It can sometimes be tough to figure out what to eat for breakfast on the low FODMAP diet. Many pancakes, waffles and cereals are made with wheat. Lots of wheat/gluten-free cereals and granola have added high FODMAP ingredients, such as inulin and honey. Oatmeal is one nutritious low FODMAP option and I have five flavours to try on my blog. I love oatmeal, however, even I sometimes get bored of oats. When I’m craving something different for breakfast I make this Low FODMAP Quinoa Berry Breakfast Bake. It may seem weird to eat quinoa for breakfast, but trust me, it’s absolutely delicious.
Most quinoa recipes I come across seem to be savoury dishes. I’ve already shown on this blog that can make a sweet quinoa dish in my Cranberry Walnut Quinoa Salad recipe. This recipe takes it one step further and makes it into a sweet breakfast dish.
It’s hard to describe this dish, but it’s a bit like a sweet casserole. The quinoa absorbs the milk and gets fluffy. The berries add bursts of sweetness. Cinnamon, ginger and maple syrup all boost the flavour. And the eggs help to hold it all together.
Before the dish goes into the oven it will look very liquid-y. That’s okay! The quinoa will absorb the milk.
Any large baking dish should work. The one I use is approximately 13 inches by 9 inches.
To make a balanced nutritious breakfast I try to include a whole grain, some fruit and a source of protein; this recipe contains all three! Quinoa is a whole grain and adds plenty of fibre. Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are packed with tons of nutrients, including fibre and antioxidants. This dish has protein from the milk, eggs, nuts and quinoa. Fibre and protein are both filling and can help us to feel full until lunch.
One of the best parts about this recipe is that it freezes super well. After the breakfast bake has cooled I cut it into eight servings. I keep a few servings in the fridge to eat for breakfast over the next few days. The rest of the servings are packed into Ziploc bags and go into the freezer. Whenever I need a super quick and filling breakfast I pull out one serving and defrost in the microwave. A few months ago I got home from a longer vacation and our fridge was completely empty. It was so wonderful to be able to pull a healthy breakfast out of the freezer!
I usually slice this into eight servings. If you have a big appetite in the mornings, however, you could cut it into just six, it’s up to you! 1/6th of the recipe is low FODMAP.
This recipe was adapted from Greatist.
Low FODMAP Quinoa Berry Breakfast Bake
Ingredients
- 1 tsp butter/oil for greasing pan
- 1.5 cup quinoa dry/uncooked
- 1.5 cups strawberries
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1/2 cup raspberries
- 1/4 cup walnuts chopped (or more)
- 3 eggs
- 3 cups lactose-free milk
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ginger
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- Grease a large baking dish with butter or oil. Pour the quinoa into the dish and lightly shake to distribute the quinoa evenly.
- Slice the strawberries. Sprinkle the berries and walnuts over the quinoa in the dish.
- In a large bowl whisk the eggs. Stir the milk, syrup and spices into the eggs. Gently pour over the quinoa mixture.
- Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour until the quinoa has absorbed all of the liquid. Extra servings can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days or the freezer for months.
Notes
- Use a large baking dish. The one I use is 13x9 inches.
- 1/6th or less of this recipe per serving is low FODMAP.
- The berries can be fresh or frozen. If using frozen strawberries, however, use pre-sliced frozen strawberries.
Have you ever had quinoa for breakfast? I love it!!
This looks so good. And I want to try it. I am wondering what size is a large baking dish? 8X 8 inches — 8×13 inches or another size. Seems to me that the size is very important to the quinoa cooking properly and for serving size.
Thanks for your great recipes and your blog.
You’re right it is important, 8×13 is a good size
This is so good! Thanks for sharing!
Happy you enjoyed it!! Thanks for commenting 🙂
Love that is can be sliced up and frozen in servings–you think like me.
Right?!! No need to spend extra time cooking when you can batch cook and freeze portions 🙂
Dumb question. Am I using 1.5 cups of raw or cooked quinoa?
No that’s a great question! It’s raw quinoa 🙂 I will add that to the recipe
This bake looks perfect for early mornings! Just a quick question before I make it: do you rinse the quinoa before hand? I’ve heard it is necessary to rinse it before cooking to remove the bitter saponins.
Great question! A lot of quinoa comes pre-rinsed now. If your package does not say pre-rinsed then definitely rinse it well. The bag I buy from Costco is already rinsed which is a great time saver 🙂
Hi
Just wondering if you have any ideas of if I could swap the egg out for something else in this? Not sure if chia would really cut it in this one!?
Thanks
Hi Lauren, I’m also wondering if I could replace the eggs with something else. I’m not sure why, but I Get bad symptoms from egg yolks. I usually use Energ egg replacer or vegan egg. Would either of those be okay?
Hi Wendy, I’ve never tried this recipe without eggs. The eggs are pretty important as they help it all stick together. You could try making this recipe with egg whites or the other options, I’m not sure how it would turn out, I think egg whites would be the best option. On the recipe you have change the number of servings from 8 and it will update the ingredients list; it is likely a good idea to experiment with just making maybe 2 servings in a small dish (in case it doesn’t turn out well you don’t want to waste your food/money)
Such a fun remake of a breakfast casserole! I mad this today for a crowd and got lots of compliments. Love the fact that it’s got lots of protein from quinoa, eggs, and nuts, and not too much added sugar. This is a gem!
