The number of overnight oats recipes online is endless. It’s no surprise, overnight oats are high in fiber, easy to prepare, and store well in the fridge.

Recipe goals:

Nutrient-dense
Delicious
You don’t feel like you need to take a nap after eating it

What makes this recipe special?

It’s optimized for vitamins, minerals, anti-inflammatory, phytonutrient and antioxidant rich ingredients
1/2 of the recipe contains 11.5 grams of fiber
Want to get your cholesterol down? The soluble fiber in oats has a cholesterol-lowering effect

What’s in it?

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup plant milk

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cardamom

Pinch salt

1/2 cup frozen blueberries, wild if available

Squeeze of fresh lemon juice, optional

1 tbsp raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds, optional but recommended

1 tbsp raw, dried goji berries, optional but delicious

1/2-1 tbsp cacao nibs, optional

Options

Kite Hill Greek-style unsweetened yogurt

Hemp seeds or chia seeds

Unless you’re trying to add calories, I recommend choosing 1 seed for this recipe: pumpkin, chia or hemp

Bonus points: throw 1-2 tablespoons of chia seeds in a spice grinder to unlock the omega-3 fatty acids contained in the seeds. Top the finished recipe with freshly ground chia seeds.

Over-ripe banana

Have an extra banana lying around that looks like it should be going into the compost bin? Want more sweetness? Save your spotty banana and throw it into the jar with the oats.

Amla powder

Cooking instructions

Combine ingredients in a jar
Stir well to combine
Let the mixture sit in the fridge for at least 3 hours, or overnight
I like waiting 24 hours, for the best texture and taste.
Store in the fridge for 3-4 days

Shopping list

Rolled oats

I haven’t tested using steel cut oats in this recipe. As I wrote previously, oats from best option to worst option are: oats groats —> steel cut —> rolled —> quick cooking. I would avoid quick cooking.

Plant milk of choice

Check the ingredients, avoid products with any added sweeteners. If you’re concerned about protein, go for soy milk.

The phytoestrogens (not the same as estrogen!) in soy may also reduce perimenopause and menopause symptoms.

Ground cinnamon
Ground cardamom
Frozen blueberries, wild blueberries if available

I like Wyman’s frozen wild blueberries. I also use Whole Foods 365 brand.

Raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds

I found these in the bulk bin section at Whole Foods.
Cost: $12.76 for .93 pounds. Cheaper than takeout, packed with iron.

Dried goji berries

“Goji berries are consumed as a functional food due to wide-range bioactive compounds with health-promoting properties.”

Equipment

You can prepare this in any jar or similar container. I’ve been using a Hydro Flask food jar. In the past, I’ve used a mason jar.

I have the 8 and 28 ounce Hydro Flask jars. I recommend the 20 ounce.

Hydro Flask food jar, 20 ounce, $35.95 on Amazon

Mason jar, 16 ounce — 2 jars for $8.49 on Amazon

*10g overnight oats ingredients in Cronometer*

Nutrition

serving size — full recipe
This is a large portion and can easily be divided into 2 servings.

Calories — 734
Fiber — 23 g
Sugars — 14 g, including 0 g added sugars
Fat — 24 g
Saturated fat — 6g
Protein — 32 g

More than half of the saturated fat comes from the cacao nibs.

Vitamin A — 161% DV
Iron — 113% DV
Potassium — 40% DV
Calcium — 13% DV
Zinc — 67% DV
Magnesium — 84% DV
Sodium — 25% DV

What else do you get?

B vitamins, folate, vitamins C, E, K, copper, manganese, phosphorous, selenium, 11 amino acids

*Cronometer data for 10g overnight oats*

Cooking notes

Quantity
Most recipes call for 1/2 cup rolled oats. I like doubling the recipe to 1 cup.
If you’re active, hungry and you eat it all, great. If 1 cup is too much, you have another serving ready to go for the following day.
Make it easy
You can eye ball all of the listed ingredients with the exception of the oats to milk ratio. No need to get out the measuring spoons or cups.
If you want to eye ball all of it, go for it! Nothing bad will happen if there’s too much milk, it just changes the consistency.
Protein
If you have a low calorie diet, you’ve measured your protein intake on a typical day of eating, and it’s below the target of 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight, I’d use soy milk in this recipe. I’d also use soy milk if you simply prefer it!
You can also add Kite Hill Greek-style yogurt for more protein.
1 cup soy milk + 1/3 cup Kite Hill Greek-style yogurt alone add 17.5 grams of protein.
Most of us can easily meet the recommended protein target without supplementing (i.e. powders) or planning for it. Eat until you’re full, eat a diversity of whole foods.
Your body stores excess protein as fat.
Cacao nibs
Add nice texture and taste, also caffeine. Cacao is high in fat. Unlike kale, more is not better. Omit if you have a weight loss goal or seek to reduce the fat in your diet.
I first learned about cacao nibs from a woman doing bodywork (massage therapist) at a yoga retreat in Costa Rica. That was 2005. Shoutout to Allison for our many yoga adventures. 👋

What’s your breakfast strategy?

Thanks for reading!

Want more content like this?
Subscribe to have the blog post delivered straight to your inbox weekly.

Eat plants. 🥦 Hydrate.🚰 Move.🤸 Prioritize sleep. 🛌

Disclaimer

Please note that some of the links on this website are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link. Unless I’ve noted otherwise, all links are to products I use and love.

Your support in purchasing through these links enables me to keep the content free for everyone. Thank you for your support!

Recipe: blueberry pumpkin seed overnight oats