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Bean and Oat Waffles are a recipe I make for my own family. We love them so much that I decided to publish the recipe. Bean and Oat Waffles taste just like the real thing — crispy on the outside, and they hold syrup well! — plus, they’re high in B vitamins, fiber and protein.
This recipe is Gluten-free, Vegan and also perfect for those detoxing vitamin A (with me!).
Ingredients in Bean and Oat Waffles
Every main ingredient in Bean and Oat Waffles is nutritious:
- Beans: I use white beans, but you can use any bean that digests best for you or that you love. I start out with either hard beans, which I soak and cook (here’s how), or canned beans (Eden brand digests best). Both options work great.
- Oats: This recipe uses already cooked oatmeal. I use organic rolled oats to make a pot of oatmeal about once a week. We have oatmeal for breakfast that first day, then the leftovers I use to make waffle batter for the rest of the week.
- Oat flour OR white rice flour: You can choose. Rice flour makes a slightly cakier, denser waffle. Oat flour makes a less-dense, lighter waffle. We love both varieties. The oat flour option is healthier because white rice flour doesn’t have any nutrition and depletes the body of vitamin B1. But this recipe is high in B1 from the beans, so it’s still a fine option if preferred. If you’re going for nutrient-dense, choose the oat flour option.
- Fat of choice: I’m not vegan, so I use butter. For vegan or non-dairy, use your favorite fat, such as coconut oil or avocado oil.
- Psyllium husk whole: This ingredient is an insoluble fiber that can aid digestion and helps to create the right textured waffle in the absence of eggs and gluten.
- Gelatin OR flax/chia meal, for Vegan: Bean and Oat Waffles are egg-free, so the gelatin, flax or chia meal help to hold the waffle together and create the right bite. The gelatin version of this recipe creates a dryer looking dough. The flax version of the dough looks a little creamier but is still thick. The chia version makes a sweet soft bread texture.
- Apple cider vinegar, any vinegar or lemon juice: This little bit of acid reacts with baking soda to create rise in the waffle while it cooks.
- Baking soda and sea salt: Leavening and flavor.
I love that this recipe is high in fiber, B vitamins, protein … and makes an excellently-textured waffle. You get the classic outcome of a good white flour waffle yet nutrient-dense carbs from the best gluten-free ingredients.
IS OATMEAL HEALTHY
Yes, oats are high in B1, B5 and lots of minerals. Oats are also a wonderful source of beneficial fiber.
ARE BEANS HEALTHY
Yes, beans are super high in fiber, Vitamin B1, folate, iron and minerals. Beans have a low glycemic index and contain resistant starch, excellent for blood sugar levels and colon health.
The fiber from both staples help prevent constipation and move toxins from the body.
Oats and beans are rich in complex carbohydrates which yield lasting energy.
How to make Bean and Oat Waffles
This recipe uses a blender and one big mixing bowl.
Bean and Oat Waffles were created with nutrition, digestion and the right waffle outcome in mind. To get the best nutrition and digestion from oats, the rolled oats are first soaked overnight to soften and predigest them.
If you wish to make your waffle extra nutritious, then please see the Sourdough variation below.
Otherwise:
- Soak the oats overnight in a simple solution of water and apple cider vinegar to make them easier to digest (exact directions below in the Recipe). You may also add a little buckwheat to this, if you’d like, for extra reduction of phytic acid (more on this below).
- The next morning, rinse the oats, and make oatmeal. You may also use leftover, cold oatmeal. Combine oatmeal in the blender with beans, water, fat and vinegar. This purée creates a smooth, creamy blend that is the base of the waffle batter.
- Pour purée into large bowl. Add the remaining dry ingredients in the order they’re listed: flour, psyllium, gelatin or flax, sea salt and baking soda.
- Stir vigorously until well mixed. The batter will be thick and scoopable, not pourable.
- Preheat your waffle iron, and cook waffles according to manufacturer’s directions. We like to cook ours a little longer than when the green light comes on, about 6 to 7 minutes, instead of 5, until they’re golden brown and crispy.
- Serve with berries, maple syrup and/or any other favorite toppings.
How to store dough
Here’s an exciting concept! Instead of cooking up all your waffles:
- Make the recipe, and keep any extra batter in the fridge, covered.
