This post may contain affiliate links. Click here for my affiliate disclosure. If you purchase items through my affiliate links, I receive a small commission but your price doesn't change.
This oatmeal has an interesting story. Yes, the oatmeal has a story.
I have oatmeal of some sort almost every morning for breakfast. Sometimes I make it the night before and eat it cold; sometimes I wait until the morning to make it and eat it hot. Sometimes I eat it plain, sometimes I add cottage cheese, sometimes I add egg whites, sometimes I add fruit…but I mostly like chocolate. So on this occasion I made some chocolate oatmeal the night before, put it in the fridge, and pulled it out to eat cold the next morning. When I ate it for breakfast the next morning, it was the best overnight oatmeal I’d ever made and it tasted like chocolate pudding. I’ve posted oatmeal recipes before, though – including another chocolate oatmeal recipe – so I didn’t think I would bother posting this one. It was so easy, after all.
However, I did post the quick recipe to the Trim Healthy Mama Facebook group, just in case it sounded good to someone else. Of course that post (it didn’t even have a picture attached!!) took off like wildfire, and I got so many questions about the recipe that I thought maybe I should just give it its own blog post. So here it is. One of the simplest recipes on my website, but it’s one of the best.
This super easy overnight oatmeal tastes like chocolate pudding. ‘Nuff said.
Oats have some protein of their own, so it’s not necessary to add protein. If you like, you can add some low fat cottage cheese or Greek yogurt to hold you over longer. If you don’t have the sweetener I used, just use whatever you like to your own personal taste. It’s not rocket science, folks. Don’t complicate things.
This is such an easy breakfast that you can make ahead the night before and eat straight out of the fridge in the morning. If you’re looking for other simple recipes, click here for a list of my 5 ingredient recipes!
The picture below is my DQ impersonation with my chocolate oatmeal…is that gross? I just loved how thick and pudding-y this stuff was.
Need more overnight oatmeal recipes? How about…
You can find this recipe in my cookbook, Necessary Food.
- ½ cup old fashioned oats (use gluten free, if necessary)
- 1 cup liquid (I use a combination of water and unsweetened almond milk - use carton coconut milk for a nut free alternative)
- 1 T cocoa powder
- 4 doonks THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder (a doonk is 1/32 tsp.)
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- Rounded ¼ tsp. glucomannan
- Optional toppings: fat free Reddi Whip and a minute sprinkling of sugar free chocolate chips (don't go overboard as these are not low fat)
- Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl (I stir together the dry ingredients, then add the liquid and stir again that way the glucomannan doesn't clump). Refrigerate overnight and eat cold in the morning. Yields one serving.
Suggested products:
- Glucomannan
- Glucomannan and THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder can be purchased from the Trim Healthy Mama online store.
I have to rave about this!
Was digging deep to find different E meals to try. I found this overnight oats recipe and made it up last night for my breakfast this morning…
I used Cashew Milk, and a different THM approved sweetener I had on hand, as well as added half a Banana cut into little chunks.
Listen to me… Besides the texture of the oatmeal in it, this tastes just like those kids pudding cups with the red foil tops. 😳 I am pretty sure I am eating a pudding dessert not a soaked oatmeal breakfast.
Thank you so much Briana Thomas, this is amazing! 💟
Hi Briana, love your recipes!
I’m curious with the fav overnight oatmeal I know that you’re not using an acid to soak it overnight, but even still soaking it as such, would there be phytic acid residue and would you be eating that then the next day?
I have often wondered that with overnight oatmeal soaks that do have an acid that don’t rinse it before eating it..
I’m sorry – I’m afraid I don’t know much about that.
This is definitely one of the best ways to eat oatmeal! Soo amazing! I’ve made it countless times and I’ve tried other variations of it but the chocolate is always the best! (of course😜)
My sister and I really enjoyed this fast and filling breakfast! I give this a big thumbs up!
