporated. Not ideal for taking it to work, and I might as well make it fresh every time, ya know? But if you want to prepare this as breakfast for the week, give it a try! Maybe just add a little more liquid to the oatmeal so that it doesn't thicken too much as it cooks.

Steel cut oats:

Steel cut oats are a little healthier than old fashioned oats because they're not as processed, so if you have an Instant Pot (or the patience to cook steel cut oats on the stove top), cooking up a batch of savory steel cut oats in the Instant Pot is a great option for this recipe! Just cook the oats in water, and stir in all the seasonings after the oats are cooked.

If you make these oatmeal bowls, please take a picture and tag me on INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK. I love seeing your creations!

Other vegan breakfast ideas to try:

If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!

Vegan Savory Oatmeal

Ingredients

Other toppings for savory oatmeal

Instructions

Tips for cooking oatmeal and oatmeal meal prep

Other vegan breakfast ideas to try:

Recipe