Hearty bowls of piping hot oatmeal flavored with cinnamon and brown sugar, topped with 5-minute caramelized pears and walnuts. Can breakfast get any better – or more flavorful? I think not.

Thanks to our friends at USA Pears for sponsoring this post!

I find that breakfast is the easiest meal for me to get into a rut with – eggs on toast every morning until I can’t even stand the thought of eggs and toast anymore! When was the last time you changed up your breakfast routine? Never?

Ok, let me convince you to try something new and unique – Caramelized Pear Oatmeal Bowls. They taste like a total treat while still being pretty wholesome + nutritious! We all know about the health benefits of oatmeal by now, and pears are certainly not lacking in nutritional points either (Fiber! Vitamin C!). Plus, they are incredibly delicious, and you can enjoy them year-round. Let’s dive into the recipe, shall we?

Table of Contents

How to Caramelize Pears

Now, I don’t know how legit this method is, but it’s my method, it works, and most importantly – it’s super simple while still yielding delicious results.

First, get yourself some USA Pears! We want ones that are ripe, yet still a tad on the firm side here – if you’re using pears that are super ripe, the slices might be too soft to begin with and will sort of fall apart in the pan when we cook them.

Rinse your pear, and cut it into slices. Melt a knob of butter in a pan, then add the pear slices. We’ll let them sizzle away in the butter for a minute or two, stirring to make sure each slice gets nice and buttery. Then, toss in your brown sugar and stir everything around so it gets coated with the butter + sugar. Cook for another minute, stir in a pinch of cinnamon, and you’ve got your caramelized pears! Tender, juicy, sweet – but not TOO sweet – and ridiculously easy.

I highly recommend stirring the caramel syrup that’s left in the pan into your oatmeal – SO GOOD. Taste, and add an extra sprinkle of brown sugar, if you want an extra hint of sweetness, and add a pinch more cinnamon. Top your oatmeal with slices of the caramelized pears and a handful of chopped walnuts. (If you don’t like nuts, feel free to omit them! Pecans would be good here, too.)

A few notes about this recipe:

For the oatmeal – make it using your favorite method! I use the quick cook oats and cook them on the stove according to the package directions.
This recipe is gluten-free and can easily be made dairy-free and vegan by swapping the butter for any vegan butter substitute
Since we’re cooking one whole pear here, any leftover pear slices can be stored in the fridge and reheated over the next day or two. You could also just caramelize 1/3 of the pear and eat the rest of it plain!
I don’t recommend making a big batch of oatmeal and reheating it later, because as you probably know, oatmeal is one of those foods that does NOT make for good leftovers.
Cook your pears first – then remove them from the heat, and make your oatmeal. Oatmeal starts to get hard + weird pretty fast once it’s cooked, if you just let it sit, which is why I recommend doing the pears first!

I cannot recommend this situation highly enough. Pears are, in my opinion, a little underrated in the fruit world but they are SO delicious and versatile. Add them to your breakfast routine – you won’t regret it.

Thanks again to our friends at USA Pears for sponsoring this delicious recipe!

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