- Each morning, cook up some good protein, plug in your waffle iron and pull the dough from the fridge.
- You’ll have a hot breakfast with very little work because the batter’s made ahead of time.
Our teen and tween boys have big appetites, so I end up making batter a few days a week. But if you have fewer in your household, or smaller appetites, you can make batter only 1 to 2 times a week and have a hot homemade meal made with no labor or dishes each morning.
That’s my favorite thing about waffles and waffle irons! No flipping or fussing, no dishes, no prep.
And everyone loves waffles and their potential toppings which makes breakfast a happy fun meal.
I don’t recommend cooking up all your waffle batter and storing cooked waffles when you can have freshly cooked waffles instead.
How to store and reheat waffles
But if you do want to cook them all, or to freeze cooked waffles, that’s fine.
Allow them to fully cool, wrap so they’re well sealed and: refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 5 months.
To reheat, use your waffle iron! Defrost frozen waffles first. Then: Just cook for a few minutes on your preheated iron to bring them back to life.
If you wish, you may also sprinkle water on your cold waffles to generate steam and freshness, before reheating them in the iron.
Toppings and what to serve with Bean and Oat Waffles
Here are some of our favorite sweet waffle toppings:
- Everyone loves pure maple syrup.
- Strawberry Compote — If you ever run out of syrup, make this. It will remain a favorite! LOVELY.
- Whipped cream or lightly sweetened sour cream
- Yogurt
- Butter or for non-dairy: coconut oil
- Chocolate chips
- Honey and chèvre
- Fresh berries
- Ice Cream
Savory waffle toppings make the best and most satisfying breakfast:
- Sliced heirloom tomatoes, sunny side up/poached eggs and crumbled feta or chèvre, with fresh herbs (like this)
- Scrambled or fried eggs and bacon (my husband likes this with maple syrup over all)
- Sausage Gravy or Onion Gravy with sausages
You can also fill your waffles with lovely things. Sandwich fillings in your batter by putting half the amount of dough needed on your iron. Then add your fillings. Then more batter on top. Shut the iron by pressing on its top with a hot pad; don’t just use the handle or you’ll wear out the mechanisms.
Here are some of our favorite waffle fillings:
SAVORY:
- leftover meat, deli meat or bacon
- sautéed, caramelized onions or raw diced onions
- cheese
SWEET
- dark chocolate bar, broken into chunks, or chocolate chips (See the 4-step process photos directly below.)
- hazelnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts or walnuts
- blueberries
Which waffle iron is best
Unfortunately, most waffle irons these days are made cheaply, not made to last. And they’re made with a non-stick coating.
We have tried many irons over the years, including those with the “ceramic coating”, which were “okay”.
My current favorite, while not being perfect because of the coating, is this square waffle iron by Dash. Here are the features we like:
- The right thickness of waffle: not too tall and thick, but also not super thin. Perfect in-between classic waffle (hard to find!).
- Has overflow canals to keep the iron from spilling over batter, which keeps the iron neat over time and saves the batter from being wasted.
- Cooks the waffles perfectly.
- Works well, decent construction, no issues at all. We even bought the insurance on this one for the first time ever, which allows us to receive a new iron if this one doesn’t last 3 years. All other waffle irons we’ve owned last 1 year or less. (We make waffles about 5 days a week.)
If and when the iron’s coating shows any wear, we’ll trade it in. Sadly, this is the age of disposable waffle irons.
If you’d like to try a ceramic-coated waffle iron, this one has good reviews and is similar to the ones we’ve owned.
Obviously, if you have a cast iron waffle iron and like it, that’s the safest route as far as the materials used.
How to make Bean & Oat Waffles into *sourdough*
Make this batter sourdough by adding a probiotic liquid to the batter. You can use:
- probiotic yogurt, whey or sour cream (dairy-free is fine, as long as it has a lot of live cultures)
- sauerkraut juice
- gluten-free sourdough starter
The recipe below guides you to replace a small amount of the water in the recipe with the probiotic.
Then, allow the batter to sit out at warm room temperature, covered, for 7 hours or overnight. Afterwards, cook up your waffles as usual, or refrigerate batter.
