• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Delicious on a Dime logo

  • Home
  • Save Money
    • Stock your Pantry on a Dime
    • Stock your Freezer on a Dime
    • 2 Easy Ways to Save Leftover Tomato Paste
    • 7 Steps to Meal Planning
    • Fresh Herbs
    • Freeze Cheese
    • Freeze Goat Cheese
    • Freeze Mushrooms
    • Superstar Food for Your Budget
    • Stock Your First Kitchen
    • Stock Your Fridge on a Dime
    • The Best $10 Kitchen Tool
  • Recipes
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

Home » Recipes » Breakfast & Brunch

The Ultimate Guide to Easy, Healthy, (Cheap!) Granola

Published: Jan 9, 2017 · Modified: Oct 28, 2020 by Myra · This post may contain affiliate links

Sharing is caring!

120 shares
  • Share48
  • Yummly
Jump to Recipe
Ultimate Guide to Easy, Healthy Granola

This is the ultimate guide to easy, healthy, (cheap!) granola.  Mix up your ingredients, pour them on a pan and slide it into the oven for about half an hour.  You could be enjoying a bowl of warm, toasty granola and yogurt before you know it!

Granola, bananas and yogurt in blue bowl.

I don’t know about you, but I love a little granola with my yogurt.  Where I live, though, granola is SO expensive.  Luckily, it doesn’t have to be expensive to make your own, and it can be easy and healthy too!

The beauty of granola is that it’s made mostly of oats, and you can bulk it out with whatever you want.  Heck, you could even make all-oat granola if you wanted to!  You can tailor it to suit whatever works for you – nuts, dried fruit, gluten-free, the sky’s the limit!

With just a few minutes to mix the ingredients together and about half an hour in the oven, you can have a whole pan of warm toasty granola in the same amount of time it takes me to drive to a big-box grocery store.  Yes, I live that far out in the country.  But I love it.

(PS – check out our posts on Stocking Your Pantry on a Dime , Stocking Your Freezer on a Dime, and Stocking your Fridge on a Dime.)

The important thing about this granola is not to overcook it.  Once it’s been in the oven about ten minutes stir it well every 5-10 minutes until it’s done.  Burnt granola isn’t fun for anyone, and I speak from experience.

So gather up whatever ingredients you have on hand, set aside half an hour or so when you’ll be in the kitchen anyway (making dinner? cleaning?) and try this granola!

Step-by-Step Instructions for Easy, Healthy, Cheap Granola

Granola Ingredients on Wooden Board.

Ingredients for Easy, Healthy, (Cheap!) Granola.

Granola Ingredients in Glass Measuring Bowl.

After putting 3 cups of oats in a large bowl, choose your add-ins.  Use 1-2 cups (or less, if you’re on a tight budget). 

Here I used around 2 cups made up of chopped walnuts, shredded coconut, slivered almonds, flax seeds, unsalted sunflower seeds, hemp hearts, wheat germ and a pinch of salt.

Tip:  If you are making gluten free granola be careful with your add-ins – wheat germ is not gluten free.  

Yes, my measuring cup is old and has no markings.  I’m okay with that for general measurements like this one 🙂  Stir add-ins into oats.

Granola Ingredients in White Bowl.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup oil of your choosing, 1/4 cup sweetener of your choosing and 1-2 teaspoons flavoring of your choosing. 

For this batch of granola I used avocado oil, honey and vanilla. 

Microwave for 15-30 seconds, stirring well to ensure that it’s completely combined (and sugar is dissolved if you’re using brown sugar). 

Pour into oat mixture and stir well to combine.

Granola on sheet pan.

Spread onto cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes in 300 degree F oven.  Stir well, turning over all parts of the granola.  Bake for another 5 minutes.  Stir and bake in five minute intervals, being careful not to let granola burn.

Baked granola on sheet pan.

When it is medium brown and toasted, remove from oven and let cool completely on a cookie sheet.  Stir in fruit (or chocolate chips) if desired. 

Store in an airtight jar.   

Granola, banana and yogurt in blue dish.

Enjoy! 🙂

 
Yogurt, sliced bananas and granola in blue bowl.

The Ultimate Guide to Easy, Healthy, (Cheap!) Granola

5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 5 cups
Calories: 154kcal
Author: Myra

Ingredients

  • 3 cups large flake oats or whatever oats you have on hand
  • 1-2 cups add-ins i.e. chopped walnuts, coconut, slivered almonds, sunflower seeds, hemp hearts, flax seeds, wheat germ, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds* etc (optional)
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/4 cup oil i.e. melted butter, warmed coconut oil, avocado oil, canola oil, etc
  • 1/4 cup sweetener i.e. honey, maple syrup, agave, brown sugar etc
  • 1-2 tsp flavouring i.e. vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, almond extract, etc
  • 1/2 cup dried fruit i.e. raisins, dried cranberries, chopped apricots, even chocolate chips if you want (they're fruit, right?) (optional)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
  • In a large bowl, stir together oats, whatever add-ins you choose (not the fruit) and salt. Set aside.
  • In a small bowl, combine oil of your choosing, sweetener of your choosing and flavouring of your choosing. Microwave for 15-30 seconds, stirring well to ensure that it's completely combined.
  • Pour into oat mixture and stir well to combine. Spread onto cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
  • Stir well, turning over all parts of the granola. Bake for another 5 minutes. Stir and bake in five minute intervals, being careful not to let granola burn.
  • When it is medium brown and toasted, remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet. Stir in fruit (or chocolate chips) if desired. Store in an airtight jar.
  • Enjoy! 🙂

