15-Minute Vegan Apple Pie Oatmeal

These might just be the most delicious oats you’ll ever make! This vegan apple pie oatmeal is topped with cinnamon and swirled with a five-ingredient tahini caramel sauce that is so delicious your head might explode. Seriously. It’s a hot, satisfying and decadent breakfast that comes together in less than fifteen minutes.

I’m always on the hunt for new vegan breakfast recipes. But as soon as the mornings cool off, I pretty much refuse to eat a cold breakfast. Sorry smoothies, it’s not you…it’s the forecast. I’m wrapped in a robe, over pyjamas with fuzzy slippers and I will NOT let anything cold near me.

So for six months of the year, breakfast is either toast or chickpea scramble or oats. If you’re like me, you’ve probably eaten thousands of bowls of oatmeal in your life and so it’s really nice to give it a little glow up from time to time.

You can also add this one to your list of high iron recipes for vegans because tahini is an especially good source of copper, a trace mineral essential for iron absorption. Apples and rolled oats are also on my high fibre food list (which explains the benefits of including fibre in our diets.) Don’t you just love when delish eats are also good for you! I know I do.

This flavourful oatmeal is surprisingly quick and easy

This vegan apple pie oatmeal with an easy tahini caramel is so good you’ll probably do a little happy dance in your pyjamas. You might be thinking that it sounds too complicated for everyday but honestly, it comes together in 15 minutes flat. While the oatmeal cooks, you’ll simmer the apples in caramel and it will be done before the timer goes off on the oats.

Health Benefits of Tahini

If you’ve never tried tahini before, you’re in for a treat! Tahini is similar to peanut butter in that it has a rich flavour that is just a little bit savoury. It’s thick, creamy and the perfect base for a luscious salted caramel vibe. It’s a versatile substitute for anyone allergic to nuts, and tahini also comes with plenty of health benefits of its own:

• Each tablespoon of tahini has 20mg of calcium and 50mg of magnesium to support healthy muscle contraction and bone health.
• Tahini contains almost 1mg of blood-building iron per tablespoon along with 1.5mg of zinc to support your gut + immune system.
• Tahini also contains meaningful amounts of energizing manganese and vitamin B6 alongside the antioxidant lignan known as sesamin.

This vegan apple pie oatmeal has it all:

• Plenty of tummy-soothing soluble fibre from apples and oats
• Healthy fats from hemp hearts and tahini to keep you full
• A surprising amount of plant-based protein: about 15 grams if you are dividing it into two portions…but you could easily bump that up with more hemp hearts
• It also tastes like such a treat that you won’t miss the coffee shop pastry case

Oatmeal Nutrition

In our quest to add more nutrient-dense plants to our life, I feel like we really underestimate whole grains. Oats are incredibly nutrient-dense, offering slow burn carbohydrates and some plant-based protein to keep your energy levels stable.

Oats also have a TON of fibre – a half cup (125ml) of dry rolled oats contains over 5 grams of fibre. The fibre in oats is really special: much of it is a soluble fibre called beta-glucan which is particularly helpful for irritated guts, like for those with IBS while it also helps feed your gut microbiome to support gut health long term.

If you want to dive deep into the health benefits of oatmeal, I’ve got a great post on all the nutrition benefits of oats.

How to make oatmeal

It’s so annoying when you buy a bag of oats or beans and it doesn’t come with cooking instructions! So just in case your rolled oats are flying solo, here are some basic cooking instructions for oatmeal:

• Use 1/2 cup rolled oats to 1 cup boiling water per serve for a hearty portion.
• Bring water to the boil with a little pinch of salt, then add oats and stir.
• Turn down heat to medium low, cover with lid ajar, and simmer for 8-12 minutes until it is the consistency you like.

For smaller appetites, especially if you are going to pump it up with nut butters and seeds, you may only need 1/3 cup dry rolled oats. You can also make these oats with instant, quick or even steel cut oats…just cook according to package directions.

Fun and easy substitutions to try

• Don’t want to cook up the apples, or you’ve run out? Try sliced banana…which is always delicious with caramel
• You can also make up a triple batch of the caramel on its own, which will keep well for the week in a glass jar in the fridge. Use it to dress up plain instant oats!
• Love ginger? Try topping with a bit of chopped crystallized ginger!

Even more vegan oatmeal recipes

• Pumpkin Spice Oats
• Plum Ginger Overnight Oats with Oolong Tea
• Blueberry Oatmeal Bake