Crunchy Quinoa Baked Oatmeal with Caramelized Strawberries and Toasted Coconut.
I must preface this with a disclaimer: I am so not an oatmeal gal.
Well, wait. You might remember something. I AM an oatmeal gal. Like a Quaker oatmeal girl. Like a Quaker instant flavored packet oatmeal gal.
Tell me whatever you want… you will never convince me that those things are not delicious. Peaches and cream? Strawberries and cream!? It just gets better and better. You must make them with milk (vanilla almond, specifically) to truly appreciate their greatness. In our little circle of trust, I will tell you that I still purchase boxes of those and eat them for breakfast as a treat. (I just wrote tweet. Too much computer. I hope we can never eat tweets. This world. Ugh.)
One pack was never enough. I’ve always needed two to hold me over and man, now I am craving some like mad. No matter what, I can never replicate the wonderful artificial flavor that comes along with a hot (microwaved, mind you) bowl of instant oats.
So that’s my oatmeal story. I’ve tried to eat it the good old fashioned way but unless it is covered in a beautiful brown sugar blanket? No. Just no. And we’re talking like a half cup of brown sugar. Truth.
My husband has a different oatmeal story. He claimed to hate it for years, then about 15 months ago I made some from a recipe that I found somewhere, wishing I could like oatmeal just like other normal people on the planet. I loathed it. He loved it.
And you know what? He has eaten oatmeal EVERY SINGLE DAY since. Okay okay – at least every single weekday. You know he doesn’t vary from his everyday staples. Plain oatmeal, no sugar except for a banana, and a few eggs. Every day people. Every day. This is what I’m dealing with. And yeah, I have no idea why it bugs me that he eats the same things every day and I must throw stones while he is content. It’s apparent that I am a huge pain in the ass but I’m just like do you even knoooow all the different flavors and food and LIFE you are missing?!?!? Question marks?!?!
Oh well.
The only saving grace for me was this baked strawberry banana cream oatmeal I made last year. Before that, I preferred oats only in my cookies. Pretty much. And things aren’t THAT different these days, but I figured an oat/quinoa hybrid mix would work since I do like quinoa. Allll about the texture. FYI: this quinoa stays a little crunchy. Be prepared. I adore it.
Plus, what could be bad when you cover it in caramelized strawberries?
And toasted coconut?
Crunchy Quinoa Baked Oatmeal with Caramelized Strawberries and Coconut
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 3/4 cups uncooked quinoa, rinsed
- 1/3 cup loosely packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/3 cups canned lite coconut milk
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 pint strawberries, stems removed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened flaked coconut
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, combine oats, rinsed quinoa, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Mix well to combine. In a smaller bowl, whisk together coconut milk, egg, vanilla extract and melted butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, then spread in a small baking dish or pie plate. (Mine was 9-inch in diameter.) Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden on top and set.
- While baking, heat a skillet over medium-low heat and add butter. Add strawberries with a pinch of salt, tossing to coat. Cook until slightly golden then sprinkle with brown sugar and stir. Cook a few minutes more until soft and caramely. To toast coconut, add to a small saucepan over medium heat and stir for 5-6 minutes until golden. Remove immediately.
- Top oatmeal with strawberries and coconut and whipped cream if desired. You can add a little extra splash of milk too!
Notes
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Oh, and some coconut whipped cream. Which was leftover from something totally different that I’ll tell you about tomorrow. You may hate me.
77 Comments on “Crunchy Quinoa Baked Oatmeal with Caramelized Strawberries and Toasted Coconut.”
What a fabulous idea! I love caramelized strawberries! I make that every week in the spring and top it on my ice cream. I just love, yum!! This is the perfect breakfast or dessert!! Bookmarking!!
Looks wonderful and I love that your food whim 15 mos ago turned into a daily thing for your hubs. And that he eats the SAME thing every day and is super content. Hey, keeps it easy, right! And Peaches and cream & Strawberries and cream packets remind me of high school! I used to eat those packets all the time!
Caramelized strawberries?! Coconut whipped cream?! I am so super food swooning right now!
And the suspense for tomorrow might just get to me….i’ll be waiting.
-Coconut Crazed
I think I can only have oatmeal crunchy or raw to be honest! So plain musli and rganola is my staple of choice: however it does mean I can throw in more add in for not heaving to fear they might melt. Try roasted a vabilla bean pod berries next time; I am big fan of these berries and would match so nicely with the coconut
I’m also not ashamed to admit my past appreciation for Quaker instant oatmeal. Brown sugar and maple used to be my favorite! But needless to say, this crunchy quinoa baked oatmeal looks wayyyyy yummier.
