This lean, green vanilla bean steel cut oatmeal is a breakfast all-star! It is the perfect way to sneak some extra veggies in at breakfast.
I apologize in advance for how scary these oats look. That’s why I put allllll of the toppings on them.
No really, I know they look terrifying but they are really delicious. Just trust me on this. You know I wouldn’t steer you wrong.
So how did I get here? Putting these bowls of green oatmeal in front of you so you could give me the side eye. Whole Foods made me do it. On the weekends, Whole Foods hot bar is my go-to. The boyfriend’s apartment is dangerously close to Whole Foods, and nearly every weekend when it comes to breakfast we hit up the hot bar. It is just so addicting. A little while back, they had a prepared oatmeal that caught my eye. I love reading the ingredient list at the hot bar because 1) I want to know what I’m eating and 2) I get a lot of good recipe inspiration from their flavor combinations. As you may have guessed, the oatmeal that caught my eye was green thanks to some good old spinach.
When I scooped some into a cup, E gave me the same side-eye you’re giving me right now. I was just too intrigued not to have some! As expected, it was delicious vanilla-y oatmeal that just so happened to have spinach in it. Aside from the green color it was undetectable. It was only a matter of time before I had to make some for myself.
I have a few tips for successfully putting greens in foods that don’t traditionally have them. In order for this to work you must do the following:
- You have to blend the spinach with a lot of liquid. You have to have to have to. Please do not try to put some sad, dry spinach in a blender and puree it. You will have gnarly spinach chunks, and a bowl of sadness instead of oatmeal. Take all of the liquid you intend to cook your oats in, throw it in the blender with your spinach and blend, baby blend.
- You need to use a good blender. I’m not bougie enough to be in the Vitamix/Blendtec club quite yet so please don’t feel like you need to be either. But if your blender can’t give you a smooth, decent smoothie you are going to want to reconsider some things here. I used my Nutribullet and it worked great. If you don’t have a very strong blender, you can try blending for a while to really give the spinach time to break down. Then run the mixture through a strainer before cooking your oatmeal in it.
You follow these tips, and you can put spinach in just about anything. I promise.
All right now that I may have finally won you over, you are going to think I’m crazy again. Let’s talk about saving our green oats for meal prep. If I’m eating cooked oats, they need to be steel cut as cooked rolled oats don’t do it for me. But I also don’t have time to cook steel cut oats in the morning before work and I suspect you may not either.
Pro tip: pre-make steel cut oatmeal and scoop it into a silicone muffin pan. Then stick that bad boy in the freezer for a few hours until the oats have set and are frozen. Pop them out of the muffin pan and save them in freezer bags. When you’re ready to eat, put two oat blocks in a microwave-safe bowl and reheat. BOOM. CLAP. You have easy steel cut oats that are ready in an instant and won’t explode in the microwave.
Then, just add toppings and enjoy. Yaaaaaaas honey, yaaaaaaas.
So if you’re feeling adventurous or are a weirdo like me and are drawn to green food, give these a try!
- ½ Cup Quick-Cooking Steel Cut Oats*
- ¾ Cup Water
- ¾ Cup Almond or Coconut Milk
- 1 Cup Fresh Spinach
- 2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
- 1 Mashed Banana
- 1 Teaspoon Chia Seeds
- Pods from ½ of a Vanilla Bean, or 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Optional Toppings: Banana, blueberries, additional milk, chia seeds, etc.
- Combine spinach, water and almond milk in a blender and process until completely blended. The mixture should be completely smooth and there should be no chunks of spinach. Transfer mixture to a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
- Add in steel cut oats and stir until combined. Reduce heat and cover, stirring occasionally until cooked through. I used quick-cooking steel cut oats, so this took about 5 minutes.
- Once the oats are cooked, add the banana, maple syrup, vanilla bean and chia seeds. Stir until all ingredients are mixed into the oats and the oats are fluffy.
- Remove from heat and serve immediately, or scoop into a muffin tin to freeze.
Your Turn:
- What are some of your favorite ways to sneak veggies into meals?
- What is your favorite item to get from the Whole Foods hot bar?
oh em geee OBSESSED. I have yet to put spinach in my oatmeal yet, but I will totes be trying. The side eye, lol I get that every day of my life from the hubs.
Definitely sharing this with my sister as I know she’s been making steel cut oats in the am on the stove, the freezer muffin cups are genius!
LOL these sassy boys give so much side eye right? Thanks girl!
First, the muffin tin idea is genius! I am so going to try that! Second, I like the spinach idea. I have a Nutrnija so I think my blender should be strong enough and I’ll just make sure to get enough liquid because I don’t like chunky spinach 😉
Thank you! Yes, getting all the chunky spinach out is key. The liquid should be completely smooth 🙂
bahahha i didnt even notice it was green at first cause of the toppings. but somehow you photographed it beautifully!! love the idea of freezing them too, so convenient for busy mornings
haha I was trying to hide it! That’s why there are so many toppings 😉
This looks amazing!!! I love the idea of putting more Veggies in the Oatmeal! I am definitely going to try this for me and my husband!
Thank you! I hope you love it 🙂
This looks great! I am going to have to try this recipe with my son.
Great! I hope he loves it!
Thanks for posting! I am always on the lookout for a fresh (healthier) take on breakfast classics.
