Ideas for overnight oats recipes?

Beth Manoogian

Hi AFS community!  I'm trying to diversify my breakfast options a little and wondering if anyone has any suggestions for overnight oats recipes?  I like the idea of being able to make them on the weekend and grab and go in the mornings!  Hit me with your best ideas!  Thanks! 

Kathleen Pappageorge

Hi! I make overnight oats a lot. Sometimes I use Simple Truth Organic Instant Oats and I mix them with about a half a cup of nonfat milk and half of a small container of nonfat plain Greek Yogurt. I throw in some fresh blueberries or a little homemade applesauce. I top it with a sprinkle of cinnamon or a drizzle of pure maple syrup. Sometimes, I use Superfoods Qia instead of oatmeal.

Kim Goodfellow

Do those keep you full? I have tried the Quaker oats version and I have been thinking of buying the overnight night oats brand online..

Mike Stack

Hey @Beth Manoogian here's a couple of suggestions I've used before (you might want to cut the bodybuilding.com recipes in half just due to their calorie content):

https://dashingdish.com/recipe/brownie-batter-overnight-protein-oatmeal/

https://www.bodybuilding.com/recipes/pb-and-berry-protein-oats

https://www.bodybuilding.com/recipes/metaburn90-overnight-oats-and-berries

https://www.bodybuilding.com/recipes/overnight-oatmeal

If you try any of these let us know how you like them. Overnight oats are a great simple way to grab breakfast and go in the morning, so I definitely like the idea of trying something like this. I've used them many times to get out of the door quickly, so I think it's a great call for quick and nutritious breakfast.

Beth Manoogian

Thanks @Mike Stack for the suggestions!  I think I may try one or two of them this week and I also found these that are different than my usual recipe and looked like they might be tasty and easy to tweak to increase the protein content: 
https://www.skinnytaste.com/skinny-pumpkin-overnight-oats-in-jar/ 
https://thehealthyfoodie.com/high-protein-post-workout-berry-overnight-oats/
I'll report back after I try some of these! 

Mike Stack

Great @Beth Manoogian! Let us know how it goes, I'm sure other clients would like to know a great Overnight Oats recipe. I know that's something I'm always interested in trying something new for. 

Greg Stewart

I love Oats Overnight

https://www.oatsovernight.com/

Both the vegan and regular taste great. Have a lot of protein. And keep me full for a long time.

Alyssa Romig

Hi Beth! This is one of my favorites. I love this stuff!

• 1 cup "old-fashioned" rolled oats
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt
• 1 small apple (honeycrisp is my fav!)

Mix it all up the night before. Top with slivered almonds, dried cherries, dates, or whatever your heart desires. This recipe makes a pretty good portion and I'm a "grazer" so I'll eat this throughout the morning as my breakfast and snacks until lunch

Beth Manoogian

Thanks @Alyssa Romig for the suggestion! I made 4 different kinds on Sunday for this week, but will put your recipe in the queue for next week and let you know how it turns out.

Andrea Spangler

Has anyone tried using steel cut oats for these recipes?

Andrea Spangler

Skinny taste also has a great recipe for bagels (super easy and high in protein)!! My family is addicted to them. I modify the recipe slightly and use self rising flour (instead of regular flour and the baking powder and salt). I use a variety of toppings:. Everything seasoning, sea salt, Asiago cheese, cinnamon crunch!

https://www.skinnytaste.com/easy-bagel-recipe/

I

Alyssa Romig

@Andrea Spangler I'm sure you could swap steel cut for rolled oats in many recipes! It might be worth a try to use the "quick-cooking" steel cut oats though, so they won't be as hard. 

Also, @Beth Manoogian , forgot to mention--- my recipe is meant to be cold and not warmed up. I always put a little cinnamon, nutmeg, and sometimes pumpkin pie seasoning in there too Let us know how they all turn out!

Donna Frank

@Andrea Spangler while I haven't used steel cut for overnight oats, I LOVE steel cut crockpot oats!! I'll have to dig out my old recipe, perfect for fall/winter! Steelcut oats, some protein powder, diced apple, cinnamon & nutmeg. Smells just like apple pie baking ❤

Andrea Spangler

Sounds delicious! Send the recipe my way please!

Aimee Tinkham

Good morning! I love overnight oats. I make my own. I use regular rolled oats, unsweetened Vanilla cashew milk (I prefer cashew milk, as I find it is a little creamier than almond), cinnamon and chopped up apples. I’ll also change up the fruit sometimes. But I find the Apple adds enough sweetness with out having to add sugar. Plus I am a major breakfast creature of habit. LoL I’m bad at mixing it up.

Lauren Baker (RH)

Love the new ideas for oats! My base is always the same: 1/3 cup oats + 1/3 of a banana + 2/3 cup almond milk + I'll add a little bit of hemp seeds, chia seeds and flax + peanut butter. I'll make it with chocolate almond milk sometimes to get that chocolate fix.

Summer: I'll throw some fruit on top.

Right now, I'm digging a few tablespoons of pumpkin and a little pumpkin spice in the mix. It's like dessert!

