Vegetable granola is now a thing! We’re making 3 different kinda-gourmet granolas today, and yes they all have veggies in them, and yes they are absolutely delicious:
- A zucchini bread granola with pecans, pepitas, brown sugar and butter.
- A ginger and cinnamon spiked carrot cake-esque granola with almonds, sesame seeds, maple syrup, and butter.
- A beet granola with chocolate, walnuts, coconut, and olive oil.
FULL INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO FOR VEGETABLE GRANOLA
HOW TO MAKE VEGETABLE GRANOLA
With my technique, you can pack a wild amount of vegetables into these granolas and they are fantastic! We’re not hiding veggies, we’re celebrating veggies. This is also a way to preserve vegetables, if you’re into that… which I am. :)
I’ve had this idea for a while- to make granola with veggies in it. Because I don’t know about you but I am always always trying to get more fiber and more plants in my diet. And from real food— which is exactly what we’re going to do. Wait till you see how much fiber we can pack into this granola! But in a good way, not in a bathroom emergency kinda way.
So, here’s the secret to this high fiber granola. The key to packing a ton of veggies in this granola is to dehydrate them first. You couldn’t just put 4 cups of raw shredded zucchini into a granola recipe and expect it turn out— no. That would be a soggy mess. But you can dehydrate 4 cups of shredded zucchini, and then bake it into a lovely granola and have it turn out amazing.
ZUCCHINI BREAD GRANOLA
I wanted the zucchini granola to taste reminiscent of zucchini bread, so I went with pecans, which I think are pretty classic zucchini bread nut, and pepitas because I love them in granola… and they come from squash, which is zucchinis cousin, so that just makes sense, obviously.
I’m also adding chia seeds because I very much enjoy them in granola, and 1 tablespoon has almost 5 grams of fiber. You can just leave them out if you want though.
I’m using butter for the fat and brown sugar for the sweetener, which I think will really drive home the zucchini bread flavor. A lot of vanilla and just a wee bit of cinnamon make this granola taste like a bakery (in the best way!).
After 20 minutes of baking at 250°F, I stir this and flip it around, my goal being to get the granola around the edges to the middle and the granola in the middle to the edges, since it cooks faster on the outside. Just do the best you can.
Then it goes into the oven for at least another 20 minutes but closer to 30 if you can. Try to leave it in there for as close to 30 minutes as possible, but watch it carefully and take it out if /when you first see the zucchini starting to brown in places.
This entire pan of vegetable granola has about 50g of fiber and 5 different fiber sources.
Zucchini Bread Granola
Ingredients
- 4 cups raw shredded zucchini
- 3 cups old-fashioned oats
- 3/4 cup chopped raw pecans
- 3/4 cup raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 egg white, beaten until frothy
Instructions
- Dehydrate the shredded zucchini until it's dry and just crispy, at 130°F for 6-8 hours (different dehydrators will vary). Use your hands to crush the web of zucchini into small pieces.
- Preheat the oven to 250°. Line an 18×13 pan with parchment paper.
- Combine the oats, pecans, pepitas, chia seeds, and dried zucchini in a large mixing bowl.
- Heat a small pot over low heat and melt the butter and brown sugar together. Cook, stirring frequently until the mixture just starts to bubble around the edges. Remove from the heat and stir in the honey, vanilla, salt and cinnamon.
- Fold the sugar mixture in the oat mixture until all of the oats and nuts are well-coated, and then fold in the beaten egg white.
- Spread onto the prepared pan in an even layer and bake for 20 minutes. Stir the mixture, moving the granola at the edges of the pan to the center, and the granola at the center of the pan to the edges. Spread in an even layer again.
- Bake for 20 to 30 minutes longer… 30 is better but you have to watch the zucchini because it will start to brown. Remove the pan from the oven when the zucchini just starts to turn brown. Let it cool completely before stirring it.
Carrot Almond Granola
Okay, now the carrot granola— I knew I wanted this to be carrot cake-esque, but a little more elevated. And Almonds go really great with carrots, so I’m using lots of sliced almonds in this recipe. I love the texture of a sliced almond more so than a slivered one or a chopped one.
And I’m using sesame seeds too! They are an often overlooked ingredient for granola, that I think pairs so well with toasted oats and warm spices like ginger and cinnamon. This is a little bit more richly spiced granola than the zucchini batch was.
The sweetener for this one is maple syrup, and the fat is butter again. I think this one would also be great with either honey or brown sugar too. And I’m adding a little bit of nutmeg because I love it, and I tend to use it whenever I am putting ginger and cinnamon together.
And just like the zucchini batch, I’m going to flip this around and give it a good stir after 20 minutes of baking, then back in the oven for another 20 to 30 minutes.