This easy fermentation creates an even more nutritious and digestible whole grain waffle.
People often ask me if kombucha or apple cider vinegar can be used as the source of probiotics in ferments. Yes, they can be. However, kombucha doesn’t work as well, so you need to use more (directions below). For apple cider vinegar, you’ll use the same amount as you would whey or sauerkraut juice; so the strong flavor of ACV will come through a bit more in the finished waffle than the preferred options.
WHY TO ADD BUCKWHEAT
If you’d like your sourdough waffles to be super-digestible, the final ingredient to add to your batter is buckwheat (or barley). There’s an enzyme in buckwheat (and barley), phytase, that helps to break down the phytic acid in oats.
To do this, sub a 1/4 cup of the oat flour with 1/4 cup of buckwheat flour (or rolled barley).
Then make the sourdough version of this batter, which will give the phytase time to break down the phytic acid.
Do I do this myself? Only sometimes. We find this recipe super gentle and easy to digest, plus life is busy, so I don’t always do it.
Ever since shortly after going on the VAD diet, we’ve been able to eat oats again — which is something I never expected and really appreciate.
Bean and Oat Waffles (Gluten-free, Vegan and VAD)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2-¼ cups oat flour OR 1-¾ cup white rice flour (be sure to choose an organic product like this one)
- 1-⅔ cups oatmeal cooked (See Notes below for how to soak oats before cooking.)
- 1-⅔ cups white beans cooked, or 1 can
- 1 cup filtered water
- ½ cup butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly if using a solid fat, or avocado oil
- 6 Tablespoons psyllium husk whole fiber
- ¼ cup gelatin or for Vegan, use flax seed meal or chia seed meal (Optional: With the vegan version, you may wish to add ¼ cup granulated sweetener to your dough, like coconut sugar, to increase the richness, flavor and caramelization of your batter when it cooks. I personally do this.)
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar or any vinegar (such as rice), or lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda sifted
Instructions
- Place cooked oatmeal, in scoops (not one big blob) and beans into blender jar. Add water, fat and vinegar. Start to purée on lowest speed, then increase speed gradually to medium speed for a total of 45 to 60 seconds. The mixture will be thick.
- In large bowl, stir together dry ingredients: flour, psyllium, gelatin or flax, baking soda and sea salt.
- Add blender purée, and stir together well. It will be a thick sticky dough, not a runny batter.
- Preheat waffle iron. Add batter, and press lightly down on the top of the waffle iron, using a hot pad, to close iron and smash down batter. Cook 5 to 7 minutes, until crispy and golden brown. (Oat flour waffles will be darker than rice flour waffles. And the flax waffle will also be paler.)
- Remove from iron, and top with favorites.
Notes
How to soak oats overnight
- Combine 2 cups rolled oats with 2 or more cups warm water + 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. Set out for 12 to 24 hours.
- To further improve the predigestion process, add ¼ cup rolled barley or buckwheat flour. (The enzyme phytase in these two grains helps to break down the phytic acid in oats.)
- When ready to cook, simply rinse, drain and cook as usual, to make oatmeal.
Sourdough version
THE ONLY DIFFERENCE to the recipe above IS: Replace ¼ cup of the water with your fermented product of choice, either sauerkraut juice, whey from yogurt (can be non-dairy) or sourdough starter.- Ferment the batter on the counter for 7 hours or overnight, loosely covered (ideally in a warm location).
- Then cook or refrigerate batter.
- Bake as directed above in the main recipe.
- Replace the 1 cup of water with 1 cup of kombucha.
- Ferment according to steps listed directly above.
Nutrition

Dorothy says
This is an interesting idea for a waffle recipe. It would be interesting to know how you came up with the ingredients. It seems it would be high in protein and fiber. I’m curious as to whether ground chia seed could be subbed for the psyllium husk seed, as I read that psyllium is hard on the digestive tract (though I don’t remember why.). I also wonder if you prefer them made with rice or oat flour. Thanks!