I am totally not an oatmeal girl now and went through the whole oatmeal packets thing in my teens, but I have a feeling your recipe today might change my mind! This looks amazing Jess! The textures sound amazing. I’m making my grocery list now! :)
I’m not an oatmeal gal either. Tried to make a banana baked oatmeal the other day…came out like a solid brick and tasted like cardboard. Buttttttt I could totally jump on board this quinoa thing…especially w/ all that coconut goodness!
This sounds delicious. There is some much going on that it has to make oatmeal taste good. i am like you and have tried to get on the oatmeal train, but I’m just not that into it. I’m sure I would love this version, there are too many good flavors and that coconut whipped cream, I mean YUM.
Quinn Cooper Style
Looks delicious! Happy national mint julep day!
This recipe is perfection in every way.
I only just recently decided I like oatmeal. My favorite way is with an avocado mashed in there with a little salt and pepper, SO tasty.
Instant oatmeal, oh girl, I love it too. Nothing will ever be as good as those little packs! Cinnamon Roll was always a favorite of mine. And 1 pack? Who on earth only eats one at a time? I have always been a 2 pack girl. Those were my go-to breakfast growing up. That and cereal. My mom was not much of a kitchen mom but as long as she stocked that pantry with those little oatmeal packets, some poptarts and a few boxes of cereal I would take breakfast at my house any day of the week! ha!
The caramelized strawberries sound awesome! I mean there is coconut on them! Yes, please! I love coconut and have been going crazy with coconut whipped cream, like crazy. I actually think I have a problem.
I love breakfast quinoa! I also happen to be the biggest lover of oatmeal any way you can serve it though. This looks amazing! Strawberries and cream anything is really amazing though, right? Also, if you can work out a way to eat whipped cream for breakfast then the day really is a win!
No shame in the instant o
Awesome breakfast idea!
No shame in the instant oatmeal game. I have a ranking system. Blueberries and cream, strawberries and cream and peaches and cream. And what person like bananas and cream? Not me. So they would always be thrown away. Oops. I was apparently a wasteful little brat as a child.
I would still down me some to this day… and maybe even eat the banana one.
We would always throw away the blueberries and cream ones. Actually, I liked the bananas and cream (and the peaches – my favorite). My brothers were all about the strawberries and cream though!
Everything about this recipe is right up my alley. I love quinoa, strawberries, coconut AND oatmeal and if this quinoa bowl is a substitue for oatmeal, then I’m all in! It’s fun to mix things up. Plus, with strawberry season right around the corner, how can you go wrong?
I can’t say that I’ve ever loved traditional oatmeal — instant, or not — but I recently started making baked oatmeal and OMG it’s amazing…can’t wait to try this recipe!
i am a so can’t stand instant oatmeal…give me the oldfashioned oats and yes me too i can eat every morning for breakfast…and your fancy version that is what i am talking about getting all wild and crazy for a saturday breakfast :-)
Delicious! We love quinoa here! This looks like a delicious and healthy way to get your day started.
This quinoa/oatmeal bake sounds wonderful! It’s definitely right up my alley! I pinned it and can’t wait to give it a try!
Holy incredible breakfast! I lo
-v
I eat oatmeal every morning with Caleb. We never get tired of it! We will be making this:)
I totally agree with the instant oatmeal packets, double peaches and cream made with milk. I want to like regular oatmeal, but…..BORING! This, however, looks amazing. How could you not want strawberries cooked in brown sugar in your oatmeal?
Coconut whipped cream you say? I think by hate you mean we’ll love you forever. I may blame you for not being able to get off my couch ever again though.
And this oatmeal looks AMAZING. Welcome to my breakfast routine, new recipe.
as Kimberly answered I’m in shock that a single mom able to earn $6703 in one month on the computer. have you seen this webpage
I was just thinking I needed to make a breakfast quinoa for something different. This looks SO good! I love the strawberries and coconut. What a great breakfast!
YUM. Those packets are good but I had to stop eating them in my early 20s when I got real with myself and admitted that they are just junk food in an oatmeal package :).
I can totally sympathize with your annoyance at your husband’s oatmeal habits. My boyfriend eats his oatmeal PLAIN – no fruit, no nuts, he’ll barely let me sprinkle a little cinnamon on it. I’m like, you’re missing out on all the good stuff!!! As I shovel strawberries, bananas, and peanut butter onto mine. Men!
