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    Home » Recipes » Vegetarian Lunch Recipes

    Jun 14, 2018 · Modified: Feb 27, 2019 by Becca Heyes · This post may contain affiliate links · 12 Comments

    Very veggie oat bars

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    Total time: 1 hour 40 minutes
    Servings: 9 slices
    5 from 2 votes
    Jump to Recipe Rate this Recipe
    Very veggie oat bars on a plate with fresh basil and a fork

    My very veggie lentil bake is such a hit that I thought this whole 'very veggie' thing could be a bit of a recurring theme here on AYB. Probably a theme that will only recur this once, but still. One batch of these very veggie oat bars contains a whole courgette (zucchini), 3 carrots and 3 spring onions, along with oats, eggs and plenty of grated cheese - all good ingredients to make a good savoury oat bar!

    Very veggie oat bars in a baking dish from above

    These very veggie oat bars are great for lunch with a dollop of coleslaw and a bit of salad - and they're tidy enough to pop in a lunchbox too. Makes a change from a soggy cheese sandwich! They're firm but moist, and great eaten warm or cold. Just bake them up at the weekend, and since you can get about 9 pieces from each batch, they'll see you through the next couple of weeks - store them in the freezer and thaw a couple of pieces at a time.

    Very veggie oat bars in a baking dish with two pieces removed

    And just in case you thought these oat bars would be complicated to make, you're wrong! There's no pre-cooking required (who has the time?) - you can literally just mix all the ingredients in a big bowl, then bake. The thing that took the longest for me was grating the veggies and cheese, but if you have a food processor that will do the job for you, you'll be even quicker!

    Landscape photo of a very veggie oat bar on a plate with fresh basil and a fork

    This recipe actually took a few attempts to get right - they didn't have enough flavour at first. This time, my main aim was to impart as much flavour as I could, but still making sure the recipe stayed as simple as possible. Spring onions are as tasty as regular onions, without needing any pre-cooking. One big dollop of pesto makes the whole batch really tasty - I used tomato and chilli pesto, which worked really well, but any flavourful pesto will do (you can always add a pinch of chilli powder too if your pesto's not a spicy one). Fresh herbs, extra mature cheese, a generous pinch of salt and pepper... really tasty!

    Do you fancy these very veggie oat bars in your packed lunch this week?

    Very veggie oat bar on a place with fresh parsley and a fork taking a bite

    Very veggie oat bars

    Packed with grated veggies, cheese, oats, and lots of other tasty ingredients, these very veggie oat bars are great for packed lunches. Plus, there's no pre-cooking required - just mix everything up in one bowl!

    If you've cooked this recipe, don't forget to leave a star rating!

    5 from 2 votes
    Print Pin Comment
    Prep Time: 30 minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
    Servings: 9 slices
    Calories:
    Author: Becca Heyes
    (prevents your screen from going dark)

    Ingredients

    • 1 medium courgette (zucchini), grated (mine was around 315g / 11oz / 2 cups when grated)
    • 3 medium carrots, grated (mine were around 200g / 7oz / 1 ¾ cups when grated)
    • 225 g extra mature cheddar cheese, grated (~ 2 ¼ cup when grated)
    • 150 g (~ 1 ½ cups) rolled oats
    • 80 g (~ ½ cup) self-raising flour
    • Few sprigs fresh basil or parsley, roughly chopped
    • 3 spring onions, sliced
    • 2 tablespoon pesto (I used tomato and chilli pesto)
    • 4 eggs
    • 75 ml (~ ¼ cup) milk
    • 1 teaspoon dried thyme or parsley
    • Salt
    • Black pepper
    • Oil for greasing

    Instructions

    • Add the grated courgette (zucchini), grated carrot, grated cheese, oats, flour, chopped herbs, and spring onions to a large mixing bowl. Mix to combine. Then add the pesto, eggs, milk, dried herbs, and a good pinch of salt and pepper, and stir thoroughly until well mixed.
    • Grease a suitably sized baking dish, and transfer the oat mixture to the dish. Smooth out the top, and cover loosely with foil (remember the mixture will rise a little due to the self-raising flour). Bake at 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F) for around an hour, then remove the foil, and bake for a further 10 minutes, or until crisped up to your liking.
    • Leave to cool, or slice and serve straight away.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 0 g - Carbohydrates: 0 g - Protein: 0 g - Fat: 0 g - Saturated Fat: 0 g - Polyunsaturated Fat: 0 g - Monounsaturated Fat: 0 g - Trans Fat: 0 g - Cholesterol: 0 mg - Sodium: 0 mg - Potassium: 0 mg - Fiber: 0 g - Sugar: 0 g - Vitamin A: 0 IU - Vitamin C: 0 mg - Calcium: 0 mg - Iron: 0 mg

    Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.

    Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @EasyCheesyVeg or tag #EasyCheesyVegetarian!

    Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for 1 slice, or 1/9 of the recipe.

    If you're not sick of oat bars yet, these raspberry and blueberry oaty breakfast bars are great too!

    Raspberry and blueberry oaty breakfast bars

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    Comments

    1. Kacey says

      August 03, 2021 at 3:03 pm

      What size tin would you recommend for this please?

      Reply
      • Becca @ Easy Cheesy Vegetarian says

        August 04, 2021 at 10:11 am

        Mine was about 8 x 8 inches :)

        Reply
    2. Sara Lefquihi says

      March 10, 2020 at 9:44 pm

      Super easy and ALL the family loved these (pretty rare these days! 🙄🙄) I added some chopped olives as they're a crowd pleaser with my little ones- yum yum! 😋5 stars

      Reply
      • Becca @ Easy Cheesy Vegetarian says

        March 13, 2020 at 11:59 am

        Olives sound like they'd be brilliant in these! Glad you enjoyed them :)

        Reply
    3. Carmen says

      August 04, 2019 at 12:42 pm

      Thank you for this recipe. I just don't have a sweet tooth at all so can't do smoothies or cereals or granola or fruit bars, especially not for breakfast. This is right up my street.

      Reply
    4. Kristen says

      June 20, 2018 at 5:34 pm

      Have you attempted to make these in a cupcake or mini loaf pan for individual servings?

      Reply
      • Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says

        June 26, 2018 at 8:48 am

        Hi Kristen! I haven't, but I'm sure it would work fine - you might need to adjust the cooking time a little, as I imagine they'll cook a bit more quickly (and get more crispy) in a cupcake tin :)

        Reply
    5. Thapelo Kooreng says

      June 19, 2018 at 9:58 am

      Yummy.I like it

      Reply
    6. Annabel says

      June 14, 2018 at 9:46 pm

      These do look good! I bet your small person loves them, too, no?

      Reply
      • Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says

        June 16, 2018 at 10:24 am

        Yes!! Except I've been giving her my first attempt, which didn't have the pesto, and had less cheese, so less salt overall... she doesn't care that the first attempt was a bit tasteless haha. I cut them into squares and froze :)

        Reply
    7. Heather says

      June 14, 2018 at 6:26 pm

      Becca, these look delicious! I'm going to make this at the weekend. I'm always running out of ideas for something to take to work for lunch, so definitely going to give these a go! Thanks

      Reply
      • Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says

        June 16, 2018 at 10:24 am

        Thanks Heather, hope you like them!

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Becca! I've been a vegetarian for 20+ years, and unlike most of my other childhood pursuits, I actually stuck with it! I love cooking vegetarian food that's full of flavour, but doesn't take a lot of effort to make.

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