Learn how to make overnight oats! This easy, make-ahead breakfast is perfect for busy mornings. Find my base recipe plus 4 fun variations below.
When someone asks me for an easy, healthy breakfast idea, this overnight oats recipe is the first thing I suggest. It’s perfect for busy mornings, as you can make individual servings ahead of time and take them on the go. It’s also satisfying enough to keep you full till lunch, made with simple ingredients like oats, chia seeds, and (optional) yogurt. But best of all, it’s fun.
What could be fun about oatmeal, you ask? Well, this yummy breakfast is endlessly customizable. Once you learn how to make overnight oats, you can experiment with mix-ins like cocoa powder or vanilla extract or pile on toppings like nuts, seeds, and fresh fruit. To get you started, I’m sharing four tasty variations (+ my go-to base recipe!) below. Try them out, and then get creative making your overnight oats your own!
Overnight Oats Recipe Ingredients
When I first started making overnight oats, I kept them really simple, using just oats and almond milk. But after a little experimentation, I realized that adding chia seeds to overnight oats takes them to a whole new level. They give the oats a delicious thick and creamy texture, sort of like that of chia pudding. They also add protein, fiber, and healthy fats. What’s not to love?
Now, I use these ingredients in my go-to overnight oats recipe:
- Whole rolled oats – Also known as old fashioned oats. Quick oats and steel-cut oats will NOT work here. Quick oats will be too mushy, while steel-cut oats will be chewy and tough.
- Chia seeds – For extra protein and the perfect thick and creamy texture.
- Almond milk – Or any milk you like! Dairy milk and oat milk both work well. Coconut milk adds rich flavor and yields an especially creamy texture.
- Maple syrup – For sweetness. Honey works too.
- And a pinch of salt – To make the oats extra-flavorful.
If you like, you can stir in Greek yogurt as well. It adds more protein and makes the oats creamier. Skip it to make this recipe dairy-free.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
The Best Overnight Oats Ratio
Back when I made overnight oatmeal with just oats and milk, I used equal parts old fashioned rolled oats and milk.
Now that I add chia seeds, I like to use a little more liquid so that my oats don’t get too thick.
I use this ratio: 1/2 cup oats to 2/3 cup milk to 1 tablespoon chia seeds. When I make overnight oats with yogurt, I stir in 1/4 cup Greek yogurt to make them extra-creamy.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Overnight Oats
My method for how to make overnight oats is super simple! Here’s how it goes:
- Place the oats, chia seeds, maple syrup or honey, salt, and yogurt, if using, in a lidded container or jar.
- Pour in the almond milk, and stir thoroughly to combine. Make sure that there are no chia seeds clumped around the bottom or sides of the jar!
- Cover and store overnight, or for up to 5 days, in the fridge.
When you’re ready to eat, give the oats another stir, add your desired toppings, and enjoy!
To meal prep overnight oats, set out a Mason jar for each serving you want to prep. Add all the ingredients EXCEPT the milk to each jar. Then, add the milk to one jar and stir that jar together before adding the milk to the next. I find that adding the milk to one jar at a time helps prevent the chia seeds from getting too clumpy. Once you mix up all the overnight oats, cover and store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to eat!
I recommend waiting to add your favorite toppings until the morning you plan to eat your oats. That way, nuts, seeds, and granola will stay crunchy, and fruit will stay bright and fresh.
Overnight Oats Recipe Variations
Now for the fun part: flavor variations! Here are four that I really love:
1. Apple Pie Overnight Oats
I stir applesauce and warm spices into the creamy oat base and top it off with diced apples and toasted pecans for crunch. If I have them on hand, I also add a scoop of my stovetop cinnamon apples to this variation. They taste like the inside of an apple pie!
2. Peach Crisp Overnight Oats
Topped with sweet, juicy peach slices and nutty granola, this overnight oatmeal is an ode to my favorite peach crisp.
3. PB&J Overnight Oats
I load up this variation with creamy peanut butter and a strawberry chia jam that packs a HUGE punch of berry flavor. Fresh strawberries and raspberries amp up that flavor even more, and toasted peanuts add the perfect crunch. For a twist on this variation, swap almond butter and toasted almonds for the peanut butter and peanuts.
