I’ve been making batch after batch of overnight oats, and taking notes. Overnight oats are a healthy, make-ahead breakfast option, but they’re not always enticing enough to get me out of bed.
I’m sharing my best tips and my favorite overnight oats recipe today. Ready? These overnight oats are legitimately delicious, and so easy to make!
Overnight oats are typically served chilled, straight from the refrigerator. That makes them perfect for warmer months, but you can certainly enjoy overnight oats year-round.
Overnight oats keep well in the refrigerator for up to five days. So, prepare your oats on Sunday night, and you’ll have breakfast covered for the workweek.
How to Make the Best Overnight Oats
I make my overnight oats with old-fashioned rolled oats, toasted or regular. Then I add chia seeds for a more pudding-like texture and more fiber, and a spoonful of nut butter to make them extra creamy. (Would you believe that one serving of these overnight oats contains nearly half of your daily fiber requirements?)
Here’s what you’ll need to make overnight oats:
Oats: You can’t make overnight oats without oats! Overnight oats are typically made with plain old-fashioned oats. I actually prefer to make overnight oats with homemade muesli instead, which is made with toasted old-fashioned oats, nuts and dried fruit. The muesli offers more texture and flavor.
If you want to go the easier, more traditional route, simply use old-fashioned oats and add a dash of cinnamon. Don’t use instant or quick-cooking oats, because those will turn to complete mush.
Chia Seeds: Technically, these are optional, but I love how chia seeds absorb moisture and make the final product more creamy and luscious. Chia seeds contain healthy omega-3’s and, like oats, lots of fiber.
Nut butter: Almond butter or peanut butter makes these oats even more creamy, while adding delicious savory, nutty flavor.
Milk of choice: You can use your favorite milk here (almond milk, coconut milk from a carton, homemade cashew milk, homemade pecan milk, oat milk or cow’s milk). I suppose you could use water instead of milk, but the final result won’t be quite as creamy or flavorful.
The amount of liquid is key to the final consistency—I like my overnight oats really thick and creamy, with concentrated flavor. If you prefer a looser consistency, add a little more milk.
Fruit: Now that we’ve formed the base of the oats, I like to add fruit. If you’re following my formula with just 1/2 cup milk and using a fruit that stores well for a few days (as in, sliced strawberries, not sliced bananas or apple), you can go ahead and toss the fruit on top of the oat-and-milk mixture.
In fact, you can top the oat mixture with frozen raspberries or blueberries and they’ll defrost overnight. (Don’t try this with frozen strawberries or other large chunks of frozen fruit; they release too much water). Or, you can wait to top your oats with fruit before serving.
Optional sweetener: Overnight oats are generally sweet enough for me as-is. However, add a drizzle of sweetener if that makes your oats more enticing!
That’s it! Go forth and make overnight oats to last you through the week. Please let me know how your overnight oats turn out in the comments below!
If you’re interested in more healthy, make-ahead breakfasts, check out my favorite chia seed pudding, baked oatmeal recipe and apple steel-cut oatmeal.
In my cookbook, don’t miss the toasted coconut muesli (page 2), apple crisp breakfast parfaits (page 7) and carrot cake breakfast cookies (page 26). With so many options, you won’t want to skip breakfast.
Watch How to Make Overnight Oats
Overnight Oats
- Author:
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 serving 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Overnight
- Cuisine: Gluten free
Here’s my favorite recipe for overnight oats! Feel free to make it your own. Overnight oats are a simple, healthy breakfast that you can make ahead for busy mornings. The recipe below yields 1 serving, so make as many servings (each in a separate jar) as you’d like. Overnight oats will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup homemade muesli, or ⅓ cup old-fashioned oats plus ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon almond butter or peanut butter
- ½ cup milk of choice for a very thick consistency, or up to ⅔ cup milk for a lighter consistency
- ½ cup fruit (I like fresh or frozen blueberries or raspberries, or sliced fresh strawberries)
- Drizzle of maple syrup or honey, if desired
Instructions
- In a jar or bowl (a working jar or 1-pint mason jar is perfect), combine the muesli (or old-fashioned oats and cinnamon), chia seeds and nut butter. Add a splash of the milk and mix the nut butter into the oats. Then add the rest of the milk and stir to combine.
- Top with your fruit of choice. (If you used more milk than ½ cup and you want your fruit to stay on top, wait to top the oats until you’re ready to serve. If you’re using fruit that doesn’t store well, like sliced apple or banana, wait to top the oats until you’re ready to serve.)
- Place the lid on the jar and refrigerate overnight, or up to 5 days. When you’re ready to serve, add a drizzle of maple syrup or honey if you’d like, and enjoy chilled.
Notes
Make it gluten free: Use certified gluten-free oats.
Make it vegan: Choose one of the dairy-free milk options listed above. If adding additional sweetener, use maple syrup instead of honey.