Thanks Vanessa! Happy to hear it was a hit! This is such a dietitian recipe haha I love it
Hello,
What are your thoughts on replacing the cow’s milk with almond milk? Anyone tried that yet? I wonder how it will turn out.
I believe this recipe would be fine if you used almond milk. It’s the eggs that are really key to the texture! 🙂
I use almond milk. It works great!
This recipe is amazing. I’ve made it every other week for a couple months now. Sometimes i sub just blueberries or pumpkin seed/pepitas. Makes ‘low-fodmap’ breakfast a sinch!
This recipe looks absolutely scrumptious! As I am also diabetic, can I substitute Stevia for the sugar or maple syrup?
I am new to the FODMAP diet due to severe digestive issues. Having Diabetes makes it and even greater challenge. I plan to make an appointment with the same dietician I consulted after my Diabetes diagnosis. Thank you so much!
Blesings,
Jan
Yes you can try using stevia instead of maple syrup!
One FODMAP note: some stevia blends have added sugar alcohols, such as erythritol, which is high FODMAP.
It’s great you plan to work with a dietitian!
Hi, I was wondering if I could use frozen fruit to make it cheaper however not sure whether to defrost the fruit first or cook it from frozen?
You can use frozen fruit! You only need to defrost the strawberries if they were frozen whole so you can slice them. If you use frozen fruit you may need to add a few minutes to the baking time.
Hi Lauren. you wouldn’t happen to have the nutritional info for this yummy recipe, would you? Thanks much! Kim
Hey Kim, thanks for commenting! I don’t calculate the nutritional info for my recipes. If you are seeking that information, I would recommend using an online calculator such as My Fitness Pal! Hope that helps!
Hi Lauren, glad I found this. Really sick of my oatmeal. Could I omit nuts?
Yes nuts are optional!
Definitely trying this soon! As well as sweet, do you think one could do a bake like this in a savory style? Say, using spinach and sausage or some similar tastes? Or perhaps a cranberry one for holidays? I feel like there is room for versatility, but would love to hear your thoughts.
Yes I definitely think savory could work. Might need to add more milk if you use ingredients that don’t release juice like berries (for example cheese).
I love the idea of using cranberries! I might try out a cranberry blueberry version.
How eggy does this taste? I can digest eggs okay, but really don’t like the taste. I don’t want to waste money making something I won’t like. Any thoughts? I appreciate your feedback?
Hi Laura, I really enjoy eggs so I am not a good judge on how “eggy” it tastes. If you have a mini baking dish you could make half the recipe to try it out.
Why is only 1/6 or less per serving considered low FODMAP?
Due to the large amount of fruit in this recipe I recommend slicing into 6 or more pieces. I generally recommend sticking to 1 serving of fruit per meal/snack due to the fructose content.
This was delicious! Easy prep and the fruit flavors really infused throughout. Yum!
Hi Kelly, so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
I’m new to quinoa – I have quinoa flakes in my pantry – can I use these?
Thanks
Hi Pamela, I have never used quinoa flakes in this recipe so I am not sure how it would turn out
I’ve been sitting on a packet of Quinoa in my pantry for months and never quite had the courage and desire there in equal measures to do anything with it. This recipe looks very appealing and I will try this in the next few days. I have been getting very bored with my home-made muesli, eating it almost daily for the past 2 years! would you believe? My Maltese has more variety in her diet than I do … I just don’t have the energy to cook something new every day as I have IBS on top of muscular dystrophy. This recipe covers that obstacle also. Many thanks.
Hi Maree, thanks for commenting! I hope you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Hi Lauren,
How “deep” does the baking tray need to be?
Hi Pearl, I believe this recipe grows about 50% during baking, so I think at least 5cm/2in deep would be good.
Hi are you able to provide weights rather than cup sizes as I am never sure how to convert from cups to grams etc. Many thanks Fiona
Hi Fiona, I finally have a good kitchen scale so I will start using weights in my recipes. It will take me a very long time to remake all my old recipes and add weights to them. In the meantime I recommend using Google! You can search something like “1 cup walnuts in grams” and usually Google will find what you need.
Hi,
Is it baked covered or uncovered??
Hi Kirsten, apologies for delay in my response! It is baked uncovered.
Has anyone every assembled this the day before and baked it in the morning for breakfast??
I have not tried that, but it’s a great idea! 🙂 you could also mix up the liquid ingredients and keep it in a bowl in the fridge, and pour it in the pan right before baking in the morning.
Hi Lauren
Great to see you cater meals for low fodmap.
If interested we have the world first certified low fodmap Garlic and Onion Replacer. It is natural powdered garlic and onion you add to cooking. We are based in New Zealand but are sending them to people in USA. Canada, Australia, UK. You can check them out on http://www.thinkfoody.co.nz.
We specialise in the plant based industry so have other things you may be interested in.
Regards
Graeme
Thanks Lauren for such a delicious recipe that’s thoughtful for those with intolerances but don’t want to skimp on taste and texture. I was looking for breakfast alternatives to gluten free cereal and this easily replaces that, and dessert!!
I baked this tonight for my daughter to eat for breakfast tomorrow. Is it best cold or warm? I used rice milk and it turned out great.
Hi,
Are the measurements in US cup size? Would you have them in grams/ml for universal ease of use.
Thanks
Nutrition facts?
Can you convert into imperial please as “cups” mean nothing to me
Hello, I do not do measurement conversions on my website. Google will do quick conversions for you. For example, type 1.5 cups to imperial and it will show you the answer. Hope that helps!