Overnight oatmeal jars, 3 ways (+ video)

Name: Overnight oatmeal jars
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1/4 cup oats (old-fashioned); 1/3 cup milk* (see notes); 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt; 1 teaspoon chia seeds; 1 teaspoon honey* (see notes); 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon; 1/4 cup applesauce; 2-3 tablespoons pumpkin puree (not pie filling); 1 heaping tablespoon peanut butter; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2-3 tablespoons small diced mango; 2-3 tablespoons blueberries (fresh or frozen)

April 14, 2015 By Kathryn Doherty

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Overnight oatmeal jars are an easy, healthy make-ahead breakfast. Check out how to make them with this easy base recipe and get some ideas for delicious flavor combinations!

Overnight oatmeal jars are a weekly staple in our house!

My kiddos adore them and I love having an easy, make-ahead breakfast that’s just ready and waiting in the morning. (I’m already up and working when the kids get up during the week, so we have no time for fancy breakfasts.)

Today I’m sharing with you my base recipe for oatmeal in a jar and 3 of our go-to flavor combinations.

You can also check out my strawberry overnight oats (2 flavors of those) as well as my chocolate overnight oats, cause you can’t go wrong with a little chocolate at breakfast time!

I put a batch of at least 6 oatmeal jars together on Sunday and each of my kids have a jar for three breakfasts all set to go for the week.

And every few weeks, I treat my husband and I to a couple of jars as well. 😊

(It’s nice that they’re so portable – he can take it in to work or just grab a spoon and eat it in the car. I’ve also been known to pack these for the kids when we go on trips.)

Now, I’ve got some notes and substitutions coming up on how to make overnight oats. Just tryin’ to be helpful.

If you want to jump on down to the recipe, simply scroll right on through the rest of the text. The recipe card is near the bottom of the page, above the comments section.

Notes on making overnight oatmeal jars:

Yes, the oats really do go in raw for refrigerator oatmeal. It seems strange, but all the milk and yogurt helps to soften them as they sit in the fridge overnight, so that by morning, they are no longer raw and are ready to eat.
Also, we do eat these cold straight from the fridge. It’s not at all like eating cold oatmeal (which would not be very tasty). It’s more like a yogurt-oat-fruit parfait of sorts – creamy and wholesome and scrape-the-jar good!
You can use skim milk, 2% or an alternative milk like soy milk or almond milk. We prefer soy milk; it adds some extra sweetness, but whatever you have on hand is fine.
The Greek yogurt helps thicken up the oats so it’s more scoop-able. However, if you don’t have any, you could try substituting that with some extra milk instead.
These 8 oz. jars are a fairly small serving size. It’s plenty for my young kids, but my husband and I usually pair it with some other fresh fruit or small morning snack. You could also double the recipe and use a larger mason jar to make a bigger serving.

Speaking of, I use 8 oz. (half-pint) canning jars that I got as a set from Amazon. They are great for these oatmeal jars and I also use them all the time for homemade dressings.

I also like these plastic lids because they’re easier to clean than those metal ones that come with the jars. (Especially cause I just throw them in the top rack of the dishwasher.)

Now let’s get to the fun part – the flavor mix-ins!

We always seem to go back to these three main favorite flavor combinations, but you can certainly mix this up and make the flavors your own.

3 easy go-to flavors for overnight oatmeal jars:

Cinnamon and applesauce
Peanut butter and pumpkin (my kids’ favorite, year-round!)
Mango and blueberry (I usually go for fresh, but frozen, thawed fruit would work too)

No need to stop there though, the sky is the limit in terms of what fruits and other ingredients you want to add to these jars.

Here’s a few more ideas.

Other fun flavor combinations for overnight oats:

Peanut butter and banana
Strawberry and banana
Blueberry and pineapple
Shredded carrots and raisins (use maple syrup instead of honey – it’s like carrot cake!)
Peanut butter and chocolate (with a teaspoon or so of cocoa powder)

I also like adding some toppings at the top of the jar after I’ve stirred everything together.

My kids especially love an extra dollop of peanut butter in the PB-pumpkin jars. I just have to be careful that they look exactly the same so we don’t have a fight in the morning over who has a bigger peanut butter dollop. 🙄

You could also add some chopped fresh apple or other fresh fruit, a sprinkle of coconut or a few mini chocolate chips in as a topping for your oatmeal jar.

Oh but word to the wise when using banana — add your banana slices to the mason jar oatmeal in the morning so they don’t get brown and yucky.

It’s the same basic process for all of these jars and it’s as easy as just layering them up and then mixing everything together. 👍 That’s why I tend to make a big batch all at once. Final thing…

How to store overnight oats:

– Overnight oats will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for up to a week.

– However, it depends a bit on what type of mix-ins you use. Some softer fruits or mix-ins may start to get a little mushy after 4-5 days.

– The jars are ready to serve, cold, immediately from the fridge. Add any desired toppings, grab your spoon and dig in!

I hope you’ll try out a few different flavors and find your favorites. You can also recruit your family to come up with topping ideas so everyone gets what they want. 🙌

Enjoy!

XO,

Kathryn

Yield: as many jars as you want to make

Overnight oatmeal jars

Overnight oatmeal jars are an easy, healthy make-ahead breakfast. Check out how to make them with this easy base recipe and get some ideas for delicious flavor combinations!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

For each jar:

1/4 cup oats (old-fashioned)
1/3 cup milk* (see notes)
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon chia seeds
1 teaspoon honey* (see notes)

For cinnamon-applesauce:

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup applesauce

For pumpkin-peanut butter:

2-3 tablespoons pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 heaping tablespoon peanut butter

For mango-blueberry:

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons small diced mango
2-3 tablespoons blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Instructions

Measure out the main base ingredients into the bottom of each jar. I start with the dry ingredients (oats, chia seeds) then add the milk, yogurt and honey. You can line up a series of jars and knock out 6 or more at a time.
Add the topping ingredients (such as cinnamon and applesauce or pumpkin and peanut butter) to the top of each jar. They will be very full.
Carefully mix everything together very well.
Put the lid on and store the oatmeal jars in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Notes

You can use any milk. We have used soy (because we have it and my daughter had a milk allergy) as well as 2% and skim milk. Almond milk and whole milk would be fine here as well.

For the milk allergic, I used goat milk yogurt for my daughter when she still had an allergy, instead of Greek yogurt. Everything else is the same.

Yes, the oats really do go in raw for refrigerator oatmeal. It seems strange, but all the milk and yogurt helps to soften them as they sit in the fridge overnight, so that by morning, they are no longer raw and are ready to eat.

Also, we do eat these cold straight from the fridge. It’s not at all like eating cold oatmeal (which would not be very tasty). It’s more like a yogurt-oat-fruit parfait of sorts – creamy and wholesome and scrape-the-jar good!

These 8 oz. jars are a fairly small serving size. It’s plenty for my young kids, but my husband and I usually pair it with some other fresh fruit or small morning snack. You could also double the recipe and use a larger mason jar to make a bigger serving.

Other flavor ideas:

Peanut butter and banana
Strawberry and banana
Blueberry and pineapple
Shredded carrots and raisins (use maple syrup instead of honey – it’s like carrot cake!)
Peanut butter and chocolate (with a teaspoon or so of cocoa powder)
Or check out my strawberry overnight oats
And chocolate overnight oats for a really fun morning treat!

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Nutrition Information:

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 127Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 4mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 3gSugar: 9gProtein: 6g

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