Megan says
Hi Dorothy, thanks for commenting! I came up with the ingredients based on our current diet (vitamin A detox). Two staples on the diet are oats and beans. Because we love waffles, I figured I could make a batter from them. Yes, definitely high in fiber and protein. 🙂 Ground chia seeds will indeed work. The texture of the finished waffle will be a little different, but still good. And I don’t think you’ll need the full 6 Tablespoons, but maybe… haven’t tested them to be sure. Regarding psyllium husk powder, it really depends who you ask on whether or not it’s gentle. For us, it’s been a gentle ingredient to add in, and chia has its own imperfections (phytic acid, lectins, phytoestrogens as well as insoluble fiber that some consider less gentle). While I like using chia seeds ground in recipes, it’s best if they’re soaked in a sourdough batter. So I’d recommend making the sourdough version of this recipe if you use chia seeds. 🙂 Regarding white rice or oat flour, I really like both! The rice flour creates a cakier, denser waffle, which for me is very satisfying (I like cake! LOL), but the oat flour one is very classic, a bit lighter. Thanks again for your wonderful questions!
Dorothy says
Thank you for your answers!!
Dorothy says
Another question: The directions say to rinse and drain the oatmeal after soaking. So you would be rinsing out the lemon or vinegar and the buckwheat flour if using from the sidled oatmeal, if I understand correctly. Then you would cook the oats in about three cups of water? If you decide to ferment the better, you would then add in the other ingredients along with the fermenting liquid? Would that include baking soda as well? Thanks in advance.
Megan says
Hi Dorothy, happy to help! 🙂 Yes, you rinse the oats, but you don’t have to. If you don’t, your oatmeal will just have the faint vinegar/lemon juice flavor, which is fine, if you don’t mind. Use 3 cups of water to cook 2 cups oats, yes. For the ferment, you’ll make up the whole batter, and then let it sit, including even the baking soda, yes. You’re welcome! 🙂
Dorothy says
I’ve made these waffles twice now with the same batch of oatmeal. Note to self: read the blog and directions several times before starting! I soaked the oatmeal with buckwheat flour instead of the batter, lol, and rinsed it out after soaking. Also my coffee grinder didn’t grind the white rice finely enough, so that there were small bits left. The batter was dry and crumbly the first go round. The second batch with leftover oatmeal and oatmeal flour turned out much better!! It’s such a thick batter that even after I press down on the waffle iron, it doesn’t close completely. So I turn them over sometimes and cook a little more. They did seem quite digestible this time, even with the psyllium husk powder. After this test run, I’ll be more confident to try them again. Who would have thought beans in waffles? Still, they’re appetizing, filling, and stick to your ribs!!
Megan says
Great, Dorothy!! I’m happy you had good results and tried them a second time to refine your process. 🙂 Yes, it’s tough to get smooth rice flour in a coffee grinder; I’ve done that myself. I hope the recipe keeps getting easier and more predictable for you and that the waffle iron closes fully. 😉 Sounds like the batter is just a little on the thick side. Great that you found them digestible; that’s key! And appetizing. 🙂
Dorothy says
Thanks Megan, this recipe is complex, but I’d like to try it and want to make sure I understand beforehand. Are you saying the soaked oats need to be rinsed? And then I would cook them in about three cups of water, add the other ingredients, and if fermenting,
allow it to sit for the recommended time? Thanks for fielding my questions.
Megan says
Hi Dorothy, no problem. I answered above. 🙂
Heather says
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe – I needed new nutrient dense breakfast ideas for my family and also a delicious way to get in more beans for my GF/VAD daughter and this fit the bill perfectly! . She can’t have oats, but does well with buckwheat, so I made them with soaked, cooked buckwheat porridge and rice flour and they turned out perfectly. Everyone loved them!
Megan says
Hi Heather, yay!!! Thank you so much for sharing, and I’m so glad! If you ever want one more variation and are able to introduce millet, the recipe also works nicely with millet flour in place of the rice flour. I fermented mine, and we loved them. They tasted similar to the buckwheat pancakes I grew up with. Anyway, so happy to hear this. It’s for folks like you that I published the recipe. 🙂 (I’ll add your buckwheat porridge variation in the recipe in case it helps others, too.) 🙂
Peiwen Lu says
Heather – I am wondering if you mind sharing your version of the buckwheat recipe? Do you use buckwheat groats to make the porridge and buckwheat flour? Thank you!
