This easy Quinoa Breakfast Bake is layers of fresh fruit, quinoa, and oats smothered in a cinnamon and syrup egg mixture baked to perfection! A healthy breakfast and a scrumptious way to start the day!
Just like my quinoa breakfast bowl, this recipe is a simple, no-fuss morning breakfast.
Toasted coconut flakes, oats, and quinoa give this quinoa breakfast bake the heartiness and texture. It’s like quinoa granola meets healthy overnight oats meets a fruit crisp! This beautifully layered quinoa bake has something for everyone. What could be better than that?!
The fresh fruit gives breakfast casserole that sweetness with a little tartness and the egg, vanilla, cinnamon, and maple syrup give it a touch of sweetness and a smooth finish that lets you know you’re about to bite into a mouthful of deliciousness.
Having a slice of this quinoa bake right out of the oven is warming and well deserved, especially during the cooler months.
But what makes this one of the best quinoa recipes is that it is a dish you can eat all year round while using seasonal fruits and berries. It is just as good at room temperature or when eating leftovers straight out of the fridge, just like with syrniki (cheese pancakes).
Serve it in a bowl with a dollop of yogurt for a filling and nutritious breakfast!
Ingredients for Quinoa Breakfast Bake
- Dry: Uncooked quinoa, uncooked steel cut oats, coconut flakes. Steel cut oats are highly nutritious and less processed than rolled oats. They have a similar texture to quinoa and are a little sturdier than rolled oats. When looking for coconut flakes, if you are watching the amount of sugar, make sure they are unsweetened.
- Liquids: Milk. I used almond milk, but you can really use any you’d like. Maple syrup or honey, vanilla extract, cooking spray.
- Fruits: Very ripe sliced bananas, fresh or frozen blueberries, fresh or frozen raspberries. Leftover healthy fruit salad could work, too!
- Eggs
- Seasonings: Cinnamon. Salt.
- Optional: Greek yogurt as a topping.
How to Make Quinoa Breakfast Bake
- Prep: Begin by rinsing quinoa and oats with running cold water. Drain and set aside. Preheat a small skillet and add coconut to toast. Stir frequently until golden brown. Watch for burning. Set aside. Preheat the oven and spray a square baking dish with cooking spray.
- Whisk: In a medium bowl, whisk milk, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
- Assemble: Lay half the sliced bananas, blueberries, and raspberries in a single layer on the bottom of the dish. Spread the quinoa and oats on top. Top with remaining berries.
- Pour: Slowly pour the syrup mixture, using just one corner of the dish. This is to help evenly spread the liquid throughout the dish without having the fruit float to the top. Pouring the liquid too quickly in the middle of the dish may interrupt the balance of evenly distributed flavours.
- Bake: Sprinkle with toasted coconut and bake uncovered.
- Cool: Remove from the oven and let cool. You can eat immediately but keep in mind it won’t be set and will be quite runny. If that is how you like it, then enjoy it!
- Cut: Once cooled, cut into slices and top with a dollop of Greek yogurt.
Make Ahead Tip: To make this dish ahead, assemble it completely, then cover and refrigerate for up to 48 hours.
Tips and Variations
- Customizable: You can use quick or rolled oats, eggs or egg whites, milk of choice and even add a scoop of protein powder.
- Rinse your quinoa: No matter which brand of quinoa you use, make sure to rinse it first. I do not usually recommend to do so in my other recipes like quinoa granola bars or quinoa casserole. But with this bake it adds weight that is needed to hold the quinoa down and helps it avoid floating to the top.
- Protein powder: The sweetness of entire dish depends on the fruit you use, also the kind of protein powder, if using any at all. I used very ripe bananas and a scoop of naturally sweetened VEGA vanilla protein powder once. No maple syrup was necessary.
- Fruit: You can use any fruit or berries. If using frozen fruit no need to thaw first, toss them in frozen as is!
- A savory version: Completely overhaul the sweet and add some savory! This would be great for breakfast as well as dinner! Add any kind of veggies, mushrooms, peas, potatoes, or spinach, sprinkle in some flax or nutritional yeast, and season with turmeric and you’ve got yourself another fantastic option.
Can I Omit Quinoa?
Unfortunately this recipe is developed with quinoa. If you are not a fan of quinoa and prefer oatmeal, try this blueberry baked oatmeal recipe then.
If you are looking for more whole grains, try this healthy french toast casserole or healthy breakfast cake.
