Easy Overnight Oats

Most of us run out of time every morning while we try to get ready for the day. Something that I have started to do is make easy overnight oats for breakfast for my wife, son and I the night before.

Overnight oats is so incredibly easy, it’s healthy, cheap and doesn’t even use much electricity, and you can change things up by adding different toppings so that you never get bored of it.

Health benefits of oats

High in protein
High in fibre
Can help with weight loss by keeping you feeling full for longer
Low GI
High in antioxidants

How to cook your easy overnight oats

Overnight oats is basically preparing oats without cooking them, using time instead of heat. Instead of putting oats and water in a pot and boiling it on the stove until the oats have absorbed water and are cooked, you soak the raw oats in milk for a few hours, preferably overnight. If you don’t like the idea of soaking the oats in milk, or if you are vegan, you can soak them in water or a plant milk like almond, coconut, cashew or oat milk. Use raw rolled oats for the best consistency. Processed ‘instant’ oats don’t work well.

When you wake up you’re greeted with a creamy, delicious bowl of oats that’s ready to eat.

In a bowl I soak ¾ cup oats and about 1 tablespoon of chia seeds in ¾ cup milk. The chia seeds also soften and swell in the milk, making the oats more pudding-like. That’s the base, and from there you can get creative. A bit of plain yoghurt, a touch of cinnamon or vanilla extract and some honey all add depth of flavour as well as health benefits, and these can all be added at the same time as the oats and milk. In the morning you can top it off with fresh or dried fruit, nuts (or nut butter) and other spices. Overnight oats can be eaten cold or warmed up before eating.

Some great combos are:

Strawberries and peanuts, along with some peanut butter and even strawberry jam.
Strawberries, vanilla yoghurt and chocolate chips.
Diced kiwi, diced pineapple, plain Greek yoghurt and coconut flakes.
Blueberry yoghurt, plain Greek yoghurt, blueberries, lemon zest and honey.
Apple, cinnamon, pecans and honey or syrup.
Banana and cocoa, or banana and Nutella for something even more decadent. (Although it’s hard to convince you’re having a healthy breakfast when there’s Nutella in it!)
Almonds, coconut flakes, honey or syrup and choc chips.