Overnight Oats
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and something I look forward to as soon as I wake up. I try to avoid coffee or tea at the start of the day, so I am always on a lookout for healthy breakfast recipes.
What can be a more healthy and balanced breakfast for vegetarians other than Oats? 🙂
Overnight oats is my favorite form of having oatmeal. Along with being healthy, I love the fact that it’s a make-ahead recipe and saves me time during my rushed and busy mornings.
After many trial batches I have figured out my and my husband’s favorite version. Here are some of my learnings during the experimentation:
Oats – I love the texture of old-fashioned rolled oats and steel-cut oats. Instant or quick oats make the oatmeal mushy.
Chia seeds – Lot of recipes have chia seeds as optional, but I think they are a key ingredient. I love the way my base has a pudding-like consistency, thanks to chia seeds as they soak the milk and are nice and fluffy by morning. Also, chia seeds are loaded with fiber and Omega-3.
Nut butter – This gives a creamy texture to the oatmeal which I not very fond of. So, I usually skip the nut butter and have this as optional on my ingredient list.
Milk – My personal favorite is home-made almond milk but if I am out of it, then I use dairy milk.
Yogurt – I love a tangy flavor in my oatmeal so I add some yogurt but this is optional.
Strawberries – Again, I like a tangy flavor so I loved the version when I added finely chopped strawberries to the base itself.
Fruits and nuts – I did not like the batch when I added fruits and nuts at night. Instead, add them in the morning just before eating so that they are crunchy and nice.
Chocolate chip surprise – Adding chocolate chips is a nice surprise sometimes, specially if you want to entice kids to eat.
Ingredients (Serving size – 1):
- 1/2 cup, Oats of your choice (old-fashioned or quick or steel-cut oats)
- 1/2 cup, Milk of your choice (dairy or almond or coconut or cashew milk)
- 2 tbsp, Greek yogurt (optional)
- 2tbsp, Honey or maple syrup
- 2tbsp, Chia seeds
- 1tbsp, Peanut or almond or cashew nut or hazelnut butter (optional)
- 3-4, Strawberries
- 1, Banana
- 12-15, Blueberries
- 1tbsp, Chopped walnuts
- 1tbsp, Sliced almonds
- Chocolate chips or chocolate syrup (optional)
Instructions:
- First step is to create the base for your Oatmeal. For the base, combine together oats, milk, yogurt, honey and chia seeds in a mason jar or a bowl. Give a nice stir.
- I like a tangy taste blended into the oats so I add about 1tbsp of finely chopped strawberries to this base. If you like a creamy texture, you can add any nut butter to the base as well. Then close the lid and store in the refrigerator overnight.
- In the morning, this base is of a pudding-like consistency and creamy, if you want some liquid consistency you can add some milk here.
- Top with blueberries, sliced strawberries, bananas, chopped walnuts, chopped almonds and chocolate chips. Here is the healthiest breakfast ready!
- Like, I mentioned there are many variations you can make your oats. You can top with any fruits and nuts of your choice.
Overnight Oats are generally served chilled and are great during summer and warm mornings, but you can warm up the base if you prefer warm oatmeal. Feel free to get creative and rock your own version of it 🙂
Wow! Looking forward to more 😀
Definitely, excited to share more soon!
Wow…this looks yummywill surely try
Please share your experience and how your version turned out 🙂
Loved the twist given to the basic boaring oats.
Loved the twist given to the basic boring oats.
Yes, and the best part it is they are raw oats, and loaded with ton of fiber.