High-Protein Baked Oatmeal
⏱ 50 min💪 26g protein per square🔥 ~300 cal🍽 6 servings
Baked oatmeal is the format that makes meal-prep breakfast worth doing, because it reheats better than almost anything else. Greek yogurt carries most of the protein here so you only need two scoops of powder, which keeps it from drying out. Cut it into six, and each square is 26g. Top a square with more yogurt and you clear 35g without trying.
Ingredients
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 2 scoops (60g) vanilla whey or whey-casein protein powder
- 2 cups nonfat plain Greek yogurt
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup liquid egg whites
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350F and grease an 8x8 baking dish.
- Whisk the Greek yogurt, eggs, egg whites, almond milk, maple syrup, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth and pourable.
- Stir the oats, protein powder, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a second bowl, then add them to the wet mixture and stir just until no dry pockets remain.
- Fold in three-quarters of the blueberries, pour into the dish, scatter the rest on top, and bake 35 to 40 minutes until the center is set and the edges are golden.
- Cool at least 10 minutes before cutting into 6 squares, or it will fall apart on the spatula.
- Refrigerate up to 5 days or freeze individual squares up to 3 months. Reheat 60 to 90 seconds with a splash of milk poured over the top first.
Tips
- The splash of milk before reheating is not optional. Protein powder tightens as it cools, and a dry square out of the microwave is the main complaint people have about protein baked oats.
- Do not use quick oats. They absorb the liquid instantly and bake into a dense pudding instead of holding a chewy structure you can cut.
- Pull it at 35 minutes if the center barely wobbles. Whey protein squeezes out moisture the longer it bakes, and five extra minutes is the difference between moist and crumbly.
FAQ
- Can I make baked oatmeal without protein powder?
- Yes. Leave it out, add a half cup more oats, and bump the yogurt to 2 1/2 cups. You end up around 17g of protein per square instead of 26g.
- Can I use casein instead of whey?
- Casein actually bakes better, since it holds moisture instead of releasing it. Add 1/4 cup more almond milk, because casein soaks up noticeably more liquid.
- Does baked oatmeal freeze well?
- Very well. Wrap squares individually in plastic, bag them, and microwave from frozen for about 2 minutes with a splash of milk. Texture is nearly identical to fresh.
- How do I get to 30g of protein with this?
- One square plus a half cup of Greek yogurt on top puts you at roughly 38g. A glass of milk on the side works too and adds about 8g.