4. Chocolate Banana Bread Overnight Oats
I stir cocoa powder, mashed banana, cinnamon, and nutmeg into this variation’s base to give it a rich, chocolatey banana bread flavor. Sliced bananas, walnuts, and chocolate chips top it off.
I hope you love these variations! But remember – you can also feel free to make your oats your own.
Other Topping Ideas
Try stirring spices or protein powder into the oat base, or experiment with toppings like seasonal fresh fruit, dried fruit, coconut flakes, nuts, seeds, or nut butters.
If you find a combination you love, let me know in the comments below!
More Favorite Healthy Breakfasts
If you love this recipe, try one of these healthy breakfasts next:
- Chia Seed Pudding
- Instant Pot Steel-Cut Oats
- Baked Oatmeal
- Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
- Healthy Blueberry Muffins
- Or any of these 60 Healthy Breakfast Ideas!

Overnight Oats
Equipment
Ingredients
Base Recipe
- ½ cup whole rolled oats
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- ½ teaspoon maple syrup, plus more for serving
- Pinch sea salt
- ¼ cup whole milk Greek yogurt, optional
- ⅔ cup unsweetened almond milk
Variations:
Apple Pie
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon or apple pie spice
- Diced apple
- Chopped pecans
- Cinnamon Apples, optional
Peach Crisp
- Peach slices
- Granola
PB&J
- Chia Jam, see note
- Peanut butter
- Chopped strawberries
- Raspberries
- Chopped peanuts
Chocolate Banana Bread
- ½ banana, mashed
- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch nutmeg
- Banana slices
- Chopped walnuts
- Chocolate chips
Instructions
- Make the base recipe: In a Mason jar or other lidded jar, place the oats, chia seeds, maple syrup, salt, and Greek yogurt, if using.
- Add the almond milk and stir until the mixture is well combined and there are no clumps of chia seeds at the bottom of the jar. Cover and refrigerate overnight, or for up to 5 days.
- In the morning, top with your desired toppings and serve with drizzles of maple syrup.
- For apple pie overnight oats, stir the applesauce and cinnamon into the overnight oat base. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning, top with diced apple, chopped pecans, and cinnamon apples and drizzles of maple syrup, if desired.
- For peach crisp overnight oats, make the plain overnight oat base. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning, top with peach slices, granola, and drizzles of maple syrup, if desired.
- For PB&J overnight oats, make the plain overnight oat base. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning, top with chia jam, peanut butter, chopped strawberries, raspberries, and chopped peanuts.
- For chocolate banana bread overnight oats, stir the mashed banana, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg into the overnight oat base. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning, top with banana slices, chopped walnuts, chocolate chips, and drizzles of maple syrup, if desired.
Notes
- 1 pound strawberries
- ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- Pinch of sea salt
- 3 tablespoons chia seeds
I made this for the Love & Lemons cooking club. My pb&j version was a perfect breakfast! Cute, filling, and simple. This is one I would definitely do again.
Hi Emiley, thanks for joining in the club! I’m so glad you enjoyed the oats.
One of my favorite go to breakfast recipes! Love adding PB2 powder instead of peanut butter to have the flavor, but not the full density of actual peanut butter! Another favorite way to change it up is to add Frozen Cherries the night before!
Hi Milly, great tip about the PB2 powder! So glad you love the oats.
This is such a great, customizable meal prep option! I’ve made the apple pie and chocolate banana versions and then used to base to riff off of with the produce I’ve had. Some favorite combos have been lemon blueberry and kiwi raspberry!
Hi Ari, I love the kiwi raspberry idea! I’ll have to try that one
Apple Pie Overnight Oats, Who Knew! This has been the tastiest Overnight oats recipe that I have tried! I am lactose intolerant and subbed silk plain almond milk yogurt and it was amazing. The right consistency, not too thick. I am trying banana chocolate bread next!
Hi Melanie, aww yay! So glad you loved the recipe.
