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.
OMG!! I don’t bake, EVER as I’m a disaster but I made this yesterday as a sweet alternative for work brekkies – how easy and super delicious this is – it actually not only works as breakfast but also scrumptious dessert too! I subbed oat milk and only added 1/2 spoon of agave and it was still super sweet and gooey and will be the only ‘baking’ dish I make from now on – thank you so much Olena 🙂
I am so happy to hear this Elaine! Thanks for sharing.
Wow, thank you for sharing! I modified this to make it vegan by replacing the egg with Aquafaba and using almond milk instead of skim milk, and it was delicious.
I also tried out a savory version by replacing the sweet ingredients with turmeric, nutritional yeast, flaxseed meal, and potatoes. I might add mushroom and spinach or split peas next.
Thanks again–this is nutritious, scrumptious, easy, and a total game changer for me!
Thanks so much for sharing your positive feedback Aimee!
I’ve made this a dozen or more times. Im not an egg eater so finding something for breakfast is challenging at times. This is fantastic!! I use bananas, fresh blueberries and the smallest can of crushed pineapple. Just to try to cut down on seeds. I also cut the liquid down to 1 1/2 cups of almond milk and added coconut sugar to make it sweeter.
Glad you are enjoying this bake for breakfast Angela!
Love this one! It’s my go to when I have visitors stay over. Easy to do the night before and then just put it in the oven first thing in the morning- such a great smell for guests to wake up to!
Love hearing this Shelley. Have a great day!
Delicious! I loved that I could use frozen fruit in this one; it comes together quickly! The quinoa was a nice (and unusual!) touch for a breakfast dish. I’ll be returning to this recipe again and again.
That’s great to hear Summer 🙂
Quick question,
I have quinoa already made. Would I be able to use it in the recipe if I cut down on the liquid amount?
I think so. And cook it for less time. I would use 1/2 cup milk.
PS: on more thing…. I had more liquid than the 8 x 9 baking dish that I used could hold.
It is only 2 cups of liquid that will come up to probably 1 inch max in a square baking dish and considering yours didn’t have bananas, sounds to me like other proportions are off. Did you measure ingredients?
yes. Right now I’m ripening up some bananas to try again. I think that was part of it and not accurate with milk. Will let you know how the second bake turns out.
I love the flavor but did not have real ripe bananas so used what I had. Is the Quinoa suppose to stay crunchy? It didn’t soften or expand. Felt like little pearls. I left it uncooked as required. Other than that enjoyed it.
Quinoa is supposed to soften up in a liquid if recipe is followed. What other changes “Used what I had” mean? 🙂
Did not have real ripe bananas. They were more on the hard side, still a little green. Other than that followed the recipe.
Easy to make, delicious, and great for eating throughout the week 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Rosie! Thank you for the wonderful review!
So delicious! I’ve made this recipe probably 10 times in the last 6 months. It’s good for breakfast or a dessert. I have made it with Bird’s custard (with Splenda instead of sugar) and poured it over it before serving for a dessert and it is soooooo good!
Yay. You are very welcome!!!