Thank you, me too! Breakfast food is the best, and it is fun to add little tweaks to make it healthier 🙂
This is such a great idea! I would have never in a million years figured there was a way to work spinach into my morning oatmeal. Thanks for sharing, I will definitely be trying this out!
Shannon
Clothes & Quotes
Thanks Shannon! Whole Foods really gets the inspiration credit on this one 🙂
Spinach! I love this recipe. It’s totally something I would eat for breakfast.
Thanks so much Maggie! Always good to sneak some veggies in at breakfast 🙂
That is such a great idea..loving it..
Thank you!
YES! Bring on the green oats! Gah, can you imagine what life would be like without Whole Foods? Man, I love that place. And I also love sneaking spinach into foods that shouldn’t have them. This oatmeal has my name written all over it!
Without Whole Foods, my life wouldn’t be nearly as delicious. But I would also have a lot more money. I say it’s a fair trade off 😉 Cheers to putting veggies where they usually don’t belong!
I’m definitely guilty of putting spinach into everything I can get my hands on – wait, does that make me guilty? Or just super healthy? 😉
Alllll of the healthy! Spinach was meant to be put everywhere
I love this idea! The muffin tin idea is genius!
Thanks Leah! I’m all about those little hacks to make eating healthy easier 🙂
I will totally try this! Every morning I make a kale smoothie for my family and myself so seeing a green meal doesn’t make me squirm. I bet this would be awesome with coconut water as the base. The use of the vanilla bean I bet puts the oats over the top! Can’t wait to try these for breakfast!!
Yessss! I’m always so glad to talk to a fellow green food lover. Coconut water could add a fun tropical twist. Let me know how that turns out!
I want some lean green oatmeal!! O And steel cut…I still NEVER use steel cut :/ I have no patience in the morning…but I need to give them a try! I know I would love the chewier texture!
Oh girl I have no patience either. That’s why I like Trader Joe’s quick cooking steel cut oats. They take like 5 minutes!
You know I’m not a big oatmeal person buuuuut this is genius. I never would have thought to put spinach in oats, but what a sneaky and brilliant thing to do!
Thanks Erin! I’m allllll about being sneaky with the veggies 😉
I’ve always wanted to know how to prepare steel-cut oats! This looks delicious and easy! Can’t wait to try it!
Thanks Amanda, it is really easy! Be sure to buy quick cooking steel cut oats for even easier cooking. I get mine at Trader Joes!
I really want to try this! It looks a little funky, but I bet it tastes great! Thank you for sharing the recipe with us!
LOL yes, it is definitely a little funky. But I promise you can’t taste it!
Your pictures are fantastic! Thank you so much for this printable recipe, I’m going to try it this weekend. I’ll try just about anything with blueberries in it. I’m going to pin this
Thank you so much Lezley! I hope you love it 🙂
Yay!! This looks so incredible! I tried throwing spinach in my oatmeal a few weeks ago with my Green Monster Oatmeal, and pretty much fell in LOVE. I’m going to need to try your muffin tin trick!
I fell in love too! It’s such an easy way to get veggies in. I hope you like the muffin tin trick!
MIND BLOWN by that pro tip. Like I literally need to sit and reevaluate all my life’s decisions up to this point.
p.s. green oats are bomb
Haha Giselle, youre the best. And I agree, green oats are the bomb!
I have never even thought to try something like this. How creative and a great idea! Also, your photography is spectacular!!
Thank you so much!
Agh, okay, so I can get behind greens in a smooth but I’m still hesitant to put it in my oatmeal! It must be good though… you’re making me so curious!
Ohhh I don’t think those look scary at all. Quite the opposite! Deeelicious. And luckily I’ve trained my kids from birth to know that green food is good food. What a fun way to incorporate more greens into foods, outside of just smoothies! “Kids, we’re having green oatmeal for breakfast today!” Boom
This is a BRILLIANT idea!! Totally tying this. I make oatmeal muffins for my breakfasts every Sunday! Can’t wait to try these 🙂
Totally saving this recipe! I am certain it is going to be delicious. It looks it AND sounds it, and more than anything, I know it’s healthy for my family. Great photos too, by the way!
LOL! “Whole Foods made me do it” I can so relate. I went there for dinner two days ago and spent like $20 on a salad but it was amazing. THIS steel cut oatmeal recipe is also amazing! I have steel cut oats and home – can’t wait to try!
This is super funky and awesome. I have never thought to add spinach to oatmeal. Love it! I can’t wait to try this recipe.
This looks delicious!!! I usually put oats/oatmeal in my smoothies in the morning. Definitely need to try this!
xo, N
What an interesting combination but I can see this being super delicious. I’m looking forward to trying this out myself, I’m always looking for new & unique breakfast recipes!
This looks so amazing! I have been wanting to put spinach in some things so thanks for the useful tips. 🙂
This is like the combination of my favorite foods, green smoothies and oatmeal. Gotta make this! And thanks for the tip for busy mornings, I have to try this freezer trick!!
Oooh then you would love this! The freezer hack is a lifesaver!
Oooh No side eye from me! I love sneaking healthy food into my cooking! Like bean purée into my baking and frozen spinach into my smoothies, nothing too wild..
I think that the combination of banana and vanilla would make for a heavenly green oatmeal! Thanks for the tip! 🙂
I’m so glad you like sneaking healthy food in your dishes too! After my own heart 🙂
Just made these – amazing!! Great for st. Pattys too 🙂
Thanks for commenting Cait – I hope you’re doing well! So glad you liked them 🙂