Homemade Muesli Guide + 3 recipes

Name: Homemade Muesli
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 250 g/ 9oz Jumbo oats (see notes for alternative suggestions); 60 g/ 2 oz Dried pineapple (chopped); 60 g/ 2 oz Hazelnuts (roughly chopped); 1 tbsp Poppyseeds; 2 tsp Crushed rose petals ((optional) ensure they are edible); 3 tbsp Pumpkin seeds; 1 tbsp Sesame seeds; 1/2 tsp Salt ((optional)); 30 g/ 1 oz Pecan nuts (roughly chopped); 30 g/ 1 oz Pistachio nuts; 30 g/ 1 oz Hazelnuts (roughly chopped); 2 tbsp Desiccated coconut; 2 tbsp Pumpkin seeds; 1/2 tsp Salt ((optional)); 30 g/ 1 oz Blanched almonds (halved); 30 g/ 1 oz Hazelnuts (roughly chopped); 2 tbsp Pumpkin seeds; 45 g/ 1 ½ oz Raisins; 45 g/ 1 ½ oz Dates (chopped); 1/2 tsp Salt ((optional))

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Homemade muesli is quick and easy to prepare. Ready in minutes and fully customisable: make raw muesli or toasted muesli and make endless different flavours to keep breakfast healthy and exciting.

A glass of gingery apple & pineapple juice would be lovely paired with this simple breakfast.

Bowls of homemade toasted muesli with dates, raisins, almonds and hazelnuts

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Why you should try this recipe
Ingredients notes
Step by step instructions
Expert Tips
Frequently asked questions
More tasty ideas for breakfast
📖 Recipe

Holidays are a great time to pick up recipe inspiration for me. There’s nothing like coming across something to eat on holiday that you enjoy so much you know you have to recreate the recipe at home.

The food doesn’t even have to be exotic. Just finding a different spin on something you eat regularly can be a fabulous find.

During a weekend trip to Vienna, I found the inspiration for a delightful pineapple muesli at a tiny neighbourhood breakfast bar. This motivated me to create this guide for making healthy homemade muesli. You’ll find details for both raw muesli and toasted muesli included.

A bowl of homemade Muesli with a small bottle of milk

Why you should try this recipe

Quite simply, homemade muesli is one of the easiest recipes around. It’s totally customisable to your dietary requirements and it’s virtually foolproof.

Homemade muesli offers many advantages over store-bought:

You get to pick your perfect base. Keep it simple using just oats or add flavour and texture by including other flakes and grains too.
Similarly, to make healthy muesli stick with nuts and seeds to keep the sugar content low.
Alternatively, add in a little dried fruit or more indulgent treats if you feel like creating an extravagant version.
You get to decide whether to make raw muesli or toasted muesli.
It is easy to split the muesli base into 2 so you can create 2 completely separate versions of homemade muesli from one batch of the base.
Or if you are regularly feeding a small army at breakfast you can easily scale up this recipe.

This recipe for muesli is extremely quick and simple to prepare and stores well for at least a month in sealed jars. It is a great make-ahead recipe to have to hand to keep busy morning schedules on track.

Have you noticed my recipes for homemade granola too? I’ve got spiced apple granola, chocolate cherry granola, mango & coconut granola and chocolate orange granola to choose from.

Ingredients notes

Ingredients for oat based breakfast in bowls labelled with text overlay

Muesli base ingredients notes

One of the many virtues of homemade muesli is that it is so adaptable. But all good renditions start with a quality base.

In it’s simplest form this base can be 100% oats. However, much more can be added. To take your base from good to awesome, try using 50% oats with a combination of any of the following to make up the remainder:

bran flakes
spelt flakes
wheat flakes
puffed rice
barley flakes
rye flakes

Health food stores are a great place to pick up your selection. Holland and Barratt have a fantastic range of options to pick from.

Additional ingredients – customising the flavour

Once you have your base prepared you are free to throw into the mix any tasty extras your hungry heart desires and leave out anything you are less than 100% committed to enjoying.

Here are three of my favourite homemade muesli combinations:

Pineapple muesli: pineapple, hazelnut, poppyseed and rose petal (deliciously different)
Nutty muesli: coconut, pecan, pistachio and hazelnut (a great low sugar option)
Fruit & nut muesli: hazelnut, almond, raisin and date (even the kids will love it)

Collage showing three types of homemade toasted muesli

All of these options are detailed fully in the recipe card. They do all contain pumpkin and/ or sesame seeds too but these can be omitted depending on preferences and/ or dietary requirements.

