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Overnight oats are the most convenient breakfast! Our base formula delivers a blank canvas for endless customizations (and we’ve included 10 community-favorite flavors to get you started). With just 5 minutes of prep, these layered overnight oats are your ticket to stress-free mornings!
save this recipe!A Foolproof Overnight Oats formula
Overnight oats are the easy breakfast meal prep that dreams are made of. Add all the ingredients to a bowl or jar, seal it shut, and pop it in the fridge until morning!
Come breakfast time, give it a stir and enjoy (no cooking required). The base formula makes it easy to customize the oats any way you want, and I’ve included 10 of our family’s favorites.
Reader rating
“These are so good! We’ve made several and they were all delicious! They’ve become our new favorite breakfast food.” —Jenny
Start With The Base Ingredients
First, let’s talk about the foundation of layered overnight oats. No matter which flavor you make, you’ll need these five ingredients. Jump to the recipe card for full instructions and 10 flavors!
- Oats: First, we’ll use ½ cup of old-fashioned rolled oats. Steel cut won’t soften, while instant will turn to mush.
- Milk: Follow the oats with ½ cup of milk. You can use any variety here (creamy homemade oat milk would be tasty here!)
- Chia Seeds: Next, add 1 tablespoon of chia seeds. This adds a bit of thickness to the oats (and a whole lot of vitamins and minerals).
- Sweetener: Add some sweetness with 1 tablespoon of your preferred sweetener. I recommend honey, maple syrup, or brown sugar!
- Salt: Finally, finish things off with a pinch of salt! This may seem like an odd ingredient, but the salt actually enhances the sweetness of the oats.
Prep Ahead
Kim asked: “Can I make the overnight oats on Sunday and have them for the week, or do you need to make them each night for the next morning?” Overnight oats stay fresh for 2 to 3 days in the fridge, so make a big batch on Sunday and another batch on Wednesday to get you through the week.
Community-Favorite Oat Flavors
The options for flavoring these healthy overnight oats are virtually endless, but here are a few of our LEL community’s favorites (I’ve included 10 overnight oat flavors in the recipe card below)!
Banana Bread Overnight Oats
This one’s a classic, and it’s perfect if you’re a banana bread lover.
Peaches And Cream Overnight Oats
Peaches and cream overnight oats taste like a creamsicle or your grandma’s classic peach cobbler. It’s quite the treat!
Cookie Dough Overnight Oats
This one basically gives you the excuse to enjoy dessert for breakfast!
Nut Butter And Jelly Overnight Oats
Craving an old-school PB&J? Enjoy it in breakfast form by combining it with overnight oats!
Pina Colada Overnight Oats
Give yourself all the tropical island vibes with piña colada overnight oats. This combination is so fun and one of my favorites!
Strawberries And Cream Overnight Oats
Load up on the strawberries and yogurt—it’s like strawberry shortcake for breakfast!
P.S. If you like these hands-off oats, you’ll love my dump-and-go baked oats (they taste like tiramisu!).
Foolproof Overnight Oats (10 Flavors!)
Ingredients
Overnight Oats Base
- ½ cup rolled oats, 40 g
- ½ cup milk, 120 mL
- 1 Tbsp sweetener, like honey, brown sugar, or maple syrup,
- 1 Tbsp chia seed, 7 g
- Pinch salt
Banana Bread Oats
- 1 banana, mashed
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Peaches & Cream Oats
- ¼ cup chopped peaches
- ¼ cup plain or vanilla yogurt
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Cookie Dough Oats
- 2 Tbsp chocolate chips
- 1 Tbsp almond butter
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
PB & J Oats
- 2 Tbsp peanut butter, or your favorite nut butter
- 2 Tbsp jelly
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Pina Colada Oats
- ¼ cup chopped pineapple
- 1 Tbsp shredded coconut
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Salted Caramel Medjool Date Oats
- 4 dates, chopped
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Strawberries & Cream Oats
- ¼ cup chopped strawberries
- ¼ cup plain or vanilla yogurt
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Blueberries Oats
- ¼ cup blueberries
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Oats
- 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 Tbsp chocolate chips
Protein Oats
- ¼ cup vanilla protein powder
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Assemble: In your overnight oat jars (I prefer 16-oz mason jars) or a bowl, combine base ingredients with your desired flavors. Stir to combine.
- Rest: Seal shut and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours (or overnight), until oats are soft.
- Serve: When ready to eat, give it a good stir and then dig in! If the oats appear dry, add a splash of milk. You don't need to cook overnight oats, but you can warm them in the microwave if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
I’m going to try the apple pie and peach cobbler overnight oats. This sounds delicious Sarah!
Enjoy!! The apple pie was my favorite 🙂
I have a question. Can I make the Overnight Oats on Sunday and have them for the week or do you need to make them each night for the next morning?
Hi Kim, great question! Overnight oats stay good for 2 to 3 days in the fridge, so perhaps make a big batch on Sunday and another batch on Wednesday to get you through the week 🙂
So what do you D o in the am to cook it?
No need to cook it! That’s the beauty of overnight oats. The soak overnight has the same softening effect on the oats as cooking them. If you prefer warm oats, you can of course pop it in the microwave for a minute or two.
Hi, I was wondering if I could use homemade apple sauce in place of the apple mixture? Or would that make it too wet?
Can I use instant oats or gluten free oats in place of old fashioned rolled oats?
Thank you!
Hi Kate, I think this could work, especially if it’s a chunkier applesauce. Perhaps just reduce the amount of liquid you add to the oats to compensate for the wet applesauce. And yes, you should be able to sub instant and gluten free oats! 🙂
We made peaches and cream and PB&J. Used almond milk and even chocolate almond milk instead of regular milk. Delicious!! I have this recipe memorized and have been making overnight oats for a few weeks now. Thank you.
The measurements for the jam in the pb&j recipe is different than the measurements in the first set you gave. I wasn’t sure which one to use, so that was a little confusing.
Oops, thanks for pointing that out! It can really be either though honestly, but 2 Tbsp of jelly would be tastier 🙂
These are so good! We’ve made several and they were all delicious! They’ve become our new favorite breakfast food.
Not sure why the calories aren’t listed for this recipe. What are the calories?
I didn’t list them because there are so many flavors to pick from, and they all have different nutritional values. I just updated the post to include nutrition for the base recipe, though!
By nature, not a breakfast person, however I’m trying. I do like this overnight oats thing much better than hot oatmeal. My current flavor is rolled oats with oat milk, chia and soon sea salt chocolate sesame spread. I can’t wait to try the oat other flavors you have posted they all sound delicious. Thank you Sarah and the community that came up with the flavors.
I am going try it out Today
And will let you know
Enjoy! 😀