Make mornings effortless with my creamy overnight oats with chia seeds. This wholesome, make-ahead breakfast perfect for busy days! Combining old-fashioned oats, your choice of milk, chia seeds, and a touch of sweetener, this base recipe is endlessly customizable. Try one of my ten suggest flavor combos!
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📖Why My Recipe Works
Overnight oats are nothing new but my blend has the perfect consistency, not too stogey and not too thin. While also being perfectly sweetened with brown sugar.
🧾Ingredient Notes
- Oats- Old-fashioned rolled oats. Use gluten-free, if needed. Quick cook oats can be used but it is not recommended to make them more than one day ahead. I don't recommend steel-cut oats for cold soaking.
- Chia Seeds- Chia seeds give overnight oats that thick pudding-like texture and add extra nutrients but feel free to leave them out if you aren’t a fan.
- Sugar- I prefer brown sugar because I need less and get more flavor. You can use coconut sugar, cane sugar, maple syrup, or honey.
- Milk- Macadamia nut milk is my flavor but most of my readers choose regular milk or almond milk.
- Kosher Salt- A little salt is needed to help bring out the nutty flavor in the oats and help your flavor mix-ins shine.
The Best Overnight Oat Flavors
There is no shortage of great ideas for overnight oats. Note: quantities are for one serving of oats.
- Chunky Monkey- ½ banana sliced, 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts, and 1 tablespoon chocolate chips
- Mexican Chocolate- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, pinch of cayenne (if you dare!)
- Mixed Berry- ⅓ cup each of sliced strawberries and blueberries, ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pumpkin Pie- ⅓ cup of pureed pumpkin (I use canned but fresh works), ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pina Colada- ½ cup diced pineapple, 1 tablespoon shredded coconut, ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract (I really like this version for the grain-free)
- Peanut Butter and Jelly- 2 tablespoons peanut butter (or sub almond butter) and 2 tablespoons of your favorite jam (we like strawberry)
- Fall Harvest- ⅓ cup sliced apple, ¼ cup dried cranberries, 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- Carrot Cake- ¼ cup shredded carrots, 1 tablespoon chopped pecans, 1 tablespoon raisins, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- Blueberry Cardamom- ½ cup fresh blueberries, 1 teaspoon ground cardamom, pinch of lemon zest (optional but good!)
- Cherry Almond- ⅓ cup dried cherries (or ½ dried cherries, halved), ¼ teaspoon vanilla, 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
More Quick Breakfast Recipes
Troubleshooting Overnight Oats
You tackled the overnight oats craze but things didn’t turn out as planned. Let’s review the most common overnight oats mistakes so that yours turn out perfectly every time.
Why are my overnight oats so thick/ soupy?
Simply put, not adding enough liquid. At their most basic, overnight oats are raw rolled oats. Meaning, they need the right amount of liquid to break down and soften to the perfect spoonable consistency. If the oats to liquid ratio is off you either get something akin to freshly mixed concrete or oatmeal soup.
Not stirring before eating is the most common mistake. Oatmeal mixes can separate overnight, it is a good idea to always stir before chowing down. Typically, this will resolve any consistency issues.
If your mix is still too thick, simply add 1-2 tablespoons of milk or water until you get the right consistency.
If your mixture if too thin, you can add oats or chia seeds to absorb the liquid. But that takes a few hours. For a quick fix I add a nut butter, like almond or peanut, to quickly thicken the soupy oats.
Why are my overnight oats chewy?
This happens for two reasons, either you used steel-cut oats or you didn’t allow the overnight oats to soak for long enough. Steel-cut oats are thicker than old-fashioned oats so they are not recommended for overnight oats.
And while you don’t actually have to soak overnight oats overnight, it is recommended that you let them soak at least 4 hours. Anything less will result in an overly chewy texture.
My oats disintegrated!
This typically happens for three reasons:
- Using the wrong kind of oats. Instant oats will break down after sitting in the fridge overnight. Stick with old-fashioned regular or thick rolled oats for the best results.
- They were left in the fridge too long. No more than 1-2 days for quick-cooking oats and 5 days for old-fashioned oats.
- You used a protein powder that was too strong or too much protein powder and it broke down the oats. I love protein oats but they can be finicky. I don’t recommend adding more than one tablespoon of powder or making them more than one day ahead.
Help! I can’t get my mix-ins right!
The best part of overnight oats is that there are an endless variety of flavors. Let’s break down the common mistakes when flavoring your overnight oats.