Notes

  • *Be careful if you choose to use chia seeds.  They are a great addition to granola but they have interesting gelling properties.  If you mix them with liquid (like yogurt) and leave them to sit for more than a few minutes, they will start to create a gel.  For this reason I would avoid pre-mixing your granola with yogurt if you used chia seeds.  Also, mushy granola. 😉

Nutrition

Calories: 154kcal
Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @DeliciousOnADime or tag #deliciousonadime!

You might also like:

Bananas, raspberries and yogurt in white bowl.
Two Minute Yogurt and Berry Breakfast Bowls
Sausage and Egg Muffin on white plate.
Sausage and Egg Breakfast Muffins
Pastries topped with icing, raspberries and blueberries on white plates.
Easy Berry and Cream Cheese Pastries

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

« Easy Winter Salad
On Buying Local »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Earlene says

    April 28, 2018 at 9:48 am

    How long will it keep in an air-tight container?

    Reply
    • Myra says

      May 01, 2018 at 6:36 am

      Hi Earlene! As long as it’s well-dried out and completely cool when you put it in the container, it should keep for months! If it lasts that long 🙂

      Reply
  2. sandie says

    November 15, 2017 at 12:08 am

    I love making my own granola as well. My recipe is similar to yours with a few additions. I line a jellyroll pan with parchment and press the granola firmly into the pan, cover it wirh another piece of parchment and roll over it with a rolling pin to make sure it is really tamped down. I cook it at 300degrees for 20 minutes then rotate it and cook for another 15 minutes or until everything is toasty. i let the giant granola ‘cookie’ cool foran hour then break it up into whatever size bits that you like.

    Reply
    • Myra says

      November 15, 2017 at 7:00 am

      That’s a great suggestion Sandie, because I know some people love chunky granola! For some reason I’m more of a fan of non-chunky, but I happen to be married to a man who loves it chunky, so I should probably make it that way sometimes too! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Eliza says

    January 12, 2017 at 8:50 pm

    This looks so yummy and it is gluten free!!! Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
    • Myra says

      January 12, 2017 at 9:06 pm

      It’s easy to make too! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Lorena Landry says

    January 09, 2017 at 8:42 pm

    Looks delicious. I agree, granola is very expensive; but we love it. I will be trying this on the week-end.

    Reply
    • Myra says

      January 09, 2017 at 9:41 pm

      We love it too! And we’ve been eating so much more of it since we started making it! I hope you enjoy it 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

A photo of a man and a woman in front of a building.

HI, WE'RE MYRA AND LAURIER!

We want to help YOU eat delicious food, AND save money on groceries!

With years of experience, we bring you EASY and CHEAP recipes and tips.

Take back control of your grocery budget, AND eat amazing food.

More about us →

FAST & EASY

  • Strawberry Banana Protein Smoothie (NO protein powder!)
  • Grilled Cheese With Tomato and Onion
  • Quick & Healthy Mediterranean Dip (with hummus)
  • Homemade Bistro Box aka Adult Lunchables

EASY ENTERTAINING

  • Herb and Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Bites – An Easy Party Appetizer!
  • Cheesy Bacon Garlic Pull Apart Bread
  • Pepperoni Pizza Dip (with cream cheese)
  • Whipped Artichoke and Feta Dip

AMAZON ASSOCIATE DISCLOSURE

Creative Cooking Solutions is a participant in the Amazon.com.ca, Inc. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.ca. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

A photo of a man and a woman in front of a building.

HI, WE'RE MYRA AND LAURIER!

We want to help YOU eat delicious food, AND save money on groceries!

With years of experience, we bring you EASY and CHEAP recipes and tips.

Take back control of your grocery budget, AND eat amazing food.

More about us →

FAST & EASY

  • Strawberry Banana Protein Smoothie (NO protein powder!)
  • Grilled Cheese With Tomato and Onion
  • Quick & Healthy Mediterranean Dip (with hummus)
  • Homemade Bistro Box aka Adult Lunchables

EASY ENTERTAINING

  • Herb and Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Bites – An Easy Party Appetizer!
  • Cheesy Bacon Garlic Pull Apart Bread
  • Pepperoni Pizza Dip (with cream cheese)
  • Whipped Artichoke and Feta Dip

AMAZON ASSOCIATE DISCLOSURE

Creative Cooking Solutions is a participant in the Amazon.com.ca, Inc. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.ca. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility Statement

WORK WITH US!

  • Download our
    Media Kit!

Contact

  • Subscribe for emails
    and updates
  • Contact

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2022 Creative Cooking Solutions

  • 48
120 shares
120 shares
  • 48