This Carrot Cake Oatmeal recipe takes all the flavors of a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and then made into a nutritious and delicious breakfast!. It is like having dessert for breakfast (stove top and microwave instructions included).
We love using nutritious carrots in everyday cooking. Some of our favorites include Air Fried Carrot Fries, Eggless Carrot Cake or Almond Flour Carrot Muffins.
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Carrot Cake Oatmeal
We took all the elements of a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and made into an oatmeal. How awesome is that? Oatmeals are certainly one of our family favorite go-to breakfast on a weekday. Though overnight oats are delicious in summer, hot oatmeals are cozy, comforting and warms you on a cold, winter day and our new favorite method is to make oatmeal in the air fryer.
Carrots are one of our favorite vegetables for its sweet taste and power house of nutrition like vitamin A, K, beta carotene, potassium and eye health. Who knew getting them in at breakfast would be so easy?
These oats porridge are made on your stovetop but don’t worry, we have included microwave instructions too. It perfect balanced breakfast that will leave you feeling content.
All the flavors of traditional cake — cinnamon, brown sugar, walnuts and carrots, make this a whole new way to dig into breakfast. It’s a tasty way to get an entire serving of vegetables in at the beginning of the day. Looking for more ways in add carrots into your diet? Check out this carrot oatmeal cookies, carrot walnut cake or Thai carrot soup.
This porridge not only will satisfy your sweet tooth, but also keep you full until lunch. Plus, it requires just a handful of easy pantry ingredients and is made without pineapple.
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE?
- Nutritious – With the combination of oats, carrots, and nuts – this recipe is jam-packed with nutrients too. With gut healthy fiber, several vitamins, minerals and iron, this is great way to kick start a day.
- Dessert for Breakfast – All the elements of the classic cake in the form of a healthy porridge.
- Make in Stove Top, Microwave or Instant Pot.
- Cozy and comforting textures with chewy oats and crunchy nuts.
HOW TO MAKE IN MICROWAVE?
Place grated carrot, milk, water, salt and oats into a large microwavable bowl and stir together. Heat in the microwave (uncovered) on high for 3 minutes and 30 seconds and then add 15-second increments, until oatmeal is puffed and softened. Remove from microwave, stir in all remaining ingredients and let stand for few minutes, until thickened, before serving.
HOW TO MAKE IN INSTANT POT?
- Using a pastry brush, spread room temperature butter all around the bottom of the stainless steel inner pot.
- Add 2 cups water, 1 cup oats, 2 pinches salt and 1 cup finely grated veggie. Stir to combine.
- Pour 1 cup milk on top, but DO NOT STIR.
- Close and lock lid (making sure that valve is set to seal), cook on manual for 7 minutes. When cooking time is done, let instant pot be in warm mode for 10 minutes (13 to 14 minutes if using a 3-quart pot).
- Release pressure (by turning valve to vent), open, add all remaining ingredients and mix to combine. (ADJUST CONSISTENCY with additional water or milk)
- Ladle into bowls topped with yogurt.
INGREDIENTS
- Oats : Old fashioned oats or rolled oats
- Dairy : We used full fat milk, but we recommend staying from fat free
- Carrot : Freshly grated carrot grated in a fine grater
- Sweetener: Brown sugar
- Nuts and Raisins : Chopped walnuts and golden raisins
- Flavorings : Cinnamon, vanilla extract and salt
- Yogurt topping – Greek yogurt and regular sugar
PRO TIPS FOR SUCCESS
- Grate carrots in the finer side of your box grater. This helps to cook it faster.
- Use greek yogurt – Only greek yogurt along with plain sugar gives the traditional cream cheese frosting taste.
- To make it gluten free, use gluten free oats
- If you are using Quaker oats, old fashioned oats is same as rolled oats.
- Old fashioned oats offer the best consistency. Steel cuts are much harder and will benefit from a different cooking procedure whereas quick cooking will yield a mushy texture.
- Do not use store-bought vanilla yogurt instead.
- Use golden raisins instead of black raisins for the classic taste.
Topping Ideas
This taste great, but the toppings just elevates the taste. Some great additions include:
- Nuts – Walnuts or toasted pecans.
- Sweetened Greek yogurt
- Shredded coconut
- Flaxseed – Adds more benefits.
- Spices – Freshly grated nutmeg or ground ginger
How to make?
