Greetings! Might I ask how is it Thursday already!?
Easy Vegan Overnight Oats
Adapted from Ohh May’s Vegan Overnight Oats.
PM Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup regular oats
- 1 cup almond milk, and more if needed
- 1-2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 ripe banana, peeled and smashed
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions: Mix together the above ingredients in a bowl and place in fridge overnight.
This picture was actually taken after 1 hour in the fridge…I was like a kid on X-mas Eve and just had to peek at the presents before bed!
Mental rotation…
Little known fact about me- I am HORRIBLE at mental rotation- especially 3-D!
I am the type of person who turns a map… It is probably one of the things I do that irritates (and amuses) Eric the most. It is also probably the reason he bought me a GPS for my car… 
In the morning, remove bowl from fridge and add your magical toppings…
AM Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon nut butter
- Pure Maple Syrup
Directions: Serve nut butter in a spoon and drizzle Maple syrup over top. Serve overnight oats cold.
WOW, these were magical!
All mixed up!
I admit, the whole thought of eating oats COLD without cooking them totally turned me off…it just sounded GROSS…and wrong…but ohhh was this so RIGHT!
I think the banana is key in the oat mixture to add sweetness and the toppings really make it come alive into something exciting to eat!
I thought because I didn’t have any yogurt it would be a huge fail, but by increasing the chia seeds and almond milk, I was able to mimic the yogurt consistency.
The best part of it is that it took literally 2 minutes to whip together and throw in the fridge the night before. These would be a great option for summer when you don’t feel like a hot bowl of oats.
I did up the nutritional information because I know how much you guys love it!
This nutritional information includes: 1/3 cup oats, 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk, 2 tablespoons chia seeds, and 1 small banana.
9 grams of protein and 11 grams of fibre before you even add any toppings- nice! 
Updates:
- New Green Monster posts are up on GMM!
Today’s question- Have you ever tried overnight oats? How do you make them? If you haven’t tried them, would you?
I was scared, but I took one for the team and gave it a whirl…and I am so glad I did. I can see myself experimenting with all different kinds of concoctions!
I’m off to get my Glo Bar delivery ready for the STORE!!
{ 145 comments… read them below or add one }
I just got on the overnight oats wagon and now I am obsessed. I’ve had them every day for a week! I agree that banana is key – it gives it such a good texture and sweetness throughout. I also like to add canned organic pumpkin to the mix to give it a fiber boost. Yum!
such a great idea about the pumpkin!
If you like pumpkin, take out the banana and put some pumpkin in…if you add the “typical” pumpkin pie spices, it tastes a lot like pumpkin pie for breakfast!
I wasn’t sure about cold oats either until I tried them in the fall. I’m definitely a convert. I love them!
pumpkin pie sounds right up my alley!
No I’ve never tried them because I’ve been a bit scared of them, and also wondered if they would work without full dairy yoghurt etc.
But I am so going to do this now. I think I will add some fruit too. Thank you for veganising
I love overnight oats, I don’t have them very often but when I do it’s yummy! Great timing for this recipe as I want to cut down a bit on dairy for a while, so vegan overnight oats all the way! The only thing is, I can’t find chia seeds in my local health stores here in Brussels, I’ll have to find a way around it or order them somewhere as I’ve been wanting to try them anyway!
Thanks for sharing!
I tried to find chia seeds in Switzerland and went to about six different health food stores. They didn’t even know what chia seeds are! After some searching in the internet, I found out that the laws of the European Union don’t allow the import of chia seeds. Though I found a company in Germany, but with all the customs duties it was way too expensive. One pound of chia seeds would have cost me about 50 dollars!
Thanks Nicole, I understand now why I couldn’t find them… Wow so the EU allows for GMO in potatoes but won’t allow the import of chia seeds or stevia, go figure!
Hey Emmanuellee. We do get stevia in Switzerland. But it wasn’t allowed for some time. But now you even get stevia in supermarkets! Hope that this will happen to chia seeds as well…
I live in Germany and was looking for them too. I actually have found them through an online store called Gojiking.co.uk It has a fantastic range of things and I had no problem getting them here to Germany from the UK. They stock all sorts of super foods that you can’t find here. Hope this helps.
