Homemade Muesli to Enjoy Hot, Cold, or Soaked Overnight

Around 1900, a Swiss physician named Maximilian Bircher-Benner created muesli for patients in his hospital. This is why it is often called Bircher muesli or Swiss muesli. His version was basically oats, soaked overnight and then topped with nuts, fruits, honey, and other toppings. Over the years, muesli has become more all-inclusive, with nuts, dried fruit, sweetener, and often milk powder in the recipe. Our dairy-free muesli skips the milk, but is packed with plenty of delicious and nutritious add-ins.

Dairy-Free Muesli Recipe with Options

Muesli is often referred to as the original overnight oats, but there really are no rules when it comes to this throw-together cereal. We’ve included different preparation options in the recipe, and I also have some ingredient variations to recommend.

Oats: To Toast or Not to Toast

Muesli is typically prepared with raw oats, like oatmeal. But if I plan to eat it raw, as cereal, I like to toast the oats. You can do this in a pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring the oats to brown them evenly. Alternatively, you can bake the oats for 10 minutes in a 350ºF oven. Or, you can even toast them in the microwave. Just put them in a microwave-safe bowl, and cook on high in 30 second intervals, stirring between each heating. I usually just do 1 to 2 minutes total for a light toasting.

Cereal for Crisp, Oats for Cooked

As mentioned in the recipe, if you are going for the overnight or raw option, I prefer to use more oats and nuts rather than cereal. But if you are going to enjoy it raw, the cereal adds a nice crunch. You can substitute a flaked or shredded cereal instead. Really, dairy-free muesli is a great way to use up the remains of a box of cereal.

Nuts, Seeds, and Nut-Free Options

You can substitute your favorite nuts and/or seeds for the pecans and sunflower seeds. This is also a great way to use up leftovers. You’ll need 3/4 cup total. Some great options include sliced almonds, chopped walnuts, cashew halves, macadamia nuts, and pumpkin seeds. The flaxseed really is optional. You can omit it, double it (use up to 1/4 cup), or substitute chia seeds if you still want the omega-3 boost.

More Fruit Options

If you prefer fresh fruit with your morning dairy-free muesli, you can actually omit the dried fruit. But we do like the infusion of sweetness that the dried fruit provides. I often recommend adding at least one dried fruit and then topping it with fresh fruit, like sliced bananas and berries. If you opt to stick with dried fruit, this recipe calls for a total of 2 cups of dried and/or freeze-dried fruit. Aside from the ones listed, we like dried chopped mango, papaya, pineapple, and cherries.

Special Diet Notes: Dairy-Free Muesli

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, optionally gluten-free, peanut-free, soy-free, plant-based, vegan, and vegetarian. To make this recipe gluten free, be sure to choose rice cereal, oats, and oat bran (not wheat bran) that are certified gluten-free if you are okay with oats.

Alisa Fleming

Dairy-Free Muesli

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This recipe was originally shared with us back in 2008 by a reader named Micki. She said it’s great as cereal, but it also makes a delicious dairy-free ice cream topping! We often omit the sugar, and simply add a little sweetener, to taste, when preparing it. See the post above for some ingredient options.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 10 minutes mins

Servings: 15 servings

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Swiss

Calories: 244

Ingredients Method Nutrition Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 4 cups quick oats or rolled oats or a combo of both
• 1 cup oat bran or wheat bran or a combo of both
• 1 cup crispy rice cereal see Cereal Note below
• ½ cup unsweetened dried coconut flakes
• ½ cup chopped pecans
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup dried blueberries
• ½ cup dried apples chopped
• ¼ cup sunflower seeds
• 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
• ¼ to ⅓ cup brown sugar or coconut sugar to taste (optional)

Method

 

1. Put the oats, bran, rice cereal (or more oats - see Note below), coconut, nuts, dried fruit, sunflower seeds, sugar (if using), and ground flaxseed in a large bowl. Gently stir to combine the ingredients.
2. Store the muesli in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the refrigerator or freezer for longer storage.

How to Serve

1. Cold Cereal: Add a serving to a bowl, and douse with your favorite milk alternative.
2. Hot Oatmeal: Add a serving to a bowl and pour some hot or boiling water over it to cover. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Top with your favorite dairy-free milk alternative and enjoy.
3. Overnight Style: Add a serving to a bowl, and douse with your favorite milk alternative or water just to cover. (In the traditional recipe, part apple juice is used.) Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator overnight. Enjoy in the morning.
4. Parfait Style: Layer muesli (raw or overnight style) with fruit and dairy-free yogurt in a glass, or sprinkle it over a bowl of dairy-free yogurt.

Nutrition

Serving: 2/3 cupCalories: 244kcalCarbohydrates: 40.6gProtein: 5.6gFat: 8.9gSaturated Fat: 3.1gSodium: 26mgFiber: 5.7gSugar: 16.6g

Notes

Cereal Note: If you like to soak your dairy-free muesli, I would substitute more oats for the rice cereal The cereal gets quite soggy when soaked.

Nutrition Note: The nutrition facts include the use of 1/4 cup brown sugar. If you omit the sugar, the sugars go down to 13.8g. Use unsweetened or fruit-sweetened dried fruit if you want no sugar added.

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Also Try My Favorite Dairy-Free Granola Recipe!