Megan says
Hi Peiwen, in case Heather doesn’t see your question, here is a basic recipe for buckwheat porridge: https://eatbeautiful.net/instant-pot-buckwheat-porridge-gluten-free-vegan-plant-based/
Peiwen Lu says
Thank you for sharing the recipe! Very excited to try it. Question… how much water do you use when cooking the oatmeal? Do you use 2 cups of water for 2 cups of oatmeal to make cooked oatmeal?
Megan says
Hi Peiwen, you’re welcome! Good question! I’m one of those cooks who always wings oatmeal, as we like it every which way, more or less porridge-like. So honestly, the waffles turn out with any cooked oatmeal. That being said, I think I’d go for a slightly higher ratio of water: 3 cups water to 2 cups oats. I hope that helps and that you love the waffles!
Peiwen Lu says
Hi Megan, Thank you for the info about the water to rolled oats ratio for the cooked oatmeal! I love the ingredients for this recipe so I was eager to try it out. So many things went wrong and the waffle appear sticky and uncooked after 10-15 minutes cooking in a cast iron waffle iron inside a 350 degree oven. I did reheat the waffle iron and grease it with avocado oil. I use 2 C water+2 C rolled oats for the cooked oatmeal in a pressure cooker. Seeing that the cooked oatmeal being so thick, I added 1 C of water.
I grinded rolled oats to make 1 & 3/4 C oat flour, grinded buckwheat groats for 1/4 C buckwheat flour, and use 1/4 cup flaxseed meal by grinding brown flaxseeds. After mixing all the dry ingredients in a bowl, I added the cooked oatmeal & bean blended mixture. For some reason, I mix the psyllium husk with water & 1/4 C sorghum sourdough starter before adding it to the remaining ingredients. The dough is supper sticky and thick.
After 2 trials with waffle iron the dough remains uncooked and sticky mess with a hot greased waffle iron in oven at 350 degree for 15 minutes. To salvage the dough, I decided to try making pancake on stove top. The dough was so sticky that I had to add more water in attempt cook it on the stove top. The pancake was crispy on the outside but the inside remain sticky and wet. So I baked in the oven at 350 degrees for 20+ minutes. Then it turn out to be like a naan bread with the inside cooked, forming a nice air pocket.
I am sure I did many thing wrong. What do you suggest I do different next time? Thank you again for the recipe!
Megan says
Hi Peiwen, I’m sorry, what an ordeal! Honestly, I think you changed several things in the recipe, and this is not recommended in egg-free baking. You do need to follow the recipe exactly. Here are some observations: The cooked oatmeal would have been okay, so that 1 cup of extra water should not have been added after the oatmeal was done cooking. Next, for the oat flour version of this recipe, the flour should be 2-1/4 cups; it looks like you used only 2 cups. So this put you with too much water, and not enough flour, which made the batter too wet and sticky. Next, you mention adding water to the psyllium and using starter, so again more moisture added that should not have been. Just don’t add any extra water at any stage. 🙂 🙂
Peiwen Lu says
I’ll have to try again base on your instruction. I think it is also tricky working with cast iron waffle as I am not certain which oven temperature to use to heat up the waffle iron.
I appreciate that you mention the option of using flax seeds & sourdough/fermented liquid. (1) To use flax seed in the recipe, shall I soak the 1/4 C flaxseed in 1/4 C sauerkraut juice overnight and use 3/4 C water in the recipe?
(2) Do you find it make any difference of mixing all dry ingredients together before adding to the wet cooked oatmeal or adding in certain dry stuff in a specific order as mentioned in the sourdough instruction [“Pour purée into large bowl. Add the remaining dry ingredients in the order they’re listed: flour, psyllium, gelatin or flax, sea salt and baking soda.]?
Megan says
Hi Peiwen, I agree, and I’m sorry I don’t have experience with the cast iron waffle iron. I think the one key is to have it very hot, then add fat, then the dough. So a very hot oven I think is necessary for preheating the iron, then it could be turned down afterwards for the baking to a more moderate temperature. To do the sourdough version, just follow the recipe exactly: the flax does not soak separately. Yes, some of the water is replaced with sauerkraut liquid, and then the whole batter ferments overnight. 🙂 Yes, add and mix the ingredients exactly and in the same order as it’s outlined.