- You didn’t add salt. All overnight oats need a pinch of salt to bring out the flavor. Otherwise, they can just taste like school paste. Yuck! Cold food needs to be salted.
- You waited too long to add your spices. Flavors like vanilla extract, cinnamon, or citrus peel need to be added the night before to ensure they have time to open up.
- Under or over-sweetening is a matter of preference. But if you don’t add some type of fruit it is recommended that you sweeten your overnight oats with coconut sugar, honey, or maple syrup. If you find they are under-sweetened you can always drizzle a little honey on top.
- Nuts and seeds should be added right before eating. You don’t want them to break down or soften. There is a reason you soak nuts before making nut milk. Soaking nuts definitely will soften them. And overnight oats with nuts are no exception so save adding nuts and seeds until right before eating. The exceptions to this rule are chia seeds and flax seeds which need time to absorb the liquid to make them more digestible.
- Fresh fruits should be added right before eating as well. As the acid fruits can break down the oats resulting in a soupy texture. The one exception to this rule is mashed banana, which can be added in advance.
- Dried fruits can be added right before eating or the night before. It is a matter of preference. Dried fruit will absorb some of the liquid which reduces the chewiness. I prefer to add dates, figs, and cranberries in the night before because of their chewiness. Dried berries, apricots, and other fruits I add right before eating.
Did you enjoy making this recipe? Show it some love with ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a comment! Hungry for more? Get more flavorful recipes!
📖 Recipe Card
Overnight Oats with Chia Seeds (10 Flavors!)
Ingredients
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats certified gluten-free if needed
- 3 Tablespoons chia seeds
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅔ cup milk regular or plant based
Instructions
- Mix together all dry ingredients and divide between two jars. Pour ⅓ cup of milk into each. Stir to combine.1 cup old-fashioned oats, 3 Tablespoons chia seeds, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Cover and store in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.⅔ cup milk
Notes
- Substitute granulated sugar, or omit and stir in honey or maple syrup into the milk.
- See post for loads of flavor ideas.
🌡️Storage
Overnight oats typically last 4-5 days in the fridge when stored in an airtight container depending on the mix ins added.Nutrition
Overnight Oats Common Questions
Overnight oatmeal is a method of cold soaking oats in a liquid, usually milk, to soften the oats. Unlike traditional oatmeal, no cooking is required. And while you can eat overnight oats warm most people enjoy them chilled right out of the fridge. Making them a great alternative to a breakfast bar or other on-the-go breakfast option. Overnight oats usually include the addition of fruit, nuts or other mix-ins to add flavor and texture.
Overnight oats are meant to be eaten cold. If you prefer warm oats try single serve baked oatmeal instead.
Typically, overnight oats are made with old-fashioned oats. Quick cook oats can be used but it is not recommended to make them more than one day ahead. Quick-cook oats are flattened to help them cook faster and I find they tend to totally break down when left to soak more than a day or two.
While you can use steel-cut oats, they are not recommended for overnight oats. The chewy texture is great when cooked but they remain too firm for a cold soak method.
Those with celiac or gluten sensitivities should always use oats that are specifically marked “gluten-free” to avoid cross-contamination with wheat and other gluten-containing products.
First off, you don’t need special jars to make overnight oats. Just because Pinterest shows gorgeous pictures of fancy overnight oatmeal recipes it doesn’t mean that is required. This is meant to be a simple breakfast. I make them in mason jars. A simple bowl is fine as long as you can cover it.
Felicity says
How would adding protein powder to the recipe affect it?
Jasmine says
Description says no need to refrigerate (therefore good for camping).
Recipe says to refrigerate overnight (not helpful for camping).
Which is it?
Jen Wooster says
If you just add water no need to refrigerate. If you add milk or yogurt you need to refrigerate. Sorry that was confusing!
Bunny says
My first time making overnight oats, and now I’m a believer! I like to meal prep on Sundays for the work week. This is the fastest breakfast yet for my busy mornings! I put raisins right in my dry mix Because I forgot you’re supposed to add them right before eating. We’ll see what happens in the coming days. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Jen Wooster says
Thanks for giving them a try!
Leslie says
Overnight oats are the BEST! I love that you use water in yours. So perfect and timely for this season that we are in.
Pavani says
I love overnight oats - they are so convenient on a busy morning. I love your idea of making overnight oat mix with the milk powder right in there - that is just genius. Will definitely make a batch of this. Thanks for sharing this,
Erika says
I'm always looking for different ways to make overnight oats. I'm definitely going to give this a try.