This delicious overnight oats recipe is the perfect make-ahead breakfast. Made with rolled oats, almond milk, and maple syrup, it’s a tasty, portable, and a convenient breakfast you’ll enjoy.

Overnight oats are a "no cooking needed" version of oatmeal. Made by soaking rolled oats in almond milk, or any other kind of liquid, the absorption of the liquid makes the oats soft enough to eat.
As a result, no cooking is needed, making these oats an ideal candidate for a quick and easy breakfast in the morning. When you're ready to enjoy them, you can top them with your favorite toppings.
If you're looking to for an easy, make-ahead breakfast to make your mornings more efficient, add these delicious oats to your weekly menu plan.
Ingredients you'll need
What makes this meal so appealing is just how versatile and easy it is to customize. There are endless combinations to add fruit, nuts, seeds, and more. To make this recipe, all you need is the following ingredients:
- Old-fashioned rolled oats: Compared to steel-cut oats, old-fashioned rolled oats don't require any cooking when making overnight oats. Here's a separate recipe for steel cut oats in case you don't have rolled oats.
- Almond milk: Any plant milk works for this recipe, however, it may slightly change the consistency. If you can't have nuts, oat milk is another option.
- Sea salt: Salt brings out the flavor in any dish, including these oats.
- Seeds: For a boost in superfoods, chia seeds and hemp seeds are included in this recipe. If you don't have them, you can omit them completely.
- Cinnamon: For flavor and natural sweetness.
- Vanilla extract: For flavor. If you're using store-bought vanilla milk, omit this completely.
- Sweetener: There are many options here, including maple syrup, honey, chopped dates, or mashed up banana.
How to make overnight oats
Once you have all of your ingredients, it takes a few minutes to prep the oats:
1. Pour ingredients in a jar: In a jar or bowl, add the rolled oats, chia seed, hemp seeds, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, sweetener. Pour almond milk.
2. Stir and cover: Stir the ingredients until they are well combined and cover.
3. Refrigerate overnight: Let the oats sit in the refrigerator all night. In the morning, give the oats a stir, add additional toppings, and enjoy.
Top tips and suggestions
- Warm up the oats in the morning during the cooler seasons for a warm breakfast.
- For an extra boost of protein, add Greek yogurt or a scoop of protein powder. Note that the type of powder you use will change the taste and texture, so start with half of a serving and see if you enjoy the taste.
- For extra creaminess, add nut butter such as almond butter, cashew butter, or mixed nut butter.
- Naturally, sweeten your oats with chopped dates or fresh fruit. Stir into the oats or add the morning after when you're ready to enjoy.
- Store the oats in an air-tight glass jar or container for up to 5 days. This will make it easy to take it on the go, prevent spills, and make them last longer in the fridge.
More breakfast recipes
- Breakfast Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Overnight Steel Cut Oats
- Banana Chocolate Chip Bars
- Instant Pot Hard-Boiled Eggs
I hope you love this overnight oats recipe as much as I do. Sign up for email updates to receive new recipes delivered to your inbox or check out my new cookbook Plant Power Bowls.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup almond milk
- ½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon hemp seeds
- ½ teaspoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of ground cinnamon
- pinch of sea salt
Additional Toppings
- ¼ cup fresh blueberries
- 1 teaspoon almond butter
Instructions
- In a bowl or glass container, combine the oats, almond milk, chia seeds, hemp seeds, sweetener, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and sea salt. Mix again after a few minutes to prevent the chia seeds from clumping together.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 5 hours, preferably overnight.
- To serve, top with fresh blueberries and nut butter.
Caitlin says
These oats have turned into my daily go-to. I love that I can easily swap out ingredients with things I have the kitchen when I run out!
Sapana Chandra, MS, CHC says
So happy to hear, Caitlin!
Sandhya Hariharan says
I love overnight oats. They are such fantastic carry on breakfast!
Your pictures are really beautiful Sapna.. I can drool on the screen.
Sapana Chandra says
Ah thank you, Sandhya!
SHANIKA says
I love Overnight Oats! This recipe looks so delicious and I love that it has Superfoods!
Sapana Chandra says
So glad you like it, Shanika!
Jennifer says
I love overnight oats. They are so easy, and like you said, they will keep for a few days in the fridge, so it's a good part of my weekly meal plan.
Sapana Chandra says
I'm so glad you love them!
Cindy Gordon says
I was looking for an easy recipe like this to make my mornings easier! Thank you so much!
Sapana Chandra says
I hope you enjoy it, Cindy!
Suzy says
I love making overnight oats! This is so delicious but I especially love the tip on how to naturally sweeten this!
Sapana Chandra says
Thanks, Suzy! So glad you enjoy overnight oats!
Suzie says
Made this for breakfast. Turned out perfect!!
Sapana Chandra says
So happy to hear!
Marcie says
Oh yummy! Sounds perfect for busy summer days!
Sapana Chandra says
Thank you!!