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First published 4/1/14. No joke. Last updated 6/29/16.
First, let me start out by giving credit where credit is due. I have grown to absolutely adore overnight oatmeal; there’s nothing easier to pull out of the fridge in the morning and eat, plus it’s healthy and it tastes like dessert for breakfast. The reason for my obsession with overnight oatmeal? That would be Katie from Chocolate Covered Katie. She has some incredible recipes that are easily adaptable to Trim Healthy Mama, including her Basic Chocolate Oatmeal recipe. I fell in love with this recipe because a) it was chocolate, b) it was easy, and c) because it gave me a big bowl of oatmeal for the carbs of one serving. Totally awesome.
I had already posted a page with 5 different overnight oatmeal recipes, and I have now revamped them with several different preparation options, one of which is based off of (but not identical to) Katy’s “voluminous oatmeal” technique.
If you crave cold cereal in the mornings, this might be your ticket! I like to add some unsweetened almond milk on top when I eat it for even more “cold cereal” effect. (Don’t worry, I give directions in the recipe below for how you can eat this stuff hot if cold oatmeal isn’t your thing. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it, though!)
I think the plain chocolate version of overnight oatmeal is my favorite. Simple, classic – and who doesn’t love chocolate for breakfast?
Blueberries & Cream
Banana Bread Batter – a slightly eccentric flavor, but one of my favorites.
For the more traditional tastes, try the Apple Pie version.
Another unique flavor, the Café Mocha Overnight Oatmeal is for the coffee lovers!
You can pin this recipe from my Breakfasts board here.
You can find these recipes in my cookbook, Necessary Food.
- ½ cup old-fashioned oats (use gluten free if necessary)
- 1-2 cups liquid (unsweetened almond milk, water, or a combination of both; amount will vary according to which option you make)
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- ⅛ tsp. THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder (or other low-glycemic sweetener to taste)
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- Chocolate: add 1 T cocoa powder
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- Blueberries & Cream (not dairy free): add ½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries and a dash of vanilla extract; let cool and add a dollop of low-fat Greek yogurt before refrigerating overnight (or top the hot oatmeal with Greek yogurt if you choose option #3)
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- Banana Bread Batter: 1½ -2 inches banana, mashed (approx. 2-3 T); ½ tsp. banana flavoring, dash vanilla or maple flavoring, ½ tsp. cinnamon
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- Apple Pie: ½ apple, chopped; ½ tsp. butter flavoring; dash vanilla; ¼ tsp. nutmeg; ½ tsp. cinnamon, dash Bragg's apple cider vinegar, optional (gives a slightly tangier flavor)
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- Café Mocha (not gluten free if you can't find a gluten free instant coffee brand): 1½ tsp. instant coffee grounds (coffee lovers may need to increase this amount), 1 rounded tsp. cocoa powder, ½ tsp. each vanilla and maple flavorings
- Option #1 (the most bang for your buck): In a large microwave-safe bowl (I use a serving bowl so the oats don't bubble over the top), microwave the oats, 2 cups of liquid, and salt for 3 minutes. The oatmeal will be fairly thin but not soupy; if your microwave isn't as strong as mine, you may need to cook a little longer, so just find what works for you. Stir in the sweetener and the rest of the add-ins of your choice. Taste and add more sweetener if desired. Let the oatmeal cool on the counter then refrigerate (covered) overnight. By morning, the oats will have soaked up the excess liquid (if they didn't, you needed to cook it longer). I eat the oatmeal cold, but you can heat it up in the morning if you like (you may need to add more liquid).
- Option #2: For a pudding-like oatmeal, decrease the liquid to 1 cup, don't cook, and add a rounded ¼ tsp. glucomannan. Shake the dry ingredients together in a pint-sized jar with a lid, then add the liquid and shake again. Refrigerate overnight and eat cold in the morning. For a slightly thinner result with more volume, increase the liquid to 1½ cups and use ½ tsp. glucomannan.
- Option #3: If you want to make any of these flavors fresh in the morning and eat them hot, just use 1 - 1½ cups of liquid (according to desired thickness) and microwave the oatmeal for 3 minutes or until the desired consistency is reached. I like to top my hot oatmeal with a splash of unsweetened almond milk, especially if I make it with only 1 cup of liquid and it's pretty thick.
Suggested products:
- THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder
- Bragg Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
- Glucomannan
- THM Organic Glucomannan
This is my go-to for easy THM “E” meals. Thank you so much for the recipe! I do warm my overnight oatmeal when ready to eat.
I made the scrumptious overnight oatmeal using option 1, chocolate. The 2 cups of almond milk seems like it is a lot though. I microwaved it 4 minutes, and it still seems very soupy. It is definitely yummy, but I am wondering if I could lessen the amount.
