This easy sugar-free granola is so crunchy, meal prep-friendly, and moreish! Ready in 30 minutes and easily customizable, it’s made with affordable staple foods, oil-free, and fully vegan. Perfect for quick breakfasts or snacks!
Breakfast is our favorite meal of the day! Getting out of bed is a lot easier when we know that a jar of flavorful, crunchy vegan granola (along with an almond latte!) is waiting for us in the kitchen.
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These crispy golden clusters of healthy oats and nuts, sweetened with dates and perfectly spiced with cinnamon, combine everything we love about plant-based foods.
Sugar-free granola is so easy to make and perfect for meal prep! Just like overnight oats, muffins, or oatmeal bars, you can create it in larger batches and enjoy it over the course of a week.
Plus, our granola is oil-free, vegan, and can be customized to use up anything you have in your kitchen!
Try this easy breakfast and check out our apple crumble and tofu scramble next.
Why you’ll love it
- Easy to make & customize
- Naturally sweetened, sugar-free, and nutritious
- Crunchy, flavorful & fun breakfast
- Kid-friendly & awesome for meal prep
- Breakfast, treat, or snack all in one
- Oil-free, relatively low in fat & calories
- Satisfies any sweet snack lover
Our sugar-free granola showcases that healthy eating isn’t hard – it can actually be really tasty and delicious if you’re ready to invest a little bit of time.
Ingredients needed
- Oats – obviously the most important part of any granola; in our opinion, plain rolled oats, together with some oat flour, create the best texture!
- Dates – this date granola is sweet enough just using the whole fruit – no sugar needed.
- Nuts & Seeds – for some wholesome, crunchy goodness; we picked walnuts, chia, and pumpkin seeds!
- Cinnamon – for that extra coziness.
To make this vegan date granola more unique and look even prettier, we chose some goji berries for an extra add-in.
All you need to make granola are two bowls, a blender, a lined baking sheet, a spatula, a spoon, and measuring equipment.
How to make sugar-free vegan granola
- Soak dates in just enough warm water to cover them for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 325° F (160° C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. You can also use a silicone mat.
- Add the soaked dates together with the soaking water into a blender and create a somewhat smooth sweet liquid.
- In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients for the granola: oats, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and spices.
- Add the blended date liquid and mix well with a spoon until everything’s moist and crumbly.
- Spread the mixture into an even layer on your lined baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Stir with a spatula and bake for 5 more minutes until evenly browned and crispy.
- Remove from the oven and let cool before eating. Enjoy!
Serving & storage
This sugar-free granola is really versatile and can be enjoyed on its own as a snack, in a bowl with dairy-free milk and fresh fruit for breakfast, or as a topping for your smoothie bowl.
Other delicious ideas are to create a breakfast parfait with your granola, serve it warm topped with vegan ice cream and jam, or alongside vegan yogurt on baked sweet potatoes or sweet potato toasts!
Once completely cool, you can store this granola in a glass jar for up to a month — however, we always eat it within a week.
Tips & FAQs
Add-ins
- Steel-cut oats
- Nut butter
- Raisins
- Coconut shreds
- Chocolate Chips
- Cranberries
- Pecans, almonds, or hazelnuts
- Chopped apple or pear
- Gingerbread spice
- Cocoa powder, vanilla, or cloves
Is granola vegan-friendly?
That depends on the recipe or brand. Some can be fully vegan (even if not labeled as vegan!), while other granolas can be made with honey, milk powder, or milk chocolate.
Be sure to check the label before you buy!
More tips
- If you can’t get any dates, just use some aquafaba or applesauce with a touch of maple syrup instead! This will hold together your granola mixture.
- Be sure to watch your granola in the oven and give it a stir so that smaller pieces don’t burn.
- Bump up the calorie content and crispiness by adding oil to your granola mixture before baking.
- If you are worried about eating your batch-baked granola too quickly, store it in several smaller mason jars to portion it out a little bit – we know it’s hard to stop after you get a taste of that cinnamon-date crunch!
More breakfast ideas
- Banana Raspberry Bread
- Sweet Potato Smoothie Bowl
- White Bean Strawberry Smoothie
- Vegan Golden Milk
- Almond Milk Crepes
Have you tried our vegan granola recipe, and which add-ins did you use? Feel free to comment below and rate our recipe! You can also Pin the recipe for later or tag us on Instagram if you made it – we’d love to see your creations!
Ingredients
- 3 dry pitted dates soaked
- 1 cup rolled oats 90 g
- 2 tablespoons oat flour*
- 3 dry pitted dates chopped
- ½ cup walnuts 50 g
- ½ cup goji berries 70 g
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Start by soaking 3 pitted dates in just enough warm water to cover them. Let them soak for 15 minutes, then place the dates together with the soaking water into a blender. Blend on high until you have a somewhat smooth liquid.
- Preheat the oven to 325° F (160° C) and line a baking sheet with some parchment paper. You can also use a silicone mat.
- Combine the rest of the ingredients for the granola in a bowl. Then pour the sweet date water over it and mix well with a spoon until everything’s moist and crumbly.
- Transfer your granola mixture to your lined baking sheet and arrange in an even layer using a spatula.
- Place in the oven (using a rack in the middle or at the bottom) and bake for around 15 minutes. Then stir with a spatula and bake for another 5 minutes or so until browned evenly. Make sure not to burn any smaller pieces!
- Remove from the oven and let cool (at least slightly) before eating. Serve with your favorite plant-based milk and fresh fruit or enjoy it in whatever way you prefer!
- Any leftovers can be stored at room temperature or in the fridge for around 2-4 weeks.
Notes
- *just pulverize some rolled oats in your blender to create oat flour
- Depending on your oven, you might need to bake your vegan granola a little bit longer or shorter! Make sure to watch it so it doesn’t burn, and don’t use the top rack.
- This oil-free granola is perfect for meal prep and batch cooking; it may last up to a month stored in a glass jar (we almost always eat it within a week, though – too yummy.)
- Feel free to get creative and use delicious add-ins such as coconut shreds, almonds, cranberries, raisins, pecans, cashews, or chopped apples.
Granola made in the oven… Seriously, why haven’t I thought about that before?
This looks so yum! I love walnuts. And maple syrup. Must make this one day soon! Thanks for the recipe :)
Hey Cecilie,
thanks so much for checking out this recipe! Yes it’s a whole new way of eating oats and muesli, I’m sure – made out of delicious and nutritious ingredients :)
Glad to be having you here as a reader. I like your site a lot too!
Have a wonderful week,
hugs
Alena
Thank you! A wonderful week to you as well :*
oh my word this was better than expected
Delicious! Using the date liquid as sweetener was brilliant. You get the fiber and nutrients from the dates and it creates a binder too. I made this for breakfast this morning really love it.