Cinnamon-Quinoa Breakfast Bowls Are the Thing to Make When You Need a Change from Oatmeal

Most of the time my weekday breakfasts range from smoothies to eggs with chicken sausage to Greek-style yogurt with fruit and granola. I like to start my day with a good amount of protein because I usually do an early morning workout (or at least take my dog for a walk around the neighborhood) and want to make sure I eat something that will keep me nourished until lunchtime. 

While I love my smoothies, eggs and yogurt, when chilly weather hits, I start looking for a breakfast option that’s warm and comforting but still quick enough for a weekday morning. A bowl of oatmeal (I use protein oats, which have a little more protein than regular oats) with a touch of brown sugar or maple syrup, cinnamon, fruit—like chopped apples or frozen blueberries—and nuts usually does the trick. But every now and then I get tired of the texture of oatmeal and want something different. That’s how I found and started making EatingWell’s Cinnamon-Quinoa Breakfast Bowl.

For these quinoa bowls, as with oatmeal, you simply simmer the quinoa in liquid on the stovetop until it has absorbed the liquid and is tender. The liquid here is water and almond milk. I always have unsweetened almond milk in the fridge and a bag of quinoa in the pantry, so I don’t even need to plan ahead to make these bowls. If I wake up and it’s cold out and I’m seeking something hearty and nourishing, I can throw these bowls together in just 20 minutes.

Along with the simmering liquid, the recipe calls for a little bit of brown sugar to sweeten the quinoa and some cinnamon for flavor. To make each bowl, you simply top the cooked quinoa with sliced banana, a drizzle of almond butter and some toasted sliced almonds. Admittedly, I usually skip the sliced almonds because I’ve been known to pop them into the toaster oven and forget about them while I’m making the quinoa, only to find blackened almonds. (Chunkier pecans or walnuts are a better choice for me.) While the end result is a hot cereal, not unlike oatmeal, quinoa always has that little pop when you eat it, which is a texture change I welcome after a few days of eating oatmeal. 

Nutritionally, quinoa is very good for you. It’s a great source of plant-based protein and iron and can help with digestion, among other things. Each bowl has 12 grams of protein and 7 grams of fiber, so it’s incredibly filling and helps me stay satisfied until lunchtime. If I’ve done a calorie-burning workout in the morning, I might also throw a scoop of Greek-style yogurt on top for a little more protein. 

After trying and loving this bowl, I also made our Apple-Cinnamon Quinoa Bowl, which you cook similarly but add some chopped apple to the quinoa to soften and then top with uncooked apple for crunch. I loved having this other option to vary my quinoa bowls and soon realized that the quinoa was just as versatile as oatmeal and I could top it however I wanted. A recent favorite combination was bananas, raspberries and chocolate tahini—I’ll be coming back to that one! Blueberries and a little lemon zest are also a nice add-on to the original bowl. 

Another idea is to use pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon when cooking the quinoa and stir in a little pumpkin puree when it’s done for a pumpkin-spice quinoa bowl. Mini chocolate chips and pecans are a nice topping for this one, or you could sprinkle on a little granola if you have it on hand. And, last idea, you could even go savory and top the quinoa with tomatoes and chicken sausage as we do in our savory oatmeal bowls—just be sure to skip the cinnamon and brown sugar when cooking the quinoa.

The other great thing that I found out by accident is that these bowls work well with other grains, too. The last time I went to buy quinoa, I was so preoccupied with checking the bag for “prerinsed”—rinsing quinoa is a step I’d like to avoid in the morning—that I accidentally bought an ancient grain mix. The mix has buckwheat, millet, chia, amaranth and teff in addition to quinoa. When I opened the bag and realized my mistake, I already had my pot of liquids ready to go and figured, why not give it a shot. The mix worked just as well—no modifications needed.

If you don’t have time in the morning, you can also make the bowls ahead. The recipe makes four servings, so since I am only making the bowls for myself, I can cook once and have four breakfasts at the ready. I simply store the portioned-out cooked quinoa in the fridge and reheat it and top it each morning.

Now I’m not saying I’ll never go back to oatmeal, but when I need a break, it’s nice to have these quinoa bowls as an option. I highly recommend these bowls, but if you’re not ready to completely make the switch, you can ease into it with our hot cereal mix, which has oats, quinoa and chia seeds. Either way, you’ll have a nice, hot breakfast bowl that switches things up from oatmeal.