This Bircher Muesli Recipe is one of my favorite hearty breakfast recipes. Made with oats, nuts, dried fruit, and lots of apples, it is seriously delicious.
author’s note
The Breakfast I Ate in Switzerland That I Still Can’t Stop Making!
My husband and I had the chance to visit Switzerland a few summers ago, and our hotel served breakfast each morning. I was expecting the usual spread, but instead… it was muesli. I was instantly excited because in a perfect world, I’d eat granola for every meal. It looked similar, but when I saw people pouring milk over it, I realized this was something totally different.
We tried it once and I was hooked. I looked forward to it every morning and started asking everyone what their favorite way to make it was. One friend mentioned that she shredded apples into hers, and I could not stop thinking about it. The second I got home, I started testing and trying to recreate the flavors I fell in love with in Switzerland. As soon as I added the shredded apple, there was no going back. This recipe has been a staple in my house ever since and it’s a breakfast or snack I never get tired of.
Bircher Muesli Recipe Ingredients
| Ingredient | Simple Swaps or Tips |
|---|---|
| Old-fashioned oats | Avoid quick oats, they get too soft |
| Apple | Granny Smith for tart, Honeycrisp or Fuji for sweet |
| Dried fruit & nuts or seeds | Try cherries, cranberries, raisins, or blueberries with pecans, pepitas, walnuts, or pistachios |
| Nut butter | I love using slow-roasted and lightly salted almond butter. Any nut butter will work |
| Applesauce | Try my homemade applesauce recipe |
| Milk | Any milk works, dairy or plant-based |
| Cinnamon and vanilla | Swap in apple pie spice or pumpkin spice |
How To Make Bircher Muesli Recipe
- Prep & Mix: Grate the apple. In a bowl, combine the oats, dried fruit, coconut, nuts or seeds, cinnamon, nut butter, applesauce, milk, salt, and vanilla.
- Combine: Add the grated apple and stir until everything is fully mixed.
- Chill: Divide into jars or containers, cover, and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
- Serve: Enjoy cold straight from the fridge with your favorite toppings.
How Do You Eat This Bircher Muesli Recipe?
I like this breakfast best straight out of the fridge (as cold as possible!) with a few toppings:
- A splash of milk
- A sprinkle of chia seeds (or hemp seeds!)
- And a drizzle of honey (or pure maple syrup for a Vegan Bircher Muesli)
An extra scoop of nut butter, a scoop of yogurt, a handful of fresh berries or diced apple are great toppings to add!
Quick Tip
I love whipping together a few batches of Bircher Muesli at a time and separating into mason jars for easy breakfast meal prep to eat throughout the week!
More Filling Breakfast Ideas:
Desserts
Chia Pudding Recipe
Eggs And Potatoes
Frittata
Breakfast
Yogurt Bowl
Breakfast
Ham and Cheese Quiche
Bircher Muesli
Video
Equipment
- 2 Wide-mouth Mason Jar or other sealable containers
Ingredients
- 1 medium apple see note 1
- 3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
- 2 tablespoons dried tart cherries or rasins, dried cranberries, or dried blueberries
- 2 tablespoons toasted coconut flakes optional
- 2 tablespoons nuts or seeds, like pepitas or pecans, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter or almond butter, see note 2
- 1/4 cup applesauce
- 2/3 cup milk like coconut or almond milk
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
- Serving suggestions see note 3
Instructions
- Grate the unpeeled apple using the large holes of a grater and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients except for the optional serving suggestions. Add grated apple and mix well until fully combined.
- Transfer mixture to 2 mason jars and cover. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or up to 5 days.
- Serve straight from the fridge with optional toppings such as a splash of milk, drizzle of sweetener, scoop of nut butter or yogurt, and/or fresh berries. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Variations
- Swap out the nuts. Try coarsely chopped walnuts, pistachios, cashews, Brazil nuts, or macadamia nuts.
- Add wheat germ, flaxseed, hemp seeds, or chia seeds. Sprinkle a few teaspoons into the mixture before soaking. (Note that chia seeds will gel a lot overnight, so you may want to add in the morning instead.)
- Swap out the spices. We love ground cinnamon in day-to-day Bircher Muesli, but we’ll occasionally use pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice for a fun seasonal twist.
- Swap out the pepitas. Sunflower seeds or pine nuts make good substitutes.
- Use a different dried fruit. Try dried apricots, raisins, golden raisins, or dried blueberries instead.