And remember, nothing is set in stone when making homemade muesli. Think of the base oat recipe provided as an adventure playground for flavours. Vary the nuts. Vary the seeds. Make it your own. And, most importantly, make it suit your taste preferences.

Here are a few other worthy additions to consider adding to the muesli base:

any dried fruits
freeze-dried fruits, such as strawberries or raspberries
cocoa nibs
crystalised ginger (a little goes a long way)
goji berries
dark chocolate chips (a little indulgent but lower in sugar compared to milk or white chocolate)
dried banana chips
ground spices, such as cinnamon or nutmeg

Again, browse your health food store and see what catches your eye. Play around and have some fun coming up with your own favourite flavours.

Step by step instructions

How to make raw muesli

It is possible to make homemade muesli using raw ingredients in a matter of minutes:

Measure out all selected ingredients, chopping the fruit and nuts as necessary
Mix together in a large bowl before decanting into storage jars

This easy 5-minute raw muesli recipe is perfectly acceptable. In fact, it’s how I first made my own homemade muesli. But over the years, I’ve discovered that toasting the base ingredients adds extra flavour and texture to the final product.

How to make toasted muesli

The great news is that toasted muesli takes just 15 minutes and there is nothing complicated about it:

1. Start by scattering your oats, nuts and seeds (plus any other ingredients for your base) onto a clean, dry baking sheet and mix. Cook in a preheated oven for 7 minutes

2. Toss and turn the part toasted base using a large metal spoon, then return to the oven for a further 7 minutes

3. Remove from the oven, let cool on the baking sheet, then mix in the remaining ingredients, such as the dried fruit (and rose petals if using)

Collage of step by step process for toasting oats

And that’s it! The muesli is ready to be decanted into a large sealable jar and stored for up to 1 month.

Expert Tips

Top tip: the biggest tip I can give you when it comes to this recipe for muesli is to let your imagination run riot. You’ll be surprised at your own creativity when it comes to dreaming up flavour combinations.

That said, do think out your base and the additions carefully. Aim to include some nuts and some seeds (dietary requirements permitting) to create a breakfast full of nutritional value.
Try to avoid adding excessive amounts of dried fruits as this will bump up the sugar content of your breakfast.
Aim for 50g-75g fruit and around 75g-100g nuts & seeds combined per 250g base for a good balance of flavour and texture.
When it comes to toasting the base, do remember to stir it partway through the cooking time to achieve an even toasting of ingredients.
Always let the toasted muesli cool completely before transferring to a storage jar. This ensures the toasted ingredients stay crisp and fresh.
Likewise, always secure the lid straight after taking a serving out of the jar to retain maximum freshness. Rather like cookies, homemade muesli will lose it’s freshness when left out for too long.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use homemade muesli for overnight oats?

If your base is 100% oat-based then you can certainly use your homemade muesli to make overnight oats. Simply follow your usual recipe regarding the quantities of oats and milk.

It can also be used to make Bircher muesli (the original overnight oats). Simply soak your muesli in water, milk or apple juice overnight, then stir through some grated apple just before serving.

Homemade muesli made with a mix of oats and other cereals and grains may not be so suitable as some of the grains may turn too mushy to be enjoyable.

Can I eat homemade muesli hot?

Again, if the base is 100% oat-based it will heat superbly well. Add equal parts muesli and liquid (milk, non-dairy milk or water) and cook, stirring frequently until thick and creamy. The result will be similar to porridge with plenty of additions cooked right in.

As above, success when made with a mixed base is more variable.

Is this toasted muesli recipe suitable for vegan and gluten-free diets?

All ingredients listed in my recipe card are vegan. Check any alternative add-ins are suitable for a vegan diet before adding to the base.

Those following a gluten-free diet need to ensure that all ingredients they plan on including are gluten-free. Although oats do not contain gluten, during production they can become contaminated by other cereals that do contain gluten. Similarly, not all of the additional base options I have listed are gluten-free, so do check the packaging before using in this recipe.

Three bowls of toasted cereal with a small bottle of milk

More tasty ideas for breakfast

Browse my full collection of mouthwatering breakfast recipes. Here are a few reader favourites:

Have you used this recipe to make homemade muesli? What flavour did you go for – let me know as I’m always on the look out for new ideas.

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