Have you heard of overnight oats before? If not, don’t be overwhelmed at all because it’s the simplest, healthiest oatmeal breakfast you will ever make. The base is always the same, but you can then turn it into fantastic flavors like my Birthday Cake Overnight Oats, Raspberry Overnight Oats, Nutella Overnight Oats, or even Oreo Overnight Oats. All you need are 3 basic ingredients or more if you fancy some delicious flavors, but let me explain more below.
Why You’ll Love These Overnight Oats
Overnight oats are an easy make-ahead recipe that requires only 5 minutes to make and serves plenty of breakfasts. But most of all, it’s a healthy breakfast. It’s like a raw porridge, a combination of old-fashioned rolled oats, milk, sometimes yogurt, and chia seeds soaked in the fridge overnight or at least 6 hours. The soaking process breaks down the starch and acid in oats which increase their nutrient absorption and make them easier to digest. For example, if you have IBS symptoms, soaking seeds and grains makes it smoother in your gut. Plus, the soaking time gives the fibers in the grain and seeds time to swollen and create a creamy pudding texture.
Ingredients and Substitutions
So now, let’s see how easy it is to make overnight oats at home with 3 simple ingredients. Yes, only 3 ingredients are enough to start making tasty overnight oats, nothing more! I will also give you a list of options to create a range of flavors, but with the 3 ingredients below, you can make a cheap, healthy breakfast that tastes really good.
Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats – this refers to the coarse version of oats. You can use quick oats as well, but the texture of the pudding is more liquid, and I prefer this option for baby overnight oats. Almond Milk – If you use sweetened almond milk, you don’t need to add a sweetener to this recipe. Of course, for a low-sugar option, use unsweetened plant-based milk, including oat milk, coconut milk, or cashew milk. Other options are unsweetened vanilla-flavored almond milk or chocolate almond milk. If you don’t have milk, you can also just make overnight oats with water. Chia Seeds – Chia seeds are essential as they provide the majority of the stickiness.
How To Make Overnight Oats
There are two ways to prepare your overnight recipe: in the serving jars, or in a large bowl.
Option 1: In a Glass Mason Jar
It’s the most common way to prepare overnight oats but let me share my pro and cons on this method.
Option 2: Wide Mixing Bowl
It’s the best method if you want to:
Double the recipe batch. Add more ingredients to the recipe like fruits, nut butter, and sweetener.
Alternatives To Make Flavorsome Vegan Overnight Oats
This is the most basic overnight oats recipe and since we all love different flavor variations, let me share some tips.
Swap Half The Milk For Yogurt
This is the most common recommendation in overnight oatmeal recipes. Replacing half the milk with half Greek yogurt increase the creamy pudding texture. Also, you can use flavored Greek yogurt. There is plenty of low-sugar, dairy-free Greek Yogurt options like vanilla coconut yogurt or almond yogurt that go well with this recipe.
Stir In A Sweetener
If you use unsweetened almond milk, your overnight oats will be sugar-free. To boost its sweetness, add:
Stevia drops Sugar-free sweetener – 2-3 tablespoons of erythritol. Natural refined sugar-free sweeteners like coconut nectar or maple syrup from 1 to 3 tablespoons per batch.
Add Fresh Fruits
Again, this is very optional but very tasty and refreshing. You have two options. You can add the fruits:
Before soaking After soaking
And also, you can absolutely make overnight oats with frozen fruits! Don’t thaw the fruits, just throw them in and soak overnight. Of course, they release some fruit juice in the mix that decreases the creaminess of the pudding but still tastes amazing. The best fruits to add are:
Sliced strawberries Whole blueberries Raspberries Boysenberries Blackberries Sliced Bananas Sliced Apples
Add Nut Butter
Some very common addition to overnight oats recipes are:
Peanut butter Almond butter Cashew butter Sunflower seed butter for a nut-free option
In fact, adding nut butter to your recipe boosts its plant-based protein content and tastes amazing too. More protein means it’s super satisfying and, if you are on a weight loss journey, it keeps you full for longer, so you eat less.
Add Protein Powder
This is a great option to also boost protein in your breakfast. Feel free to use my overnight oats with protein powder to try this option.
Spice It Up!
Finally, the last thing you can add to your mix before soaking overnight are:
Spices – cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric Vanilla extract Dried fruits– raisins, cranberries, chopped apricots Nuts and seeds – hemp seeds, coconut. Cocoa powder – try my chocolate peanut butter overnight oats for inspiration
Use Flavored Milk
This is especially great if you opt for the easy 3 ingredient recipe that is naturally unsweetened. There’s plenty of delicious flavored plant-based milk available in store that I would recommend like :
Unsweetened vanilla almond milk Chocolate almond milk or chocolate soy milk Strawberry soy milk
More Overnight Oats Recipe Flavors
Below I listed my top 6 vegan overnight oats recipes for you to try. It includes recipes with protein powder, fruits, different milk options, nut butter, or chocolate. But, on cold days, I like to microwave overnight oats for a few seconds to eat just warm. Pick the one that matches your taste buds and enjoy a healthy breakfast.
