It’s so important for kids to get a healthy breakfast. Just like how you make sheet pan pancakes, this sweet potato breakfast bake is easy to make.
We all know how important it is to eat a lot of vegetables, and I often remind people to start with veggies at breakfast to make it much easier to get in our “5 a day.”
However – although it has healthy orange veggies in it, this breakfast is more sentimental and delicious than an intentional healthy choice for me.
It has such a fond appreciation in my memory because it was a blessed gift.
Your kids CAN make their own healthy breakfast!
Join the Kids Cook Real Food Weekend Challenge: Kids Master Breakfast and imagine your kids making breakfast independently! This challenge contains pro-filmed video lessons you can do at your own pace and finish in one weekend. Perfect for busy families!!
The Gift of Homemade Food
In my first Bible study, it was part of our call to community that we shared meals with each other when new babies would come, so much so that when I announced that we were going to have a second baby, I said something like, “My husband and I decided that we really missed out the first time because I wasn’t part of this group yet, so we thought we’d have another baby for those meals!” ? (A joke, of course!)
It was for baby #3 that a fellow real foodie from the study really showered us with love in the form of food.
She not only brought dinner, but dessert AND a breakfast, all of which fed us for multiple meals each! I was overwhelmed with gratitude for her vast generosity – and then this healthy breakfast was SO good, of course, I had to pay her the finest compliment: I asked for the recipe.
She had tweaked it quite a bit from the original and I’ve tweaked it much, much more, especially in streamlining the dishes needed, and you get to benefit from this awesome collaboration.
Nutrient-Packed Sweet Potato Breakfast Bake
In this make-ahead breakfast, you’ll find whole grains, orange vegetables (bring on the beta-carotene!), healthy fats, and so, so much flavor. It’s perfect for a holiday breakfast, potluck, or just a few weekday meals in a row.
The casserole is DEEP because I make big batches if I’m bothering to make something ahead, so it will definitely last a family 2 or 3 mornings. Love that so much!
PrintSweet Potato Breakfast Bake
- Yield: deep 9x13, serves at least 8 1x
- Category: Breakfast
Description
In this make-ahead breakfast, you’ll find whole grains, orange vegetables (bring on the beta-carotene!), healthy fats, and so, so much flavor. It’s perfect for a holiday breakfast, potluck, or just a few weekday meals in a row.
Ingredients
- 3–4 sweet potatoes (or 6–8 c. peeled and diced)
- 2 bananas
- 2–4 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2–1 tsp.nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2–4 tsp. vanilla extract (try homemade)
- 2 Tbs. maple syrup
- 4 apples, diced (peeled or unpeeled)
- 2 c. rolled oats
- 3 c. some combination of milk/yogurt/whey/water (to soak, use at least some acidic medium, yogurt or whey – if dairy-free, a splash of apple cider vinegar)
- 1/4 c. chia seeds (ground if you have texture sensitive people in the fam)
- 2 c. whole milk (or non-dairy milk)
- 1/4–1/2 cup butter or unrefined coconut oil
Toppings
- 2/3 c. crispy pecans, chopped (use code STEWARDSHIP for 10% off)
- 1/4 c. any flour (whole wheat, gluten-free, plain brown rice, etc.)
- 1/4 c.sucanat
- 1/4 c. virgin, unrefined coconut oil (use the coupon code STEWARDSHIP for 10%)
Instructions
The prep ahead/soaked version:
- Bake sweet potatoes whole on a cookie sheet at 450F for 30-45 minutes until soft, then peel with your fingers. Tip: Bake with something else at dinner the day or two before. Almost no work! Refrigerate if not prepping the rest of the breakfast yet.
- In a large bowl, mash sweet potatoes, bananas, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, vanilla and maple syrup. Mash together with a potato masher or immersion blender.
- Dice apples and put on top of the sweet potato mash. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- In a large pot, mix up the oats, 3 c. liquid, and chia seeds. Cover and leave on the counter overnight to soak.
- To make the topping: Chop the nuts and mix with flour and sucanat in a medium bowl. Cut in the coconut oil with a pastry blender or 2 butter knives. Cover and store until ready.
- In the morning, add 2 cups milk and the coconut oil or butter to the oats and bring to a gentle boil over medium, then turn to low for 5-10 minutes until cooked/thickened.
- Stir in the sweet potato mash and apples. (You can serve this now if people need to eat first! Saves dishes!)
- Spread into a 9×13” glass baking dish (it will be very full) or split into a 9×13″ and 8×8″.
- Sprinkle the topping on top.
- Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 20 minutes. Turn the oven off, then turn the broiler on for 2-4 minutes to brown and crisp the topping. Watch carefully!
- Serve warm with milk and extra maple syrup if desired.
The make-it-all-at-once version (fewest dishes):
- Bake sweet potatoes whole on a cookie sheet at 450F for 30-45 minutes until soft OR peel, dice, place into a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer 15-30 minutes until sweet potatoes are completely soft. Drain into a colander.
- In the same pot, mix up the oats, 3 c. liquid, 2 cups milk, chia seeds and fat and bring to a gentle boil over medium, then turn to low for 5-10 minutes until cooked/thickened.
- Here’s why you needed a large pot: When the oats are done, add the sweet potatoes back in, plus the bananas, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, vanilla and maple syrup. Mash together with a potato masher.
- Add diced apples and stir.
- Spread into a 9×13” glass baking dish (it will be very full) or a few baking dishes.
- To make the topping: Chop the nuts and mix with flour and sucanat in a medium bowl. Cut in the coconut oil with a pastry blender or 2 butter knives.
- Sprinkle the topping on top of the casserole(s).
- Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 20 minutes. Turn the oven off, then turn the broiler on for 2-4 minutes to brown and crisp the topping.
- Serve warm with milk and extra maple syrup if desired.
Notes
The overnight hint: You can assemble the entire casserole in advance and store overnight in the fridge, but you’ll need to add at least 10 minutes to the cook time if it’s cold.
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Easy Breakfast to Serve Guests
Make-ahead breakfasts are wonderful for any busy school day, but particularly when you’re hosting company or on a holiday when you, the cook, also want to relax and enjoy the festivities.
Mary shared a very fun candy cane smoothie bowl for Christmastime, this soaked baked oatmeal is MY personal favorite for both Christmas and Easter (we use different flavors to switch it up), and this list of real food brunch dishes to pass shares some of my favorite potluck breakfast dishes, including this grain-free pizza quiche (which I like to “fancy up” for ladies’ brunches with things like goat cheese and asparagus).
May this recipe serve your family and friends well!
- Sweet Potato Casserole with Maple Syrup
- Air Fryer Sweet Potato Tots
- Breakfast Hash with Sweet Potato and Broccoli
- Curried Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup
More Healthy Breakfast Recipes
- The Healthy Breakfast Book with over 50 recipes!
- Tastes Like Pizza Breakfast Hash
- Autumn Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes – can be made grain-free, gluten-free, sourdough or whole wheat!
- Grain-free Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Porridge
- Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal (pumpkin pie version)
- Instant Pot Apple Cranberry Steel Cut Oats
- Best Homemade Soaked Granola
- Best Pancakes: Whole Wheat or Gluten-free or Sourdough or Paleo Apple Almond
- Veggie Potato Latkes
- Grain-free Pizza Quiche
- Best High Protein Scrambled Eggs Ever
- Candy Cane Smoothie Bowl
- 10 Healthy Brunch Dishes for Potlucks
- Creative Ways to Add Veggies to Breakfast
- Allergen Free Breakfast Hummus
- Lots of Breakfast Ideas for Meal Planning
- Hard Boil Eggs in the Instant Pot
- Protein-Packed Breakfast Cupcakes
Could this be made dairy free? I can use different milk but what would I soak the oats in that would still be asidic?
Absolutely, Naomi – you can always add a teaspoon of lemon juice or ACV per cup of liquid. I would think either of those would pretty much disappear in all these ingredients! 🙂 Katie
Have you tried this in a metal pan? Would it change the cooking time at all? I’ve heard glass pans are not supposed to go under the broiler. My hubs exploded a glass pan once by using it under the broiler and most say do not broil on them. Thanks!
Oh my, Megan, I didn’t know that at all! It doesn’t broil long, but I can imagine you feel particular cautious about it! 😮
I would think possibly reducing by 5 mins at most in a metal pan, but since it’s not really “baking” like bread, a few minutes here or there will make no difference anyway.
🙂 Katie
This recipe sounds delicious! How prominant is the banana in the flavor profile? Do you possibly have a suggestion for a substitution or could the recipe work without it? Sorry, I know they’re good for us but I’m so not a fan! 🙂
I’m not a Fan of bananas either, so I’m thinking maybe canned pumpkin…
Hi Ann and Helen!
I’ve never noticed the taste of the bananas *at all* but I don’t particularly pay attention. I would use natural applesauce as a sub – canned pumpkin might overdo the “orange vegetable” and diminish the fun of the flavors.
🙂 Katie