I’ve finally cracked the code to perfect overnight oats with this recipe! I feel like they are the perfect thickness, amount, and the small bit of chia seeds adds just a bit of texture without being weird. Some days when I want it a bit thicker, I increase to 1/2 cup yogurt and cut the milk. Either way is so delicious and is honestly making my mornings so much easier! The best part is how customizable these are – I’ve even subbed out the milk for coffee one day and added in some cocoa powder for a fun mocha kinda deal. Let your imagination run wild with these – you will not regret trying it 🙂
Hi Adelaide, thanks for this sweet comment! I’m so glad you love the recipe and that you’re having fun changing it up 🙂
Overnight oats are my favorite breakfast to make. They are perfect for busy work mornings. I slightly modified the apple pie variation by using only 1 teaspoon chia seeds, 1/2 cup soy milk and then adding some hemp seeds and vegan yogurt. Very hearty and filling.
Sounds delicious, Shira!
Love chia pudding so I am very excited about this recipe! I’ll have to wait overnight to taste it 😉
The only overnight oats recipe I will ever need! The perfect slight sweetness and base for toppings. I added banana and almond butter!
So glad you love the recipe, Frankie!
Thank you for this month’s challenge – adds a little pep in my step for Sunday meal prep ; I added blueberry jam and cacao nibs. I also love the previous commenter’s suggestion of candied ginger… saving that for next week : )
Hi Stacy, so glad you enjoyed prepping the oats! Love the idea of using blueberry jam, that sounds delicious. I agree about the candied ginger too!
1/3 c. Of:
Oatmeal
Oat milk
Yogurt
Strawberry Compote
Add:
Nuts
Coconut
Dried fruit
Hi Darilyn, ooh I love the idea of mixing in strawberry compote!
I’m so glad you did the overnight oats challenge! I was gearing up to make some–great minds think alike! I made mine today–four jars. I used almond milk and a combo of oats and 10 grain flakes. I put vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg in the milk and just a little coconut sugar. I put chia seeds and coconut in the oats. We’ll see how they turn out tomorrow–im excited!🙌
Hi Lisa, aww yay! What a great coincidence. I love the idea of mixing the 10 grain flakes into the oats, sounds delicious.
I heard of overnight oats but was scarred from a bad experience with girl camping where they buried the oatmeal overnight in a hole with a fire in it.😝 Started over with your recipe and now I wake up in the morning thinking of it! My fave new breakfast! Or snack!
So glad you love the recipe, Kat!
Love this overnight oats recipe. I added Vanilla yogurt, flax seeds and a scoop of vanilla protein powder to the recipe. In the morning I topped it with raspberries, slivered almonds, chocolate chips and a drizzle of honey. My kids even loved it (the chocolate chips helped)!
My go-to oatmeal recipe has added at the start craisins, raisins, chopped candied ginger, chopped walnuts, sunflower, pumpkin & sesame seeds (& some extra liquid to puff up the dried fruit) and PB, then chopped apple on the top.
Healthy and delicious! Love having breakfast ready for me in the morning so I can just grab and go! The addition of the chia jam is fantastic!
I love that this recipe has chia seeds and Greek yogurt. I added flax seeds and vanilla to the recipe. I appreciate how simple and satisfying the overnight oats are. This morning I put banana, macadamia nuts and a drizzle of passion fruit jelly on top. I love the versatility of the recipe.
Delicious! I’d never had them before. Made mine with 1/4cup lowfat Geek yogurt, and whole milk, as that’s what I had on hand. Topped them with blueberries. Will be putting these on repeat! Wish I’d known about these when I was working and commuting! The would have been perfect to bring in my backpack!
I love overnight oats – can meal prep and make it different every time, but never thought about PB&J ones – so creative and so delicious. My son enjoys too!
Just made the chocolate banana bread one! Yum!!!
So glad you loved it, Mj!
First time I prepared and ate overnight oats. I didn’t know what to expect. It was a great success (for the whole family) and I’ll be preparing them again. Thank you!
Hi Cynthia, I’m so glad you loved them!