Vegan Savory Oatmeal {Gluten-Free}

This delicious healthy oatmeal recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan. It’s an easy, low-sugar, healthy breakfast that’s perfect for a cold winter morning!

Savory oatmeal?! I thought oatmeal was just supposed to be sweet?! Well, you haven’t tried this recipe, because this bowl of vegan savory oatmeal is about to blow your mind!

This oatmeal basically tastes like a heartier bowl of risotto, with a little curry kick, thanks to the curried crunchy chickpeas!

Trust me, I was a little cautious about trying savory oatmeal. All of my life, I only had sweet oatmeal topped with berries, banana, nut butter, and yogurt. That’s how you oatmeal, right?

Well, my world turned upside down when I tried this bowl. Savory oatmeal is actually so satisfying and the perfect fix for when you’re craving something warm but don’t feel like all the sweets in the morning 😉 It also makes a great breakfast-for-dinner meal (anyone else love that when you were a kid?)!

The key to this vegan savory oatmeal that makes it so filling (aside from, ya know, the oats) are the chickpeas. Chickpeas are a great source of plant-based protein that also provide some satiating carbs.

I learned that the trick for making roasted chickpeas actually crunchy is by removing the outer shell! All you need to do is rinse the chickpeas, pinch the little pointy end of the chickpea, and push the chickpea out of the shell. To de-shell 12 ounces of chickpeas, it took me about 10 minutes, so that’s not too bad! Don’t worry, you won’t spend this entire recipe de-shelling chickpeas lol!

I then just roasted the chickpeas with a little olive oil and curry powder for flavor and got to making the oatmeal, aka the star of the show 😉

So what makes this savory oatmeal taste like risotto, but be entirely plant-based? Light coconut milk. No, it’s not to reduce calories, nor fat (we actually need the fat in order to carry the rest of the micro and macronutrients of this meal to the necessary systems that process them!). It’s to ensure that there’s not too much of a coconut-y taste to the savory oatmeal because then I think it tastes too sweet.

Does anyone else think coconut tastes sweet? That’s why I like to make my own curry! I always think other people’s curries taste too sweet for me!

So I cook the oats in the light coconut milk, giving it a good stir every few minutes. While the oats are cooking, I sauté the veggies. For this recipe, I used spinach, mushrooms, and shallots. It’s actually such a good flavor combo with the curried chickpeas (which provide a much needed crunch if you want a satisfying meal! Did you know that masticating actually helps to provide the satisfaction of a meal? No wonder I don’t really like smoothies unless I throw something crunchy in there!).

If you’re not a fan of any of the suggested veggies, feel free to throw in whatever you have! The whole point of savory oatmeal is that it’s savory. It doesn’t necessarily need to have these veggies (although I think it’s a good combo 😉 ). I bet it would be amazing with some leeks, onions, and brussels! Or maybe rainbow Swiss chard and cabbage!

Oooo the combinations!

Now, usually I’m a person that likes to make sure I’m getting all of the macronutrients in my main meals: carbs, fats, and proteins. This savory oatmeal recipe is definitely not high in protein, but it has enough to make it a satisfying meal! If you want to add more protein, I would highly recommend using a flavorless plant-based protein. I like sacha inchi or pea protein.

The reason I always suggest sacha inchi powder is because it’s just such an amazing vegan protein. Way more nutrients than pea protein and actually more omega-3s than a serving of salmon! Like what!? How are we not all talking about this?!

I also like it because it’s the least processed vegan protein that I’ve found. All sacha inchi powder is is simply ground sacha inchi nuts. That’s it! You don’t need to dry and extract a protein from a vegetable or bean. It’s like making a nut butter but stopping the process right before it gets really smooth and creamy (uhhh yum!).

BUT I think you’ll find this savory oatmeal recipe to be very satisfying without the sacha inchi powder! It’s become my easy go-to during the week when I’m running low on my meal prep or am feeling too lazy to actually make something exciting! This hits the spot while also feeling kinda fancy 🙂

I hope you love it just as much as I do!

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