This Apple Carrot Oatmeal is a delicious and easy way to add veggies to breakfast! The grated carrot and diced apples cook to tender perfection with the rolled oats and give this dish a lovely, natural sweetness. Done in just 10 minutes, adaptable and easy to make, this healthy breakfast is one of our family’s go-to recipes.
I’ve been making oatmeal with veggies for years. It is one of my favorite ways to easily work in vegetables at breakfast and is always a hit with my family. Since carrots are one of my staple vegetables that I always have on hand, I tend to make this tasty Apple Carrot Oatmeal more often than pretty much any other version.
I love that this Apple Carrot Oatmeal has veggies (of course), but I also adore that it is made all in one pot. So easy! Plus, it is naturally sweetened with apples and a little maple syrup or honey and is done in 10 minutes. It’s truly the perfect healthy + filling breakfast to make on busy weekday mornings. This recipe makes 4 servings, so share with the family or make it for yourself and reheat the leftovers for days to come. These cozy carrot oats are gluten free (when you use certified gluten free oats), vegetarian, nut-free, and can easily be made vegan, and dairy-free when you use your favorite plant-based milk.
If you are more of a planner than an early bird, check out my Slow Cooker Steel Cut Apple Carrot Oats. You can sleep in AND still have a hearty veggie-loaded breakfast.
How to grate the carrots for these oats
I simply peel the carrots and then use the large holes of a box grater and it works perfectly. Or the grating attachment on a food processor works beautifully, too. No need to squeeze out any of the excess moisture before adding them to the oats. It all cooks together perfectly.
You can absolutely grate the carrots beforehand and store them in an air-tight container in your fridge for 3-4 days or even grate a nice big batch of carrots and freeze them! Or, if you really want to skip on grating, you can buy the pre-shredded carrots from the grocery store. Just FYI, those tend to be cut thicker and don’t get as tender as quickly as in these oats.
Suggested Adaptations
- Reduce the amount of carrot If you are nervous about how grated carrots will taste in your oatmeal, reduce the amount! Start by adding 1/3 or 1/2 of a cup to the oatmeal and work your way up to the 1 cup recommend in the recipe. Veggie-loading is all about baby steps and exposure. A small amount of veggies is better than no veggies at all.
- Increase the amount of carrot. Loving this and totally game to add more veggie? Then go with it. I would start with a full cup of grated carrots and increase from there with each batch until you find your perfect balance.
- Use a different fruit other than apple. Pears would be delicious in this carrot oatmeal. As would frozen berries.
- Grate the apple instead of dicing. If you don’t want the chunks of apple in your carrot oatmeal, you can grate it just like you did the carrots.
- Use grated zucchini instead of carrots. Just add them at the same time as you would the carrots.
- Omit the maple syrup/honey. The apples and carrots offer a lot of natural sweetness to these oats already. If you are looking to reduce the added sugar and don’t mind a milder oatmeal, you can leave the sweetener out all together.
- Make it vegan/dairy-free by using your favorite plant based milk. I like unsweetened almond milk.
Tips
- Cut your apples close to the same size. This will ensure they cook evenly!
- Grate your carrots ahead of time to make this oatmeal extra easy. Just store them in an air-tight container in your fridge for about 3 days or in your freezer for a month. That way, you always have some carrots on hand to add to these oats or other recipes.
- Adjust sweetness to your taste preference. Add more or less maple syrup or honey as you please!
Other veggie-loaded oatmeal recipes
- Carrot Zucchini Instant Pot Oatmeal
- Blueberry Cauliflower Oatmeal
- Chocolate Zucchini Oatmeal
- Zucchini Blueberry Baked Oatmeal
- Carrot Apple Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oatmeal
- Carrot Banana Protein Oatmeal
- Baked Apple Sweet Potato Oatmeal
- Baked Carrot Chocolate Oatmeal
Did you try this Apple Carrot Oatmeal and now you’re hungry for more?
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10-Minute Apple Carrot Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 1½ cups rolled oats use certified gluten free if needed
- 1 cup grated carrot add more or less based on your preference
- 1 medium apple diced (peeling is optional)
- 1 cup milk of choice I used unsweetened almond
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey or to taste. Omit if you feel that the apples will sweet this enough for you.
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine oats, grated carrots, diced apple, milk, water, maple syrup/honey, cinnamon, and vanilla in a medium sauce pot. Stir and heat on medium heat until the mixture starts to simmer.
- Cook for 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
- Serve warm topped with more syrup/honey, a drizzle of peanut butter, berries, some sliced bananas, raisins, dried cranberries, or some chopped nuts.
Nutrition
The nutritional information is provided as an estimate only and may vary based on the product type, servings and other factors. If you are following a diet, please consult with a professional nutritionist or your doctor. Stay healthy!
Comments
So yummy!! Thank you for sharing and reminding me about this easy and yummy recipe.
This smells amazing! I’m sure for most this would be easy enough to whip up and enjoy, but I’m taking advantage of my baby napping to prep this for tomorrow’s breakfast. Thanks for sharing!
I love to make this as prep, too! Easy enough for first thing in the morning (for my schedule), but just as tasty as a reheated leftover!
Yes that is a good recipe I’ve tried this before, just wondering have you tried it with a sweet potato before that’s a good one to especially with green stevia.
I’ve added cooked and mashed sweet potato! It is really good!