These Chocolate Protein Overnight Oats are a quick and easy breakfast and perfect for meal prep! They take just a few minutes to make, have 10 ingredients, and it's a very versatile recipe! It's also gluten-free, vegan, and refined sugar-free!
Jump to:
Why You'll Love These Protein Overnight Oats
23 grams of protein - And that's without any protein powder! These oats can easily have 40+ grams with the addition of your favorite protein powder. It's everything you want from a breakfast - it's easy, filling, and you can make it ahead!
Extra creamy and chocolatey - Everything is better with chocolate, and if you know me, you know that if a sweet recipe can have chocolate or cacao in it, I'm adding it! It makes it more decadent, and it tastes like a dessert but with way less sugar and much more protein!
Versatile - You can use this as your base recipe and change up the flavors based on what you're craving! Skip the cacao, add berries, acai powder, maqui powder, or a different-flavored protein. The recipe is also really easy to multiply to make a bigger batch!
Ingredients
- Rolled oats - You'll need old-fashioned oats for this recipe. Steel-cut oats need more time and liquid, so they wouldn't soak properly, and quick oats would be too mushy. Oats are naturally gluten-free, but use certified gluten-free oats if needed.
- Yogurt and milk - I add both because yogurt makes the oatmeal extra creamy, and combined with milk, it has the perfect consistency! I like using cashew or almond milk and coconut yogurt. You can use whole milk, oat milk, or any other non-dairy milk and yogurt.
- Maple syrup - Use any sweetener you prefer. I always have pure dark maple syrup on hand, and it works with the flavors, so that's what I used. Honey, agave, coconut sugar, brown sugar, stevia, or anything else are all great options!
- Cacao powder - Cacao powder is just the raw, unroasted version of cocoa powder, and you can use them interchangeably in most recipes. I prefer the taste of cacao, and I like that it retains its vitamins and antioxidants compared to cocoa, so I always have it stocked.
- Protein powder - Even without it, these oats have approx. 23 grams of protein per serving, so it's optional. I like adding either chocolate protein powder or unflavored protein powder by Sprout Living. I usually add less than a scoop to avoid it being too overpowering. I always use vegan protein but you can use whey protein as well.
- Cinnamon and pure vanilla extract - These two add a little bit of flavor and tie everything together. You can use vanilla bean paste as well, so skip either if you don't have them. Alternatively, you can also sweeten the oats with Cinnamon Simple Syrup or Vanilla Simple Syrup.
- Chia seeds and ground flax seeds - I recommend adding these because they add protein and fiber. I always recommend ground flax because they're too tough whole, and our digestive system can't break them down. Read more about the benefits of flax seeds.
Variations and Substitutions
- Nut butter - If you want to up the protein content even more, stir in some almond butter, peanut butter, or sunflower seed butter if you can't have nuts. To make it extra decadent, add some of my Homemade Nutella!
- Banana - Add mashed banana instead of some of the milk for a different flavor and a slightly thicker texture.
- Double chocolate - If you want to make it extra chocolatey, add some chocolate chips, or sweeten it with my homemade Chocolate Syrup! If you want to change up the flavor, try it with my Chocolate Raspberry Syrup and stir in some berries too!
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Into a medium bowl, add rolled oats, chia seeds, ground flax seeds, protein powder, cacao powder if using, cinnamon, and a small pinch of sea salt. Whisk to mix.
- Add yogurt, milk, maple syrup, and vanilla extract, and whisk again to combine well.
- Transfer the mixture to a container and close with a lid, or cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge overnight or for at least 4 hours.
- When you’re ready to eat, serve the oats in a bowl or in a jar topped with fresh berries, yogurt, granola, almond butter, or your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Tips & Tricks!
- Divide it into jars - If you're planning to make more than one serving, I recommend dividing the oats into small jars for individual portions. You can also add almond butter, berries, or any other toppings straight into the jar so that you can just grab it and go in the morning!
