An easy, healthy carrot cake porridge with wholegrain rolled oats, grated carrot and delicious spices. This simple oatmeal recipe makes a nutritious and satisfying breakfast that tastes amazing! You can adapt this recipe to be wheat free, nut free, dairy free and plant based as needed.
Published April 2016 | Reviewed and updated August 2023
Are you a total sucker for anything “carrot cake”? It’s such a classic that it’s become a flavour of its own, morphing into so many other different forms. If you are on team carrot cake, you will adore this simple, healthy carrot cake porridge.
Why you’ll love these carrot cake oats
- Boost your vegetable intake at breakfast. With the overwhelming majority of us not getting in enough vegetables each day, this is a serious win right here. You can still enjoy a delicious sweet bowl of porridge AND get a decent serve of veg (we’re talking more than a garnish here).
- One pot, no fuss breakfast recipe. Pop everything into the saucepan – heck, you can even grate the carrot directly in there if you want, cook and voila. Eat it right from the saucepan too! This oatmeal is quick and easy.
- Allergy friendly and high protein adaptations. This is a flexible healthy porridge recipe that caters to different dietary requirements. The recipe can be made free from wheat, nuts and dairy (it’s vegan friendly). I’ve also popped in some options for adding extra protein for a higher protein breakfast option.
Ingredients for carrot cake porridge
The combination of wholegrain rolled oats, grated carrot and flaxseed is a fibre-rich, nourishing combination that’s great for your body. Add the spices and it becomes such a tasty combination, too!
- Rolled oats. I much prefer the thicker, more hearty texture of rolled oats in this recipe rather than quick oats, they cook to the perfect consistency with the carrot.
- Carrot. Ah, kind of an essential ingredient here! One small carrot – or half a large one – is all you need.
- Ground flaxseed. Additional healthy fats and fibre plus it adds to the thick and satisfying texture of the porridge as the flaxseed swells and absorbs liquid. This can be swapped for chia seeds.
- Cinnamon. The quintessential spice required for that carrot cake effect, don’t forget to use some ground cinnamon powder in your oats.
- Vanilla. Vanilla extract (either in liquid, paste or powder form, whatever works) is the other essential flavouring needed for a beautiful bowl of carrot cake porridge.
- Nutmeg. This is a strong spice so be sure to only use a tiny pinch, but a touch of ground nutmeg powder definitely adds to the aroma, flavour and overall carrot cake experience.
- Milk of choice. Carrot cake oatmeal can be made with any milk you prefer such as cows milk, soy milk, almond milk or coconut milk. Choose what works best for you.
- Maple syrup or honey. For a little bit of sweetness use maple syrup or honey. Half of a mashed banana also works well.
See the recipe card for ingredient quantities.
Don’t forget about adding some delicious toppings like thick Greek yoghurt (it’s giving cream cheese vibes?), crunchy nuts or seeds and some berries, too. I recommend using some crushed walnuts in keeping with the carrot cake theme!
How to add more protein to porridge
I love to power up this oat porridge by also adding some additional protein while it’s cooking. Two options that I recommend:
- Add an egg while cooking. Whisk an egg, then rapidly stir into the porridge and cook for a few minutes until it’s all blended in.
- Stir in a scoop of protein powder towards the end of the cooking process. I recommend vanilla or unflavoured protein powder. To keep the recipe plant based you can use a vegan protein like pea, brown rice or hemp seed protein powder.
All of the satisfying deliciousness of a slice of carrot cake, easily thrown together in a pot on the stove and cooked quickly into a creamy, warming breakfast!
Can I make carrot cake porridge in advance?
Yes, you could make this recipe one or two days in advance and reheat it on the stove or in the microwave. However, it will probably be very thick, so you’ll need to add some more milk to thin out the porridge again. If you are making this porridge in advance, do not add the toppings until you serve it.
Are carrot cake oats actually healthy or is it like a cake?
This oatmeal recipe is absolutely so nutritious and not the same as eating a piece of cake. It’s just oats, seeds, carrot, milk and spices! While we’re talking about this, I also want to say that personally, I believe you should be making some room in your life for the real deal carrot cake too. This isn’t a recipe designed to substitute in for actual cake – it’s just a play on a yummy flavour combo that I like.
If you make this recipe let me know what you think in the comments below, or take a snap and tag me on Instagram!
Other delicious oat breakfast ideas
Healthy Carrot Cake Porridge
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup rolled oats (45 grams)
- 1 small carrot grated (1/2-3/4 cup) – or use half a large carrot
- 2 tsp ground flaxseed
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tsp maple syrup or another preferred sweetener
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup soy milk or other preferred milk – plus some extra if needed while cooking the porridge
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Grate the carrot and pop in to a small saucepan together with the rolled oats, flaxseed, sweetener and spices. Pour in the almond milk, water and vanilla extract. Stir everything together.
- Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 7-10 minutes, or until the porridges reaches your preferred consistency. Add extra milk to thin the porridge out as it's cooking, if needed.
- If you’d like to add some additional protein, while the porridge is cooking, simply add in a whisked egg or a few tablespoons of your preferred protein powder. If you’re adding the egg, make sure to stir briskly so the egg becomes completely incorporated in to the porridge.
- Serve the porridge piping hot with a sprinkle of extra cinnamon and toppings of your choice (pictured is a topping of yoghurt, blueberries, walnuts and pumpkin seeds).
Notes
Nutrition
Love this, make it for my daughter for breakfast and she loves it. I make it vegan & add mashed banana for sweetness and a scoop of nut butter for extra richness.
tasted like carrot cake AND its healthy. i think the macros were something like 23 grams protein, 368 calories
Thanks so much Zayna! I’ve popped the nutritional information into this post now if you were curious about that. The Nutrition Facts are for the porridge without the protein powder or the egg, so that will alter the macros.
Yum! Used LSA in place of the flaxseed, reduced the sweetener in the mix, but added a bit of coconut to the topping along with a bit of yoghurt,, berries, pumpkin seeds and some walnuts.
Hey! This looks delicious I definitely want to try it 🙂 quick question on the protein – do you just whisk the powder straight into the porridge whilst it’s cooking? Or do you dilute the powder first into milk / water? Also, is it ok to heat protein powder? Thank you 😊
Hi Rebecca, I tend to just stir it in towards the end of cooking, like in the last 30 seconds. It’s okay to heat the protein powder 🙂 You might need to add a splash more milk after you stir it in to get the right consistency. Hope you enjoy it!
Could this be made in advance?
Hi Jenn! Yes you can make this in advance and then just heat it up – sometimes I make a double batch and do that. It gets quite thick but you can just add a little extra milk 🙂
This combo was scrumptious! Lovely to look at as well as devour ??. We added some chopped banana, raisins & walnuts to the mix. Topped with Greek yogurt, it was all too yum…we’ll be making this again. p.s. added baby carrots & some milk to my NutraBullet to shred them easily.
Thanks for the great recipe!
Dear Rose, thank you so much for your kind words! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe 🙂 and YUM to raisins and walnuts – what great additions and a lovely combo! Also, excellent idea to shred in the nutribullet. I’ve got one too and I’m definitely trying that!
Hi. We enjoyed this but without the egg felt it lacked a bit of body and sweetness. Next time we’ll try with milk only, no water. Also used chia rather than flax. Thanks 🙂
Hi David! Thank you very much for taking the time to leave the considered feedback, I really appreciate it. I’ve had a few other people make this recipe egg-free and they’ve reported that adding in half a mashed banana helps to add some extra oomph and sweetness to an egg-free version. If you’re keen to try this recipe again, perhaps try this? (I think a few tablespoons apple or pear puree would work too). I might add an extra note in the recipe about this! Thanks again 🙂
This look delicious! I am featuring it tonight on Savoring Saturdays. Can’t wait to see what you share this week!
Thank you so much Elle! It is truly one of my favourite ways to have porridge, and I am so flattered to be featured 🙂
This looks so yummy! I love all things carrot cake. Love the berries on top too. Thanks so much for sharing this with us at Savoring Saturdays! I’ll be featuring your recipe this later today.
As always, thank you a huge bunch Emily! So happy to be part of the linkup! Carrot cake and berries for breakfast is just the best 🙂
Yep, I’m a carrot cake sucker, too. 😉 This sounds like a delicious way to start your day! Thank you for sharing it with us at Savoring Saturdays!
Carrot cake will always have a place in my heart 🙂 Thank you Raia!
This porridge looks so lovely! I love anything with oats and almond milk for breakfast. Pinning!
Thank you so much, Lauren! I adore this porridge, it’s one of my favourite warming breakfasts. What did we do before almond milk?!? 🙂
Yum! I like the idea of getting in that carrot at breakfast time. I was recently able to reintroduce oats to my diet, so I’ve been all about oatmeal for breakfast!
I love the idea of getting some veggies in to my first meal of the day too Joyce 🙂 You just feel like you’re off to such a good start. I’m glad to hear you can have oats again, they’re such an easy meal!
Im SWOONING over this porridge perfection! Carrot cake + oatmeal sounds soooo good right now!
Hahaha thank you Bethany, I also tend to swoon over food so I know exactly what you mean 🙂 I love, love this porridge, it is SO good and always tastes like a treat!
This is absolutely stunning!! I adore carrot cake so will definitely be giving this a go
Thank you so much Lauren 🙂 Carrot cake everything is delicious and I love being able to have it for breakfast!