You Don’t Need a Granola Recipe, Just This Golden Ratio

Where there are languishing nuts, seeds, and rolled oats, there is homemade granola begging to be made. And this granola recipe (if you can even call it a recipe) is less a directive than an invitation to customize to your heart’s content.

Making granola at home has a few things going for it. It’s cheaper than store-bought granola, for one. It can be healthier if you choose for it to be—and it can certainly be engineered toward your particular dietary preferences. And, because it’s a blank canvas for your exact granola proclivities, it’s objectively tastier.

The demands of making your own granola are few. You don’t even need to adhere to a persnickety granola recipe. Instead, we offer our Golden Granola Ratio. It’s a mere skeleton of a recipe, with general measurements, cook times, seasoning principles, and the like—but the rest is entirely up to you. Keep it in your back pocket and let your imagination do the rest of the work. Throw chia seeds and dried cranberries in the first batch, then chocolate chips and shredded coconut in the next. Follow the rules and your homemade granola recipe will be just that: Yours. And it will always yield a crispy, toasty batch ready to hang out with yogurt, milk, or just be happy to be along for the ride.

Coconut flakes, pistachios, walnuts, dried cherries, and golden raisins make for a stunning—and delicious—granola.

Photo by Travis Rainey, Prop styling by Sean Dooley, Food styling by Taneka Morris

Remember: The best granola is the one you make for yourself. Keep this basic formula at hand and forever reap the rewards.

The golden granola ratio

You have just one thing to remember: 6 parts dry to 1 part wet. Your “parts” can be any measurement based on how many servings you want: 1 cup, 1 bin scoop, one juice glass, one cereal bowl, one palmful (though this last option can get messy). Set this ratio to memory (or write it down), then head to the kitchen and preheat your oven to 300°.

The crunch factor

There’s only one nonnegotiable in granola, and that’s rolled oats. The rest is up to you. Don’t use quick-cooking oats, which don’t offer the same texture as regular old-fashioned rolled oats.

Other dry ingredients you might want to include are your favorite nuts and seeds and/or other rolled, flaked, or puffed grains. Think chopped pecans, pumpkin seeds, cashews, pistachios, sesame seeds, puffed millet, coconut flakes, chia seeds, and flaxseed. Or cereals like bran or cornflakes, Cheerios or puffed rice. For a nice balance of flavor and texture, aim for a mix of at least 4 dry ingredients; a good ratio to follow is 3 parts oats, 1 part nuts, 1 part seeds, and 1 part something else. Toss everything in a large bowl until well mixed.

Something sticky

To turn those grains, nuts, and seeds into a magical heap of crunchy, golden clumps, you must coat them in fat and sugar. If you start with six cups of dry stuff, you’ll need one cup of wet stuff. I usually use one large egg white for this amount of granola, then use equal portions of liquid sweetener and liquid fat to reach the amount of wet ingredients required. The egg white isn’t essential, but it helps create larger clumps and makes the granola extra crunchy with a glossier finish. You can also use a whole egg for more protein.