(Keep scrolling to the recipe card for the complete list of ingredients and recipe instructions)
- Cook – Add grated carrot, milk, water and salt into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir in oats and reduce heat to medium and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until oats has absorbed most of the liquid.
- Finish – Take off heat, stir in brown sugar, chopped walnuts, raisins, ground cinnamon and vanilla extract. Cover and let sit for about 5 minutes.
- Serve – Ladle hot oats into a serving bowl and top with sweetened greek yogurt.
HOW TO STORE?
Refrigerate cooled oats and sweetened yogurt in two seperate containers, for up to 4 days. When ready to eat, warm oatmeal in microwave and top with yogurt.
More creative breakfast mashups: Healthy Pina Colada Smoothie, Black Forest Smoothie, Pumpkin Belgian Waffles, Chocolate Banana Date Smoothie, Hawaiian Roll Cinnamon Rolls and Baked Mangoes.
Frequently asked questions:
There are 520 calories (yogurt topping included) in one serving of carrot oats.
Absolutely! Just skip the walnuts.
More walnut recipes: Candied Walnuts, Persimmon Crostini, Eggless Banana Muffins, Air fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies, Baked Oatmeal Cups, Eggless Banana Bread, Banana Sheet Cake, Healthy Baked Oatmeal,Chocolate Chip Banana Mug Cake or Honey Walnut Shrimp Ramen Noodles.
More OATS recipes:
- Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal <—- made in instant pot
- Oat Flour Pancakes
- Healthy Waffles
- Baked Banana Oatmeal Cups
- Chocolate Almond Butter Overnight Oats
- Breakfast Cookies <—– Healthiest Cookie Recipe
- Baked Oatmeal
- Gluten Free Oat Waffles <— Very popular recipe
Carrot Cake Oatmeal (Stovetop or Microwave)
Ingredients
Wet ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup grated carrot (about 1), grated in the fine side of box grater
- 2 pinches salt
Additional ingredients
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/4 cup golden brown sugar or more if needed
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 3 tablespoons golden raisins
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Yogurt topping
- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon sugar or more if needed
Instructions
Stovetop
1. Add milk, water, grated carrot and salt in a medium saucepan, give a good stir and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in oats and reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for about 5 minutes or until oats has softened and absorbed most of the liquid. (Measure all remaining ingredients in the mean time)
2. Remove from heat, stir in brown sugar, chopped walnuts, raisins, ground cinnamon and vanilla extract. Cover and let stand for about 3 minutes.
3. Ladle hot oatmeal into serving bowls and top with sweetened greek yogurt. Enjoy!
To make sweetened greek yogurt: Stir plain greek yogurt and sugar. Keep refrigerated until serving time.
Microwave:
1. Place grated carrot, milk, water, salt and oats into a large microwavable bowl and stir together.
2. Heat in the microwave (uncovered) on high for 3 minutes and 30 seconds and then add 15-second increments, until oatmeal is puffed and softened.
3. Remove from microwave, stir in all remaining ingredients and let stand for a few minutes, until thickened, before serving with yogurt.
Notes
We recommend serving the carrot cake oatmeal as soon as it is done cooking. Any addition of more liquid tends to move away from the exact carrot cake taste, still delicious though!
Grate carrots in the finer side of your box grater. This helps to cook it faster.
Use greek yogurt – Only greek yogurt along with plain sugar gives the traditional cream cheese frosting taste.
To make it gluten free, use gluten free oats
If you are using Quaker oats, old fashioned oats is same as rolled oats.
Old fashioned oats offer the best consistency. Steel cuts are much harder and will benefit from a different cooking procedure whereas quick cooking will yield a mushy texture.
Do not use store-bought vanilla yogurt instead.
We recommend using golden raisins instead of black raisins for the traditional carrot cake taste.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 520Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 270mgCarbohydrates: 81gFiber: 8gSugar: 40gProtein: 19g
I am not a certified dietician or nutritionist. You are ultimately responsible for all decisions pertaining to your health. This information is provided as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. This information is a product of online calculator such as Nutrifox.com.. Although Kitchen at Hoskins attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their fact sources and algorithms. Under no circumstances will Kitchen at Hoskins be responsible for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on the nutritional information. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
The recipe for basic oatmeal is from Feelgoodfoodie.
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