Is it still soupy after overnight refrigeration? (Option 1 is an overnight oatmeal recipe, so the overnight fridge time lets it soak up more liquid.) If so, feel free to decrease the almond milk until you find the consistency you like. If you’re just making the oatmeal in the morning to eat right away, follow Option 3, which calls for less liquid. 🙂
Oh my goodness you have a birthday bowl! The bowl you use in the first picture, we have the same bowl. We call it our birthday bowl, we only use it for birthdays. If it is your birthday, you get to eat whatever we have for breakfast in the birthday bowl. It’s a fun tradition we started when my girls were really young. <3 Thank you for the great recipes and THM tips.
That’s so neat! I’m sure I found this one at a thrift store somewhere. 🙂
Is it OK to add a scoop of collagen? I feel like I need more protein to get me through my morning. Thanks!
Absolutely! Great idea.
Question ???
I just got your new cookbook and love it! I read somewhere about how to not have chewy protein powder in oatmeal and now I can’t find where I read it. When do I add the protein powder to my oatmeal so it’s not chewy??? The collegan doesn’t get chewy but I try to alternate between the 2 depending on my food options for the day.
Blessings ?
I always whisk my protein into my oatmeal after cooking. If protein powder gets too hot it can tend to clump and get gritty. 🙂 I even let the oatmeal cool a bit and add all the other ingredients before adding the protein powder to give it time to cool down.
Do people comment that over-night oats raise blood sugar?
Hi Karen! Oatmeal is a fairly gentle carb so it’s not usually a problem for people without health issues, but if you have diabetes that’s probably something you’re going to have to monitor for yourself since different people react differently to various foods. 🙂
Briana, my daughter as visiting and brought her over nite oats recipe.
Can you tell me how to make it THM approved.
1/2c. Almond milk
3/4 teaspoon Chia seeds
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 cup oats
Mix and refrigerate.makes one serving..I think only maple syrup
would have to be eliminated.
Thank you, Randi Merlau
Hi Randi! If you omit the maple syrup and use an on-plan sweetener to taste, you’d have a yummy THM crossover.
Hi Briana, I LOVE your overnight apple pie oatmeal and the oatmeal made with apples to eat hot in the morning. Have you ever tried baking the overnight oatmeal (instead of having to leave the apple pie oatmeal in the refrigerator overnight)? Do you think that might work?
I know you’ve had many trials & I’d rather not waste these ingredients if you don’t think it would work.
Congratulations on your wedding! So happy for you!
Hi Cathy! I don’t think I’d try baking those; they’re formulated very differently from my baked oatmeal recipes and I don’t think they’d set up well in the oven. 🙂
I have a question. I microwaved for three minutes and it was very soupy. Did four more minutes and it was still kind of
soupy but less so. Should I have covered it with plastic wrap. I microwaved it without a covering on the bowl.
Thanks so much.
Hi Judith! I don’t usually cover mine, but microwaves vary in strength and I’m guessing that’s what’s making the difference. Try using less liquid next time. I assume you weren’t making the overnight version? If you make the overnight version, it will be soupy and the oatmeal will soak up the extra liquid overnight.
Nevermind, just saw it!!
Did I miss the directions somewhere? All I’m seeing are ingredients? We cook first overnight or just combine ingredients??
Are you really going to delete your original overnight oatmeal recipes that are on your old website? Please don’t! I like dumping everything in a jar and just putting in in the fridge! Your new recipes have different ingredients, too.
No, I probably won’t delete my old website in the near future, but if you just follow the directions in step number 6 in this recipe, you’ll have the same technique. 😉
Hi Briana, I tried your basic FP ice cream recipe and it was SO good that I went out and bought an ice cream maker 🙂 The first couple of times I just used ice cube trays. I’d love to make the chocolate and apple pie versions of this as I’ve never been a fan of oatmeal due to the texture and think this might make it better. I am having trouble with sweeteners – the amount you used in the ice cream recipe was spot on for me so we may have similar taste in amount of sweetener. I have gentle sweet and the pure extract powder, both from THM. Can you give me suggestions on how much of either of those to use? I made one of the mug recipes from their book the first day I started on this (I’ve only been doing THM for a week) and it was awful using the pure extract stevia. I was worried I had spent a lot of money on that powder for nothing but you use it in the ice cream and it was great with no aftertaste. So I’m thinking you are a sweetener expert lol. BTW I finally read through your website/blog and was stunned to find out you are a teenager. What a proud mom you must have! I told my 17-year-old son that the ice cream recipe I made again tonight was created by a 19-year-old (actually you may have even been younger when you created it) and he thought that was pretty cool! I also just read that the diet helped your skin. He’s having a real problem with that lately so i’m wondering if you think it’s the diet or the lack of sugar that’s helping?
Hi Joni! I’ll answer your last question first. I think that sugar has a LOT to do with how clear my skin is (or isn’t). I’m sure that clean eating in general has an affect as well, but sugar seems to be a key part of it.
