Give your morning routine some Southwestern flair with this bowl of savory oatmeal goodness. Hearty black beans, tender sweet potatoes, and warming spices transform traditional rolled oats into a creamy dish packed full of rich flavor and texture. Feel free to get creative with your fresh toppings (we love avocado and pico de gallo), or even spoon the oat mixture into corn tortillas as a delicious taco filler! Use certified gluten-free oats to make this recipe gluten-free. 

Tip: To cook sweet potatoes, in a medium saucepan combine cubed sweet potato and enough water to cover. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 10 minutes or until just fork-tender.

By Nancy Macklin, RDN,

Ingredients

  • 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup cooked cubed sweet potato (see tip in recipe intro)
  • ¾ cup cooked or no-salt-added canned black beans, rinsed and drained
  • Sea salt, to taste
  • ½ of an avocado, seeded, peeled, and sliced
  • ¼ cup fresh salsa (homemade or purchased)
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
  • Lime, cut into wedges
  • Fresh jalapeño chile pepper slices (optional)

Instructions

  • In a medium saucepan bring vegetable broth, chili powder, and cumin to boiling. Stir in oats. Reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in sweet potato and black beans; cook 1 to 2 minutes or until heated through. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt.
  • Spoon oats into bowls. Top with avocado, salsa, cilantro, lime wedges, and, if desired, jalapeño pepper slices.

Comments (14)

(5 from 18 votes)

Recipe Rating

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Sarah

Delicious and nutritious. Cooked up faster than I thought it would too. Looking forward to trying it with sweet potatoes next time as we were out of them this time around.

Biscuit Wright

This morning’s breakfast! I prepared the oatmeal in the microwave. Outstanding way to start my day!! Thanks,

emma

I only keep steel cut oats so modified a bit in the preparation. I usually use Instant Pot and make big batches of beans, rice, oats and keep in fridge/freezer so all I needed to do is steam some sweet potatoes, add all the already cooked ingredients and spices, and heat over low for a few minutes. Tired of oats/blueberries so this was a welcome change Quick and tasty

Valerie

I was skeptical making this recipe. In the past I have made a couple of recipe from this website that I dumped in the trash. It was frustrating spending the time and money for the food to go to waste. I picked this recipe based on the good reviews. Let me just say this recipe is delicious and flavorful. I did not add the sweet potato and avocado. The salsa(fresh store bought) cilantro, lime, and jalapeño( I used mild pickled jalapeños) is what gave it so much flavor. I also added pico de gallo in addition to regular salsa that I found at a Mexican market. Not only is this a quick breakfast but it would make for a great quick lunch to. A tip I suggest is to prepare the sweet potato ahead of time to add to this bowl when your ready to make that will make this recipe quick or skip it.

Helen Hess

This is day one for me and l am very excited on my mission

chuncky

this was certainly a different way to prepare oatmeal, but it was welcomingly good

Julie Balvich

Easy to make! And SO good! I’ve not had savory oats before & I really like them! I will definitely make this again

Roberta

Excellent recipe! Tasty, easy and filling. Did up the spice a little. Many thanks

Stas

Delicious! I added rosemary and garlic greens for slightly different flavor. Also, didn’t have rolling oats, used oat bran instead.

VeggieTater

I was never a fan of sweets for breakfast, so this is great! People tend to get stuck in the rut of the "familiar" and think savory oats is "weird", but it's a grain like any other, and super quick cooking to boot! I use oats in everything! I blend it into flour in place of white flour, and use it as a coating, a binder, to make silky sauces, etc. I use rolled oats in cookies, in place of breadcrumbs to make veggie burgers, with broth and spices to make breakfast sausage, add it to legumes to make loafs, and so on. Steel cut oats make a more hearty bowl of oats if you aren't fond of oatmeal texture, and are great to add substance to soups and stews. If you're new to savory oats and can't get over the sweets connection, try whole oat groats, like a cross between brown rice and barley... without the gluten.

Kathleen Waldron

I made this for breakfast last week for a change of pace. It was weird but good! It makes a lot so I put the leftovers in the fridge. Heated them up for dinner and it was amazing!! I liked it even better than for breakfast. I’ll definitely be making this on a regular basis.

Joan Wright

I make this at least once a week!! My husband and I really enjoy the different flavors that are in this recipe!! Sweet AND Savory!! I never just cook plain oatmeal anymore!! This is SO MUCH BETTER!!!

Antonina

Love it, quick yummy satisfying

Mike

Delicious and easy to prepare

About the Author

Headshot of Nancy Macklin

About the Author

Nancy Macklin, RDN

Nancy Macklin has a bachelor of science in dietetics from Iowa State University and a Master of Science in health services administration from the University of Saint Francis. Macklin worked as a hospital-based clinical dietitian, providing counseling for diabetes, heart disease, and weight loss and as a food service director in health care dining sites. She now serves as a test kitchen dietitian, developing 500+ recipes per year. She is a member of the Academy for Nutrition and Dietetics and International Association of Culinary Professionals. Find her on LinkedIn.
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