Overnight oats with yogurt are easy to make and are a great healthy make-ahead breakfast.
Most recipes are made with seven or eight ingredients and take less than 5 minutes to prepare.
All the recipes, except a few, are gluten-free. We have used dairy milk in our recipes, but you make it dairy-free using your favorite plant milk and yogurt.
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Why Make Overnight Oats?
Overnight oats are a fast and convenient way to enjoy a healthy breakfast on busy weekdays.
These overnight oats with yogurt are nutritional and loaded with protein, calcium, and fiber, and you can customize them to suit your dietary needs.
How do you make overnight oats?
Ingredients And Substitutions
To make these overnight oats, you will need yogurt, milk, oats, maple syrup (or a sweetener of your choice), vanilla, plus additional ingredients as stated in the recipe you choose.
Milk - We use whole milk or homemade soy milk, but any milk will work for these recipes.
Oats - Use either old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats - these types of oats are great for making thick and creamy overnight oats.
If you wanted to use steel-cut oats, you could, but they remain grainy and become chewy and gummy in texture rather than thick and creamy.
Yogurt - you can use thick store-bought Greek yogurt or homemade yogurt.
The yogurt can be plain or flavored. If you are using sweet-flavored yogurt, you might want to leave out the sweetener to avoid an overly sweet breakfast.
Sweetener - we use maple syrup, but you could use another sweetener such as honey, brown sugar, golden syrup, condensed milk, or your favorite sweetener.
Seeds - You can use chia seeds, basil seeds, flaxseeds, hemp seeds, or any other seeds you like.
Mix It
You could dump everything into a bowl or jar and mix, but sometimes it is better to mix the recipe in two stages, depending on the ingredients you are using.
For ingredients like nut butter, biscoff paste, mashed banana, and other thick pastes, it would be best to mix these first with the wet ingredients until well combined. Then add dry ingredients to the wet and stir well to combine.
Store & Refrigerate
If you are eating at home, you could store the prepared oats covered in the fridge in the container you made the oats in.
But if you know that you will use it as a grab-and-go breakfast, you would be better off packing it in a jar or container with a lid.
The jar you choose will need a wide mouth like a mason jar or a sealable leakproof food storage container.
A jar with a wide opening makes it easier to eat the oats straight from the container.
The jar or container should also be reasonably large, with space for the toppings you choose to add.
For a single serving of oats, we recommend using something that has a least a 3 - 4 cups capacity.
This size will allow room for a generous amount of toppings and easy eating straight from the container.
Serving suggestions
You could eat the overnight oats plain, or top with any of the following:
- Fresh fruit is always a nice topping. You could top overnight oats with slices of banana, diced apple, strawberry pieces, blueberries, grapes, peaches, or whatever fresh fruit you have on hand.
- Dried fruit adds texture to the oats. You could use dried apricots, apples, pears, cranberries, blueberries, or sultanas. Use the smaller dried fruits as they are, but cut larger pieces like dried apricots into smaller pieces.
- Canned fruits in natural juice.
- Nuts - like toasted almonds, peanuts, or cashews add crunch and extra flavor.
- Coconut - shredded toasted coconut is a lovely topping and goes so well with chopped toasted nuts and pineapple pieces.
- Nut butter - for extra protein, top the oats with a spoonful of peanut butter, almond butter, or cashew butter.
- Chocolate chips or bits - for a little extra sweetness.
FAQ
Store yogurt overnight oats in a sealed container in the fridge.
You don't need mason jars to store overnight oats in. You can use any sealable container (preferably glass) to store oats.
Most overnight oats will keep well in the fridge for about 5-7 days, but this all depends on the ingredients you use.
Overnight oats that have fruits like banana or kiwi fruit mixed in should be consumed within 2-3 days of making because they tend to discolor and break down.
Also, if you made the oats with products (milk or yogurt) that are close to expiring, make sure to eat the overnight oats well before the expiry date.
Yes, you can eat them hot.
Yes, you can heat the overnight oats in the microwave oven. Transfer the oats to a microwave-safe bowl, cover, and heat in 30-second increments until you get your desired temperature.
Use either old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats - these types of oats are great for making thick and creamy overnight oats.
If you wanted to use steel-cut oats, you could, but they remain grainy and become chewy and gummy in texture rather than thick and creamy.
No, overnight oats are not supposed to be runny. They should be nice and thick.
If your oats are runny, it could be that you have not soaked them long enough, at least 8 hours or more, or you have added too much liquid.
Yes, you can make these easy overnight oats dairy free, by replacing milk and yogurt with your non-day milk and yogurt.
Delicious Overnight Oats Recipes
Below are our recipes for overnight oats with yogurt. If you are looking for some other breakfast recipe ideas take a look at our collection of Healthy Banana Breakfast Recipes.
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