I wrote the recipe down on a three-by-five card so I can whip it out in no time when ever I need to.
I recently started eating alone the THM guidelines and your blog is amazing, with so many awesome recipes to try!
I tried this recipe this morning & added a scoop of vanilla protein powder, and unfortunately, it was GROSS. Unfortunately this was due to me adding the powder; it gave it a gross mineral-y too much stevia flavor. 😝 I’m excited to try it again without the protein powder, haha! Just a recommendation to others, to know that the protein powder gives it a more grainy consistency and mineral-y flavor …so maybe don’t use it or use less than I did. Ya live & learn, right? 😉💕
Good tip! You might want to try collagen in stuff like this – I use the Great Lakes brand and it dissolves really well with no taste! I much prefer it to whey protein powder and stir a scoop into my hot chocolate oatmeal after cooking every morning!
Easy Chocolate Oatmeal recipe >> https://www.briana-thomas.com/easy-chocolate-oatmeal/
Great Lakes Collagen (affiliate link) >> https://www.briana-thomas.com/recommends/great-lakes-collagen-single-can-gl/
Have your ever tried this with pressed peanut flour added? I thought it might give it a lovely no bake cookie taste! I’m pretty sure I’d have to add liquid, would you have any idea how much?
I’m pretty sure I have somewhere along the line, but I can’t remember the details. 😛 An extra dash of liquid should do the trick, and if it’s too thick in the morning you can always add more almond milk then.
Finally made this last night and had it this morning . . . yum! Like dessert for breakfast. 🙂 Thanks, Briana!
Woohoo! So glad you liked it, Cheryl!
I found that the recipe didn’t thicken up all the way, but I added a 1/4 cup Greek yogurt, and it not only fixed the problem, but the oats were sooo creamy! I like to top it withe 1/3-1/2 a banana, yum!!!!
Do you happen to know how much sugar and fat grams are in this? Thank you so much!
I don’t usually calculate nutrition info on my recipes since the healthy eating lifestyle I follow doesn’t require it (Trim Healthy Mama), but MyFitnessPal is a super easy way to find nutrition facts!
HI. I’m new to THM, but would like to start as I’ve been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism (I think i have that right ?!) I am curious as to why you can’t use whole milk or 2% milk with THM ??
In general, carbs in liquid form without fiber (milk and juice being examples) tend to spike your blood sugar because fiber is one thing that really helps blunt an insulin spike. In addition, whole milk would be a big crossover because it combines so many carbs with so much fat. Children’s metabolisms often run a little faster and can handle these higher-glycemic drinks better than adults’ can. A small amount of skim milk is OK in an E setting (like a splash in your oatmeal, for example), but other than that, it’s discouraged if you’re interested in losing weight.
When I was at Hochstetler’s Country Store the other day, I bought some dark cocoa powder. It is fabulous!! If you enjoy dark chocolate, this is a game changer and it’s become my go-to breakfast!
Mmm…I’ll have to get some!
Could you mix in some protein powder and in what stage would you do it in? Thanks!
Sure – just add it in with the rest of the dry ingredients.
Hi Briana, I love overnight oatmeals and used to make them often prior to THM. I’m new to THM and when I plugged in this recipe to my Fitnesspal app the fat content was higher than a 5 g allowed for an ‘E’ meal. Do you include the 4 g of fat from the unsweetened almond milk if adding the full cup, plus my brand of Raw cacao has 1 g of fat. Including all those plus the 3 g of fat in the oatmeal would bring this to 8 grams of fat. I’m sure I’m not doing this right and I know we are not supposed to get into the calculations so much but I still need to be aware. Thanks and will be definitely trying your recipe. It looks so yummy.
In THM, ingredients trump numbers, and all of the ingredients used in this recipe are considered E or FP ingredients. 🙂 You don’t need to count the fat in the almond milk (mine actually only has 3 g in a cup, and as I said in the recipe, I always use part water and part almond milk), the cocoa powder, or the oats. Where you would need to be aware of the numbers would be if you were adding a source of fats to this, like peanut butter or butter. In that case, you’d need to stick with a teaspoon as the recommended limit to added fats. Good question!