- Change it up - This recipe is very versatile, and you can change the ingredients based on what you have on hand. Add berries, a flavored protein, or sweeten them with a flavored syrup.
- Don't add too much protein - My protein powder's one serving is two scoops, which is definitely too much for this one serving. This is why I like adding other things like yogurt, milk, nut butter, seeds, cacao, or anything else with protein. Some don't have a high amount, but it adds up to 23 grams!
Serving
My favorite way to serve the oats is with fresh raspberries, blueberries, chopped strawberries, or pitted cherries. You can also add an extra spoonful of yogurt or a splash of milk, granola, nuts, seeds, or a drizzle of almond butter. Another delicious addition would be this homemade Strawberry Chia Jam!
Storing
Store the oats in a mason jar or any airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. While it can last you longer, I always like it the best the first 2 days or so. As the oats sit, they continue to soak and soften, so after a while, the oatmeal becomes very mushy.
I don't recommend freezing the oats.
FAQs
Too thick: Add more milk or yogurt gradually and stir well.
Too thin: The quickest way to fix this is to add chia seeds because they soak fast. The amount will vary based on how thin the oats are. Each 1 teaspoon soaks up 1 tablespoon of liquid. Otherwise, add more oats and let them soak for a few more hours if you have the time.
No, you don't have to change any ingredients! Adding protein powder is totally optional, and skipping it won't change the consistency.
Yes, you can do this both on the stove and in the microwave! I like transferring the oats to a small saucepan and heating them up over medium heat. You might want to add a splash of milk to avoid the oats sticking to the bottom of the saucepan.
Yes, totally! It will make it a little thicker and more decadent, but that's not a bad problem to have at all in my books!
More Overnight Oat Recipes
If you want to check out other similar recipes, I'm linking my favorite four below! You can also head over to Oatmeal Recipes for all the latest ones!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Have you tried these Protein Overnight Oats? Please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below!
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my Newsletter for a free recipe e-book and new weekly recipes straight to your inbox. Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest and Instagram to always stay in the loop!
Print📖 Recipe
Protein Overnight Oats
These Chocolate Protein Overnight Oats are a quick and easy breakfast and perfect for meal prep! They take just a few minutes to make, have 10 ingredients, and it's a very versatile recipe! It's also gluten-free, vegan, and refined sugar-free!
- Total Time4 hours 5 minutes
- Yield1-2 1x
- DietGluten Free
Ingredients
- ½ cup rolled oats
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1-2 teaspoon ground flax seeds
- ½ scoop protein powder (I recommend chocolate or vanilla protein powder)
- 1-2 tablespoon cacao powder (optional)
- ⅛ tsp ground cinnamon
- Small pinch sea salt
- ½ cup yogurt (Greek yogurt or vegan yogurt, I like unsweetened Yoggu)
- ½ cup milk (I use almond milk)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup (sub agave, honey, coconut sugar, or other sweetener)
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
- Into a medium bowl, add rolled oats, chia seeds, ground flax seeds, protein powder, cacao powder if using, cinnamon, and a small pinch of sea salt. Whisk to mix.
- Add yogurt, milk, maple syrup, and vanilla extract and whisk again to combine well.
- Transfer the mixture to a container and close with a lid, or cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge overnight or for at least 4 hours.
- When you’re ready to eat, serve the oats in a bowl or in a jar topped with fresh berries, yogurt, granola, almond butter, or your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Notes
Storing: You can store any leftover overnight oats in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. The longer the oatmeal sits, the mushier the oats get. While they’re usually fine to eat for 4 days, I find they taste the best the first 2 days.
The recipe is meant to serve one, but if you don't get very hungry in the morning, it can stretch into two servings.
The nutritional info is only an estimate. The protein content will vary based on the protein powder you use. Without any, 1 serving has approx. 23g of protein.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Soak time: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 0 mins
- Category: Oatmeal
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: American
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Leave a Reply