My friend from Portland also introduced me to a pre-packaged brand this weekend for when I don't have time to make it myself. It has some veggies mixed in. I know it sounds weird, but the beet one was actually REALLY good!

And whenever I need inspiration, one of my FAVORITE food bloggers always has some new ideas: https://www.eatingbirdfood.com/

My question for you, @Beth Manoogian : any ideas outside of oats? I tend to always go for oats, and would love some other breakfast ideas!!

Lauren Baker (RH)

@Beth Manoogian - found the ones my friend got me: https://pickybars.com/collections/performance-oatmeal

I think they have them at REI as well as online. I tried the Chocolate Beet and added a little PB. Delish!

Beth Manoogian

@Baker, Lauren I don't like any sort of breakfast meats or eggs so breakfast options for me are a little limited (thus this post). I'll usually do overnight oats or a protein shake/smoothie for breakfast #1 and a protein bar for breakfast #2. Kodiak cakes now has a line of grab and go options as well (https://shop.kodiakcakes.com/collections/kodiak-cups) and I like their pancake mixes as well so sometimes I'll make those on the weekend. They also have freezer waffles and it's become much easier to find their products in local grocery stores/target/etc over the past 6-12 months.

Adam Michael

I just realized how hungry I am... lol, also all these recipes are being added so thanks for posting this!

Beth Manoogian

Ok @Mike Stack and anyone else who was curious, I am reporting back on this week's overnight oat experiment! I tried four of the above recipes. For each, I edited the recipe so they would be 300 calories or less. I did 1/4 cup oats and 1/2 cup of skim Lactaid milk (which allows my intestines to tolerate whey protein). Overall, all of the recipes ended up a little soupier than I would like, and I think 1/3 cup of oats would have been better so for this week I increased the oat content so they would be a little thicker.

1. https://www.skinnytaste.com/skinny-pumpkin-overnight-oats-in-jar/  - I added a scoop of vanilla whey protein and was heavy-handed with the cinnamon. Flavor was good on these but they were the soupiest of the bunch.
2. https://thehealthyfoodie.com/high-protein-post-workout-berry-overnight-oats/ - I used vanilla greek yogurt instead of plain, used vanilla whey protein and omitted the maple syrup because my edits made it sweet enough. These were also good.
3. https://dashingdish.com/recipe/brownie-batter-overnight-protein-oatmeal/ - these were probably my favorite. Used vanilla yogurt instead of plain, chocolate whey protein, used 2 tsp of cocoa and omitted the Stevia (I don't do artificial sweeteners).
4. https://www.bodybuilding.com/recipes/pb-and-berry-protein-oats - these were also good, but I'm a fan of anything with peanut butter!

This week I am re-making the pumpkin ones with more oats and some vanilla greek yogurt so they won't be so soupy! I'm also trying @Alyssa Romig 's suggestion of apple overnight oats (I added cinnamon and a little sprinkling of pumpkin pie spice in there also) and I re-made the brownie batter ones but added a little PB2 in to make them peanut butter brownie batter oats without the extra calories of real peanut butter.

Mike Stack

Love it! Thanks for the report @Beth Manoogian! We appreciate the feedback. I hope everyone else has the chance to check out some of these recipes, definitely a great option for a simple and easy morning breakfast option.

Beth Manoogian

@Alyssa Romig I’m eating the apple ones right now at work and they’re so good! I love the combo of apple (I used gala) with the cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice and a few chopped pecans on top. I was worried the Apple would be mushy or gross but it’s perfect and crispy. 👍🏼

Alyssa Romig

@Beth Manoogian It sounds like you've been trying all the oats! :)

Glad you like the apple one!

Beth Manoogian

Today's moment of breakfast innovation: adding a serving of frozen riced cauliflower to my post-workout protein smoothie. Usually I add some leafy greens in there, but figured I'd try it and it adds almost no calories and almost no flavor and I've snuck in an extra serving of vegetables. Nice to have a little variation since I usually have frozen riced cauliflower in my freezer but I don't always have leafy greens!

Lisa Kiel

@Andrea Spangler I make overnight oats with Bob's Red Mill steel cut oats that I buy in a giant bag at Costco. It works just fine. I've been using 1/4 cup steel cut oats, 1/4 cup fat free greek yogurt, 1/2 dup plain cashew milk, a teeny tiny bit of vanilla, and frozen sliced strawberries. Sometimes I throw pecans on top. I make five on Sunday afternoon and eat them all week.

Sarah Bonner

This is great info. We have never tried overnight oats but I think we will try. We bake our oatmeal and have been in love with that for the past couple years. The kids love it baked too! Its a win win for our house.

Sarah Ball

Here is another fun way to use oats! I make a big batch 1x/week for my daughter and I. Easy to grab and go.

Banana Protein Pancakes

6 eggs

3 ripe bananas

1 cup oats (any type except steel cut will work)

1/4 cup ground flaxseed

1/4 cup ground hempseed

splash of vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon (or more to taste)

Mix everything in the blender, pore onto a griddle or pan like a pancake. Top with Greek yogurt or a nut butter :) Note: If you don't have hemp or flax, just use extra oats or leave out entirely. You can also make this completely grain free if that is your thing. Just don't use chia seeds :)