Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal

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This pumpkin spice oatmeal is a delicious, healthy breakfast that’s full of fall flavors, and can easily be made on the stove top or in the microwave. Ready in under 20 minutes, kid-friendly, with a vegan and gluten free option – it’s the perfect start for busy mornings!

Oatmeal is a total staple in my diet. It’s one of those tried-and-true comfort breakfasts that goes all the way back to my childhood. My typical breakfast is always oatmeal with some sort of mix-ins: apples/pears, nut butters or nuts, banana, berries, ground flaxseed, yogurt, the list is endless!

But when I want to switch things up, I love making this easy pumpkin spice oatmeal with pumpkin puree. It’s tastier, heartier and healthier than Quaker pumpkin spice oatmeal – but just as easy to make!

Whether it’s pumpkin season or not, you can pretty much have this year round thanks to organic, canned, pureed pumpkin that’s available at any local grocery store!

Although, I have to admit, it’s very comforting to have pumpkin spice oats on colder mornings. It’s also a great way to use up any leftover pumpkin puree from your pumpkin pies!

Not only does this dish come together in less than 20 minutes, but it’s super healthy and super easy! It will keep you full all the way until lunch thanks to the fiber from the oats, pumpkin and berries; and added protein from the nuts and milk.

👩🏽‍🍳 Why This Recipe Works

• A fun way to change up your regular oatmeal
• Super simple meal prep recipe!
• Gluten free & easily made vegan
• Only 10 minutes of cooking time
• Healthy & delicious
• Way better than pumpkin instant oatmeal
• Great for kids
• Easy to customize
• A warm and comforting bowl of oatmeal with a hint of fall
• Best pumpkin spice oatmeal recipe ever!

🥘 Ingredients

This warm breakfast requires just a handful of ingredients easily found at your local grocery store! For a more detailed ingredients list along with nutritional information, see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• Milk & Water: To give this pumpkin spice porridge a creamy like consistency, I cook it with a combination of milk + water. As for what type of milk – any type works! You can use coconut milk, unsweetened almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, rice milk, or just regular milk.
• Oats: Opt for rolled oats, not quick oats, or steel cut oats. Gluten free rolled oats will make this pumpkin oats recipe automatically gluten free! A note on gluten free oats: oats are a gluten free grain, but the issue comes in the packaging/processing and the risk of cross-contamination. Most oats are packaged/processed in facilities that work with grains that do contain gluten (wheat, barley, etc.). If you’re celiac or very sensitive to gluten, I recommend buying certified gluten-free rolled oats – which are guaranteed to be 100% gluten free and processed in its own facility.
• Pumpkin Puree: Be sure to use pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling! Pumpkin pie filling is packed full of sugar and other preservatives that you don’t want to be starting your morning off with. Adding pumpkin to oatmeal might sound strange, but the pumpkin basically dissolves into the oats once it’s cooked, and adds a delicious creamy texture and sweeter mouthfeel.
• Fresh Blueberries: I used fresh berries blueberries, but you can customize this recipe based on your preferences! You can leave the blueberries out altogether if you want a pure pumpkin pie oatmeal feel.
• Spices To Add To Oatmeal: I chose to use ground cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and a dash of sea salt. You could also add some ground nutmeg, ginger, or cloves — or any combination of oatmeal spice you like!
• Nuts: I used chopped walnuts, but you can use any nuts or seeds you like! Chia seeds, flaxseed meal, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds or almonds would all taste great.
• Sweetener: I used honey, but if you’re vegan use pure maple syrup. You could also use a bit of brown sugar, or coconut sugar. Feel free to add a pinch of sea salt to bring out the sweetness even more.