Alex says
Hello Megan,
This recipe is very exciting! Our whole family is pumped about trying it. I am not ready to try it myself as I have not incorporated oats or beans into my diet yet. I am taking it super slowly, but other family members are having an easier time adding soluble fiber back into the diet. So, I will be making it for them for now. Do you think it would be ok to try 1 or 2 probiotic capsules mixed in water in the sourdough version instead of the sauerkraut or whey liquid? Also, do you think the batter might work as a thick pancake instead of waffle, maybe thinned out a bit?
I made your rice porridge this evening for my mother and she loved it.
Thank you for adding VAD recipes. We are very happy to have them.
Megan says
Hi Alex, I’m sorry for the delay in responding and so happy you guys are pumped about the recipe! 🙂 Yes, as long as you know the probiotics are living and active, you can ferment the batter with them, in a warm location. I have not tried this recipe as a pancake, but in general, my experience is that most waffle batters are not as good as pancakes, because waffle machines use steam as well as top and bottom heat to cook the batter. I believe a pancake with this dough/batter will be too dense. Because the recipe is egg-free, I wouldn’t thin it with water to experiment, but maybe you’ll succeed? I just don’t think you’ll end up with an awesome, just an edible, result. 😉 You’re welcome for the VAD recipes! That helps me a lot, to know that folks like you are finding them helpful! 🙂 Yay re the rice porridge and your mom. Lastly, about the waffle concept, if you don’t yet have an iron, I really think it’s a worthwhile investment. They’re a staple for us and reduce stress because they’re so easy and so good, and we can keep the batter in the fridge till we need it, plus no clean-up of pans or tending to/flipping pancakes. For what it’s worth. 🙂
Heidi says
Delicious, dense waffles. Nice and crispy on the outside. My vegan teenagers gobbled them up as did my husband who is very picky!
I left out the phyllium (I didn’t have any ??♀️) and used coconut sugar and ground flax seed.
Definitely will make them again!
Megan says
Great, Heidi! Nice to know the vegan version works without the psyllium. If you have it in the future, I think you’ll get a little less-dense/lighter waffle that holds together well, but if it held together fine with just the flax, great. Thanks so much for commenting, and I’m so glad your family enjoyed them!
Alex says
Hi Megan,
Making the waffles is just too tempting! 🙂
I will get a waffle maker and try this recipe. It looks very appetizing!!
Thanks for your lovely recipes.
Megan says
So glad, Alex! You’re welcome!! 🙂
Kylie G. says
Hi, Megan!
Would you consider posting your daily VAD routine? Potentially a sample week with meal/beverage ideas? Even if you are farther along and have added in more foods, I would love to take a peek into the life of less Vitamin A. I’m not quite ready to completely eliminate everything, especially with two toddlers!
Megan says
Hi Kylie, yes. I’ve been working on this post actually. I hope to publish it in about 2 weeks. Great that you’re looking into it. What’s great about knowing about the diet is you can at least reduce sources of vitamin A from all supplements and even foods without doing it all the way, to start. Then you know you’re not making matters worse, and it’s a gentle beginning. These and my other VAD waffles and breads are certainly very helpful, in my case too, when raising kids. 🙂
Lorraine Wikkerink says
Have a question about the gelatin? I’m assuming you do not add any liquid to the gelatin/flax seed meal/chia seed meal?
Megan says
That’s right, just as the recipe says. (I don’t make a “gelatin egg” first like many recipes do, as it’s not necessary.)
Cristina says
I just made these waffles and OH MY they are DELICIOUS!!! My husband said they’re the best waffles he’s ever tasted. I forgot to order psyllium husks so I used chia seeds instead. I placed three tablespoons in a coffee grinder and ground them up nice and fine. It worked perfectly. I’m learning about the vitamin A detox diet and I’m really thankful that you have several recipes that work for that way of eating. Many blessings!
Megan says
Hi Cristina, thank you so much for sharing. I’m so glad you enjoyed!, and it’s great to hear your variation. YAY about the Low A diet for you!! Cheers!!