Thanks Mandy, I will check it out!
I first tried overnight oats a few years ago. It is the perfect breakfast when you’re short on time but you need some sustained energy. Oats are so good at filling me up and keeping me full for hours. I love your addition of chia. I like my oats with cinnamon and raisins.
I always make mine with greek yogurt pumpkin lots of cinnamon and oats ( since your vegan maybe soy yogurt would work
), they come out so creamy and delish! topped with sliced banana and walnuts !
Usually I make them with banana and yogurt and they are awesome!
I jsut can’t get into overnight oats! They taste like plain dough to me, no matter how much I season them!
add cocoa powderrrrr
I love overnight oats! I can’t wait to try your version
I’m not a huge fan of overnight oats. I’ve tried them a few times. I think I just prefer a hot meal in the morning. Unless it’s a GM of course.
I think I actually had texture issues with my overnight oats. Maybe my milk/oats ratio was off.
My jury is still out on overnight oats. The consistency just isn’t right for me when using yogurt + oats…too thick for oats maybe? Maybe thinning it with some milk would help…and I really like the chia seed idea!
Overnight oats are muesli that actually originated in Switzerland at the turn of the 20th century by a physician by the name of Bircher-Benner for his patients. They are sometimes called Bircher-Benner oats or Birchermuesli.
You can google it for the original recipe but I believe it includes some proportion of oats, apples, cream, lemon juice, nuts, and raisins.
Definitely not Alton Brown.
thanks will look him up!
I echo the definitely not Alton Brown. I’ve been eating overnight oats since I was a small child. I think my Dad replicated the muesli noted above. I also eat them hot – I find that soaking them overnight and then microwaving them gets similar results to cooking on a stove top. This also works great if you are going to add dried fruit to the oatmeal that you want to get a bit plumper.
Oh right…I saw this on the side of the Bob’s Red Mill Muesli bag about the Swiss soaking their oats overnight. Genius, whoever it was!
Overnight oats are delicious!! I let them soak in a mix of yogurt and almond milk…mmmmmm, mmmmm.
I saw them on a menu once as Swiss oats– I wonder if that’s where the idea originated? Not sure…
I have never tried overnight oats …but now I think I will
Thanks for posting! I will try to do this next time I am on the road and don’t have a kettle in my room.
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it!
Thanks for sharing this post! I have yet to try overnight oats, due to that same fear of grossness. But this has helped convince me and I’m glad I’ll be able to enjoy my oats for breakfast even though the weather has gotten warmer. Thanks
whoa I never knew that overnight oats were COLD . .. okay I’m going to have to muster up some courage for these some times
I don’t do “overnight” oats, but I do throw milk on some oats on my way out the door in a Tupperware and eat when I get to work (less than 1 minute needed). I toss in a baggie I prepare ahead of time which has pepitas, brown sugar, almonds/pecans, and cranberries. Easy and delicious!
LOVE Alton Brown for so many reasons. I have never made overnight oats myself buuut yeah, I have always admired them from afar in the blogosphere. They look absolutely amazing!
I have never tried overnight oats, but they definitely look good! I will have to give them a shot. Where do you purchase chia seeds?
Also, I LOVE Alton Brown! He combines two of my favorite things… food and chemistry!
superseeds.ca
I love overnight oats! I usually make them with yogurt and chia….yum
Wow yours looks 100% better than mine!!
Hahaha I’m horrible at those mental rotation tests too…
The banana totally makes the oats, so true!
Well, I feel dumb. I’ve always heated mine after. Who knew you were supposed to eat them cold? They look good, but like you I’m a little skeptical about the temperature. I might cheat and microwave them still.
My version of overnight oats involves soaking my steel-cut oats before cooking them in the morning. Alton Brown (AB to his fans!) uses a slow cooker to prepare his oats overnight, so a hot breakfast is ready in the morning. I agree with Samantha Angela: this delicious recipe sounds like Bircher muesli. YUM.
By the way, one of my friends frequently adds soaked, rolled oats to his protein shakes! You might like to try it. Simply soak a half-cup of rolled oats in water or juice for at least 20 minutes, then blend with protein powder and fruit or whatever you like in your smoothies!