Storing, Freezing and Reheating
Store: People have been known to enjoy this all week long! Perfect for busy mornings. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Freeze: If you have leftovers or want to freeze a second batch, freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Reheat: Thaw to room temperature and then bake at 375 until heated through.
More Favorite Quinoa Recipes
Quinoa Breakfast Bake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup quinoa uncooked
- 1/2 cup steel cut oats uncooked
- 1/4 cup coconut flakes unsweetened
- 3 medium very ripe bananas sliced
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries fresh or frozen
- 1/2 cup raspberries fresh or frozen
- 2 cups any milk I used almond
- 2 large eggs
- 1 – 2 tbsp maple syrup or honey
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- Dash of salt
- Cooking spray I use Misto
- Greek yogurt for topping (optional)
Instructions
- Rinse quinoa and oats with cold running water, drain and set aside.
- Preheat small skillet on low-medium heat, add coconut and toast until golden brown, stirring frequently. Set aside.
- In medium bowl, whisk milk, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and spray 8 x 8 square baking dish with cooking spray.
- Lay half of bananas, blueberries and raspberries in a single layer on a bottom. Using a spoon or spatula, spread rinsed quinoa and steel cut oats on top. Top with remaining banana and berries.
- Slowly pour liquid mixture in the corner of the baking dish without disturbing the set up. If you pour the liquid abruptly in the middle of the dish, all fruit might float to the top. We are looking for evenly distributed fruits and sweetness in every slice.
- Sprinkle with toasted coconut flakes and bake for 60 minutes uncovered.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 45 – 60 minutes.
- Cut into 9 slices and serve hot, warm or cold with a dollop of Greek yogurt if desired. You can also dig in with a spoon right away. The bake won't be completely set but still delicious.
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days
- Freeze: Leftovers for up to 3 months.
- Make ahead: Assemble, cover and refrigerate for up to 48 hours. Bake as per instructions.
- Rinsing quinoa: It’s best to use a bowl for rinsing grains as quinoa is too small and tends to go through the holes of a mesh strainer (unless you have a very fine one). You want to rinse quinoa for sweet recipes to remove bitter saponin.
- Oats: A few readers reported to successfully use quick (regular) oats.
- Berries: Feel free to use any combination of berries (I used all blueberries this time).
- Protein: Add a scoop of protein powder if you wish.
- Egg whites: Replace eggs with 1/2 cup egg whites if you wish.
This is amazing! Thank you!! I didn’t have enough bananas so I used some left over almond-milk-pulp and it worked great!
Made this for breakfast this morning and it turned out great! I used strawberries and blackberries instead of blueberries and raspberries because that’s what I had on hand. I also used maple syrup, almond milk, and omitted the protein powder. I topped it with some greek yogurt and almond butter. Sooo yummy. I’ll definitely make it again soon. Thanks for the recipe!
Second time making this, I love, love, love it! It tastes great and is healthy! Thanks so much for the recipe
I just made this recipe this morning for breakfast for my grandmother and husband and we ALL really enjoyed this dish! Love the quinoa to add a crunch to it. The blueberries and coconut on top were a hit too. Yummy!! Would you email me the recipe so I can print it out?
Glad to hear that! You can print out the recipe by hitting Print button on it – top right hand corner.
Absolutely delicious! I even got my husband to diverge from his regular breakfast of Honey Nut Cheerios for a few days. He was upset when it was all gone. I will definitely be making this again soon.
Wow, great we beat General Mills cr@p together.:) Glad it worked!
What is the texture of this bake? Is it crunchy or soft? I prefer a soft texture like bread pudding. Is it like that?
It is soft. For soft soft make sure to use quick oats not old fashioned rolled oats.
If I use all oats, should I use less milk? Can I use apples instead of bananas?
I don’t think so. Maybe sweet kind of apples?!
I do not like bananas would it be ok to sub applesauce or something else to replace the bananas? Thanks
Not applesauce. Bananas add sweetness and texture. Maybe some other sweet fruit like mango or more berries although it won’t be the same and not sure how it will work.
All I have in my pantry is quick oats. Would that change the measurement or cooking time at all? Do I still have to rinse them?
You don’t have to rinse oats. I haven’t tried it this way, so hard to say. It will be tasty for sure but no idea what the consistency will be like.
Good! Often our kids do not have an opportunity to learn basic skills. Simply because of the modern comfortable life we live. And thank you for your kind words!