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ABSTRACT The detection of many complex organic molecules (COMs) in interstellar space has sparked the study of their origins. While the formation of COMs detected in hot cores is attributed to photochemistry on warming grain surfaces followed by recombination of radicals and desorption, the formation routes in colder regions are still a debated issue with a number of theories such as cosmic ray bombardment on interstellar ice mantles or non-diffusive surface chemistry. Here, we present another method with reactions involving metastable atomic oxygen in the O(1D) state, which is initially produced by photodissociation of oxygen-containing species in interstellar ices. As a first example, we study the reactions of metastable oxygen atoms and methane in ices to form both formaldehyde and methanol. The reaction is studied incorporating two different surface processes: diffusive and non-diffusive chemistry. The formation of methanol and formaldehyde via metastable oxygen atoms is compared with well-known formation routes of both to understand the O(1D) contributions at different temperatures.