Make it nut free: Omit the nut butter or replace it with sunbutter. If you’re using muesli, follow my instructions for making nut-free muesli in the recipe notes for that recipe.
Warm it up: Overnight oats are typically served chilled. However, if you prefer warm oats, you can heat them in the microwave. Just use a microwave-safe jar and stir frequently while you’re warming them up. Since the oats are so thick, I’m not sure this would work well on the stovetop, but you could give it a try.
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Michael Shabani
be sure to follow the recipe and you would love the overnight Oats.
★★★★★
Liz
I make overnight oats almost every single night! Tahini is a good add-in, in place of nut butter. In the morning, I add a handful of nuts, seeds, and raisins; or stir in a spoonful of homemade cranberry and chia jam. Oat milk is my milk of choice and it adds a wonderful flavour.
Mae
These are delicious! Overnight oats are becoming my new obsession. The combination I used is oats & cinnamon, peanut butter, low fat milk, and frozen blueberries. They make such an easy breakfast and taste great. Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m delighted they are a new obsession. Thank you for your review, Mae!
Susan
I’ve tried a lot of different recipes for overnight oats, or “cold oatmeal” as my son likes to call it, and this one has the best texture and consistency. Other recipes have been too watery or mushy and I feel like I have to force myself to finish it. I enjoyed this very much. Thank you.
★★★★★
Robin
Hey Kate I made the overnight oats using cinnamon and Old Fashioned oats. Followed the recipe exactly. I used peanut butter and vanilla almond milk, and Frozen Blueberries I always have. Maple syrup nicely glazed the oats this a.m. I have never made overnight oats before, cause what’s the big deal? Surprise, I loved getting up pouring coffee and having breakfast all ready. But, better, I loved them. So did my mom and spouse. Thank you!
★★★★★
lea
really good recipe! my mixer is broken so i replaced nutt butter with smashed banana and it still worked.
★★★★★
Kate
Great to hear, Lea!
Chase
I have made this numerous times and it is always yummy. Thanks!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Chase.
Cheryl Green
Loving my new breakfast. So thankful for finding your site Kate. I am not a morning person and I don’t like eating breakfast but this has given me a new morning attitude. lol. So many possibilities with flavors and toppings. My work week has been so much simpler now. Thanks a bunch.
Luv,,
Anne.
★★★★★
Kate
I know what you mean! This helps, and I”m happy you agree. Thank you for your review Cheryl.
Kali
I love this recipe so much! I make a large batch at once (4x or 6x) and it lasts my family a few days – it keeps really well. Thanks for making my mornings easier!
★★★★★
Aimee
I struggle to get the recommended amount of fiber in daily, so when I found out this has a lot of fiber I decided to give it a try. It’s easy to prepare and delicious. Thank you!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Aimee! Thank you for your review
Jesse
I was very anti-overnight oats, but this recipe has converted me! It’s not slimy like other recipes I’ve had. I like that it’s thicker and you can actually taste the oats. My fav mix-ins are matcha with frozen cherries. Yum!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you hear that, Jesse! Thank you for your review.
Janine Barclay
My daughter buys overnight oats(holos) in individual packs which are very healthy but cost approx $5 a serving! I am trying to replicate those oats and yours come very close. I made the muesli first and added oat milk and craisins. To me it is perfect but there is a slight difference in what she buys and these. When I read their ingredients they add “natural flavor” whatever that is. So I am wondering if you know anything I can add that will put in extra flavor? I want to make her a bunch of these for her birthday she will save a fortune.
★★★★★
Kate
Hi! I’m not sure about the natural flavors, but you can adjust the seasoning and sweetener if you like. I find the fruit does a lot as well!
Laura Bermudez
Hi! Quick question that may seem dumb – you definitely don’t cook the oats first, right? Just put them in there and overnight? Asking because I grave the Bob’s Red Mill Steel Cut Oats and a recipe for overnight oats on the back includes a slow cooker.
Kate
Hi Laura! Yes, these are with old fashioned oats and no need to cook first.
Denny Chan
Can you use sprouted rolled oats in the recipe? If so, do you need to revise the quantities of the other ingredients?
Kate
Hi Denny, I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why not. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Kathleen
This is the best overnight oats recipe. I make it using your homemade muesli. Would you know the nutritional values?
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Kathleen! The nutritional information for the recipe is below the notes. If you need more specifics with your homemade muesli used, I suggest and online nutritional calculator.
Jennie
This was my first time making/tasting overnight oats, and I thoroughly enjoyed! A question though: Is there a reason why servings should be made in individual containers? Would it not work to quintuple the recipe in a large bowl? Thank you!
Kate
Hi, you can put them in a larger bowl if you like. I like the individual servings here.
Jill
These came out great! I reduced the almond butter to a tsp and added maple syrup and blueberries when serving.
★★★★★
Karen O'Donahoo
Easy nutritious breakfast. I’ve often made overnight oats but not thought to make them in advance. Great idea! Thank you.
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Karen! Thank you for your review.