📖 Variations

• Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Without Pumpkin Puree: If you don’t like pumpkin puree, you can still get all of that great pumpkin flavor by using more pumpkin pie spice instead of the pumpkin puree! You can also try sweet potato puree as an alternative.
• Pumpkin Spice Overnight Oatmeal Recipe: This recipe works great as an overnight oats recipe! Just add the raw rolled oats + all other ingredients into a mason jar, screw the lid on tightly, and store overnight in the fridge. The next day, just heat and eat!
• Make It Vegan: This oatmeal breakfast recipe is easily made vegan with a few adjustments. To make this pumpkin spiced oatmeal vegan, use your favorite plant based milk, like unsweetened almond milk. Use a vegan sweetener such as maple syrup, agave nectar or brown rice syrup instead of honey. You can also add a berry-flavored twist with this blackberry simple syrup!
• Protein Pumpkin Oatmeal: Add 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder and stir into this recipe right before heating it for the second time in the microwave.
• Make A Double Batch! While this recipe is for one, you can easily make a double, triple or quadruple batch depending on how many servings you need. This easy recipe scales really well – just multiply the ingredient amounts by the number of servings you need!

🔪 How To Make Pumpkin Oatmeal

Microwave Oats: Make the rolled oats according to the package: you can either make them in the microwave or in a small pot on the stove. To microwave pumpkin oatmeal, I combined the water + oats and microwaved on high for 2 minutes (more if the oats need to get fluffier before serving).

Add Pumpkin & Mix-Ins: In a large bowl, add your cooked oats, blueberries, pumpkin pie filling, spices and walnuts. Stir to combine.

Add Milk: Add the milk and stir to combine. For thinner oats, add more milk!

Add A Finishing Touch: Drizzle the honey on top. If making this healthy pumpkin pie oatmeal vegan, add a drizzle of maple syrup. I like to actually eat mine without the honey stirred in, to get more of that delicious honey flavor in each bite. Heat one more time in the microwave to get this fall oatmeal as warm or hot as you like it!

Serve Pumpkin Puree Oatmeal: And there you have it! The perfect, dessert-for-breakfast, healthy pumpkin pie oatmeal that’s only 300 calories, is super satisfying, is kid-friendly and adult-approved!

To Make Oatmeal With Pumpkin On The Stovetop

This healthy pumpkin oatmeal recipe can easily be made on the stovetop instead of the microwave! Here’s how:

1. Add the water to a medium sized pot on the stovetop.
2. Bring to a boil, then add in the oats.
3. As soon as the oats are stirred in, reduce the heat to a simmer.
4. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring every minute or so.
5. Add in all of the other ingredients for this pumpkin oatmeal, and stir to combine.

How To Make Oatmeal In The Slow Cooker

You can easily make oatmeal recipes in the slow cooker – it can be especially helpful when you’re making multiple servings at once. You can place your ingredients into the slow cooker the night before and have breakfast ready when you wake up! To make this recipe for pumpkin oatmeal in the slow cooker:

1. Combine oats, water, and the rest of the ingredients (except blueberries, if using) in the slow cooker. Stir the ingredients to combine, then cover the slow cooker.
2. Cook on low for 8 hours (don’t open the slow cooker, and don’t stir during this time).
3. Finish with any extra milk for a thinner consistency and stir in blueberries.

❓Recipe FAQs

💭 Expert Tips

• If cooking on the stovetop, use a pot that’s one size up from what you’d typically use. Oats cook better in a thin layer on the stovetop, so the more room they have the better (within reason – you don’t want to use a giant stockpot for these oats!)
• For Kids: You don’t need to modify this recipe at all for kids since it’s already very kid friendly! Both of my kids think this oatmeal tastes just like pumpkin pie. If your child doesn’t like berries or nuts, you can leave those out or replace them with mix-ins they do like! For an even more dessert-like feel, try throwing in some white chocolate chips!
• Don’t stir too much (if making on the stove!) – vigorous stirring of the oats will break them down and will turn them into a gummy texture.
• Reheating tips: If you need to reheat this pumpkin oatmeal recipe (after storing it in the fridge), just add a couple tsp more milk or water (more if needed) and warm in the microwave on low heat until the oatmeal is warm and creamy.
• I recommend using rolled oats since they provide the creamiest texture, but you can use steel cut oats for more of a chewy texture if you’d like.
• No added sugar: Make sure you choose plain pumpkin puree with no added sugar!

🥣 More Delicious Oatmeal Recipes!

• Vegan Baked Oatmeal
• Banana Porridge
• Chocolate Oatmeal
• Baked Oats Without Banana
• Spicy Oatmeal
• How To Make Oatmeal Taste Good
• Strawberry Shortcake Oatmeal

📋 Recipe Card