I love love the smell of the ginger and the sesame seeds in this one. I used half a teaspoon of cinnamon and ginger but I think I could have gone even a little heavier on those.
If you wanted to take this up a notch, and turn it into even more of a dessert, and more carrot-cakey, after it comes out of the oven you could add raisins and white chocolate chips, or even a drizzle of melted white chocolate over the top.
There are 57 grams of fiber in this pan of vegetable granola, and 5 different fiber sources.
Carrot Almond Granola
Ingredients
- 3 cups raw shredded carrots
- 3 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 1/2 cups raw sliced almonds
- 2 tablespoons raw sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg (optional)
- 1 egg white, beaten until frothy
Instructions
- Dehydrate the shredded carrots until they are dry and just crispy, at 130°F for 6-8 hours (different dehydrators will vary). Use your hands to crush the web of carrots into small pieces.
- Preheat the oven to 250°. Line a 18×13 pan with parchment paper.
- Combine the oats, almonds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, and dried carrots in a large mixing bowl.
- Heat a small pot over low heat and melt the butter and maple syrup together. Cook, stirring frequently until the mixture just starts to bubble around the edges. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
- Fold the maple mixture in the oat mixture until all of the oats and nuts are well-coated, and then fold in the beaten egg white.
- Spread onto the prepared pan in an even layer and bake for 20 minutes. Stir the mixture, moving the granola at the edges of the pan to the center, and the granola at the center of the pan to the edges. Spread in an even layer again.
- Bake for 20 to 30 minutes longer… 30 is better but you have to watch the carrots because they will start to brown. Remove the pan from the oven before the carrots just starts to turn brown. Let it cool completely before stirring it.
CHOCOLATE BEET GRANOLA
Now, this is probably a granola recipe for grown ups. This is like a PG-13 granola, if I were going to give it a rating. You’ll see why… though beets is an obvious reason, haha.
We’ve got oats, and big pieces of coconut, and walnuts. And of course chia seeds because I’m adding them to all my granolas.
The sweetener for this batch is honey, because honey pairs really well with beets. And the fat is olive oil, which plays off the savory nature of flavors like beets and chocolate. However, this granola is still sweet and definitely stands firmly on the side of a sweet treat, not something savory that you would, like, put on a salad or soup in an upscale trendy restaurant.
I usually eat a sprinkle of granola on yogurt with berries, but this one I think might make a great snacking granola. It has so many unique flavors that it really stands alone. Although, I do think this it would be fantastic on a vanilla yogurt with cut up fresh figs, or fresh strawberries.
Now this granola has one extra step: after it’s baked for 20 minutes I’m flipping it and stirring around just like I did with the other two. And then after it’s final leg of baking, as soon as it comes out of the oven, I’m sprinkling on some mini semi sweet chocolate chips. I like the mini ones because they nestle into the nooks and crannies of the granola. And when you put them on while it’s still warm they melt slightly and stick to the granola, which is just wonderful of them to do.
Make sure you let the granola cool completely before breaking it into pieces. That way the sugar has time to set. This goes for all of the flavors.
It’s hard to pick a favorite child isn’t it? But of the 3 granolas, this might be mine. It’s just so different, and so yummy! I love the toasted walnuts and the coconut, and then you get a little pocket of chocolate, and the beets add an earthy sweetness. They really don’t taste much like beets anymore actually.
I also like that this one doesn’t have cinnamon. I do love me a cinnamon granola too, of course, but sometimes I feel like something different.
There are a whopping 62 grams of fiber in this pan of vegetable granola, and 6 different fiber sources.
Chocolate Beet Granola
Ingredients
- 3 cups shredded raw beets
- 3 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup large flake unsweetened coconut
- 3/4 cup chopped raw walnuts
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons natural cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 egg white, beaten until frothy
- 1/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Dehydrate the shredded beets until they are dry and just crispy, at 130°F for 6-8 hours (different dehydrators will vary). Use your hands to crush the web of beets into small pieces.
- Preheat the oven to 250°. Line a 18×13 pan with parchment paper.
- Combine the oats, coconut, walnuts, chia seeds, and dried beets in a large mixing bowl.
- Heat a small pot over low heat and melt the honey and olive oil together until just combined and warmed through. Remove from the heat and stir in the cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt.
- Fold the honey mixture in the oat mixture until all of the oats and nuts are well-coated, and then fold in the beaten egg white.
- Spread onto the prepared pan in an even layer and bake for 20 minutes. Stir the mixture, moving the granola at the edges of the pan to the center, and the granola at the center of the pan to the edges. Spread in an even layer again.
- Bake for 20 to 30 minutes longer… 30 is better but you have to watch the beets because they will start to brown. Remove the pan from the oven before the beets just starts to turn brown.
- Immediately when the granola is done and still warm, sprinkle over the chocolate chips. Let cool completely before stirring it.