As for your other question, I’m not quite sure what you’re asking. Are you asking how much stevia you should use in these oatmeal recipes? I’d use a few doonks, but the amount will probably vary according to which recipe you follow. Maybe start with 3 doonks, taste, and work your way up from there? It’s always best to start small, then add more and taste as you go. You can find some more tips about using stevia on this page (including a link to a helpful article over at Gwen’s Nest that gives a lot of stevia tips): https://www.briana-thomas.com/substitution-faqs-and-baking-tips/
Can several of these be made ahead of time in mason jars – for the grab and go option?
I’ve never done that and I don’t know how many days they would last in the fridge before getting too mushy, but I don’t see why you couldn’t!
This recipe is delicious! My mom and I are well on our way to being addicted to the Cafe’ Mocha version. I like to add about a teaspoon of chia seeds–it makes the oatmeal bulk up even better and adds some extra fiber. I’ve also tried combining this recipe with the Cookie Bowl Oatmeal from the THM book for a Fuel Pull breakfast or snack. Both ways are amazing, sort of like a Starbucks drink that actually fills you up. Keep up the good work–and especially the chocolate recipes. 🙂
Awesome! I’m so glad you like it!
The blueberry looks delicious! But im not sure I would like it cold as well as I would warm. Can I warm this up in the morning, the yogurt makes me wonder about reheating. These recipes all look great!
I’ve never tried heating these up after refrigerating overnight, but I’m sure it would work. 🙂 If you make the blueberry version, I would just wait to add the Greek yogurt until the next morning after you reheat it. Alternately, you could just use 1 cup of liquid instead of 1 1/2 and just make it like you would regular oatmeal fresh in the morning. This would not give you as large a volume, though.
Hi! I’m new to THM; what do you put with oatmeal for your protein? Thanks!
Oatmeal itself has some protein so you don’t have to add any additional protein if you don’t want to. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. Often I’ll add a scoop of low-fat cottage cheese on top (you could do the same with Greek yogurt, but I don’t like the tang of Greek yogurt with my chocolate oatmeal). You could also fry up two slices of turkey bacon to eat with your oatmeal.
Do you happen to know how long this will keep in the fridge? I would like to make some up ahead of time. Thank you!
I don’t know, Melissa; I’ve never kept it over a day. If you’re looking for a quick make-ahead option, you could mix up the dry ingredients in baggies (the chocolate version works especially well for this) to mix with water and vanilla and microwave every night for the next morning. With most of your ingredients already-measured, this wouldn’t take long at all to assemble. 🙂
Do you know if this would work without a microwave? Maybe in the crockpot?
I’ve never tried it without a microwave so I can’t say. The main principle is to cook the oats part-way in excess liquid, then let them finish soaking up the liquid overnight. You don’t want to cook the oats completely or they lose their soaking power. Keep that in mind and I’m sure you could make these on the stovetop at least.
Also on Katie’s recipe she states to stir in the chocolate ingredients in the morning, but you have to stir everything in the night before. Which do you find works better?
In the evening, like I stated in my recipe.
I used what I had in the pantry which was Steel Cut Oats. I let them cook the recommended time on the box. This morning there is no extra liquid in my mug and they are all dried out – to the point I could barely mix the coco powder and other ingredients in. Micro waving helped some, and I am still eating it 🙂 My guess is I let the oats cook for too long? Is it better to have too much liquid than too less? Thank you!
It sounds like you didn’t really follow my recipe, so I’m not sure what kind of trouble-shooting advice to give you.
If you’re using steel cut oats, you would need to use 1/4 cup of oats instead of 1/2 cup. I’ve been wondering if I could make overnight oats with steel cut oatmeal, but it would take a lot of experimenting with liquid to oat ratios.
Where do you get the flavorings like banana?
thanks
Julie
Walmart carries some, but I get a lot of mine from a local cake-decorating store. You can also get them off of Amazon. I like the Watkins and LorAnn brands. Here’s a link to a banana emulsion from LorAnn (affiliate link): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009G74AXG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B009G74AXG&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwbrianathom-20&linkId=ZTKY5SGJFWXDTSFD
Try this for overnight oatmeal:
1/4 heaping cup Old Fashion Mother’s Oats
1/4 cup Greek Yogurt
1/3 cup unsweetened Almond Milk
1 to 2 tsps. maple syrup or honey
Mix together and refrigerate overnight. No need to microwave. You can add a few raisins or nuts if you like. Pull out in the morning and eat cold. Yummmmmmy!
Thanks for the tip! Two problems with that, though. 1) Maple syrup and honey are high-glycemic sweeteners (they spike your blood sugar), and 2) I have a bigger appetite than that. 😛 That’s why I love the recipe I posted; because of the process used and the extra liquid, you get way more oatmeal than normal for your 1/2 cup serving! I’m glad you’ve found something you like, though.