I love overnight oats! I usually mix 1/2 cup old fashioned oats, 1/2 cup almond milk, a LOT of cinnamon, 1 smushed banana, 2 tablespoons flax seed oil, and a handful of goji berries to an almost empty nut butter jar. It’s a great way to get the extra nut butter out that is stuck to the sides and rim
I’ve finally found chia seeds at a local market, so next time I will definitely add some.
One of my biggest worries when I went vegan almost a year ago was how to replace my beloved Greek yogurt in my overnight oats – but you’re right, I’ve found that the combo of mashed banana + chia seeds + almond milk does the trick! I usually throw in half a scoop of brown rice protein powder too for a little extra boost and the stevia sweetness!
Now I play around with all kind of variations – cocoa powder and PB for Reese’s oats, canned pumpkin, walnuts, and raisins for pumpkin-pie oats…the possibilities are endless! The other day I did lemon-zucchini-poppyseed overnight oats (inspired by the muffins I was making) by adding some shredded zucchini, crushed pineapple, poppyseeds, and lemon zest to the usual mix. It was DIVINE – highly recommended!
Thanks for the amazing blog Angela! Blogs like yours have been SO important for me as I’ve overcome by disordered eating tendencies (and transitioned to veganism!). You are a fantastic healthy role model and a source of constant inspiration!!
I make mine the exact same way- with almond milk and chia seeds! I like to add frozen cherries and vanilla to mine the night before and top it off with almond butter in the morning. So good!
I totally turn maps according to where we’re going!! I just can’t get it if I don’t! I’ve tried Alton Brown’s oats in the crockpot before, and I did not like them at all! I thought they were very bland, and if I recall correctly very watery-not how I like my oats! I might have to try the overnight oats though, and have them cold, now that the weather is getting warmer here in NC.
I really want to try overnight oats but I used my last banana today.:( I wonder if a thawed frozen banana or pumpkin puree would work instead?
I had overnight oats this morning for my first time too!! Mine were made with greek yogurt and almond milk. I added mixed berries and a banana and some stevia for some sweet. They were just so so but yours look amazing. I think I shall try your version soon!
I have tried overnight steel cut oats and didn’t like the texture… but I will try your recipe, sounds yummy!
I have a healthy living question for you… what do you use to clean your house? I have made some big changes to my eating, stopped the fake sugars, been exercising regularly, etc. I feel great and want to continue this healthy lifestyle. I have been wondering about healthy cleaning products. I’d love to hear your thoughts and wonder what your readers use, too. Love your blog!
It’s not vegan-friendly, but I love overnight oats with cottage cheese instead of yogurt. Any way you make ‘em, they’re a great quickie breakfast!
THANK YOU for posting about overnight oats without yogurt! I LOVE yogurt and I LOVE oatmeal but I seem to NOT love the two together! I’ve tried overnight oats and didn’t like it because of the yogurt. I’ll definitely give it a shot without the yogurt though as I love the idea of overnight oats, gives me more time in the mornings for other things!
YUM I love overnight oats!!! They are the best! I liked to have them ready for breakfast last summer after coming in from a morning run. So good!! I didn’t know they were from Alton Brown though, the first person that I learned about them from was Kath.
i have tried them and was NOT a fan…i didn’t love the cold oats and the texture was just off. i think i’d rather have cold yogurt with homemade toasted oats on top or something like that where the texture matches my expectation in taste (does that make sense?)
Mmm Overnight Oats are great for my mornings on the run! I like to use vanilla soymilk, almond butter, banana, some walnuts, if I’m in the mood for added creaminess I’ll add some yogurt to the mix, and top it off with a sprinkling of cinnamon. So good!!
Favorite method of overnight oats is equal parts almond milk, greek yogurt and oats. Obviously not vegan, but delicioso
I just started making overnight oats to save time in the morning. I use steel cut oats because I like the crunchy texture. I add Hemp milk, flax, and the oats for overnight, then in the morning, I mix in some cinnamon, a small banana, a bit of yoghurt, and a spoonful of crunchy almond butter. Yummy!
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