I’ve made baked oatmeal before but never thought to add quinoa in there. And I love the extra crunch from quinoa too!
And those Quaker Instant Oatmeal packets were my fave. I have a special place in my heart for the maple brown sugar one.
OMG the title of this post made me drool! I totally AM an oatmeal girl…as in I basically ate plain quaker with a scoop of peanut butter mixed in for breakfast every day for 5 years. Somehow I’ve never made baked oatmeal, and NEVER topped it with brown sugared strawberries…love it!
I don’t remember ever trying those flavors of oatmeal…i know, so deprived. honestly though, I just never ventured beyond the packets with the little dinosaur eggs that magically hatched in to little dinosaur sprinkles in the microwave. I never really enjoyed eating it though..just watching the eggs hatch. then i would go on to eat my REAL breakfast….a packet of poptarts or graham crackers broken up as “cereal” in a bowl of milk.
why can’t i be a kid again?
My man eats the same thing every morning too (cinnamon raisin bagel+butter+jam) and it baffles me! I’m glad you found a home oatmeal recipe that you’re into! I think it looks perfect!
In high school when I was on the swim team I used to eat the maple and brown sugar kind right out of the package before practice. Rip it open and pour into mouth.
This recipe looks delish!! You should tell your hubby to check out Love Grown Foods! (www.lovegrownfoods.com) They just released a new oatmeal product called Hot Oats which are the single serve oatmeal cups. Not sure if they are available in your area in stores but you can always find them on Amazon! P.S. Thanks for writing such a real blog… I mean I’m a girl who tries to eat healthy and all that but let’s be honest, I’m obsessed with buffalo sauce and/or anything smothered in cheese. And it’s nice to know there is someone out there that eats the same way!
Oh boy does this look good! I’ve been eating pumpkin flax granola almost every morning during the week for the past 2 months.. Probably time to try this out!
It’s funny how much you love the instant stuff, because I grew up on homemade and when I first tried the instant when I went to college I was disgusted. It tasted too fake to me hahah.
I grew up on instant (peaches and cream or maple brown sugar please!) but now I eat the regular old fashioned EVERY DAY!! Ah don’t publicly stone me! But I use different toppings and different add ins every day.
I made a quinoa granola once that was like candy! No wonder you could love oatmeal like this! :) Sounds great! Ok, so I HAVE TO KNOW!! Where did you get the spoon that’s peeking into the last picture?? The one that looks like a wavy shell?
Ah, the Quaker instant packets! Peaches and Cream was the best, and yes you always needed two packets, with milk. Taking me back to my childhood; I haven’t had them in sooooo long. Guess I know where I’m headed the next time I go grocery shopping.
Love this mixture! And even without the topping I’ll bet it is divine. And as for the hubs-well there is something about keeping it simple. Sure would make my life easier!
daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayum oh no you DIDN’T!
♥♥
Mmmm this sounds so good! I love the idea of adding quinoa. Lots of extra protein. I love baked oatmeal so I will definitely have to try this!
I love a good hearty oatmeal with fruit and this looks like it would be perfect!
I may can tolerate this kinda oatmeal. I’m a crunchy oatmeal person too!
I won’t touch the instant stuff…so…MORE FOR YOU!! I figured out how to make creamy peach oatmeal in the oven; I double the recipe and eat “oatmeal pudding” for breakfast eight days straight! Love that unsweetened vanilla almond milk!!!
I wish I had some strawberries…..
I am on a total oatmeal kick as well and quinoa and can’t wait to give this a try! I totally loved the little Quaker packets as a kid too. Now I just load my oatmeal with cinnamon. The other day my mom asked if I wanted some oatmeal with my cinnamon :)
I remember those days when, I could never understand why people ate oatmeal, porridge sounded much better. I am now an oatmeal lover and this recipe will be made :)
Loved the cinnamon roll flavour! And now I buy Nature Valley oatmeal packs! You should look into them (Nature Valley is in the U.S. too, I’m assuming), delish and adult acceptable ;) Maple nut.. so good.
My bf doesn’t eat breakfast, ever (!), but he can eat plain tortillas, kd, and cream cheese plain bagels allll day and be happy.
Did you happen to save/reheat any? I don’t think my husband would eat this but hate halving and quartering recipes (too many fractions…). Just wondering!
yes you can definitely reheat it! i just add a little extra milk!