Southwest Savory Baked Oatmeal with Corn, Green Chiles and TVP

This whole food plant-based breakfast casserole is oil-free, and doesn’t require chopping! Top it with your favorite salsa, vegan sour cream, guac or whatever strikes your fancy. It’s a delicious way to take a break from your sweet oats routine and ideal for make-ahead meal prep.

TRENDY OATS UN-TRENDY METHOD

Baked oatmeal has been such a game changer for me that I wanted my first savory oatmeal recipe to also be baked. Savory oatmeal and baked oatmeal are both trendy right now which is a great thing for oatmeal lovers the world over. Trends, after all, are how the zeitgeist gets itself out of a rut! Another trend is blender baked oats where everything comes together quickly and easily in the bowl of a blender before baking. This recipe is almost, but not quite, a blender baked oats recipe. A blender or food processor is used to combine the oats with other dry ingredients partially breaking them down and it’s used again to process half the corn kernels into the vegetable broth. But the dry blend and wet blend are folded together in a traditional mixing bowl. I do it this way because when I tried processing the wet and dry ingredients in a blender the texture of the casserole was too sticky. The nice thing about using a bowl to bring everything together is that it makes it easier to add the whole corn kernels, green chillies and TVP with a couple of spatula folds.

NO LAST MINUTE SHOPPING

I’m always rushing out to the store to pick up last minute ingredients. That’s partly because I’m a lifelong foodie turned recipe blogger and multiple weekly shopping trips are an integral part of my lifestyle. But another reason I shop so often is that as someone who’s whole food plant-based (WFPB) adherent, I eat a lot of fresh veggies and I don’t stock up on all at once because I worry that they might go bad before I get around to using them. This recipe is designed to be made entirely with pantry and frozen ingredients that I can keep around for a long time and use whenever I’m in the mood. If corn is in season and you prefer to use fresh cooked corn go right ahead. Fresh corn would be next level delicious in this casserole. So far I’ve only made it with thawed frozen corn, but I think that strained canned corn kernels that have been patted dry would also work. Similarly, I’ve used canned green chiles for ease and convenience, but you could also use green chiles that you’ve cooked yourself or substitute with homemade roasted red peppers. You could also sub the green chiles with chopped store-bought roasted red pepper that have been packed in an oil-free brine.

TOPPINGS ARE EVERYTHING

Served topless these baked oats are like a satisfying and nourishing savory cake that can work as a side dish. Toppings, however, take this dish to another level. Get as creative as you like with your toppings. My favorite way to enjoy this baked oatmeal is to top it with vegan sour cream and salsa. For a healthy alternative to store-bought vegan sour cream you can use plain unsweetened plant based yogurt or try my simple lemon cashew cream. Other great options are guacamole, pico de gallo, vegan enchilada sauce, red beans or any number of chopped fresh herbs and veggies.

BLENDER VS FOOD PROCESSOR

A high speed blender or a food processor work equally well for this recipe, but I’d choose a food processor over a blender that’s less than 1000 watts.

ROLLING WITH ROLLED OATS

This recipe was designed to be made with rolled oats. Steel cut oats will not work at all so don’t even think of using them. Quick oats might work, but after my issues with stickiness on my first couple of stabs at this recipe, I don’t think I’d want to risk it.

GOOD OLD TVP

TVP has been around since the 1960s and it’s still one of the most economical and convenient plant based proteins available. It’s one of those processed foods which is considered not just acceptable but recommended in a whole food plant-based eating plan. In this recipe a modest amount of TVP boosts the protein content significantly while adding a satisfying texture and subtly meaty flavor reminiscent of ground breakfast sausage. Although TVP usually needs to be soaked in a liquid before it’s added, that’s not necessary in this recipe where the TVP will simply soak up the liquid as the casserole cooks.

SUBSTITUTING FOR TVP

The easiest way to substitute the TVP in this recipe is use an additional 1/2 cup of rolled oats, folding in the extra rolled oats when you’d be folding in the same amount of TVP. Using extra rolled oats that aren’t broken down by processing provides some texture variation and you won’t have to adjust any of the other ingredients. The downside is that you won’t be getting the protein and calcium boost of TVP and the flavor of the dish will be less complex.

A more flavorful option is to reduce the amount of vegetable broth by 1/3 to 1/2 cup and use cooked beans or your favorite brand of plant-based breakfast sausage in place of the TVP. Reducing the liquid is crucial because TVP soaks up a substantial amount of liquid.

PULSING DRY INGREDIENTS

All the dry ingredients except for the TVP are pulsed together in a blender or food processor in order to grind down the oats at least a bit. How much pulsing you want to do is up to you, but remember that less is better than too much. In these photos I pulsed about four times and almost went too far. You’re for a coarse mixture, not a fine flour. Two to four pulses should be plenty, but a little of that depends on the kind of blender or food processor you’re using. After pulsing, transfer the mixture to a medium-large mixing bowl and set it aside.

CORNY VEGETABLE STOCK

I process half the corn kernels into the vegetable stock in order to create a thicker, more flavorful, liquid base for the baked oatmeal. Breaking down half the kernels allows the corny goodness to come through more clearly. It’s easy. You don’t need to clean the blender or food processor that was just used to grind the dry ingredients. Just add the vegetable stock and half the kernels to the broth and pulse four or five times. The mixture doesn’t need to get completely smooth, you’re going for a texture that’s similar to creamed corn, just more watery.

FOLDING IT ALL TOGETHER

Go back to the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients and add the processed corn and vegetable broth mix along with the TVP. Fold everything together quickly then add the remaining corn kernels and the green chiles. The less time you spend folding everything together the better the texture will be. Now you’re ready to bake your corny oats for 30 to minutes at 350 °F (175 °C).

STICK PROOFING THE BAKING PAN

Let’s talk about stick proofing for a minute. If you already have a preferred method you can skip this part. Baked oatmeal can, and probably will, stick to most baking pans if you don’t grease them or use parchment paper. Because I’m mostly oil-free, I prefer to line my baking pans with some sort of parchment paper barrier. If you don’t mind using a little oil or plant-based butter, feel free to lightly grease your pan instead. I recommend an 8 inch (20 to 21 cm) round cake pan or an 8 inch square casserole dish for this recipe. Any method for lining a baking pan with parchment paper is fine. Click here to watch a video with one method for lining square and rectangular pans with a sheet of regular parchment paper. I order preformed parchment paper liners online and usually use a square pan with a preformed square liner for this recipe. Unfortunately, these liners are almost never available at grocery stores.

SERVE HOT OR SAVE FOR LATER

This dish is best when it’s served hot, but that doesn’t mean you can’t save it for later. One of the things I love about this recipe is that I can make it ahead of time, keep it in a sealed container in the fridge and reheat single servings in my air fryer as needed. The reheated air fryer portions are my favorite way to prepare this dish because I like the crispiness that happens in the air fryer. You can also store your baked oatmeal in the same pan that you cooked it in by covering it with foil, plastic wrap or whatever covering alternative you prefer and then reheat the entire pan at 350 °F (175 °C) for 15 to 20 minutes.

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