Thanks so much for you quick response. Your response was very AWESOME for a newbie THM’er. This totally made sense to me. This THM plan is definitely a learning curve for me. Before I started this plan one more ago, I didn’t even know what a starchy and non-starchy veggie was or a good carb from a bad carb. I’m slowly learning. I LOVE your recipes and tried quite a few already. Looking forward to trying more. This one is scheduled on my next week’s menu planner. Thanks for your sharing your postings.
Good – I’m glad it made sense! 🙂 Don’t worry – this will become second nature to you before you know it!
Well I couldn’t wait for next week to come along to make this so I ended up making it last night and had it for breakfast this morning. I LOVE THIS!!!!! Creamy smooth texture and soooo yummy. This will be on my weekly planner often and can easily be made with slight different variations like adding banana extract, or caramel extract or adding Peanut Butter flour. Endless options and a great reason to keep this recipe close by. 10 stars. Thanks again for another great recipe Briana. 🙂
I’m so glad you liked it! And you are so right about the many possibilities!
I’m just starting out here and don’t have my pantry of supplies built up yet . . . can I make this without glucomannan? And I planned to start out with a blend like Truvia rather than straight stevia. Would that work here?
Glucomannan is a thickener, so it’s integral to this recipe. Here are some overnight oatmeal recipes that don’t need glucomannan: https://www.briana-thomas.com/scrumptious-overnight-oatmeal-5-ways-e/
You can substitute xanthan gum (which can be found locally, even at Walmart with the Bob’s Red Mill products) 1:1 for glucomannan in most recipes.
You can feel free to use whatever sweetener you like, to taste. 🙂
Awesome. Thanks for the extra recipes. I’m not a huge oatmeal fan but I’m hoping this will change my mind!
I was wondering if for the thickening agent I could use arrowroot? Any idea how much?
I’m afraid I’m not familiar with arrowroot so I’m not sure if it would work in this or not.
Does your oatmeal count as your protein or would I have to add something else to this meal? Thanks!
Oatmeal does have some protein of its own so you’re not required to add more protein. However, more protein is always a good idea, especially if you find that oatmeal on its own doesn’t hold you over until your next meal. 🙂
What would this be like warmed up in the microwave?
I’ve never tried it because I love it cold, but I’m sure it would be fine. 🙂 You might need to add a little liquid to thin it down.
I had to warm it up because mine was very soupy in the morning; I used xanthan gum since I don’t have glucomannan, maybe that’s why? I had tasted it before warming though and did like it better cold.
I’m guessing the xanthan gum is what made the difference. 🙂 Usually they’re a 1:1 substitution, but not always.
Can you use quick oats instead of old fashioned?
Quick oats did not used to be acceptable on the THM plan because they are more processed, but recently I heard that they’re OK to eat on plan in an E setting with plenty of protein. 🙂 I think you’d probably be able to use the same amount as the old fashioned oats called for in the recipe.
Just wanted to let you know and the previous poster that I made this last night using 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum and it turned out perfectly 🙂
Awesome! Thank you!
Thanks for your response. I like the idea of mixing the dry ingredients. I’ll try that. ?
I often do meal prep on the weekend for the week ahead. If I put these together, would they still be good 3-4 days later?
I imagine the oats would get a little soggy by then. You’re welcome to try, though! What I would do is make baggies with the dry ingredients, then mix the dry and wet ingredients the night before and refrigerate.
Thank you for sharing this tip!!
What makes this an E? It looks like fp to me.
A full serving of oats has 22 net carbs.
So glad you decided to post this recipe. I’ve been rotating through the THM recipes and some I like some not so much, but this one is a breakfast keeper. Sometimes you just want something sweet in the morning and this fits the yummy bill. Thanks!!