Oatmeal is one of those super versatile foods that you should always have on hand!  It not only makes for a delicious breakfast, but can be used in baking, smoothies, or even a substitute for some ingredients.  Overnight oats is one of our favorite things to do with oatmeal!  

In my very first post about how I feed a family of 3 for around $300/month, I briefly touched on how about half of our breakfasts consist of oatmeal, including my favorite…overnight oats.  If you’ve been anywhere near Pinterest in the last year, then I’m sure you are well aware of what overnight oats are.  If you are unfamiliar, let me school you real quick: overnight oats are basically uncooked oatmeal, liquid, and various “toppings” that are mixed together and put in the refrigerator overnight.  When you are ready for breakfast the next morning, the oatmeal has absorbed the liquid and is ready to go.  You can warm it up in the microwave if you want, but there is really no need to unless you just prefer not to eat cold oatmeal.

So why am I blogging about overnight oats when there are already SO many resources out there?

Easy.

I want to show you how you can make delicious overnight oats with ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen.  Which means you don’t have to go buy anything extra at the store to make these.  Which means you save money.  Which means you can do something really fun with the money you saved.  See where I went there?

Not only are overnight oats a money saver, but they are a time saver too.  I can easily prep 3-4 jars of overnight oats in under 5 minutes.  That’s breakfast for half the week, done.

Ingredients

• The 2 basic ingredients you will need are instant oatmeal and milk.  You can get fancy with your milk if you’d like: almond milk, coconut milk, or regular milk all work just fine.
• Optional sweeteners include brown sugar, sugar, honey, agave nectar, Stevia, etc.  Seriously, just use whatever you have in your pantry…don’t go buy anything.  I use brown sugar or Stevia most of the time.
• Other optional ingredients include greek yogurt, chia seeds, and flax seeds.  These don’t add much to the flavor, but are good additions for health purposes.  Greek yogurt is a good source of protein, while chia and flax seeds have a good amount of fiber per serving.
• The “toppings” are the fun part.  Again, I never buy stuff specifically for overnight oats (except for the oatmeal).  I use things that I already have in my kitchen or have purchased for a different recipe.  My favorite things to use are bananas, strawberries, frozen raspberries, frozen blueberries, peanut butter, walnuts, raisins, and cinnamon.  You could also use chocolate chips, cocoa powder, dried cranberries, etc.  The possibilities are endless, and you can be creative as you want to be.
• You also need something to keep the oats in.  I use mason jars or other jars I’ve recycled from pickles, salsa, etc.  I might have a slight jar hoarding problem.  Oops.

Directions

1. Pour 1/2 cup of instant oats into each jar and add 3/4-1 cup (depending on how you like the thickness of your oatmeal) of milk of your choice.

2. Add your desired sweetener.  This will vary depending on your sweetness preference.  I use about a teaspoon of brown sugar.  You can start out with that, and if it isn’t sweet enough for you the next morning just throw some more sweetener in there.

3. If you want to add some yogurt or chia or flax seeds, go ahead and throw those in there too.  If I’m using yogurt, I do about a heaping spoonful.  You can’t really go wrong with any amount.  And I use about a tablespoon or 2 of the chia and flax seeds.  Again, don’t go buy these things!  These are ingredients I just happen to have.

4. Add your combination of toppings (I’ll give you my 5 favorite), put the lid on and shake it up!

5. Store in the fridge until you’re ready to chow down on your super easy and yummy breakfast.

 

My Favorite Topping Combos

Here are my favorite topping combinations:

1.half of a sliced banana + walnuts

2. half of a sliced banana + Tbsp. of peanut butter

3. sliced strawberries + half of a sliced banana + tsp. of vanilla

4. 1/4 -1/2 cup of frozen or fresh berries (I like raspberry and blueberry)

5. 1/4 cup of raisins + Tbsp. of cinnamon

 

For more delicious recipes, check out my Pinterest board that is totally dedicated to overnight oats.  There are so many yummy ways to dress up oatmeal!

How many of you have tried overnight oats?  What is your favorite combination?  Comment to let others and myself know! 🙂