Coffee Overnight Oats is a quick, easy, gluten free breakfast that'll keep you going all morning. All you need for a healthy breakfast in one bowl with protein, fiber, and caffeine.
Hi there friends.
I have good news and I have bad news... I'm going to start with the bad because I like to end on a positive note.
The bad news: I had a terrible fail in the kitchen today attempting to make a tomato pie. It was a soggy mess, and it brought a few tears to my eyes.
However, there's no reason to cry over spilled milk unpretty tomato pie that still tastes really good.
So I ate a few slices globs of tomato pie and decided to share this amazing new breakfast I'm loving, which happens to be the easiest thing on the planet.
And that brings me to my good news: Overnight Coffee Oats
Overnight Oats - Have you heard of them?
I used to be incredibly skeptical about them. For years, I've seen these gloopy messes of pictures referred to as "overnight oats" that everyone claims are so wonderful.
How can cold oatmeal be good I thought. There's just no way.
Well, I am the first to admit it: I was wrong. Dead wrong.
Overnight Oats are creamy and delicious and perfect for the summer because they don't warm you up like a normal bowl of oatmeal would.
Plus, they are sooo easy to make. So so so easy.
You put everything in a bowl, cover, and put in the fridge. When you wake up the next morning, you stir and eat.
And it's everything you need in one bowl: complex carbohydrates plus filling fiber {thanks to the oats & chia seeds}, protein {from the combo of dairy + oats + chia seeds}, and a little boost of caffeine from the coffee concentrate.
Oats are rockstars in my kitchen; in fact, they should have made it in my list of my top 5 things always in my kitchen. I seriously always have them. {I'm making a round two version of this. You better believe oats will be in there!}
See that big giant 110+ serving box of oatmeal right there. It makes me laugh, but it proves that yes, I really always have oats.
Oats are amazing because they are all 100% whole grain -- so they're full of fiber -- and pairing them with dairy helps bump up the nutritional value even more to add in some extra protein along with calcium, potassium, phosphorus, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin B 12, riboflavin and niacin.
I like to use lactose free milk because it's the same as regular milk {with all the protein, vitamins, and minerals} but it doesn't give me a stomach ache.
If you aren't into coffee, then just skip the coffee concentrate and replace with an equal amount of milk.
I found that these didn't need any added sugar thanks to the cinnamon and vanilla extract. However, feel free to add a teaspoon of maple syrup or honey if desired.
Whatever you do, please don't judge this wonderful breakfast by its pictures.
I know it's not pretty but it's glorious. It really really is.
Especially if you are in need of a quick, filling, and healthy breakfast. {I didn't even need my mid-morning snack today because these kept me so full. That doesn't happen very often...}
Enjoy!
Overnight Coffee Oats
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 TBSP coffee concentrate or cold brew coffee (1 ounce)
- 2 TBSP chia seeds or flaxseed meal
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract optional
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon optional
Instructions
- Add the oats, milk, coffee concentrate, chia seeds, and vanilla extract to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight {or at least 4 hours}.
- When ready to eat, remove cover, add cinnamon {if using}, and stir well. Enjoy!
What to use in this recipe:
Meme
Serena says
Totally brilliant to link a globby tomato pie (which I'm afraid I laughed out loud at the photo - and my husband asked "What's so funny?")...(:
...Totally brilliant to link that globby photo with globby overnight oats recipes. #Agreed
I love my overnight oats...but coffee chia is one combo I haven't tried. But certainly will!!
Meme says
Haha! I'm happy someone can laugh with me. I was so annoyed when it didn't work and overnight oats are so unphotogenic! Globby was the theme of my day 😉
Regan @ The Healthy Aperture Blog says
Sorry about the kitchen fail... we've ALL had them 🙂 The best you can hope for are fails that look terrible and tasty good 😀
I was skeptical of overnight oats, too... but yes, they're SO good!
Meme says
Agreed! At least I didn't have to throw anything away - the worst!! It's always nice to remember that everyone has them from time to time {hopefully very rarely} 🙂
Deanna Segrave-Daly (@tspbasil) says
So clever - your morning bowl of oatmeal and coffee all in one bowl! I use to feel the same way about overnight oats (why bother?) but then I had a PB&J version that I ended up eating daily for like month 🙂
Meme says
PB&J?! Sounds incredible!! Honestly, these came about because I needed everything in one bowl to eat in less than 5 minutes for a 5am wake-up call. The result ended up being my new favorite breakfast!
Anne|Craving Something Healthy says
I love that you successfully combined my 2 favorite breakfast foods - oats and coffee 🙂 Must try that! I'll bet that kitchen fail tasted great!
Meme says
Thanks Anne!! Oats and coffee are the best 🙂
And luckily, that kitchen fail was delish! Hopefully, I'll be able to turn my fail into a yummy pie, but we shall see...
Sarah Grace says
Looks like we had similar ideas with overnight oats! I love the coffee flavor!
xoxo Sarah Grace, Fresh Fit N Healthy.
Meme says
I love that we're both on the same thought page with our oats. You are a genius with the cookie dough flavor!
Irene Mejia says
Hi. I am so excited to try this. I do have a question though, do you think it will be just as good if
I do not add the seeds. I do not like flax
NOr chia seeds. Thank you just wondering. 🙂
Meme says
Yay!! I think you might want to use less milk because the chia seeds/flax seeds are highly absorbent, so they absorb much of the milk. You can use about 1/2 to 2/3 of the milk and see how you feel about the consistency. Enjoy!