Overnight Oats with Yogurt

I love to make a big batch of healthy overnight oats with Greek yogurt at the beginning of the week, especially when I know I have busy weekdays ahead. It’s convenient, filling, yummy, and prevents me from skipping the most important meal of the day! 

If you’re looking to incorporate similar recipes into your breakfast routine, you have to try this Overnight Steel Cut Oats Recipe, my Almond Milk Oatmeal, and Muesli Overnight Oats. 

Ingredients

This simple yogurt and oats recipe requires four basic ingredients that you likely already have on hand or can easily pick up at the grocery store. To amp up the flavor, add as many additional ingredients or toppings as you’d like. Here’s what you’ll need:

• To make creamy overnight oats with yogurt, gather Greek Vanilla Yogurt, old-fashioned rolled oats, honey (or maple syrup), cinnamon, and water.
• As optional toppings, use fresh fruit (such as fresh berries), chopped nuts or nut butter (such as almond butter, peanut butter, or sunflower seed butter), and even homemade granola. 

Optional Toppings and Add-Ins

You can easily customize this recipe’s flavor profile and sweetness by adding your toppings of choice. Feel free to get creative, but here are some of my favorites: 

• Fruit: Fresh fruit is a classic breakfast topping, and Greek yogurt with strawberries and oats pairs so well. I also love to top mine with a ripe mashed banana, raspberries, or blueberries. You can always use thawed frozen fruit if berries or your favorite fruits aren’t in season. 
• Additional sweeteners: If you have leftover Cranberry Maple Sauce sitting around from holiday baking, use it to sweeten up this recipe! Other fruit sauces and jams, like Blueberry Sauce or Homemade Applesauce, are also great natural sweeteners to flavor your oats with Greek yogurt. 
• Nuts: To add some crunch to your simple overnight oats with yogurt, use chopped nuts, such as almonds, cashews, pecans, or walnuts. For a high-protein breakfast that’s the perfect pre or post-workout fuel, add a tablespoon or two of nut butter, such as peanut butter or almond butter. To make your Greek yogurt with oats recipe extra decadent, try topping it off with chocolate chips (which pair great with peanut butter). 
• Granola: You can also top your oat and yogurt breakfast with my Chunky Granola Recipe or this Quinoa Crunch for additional texture, flavor, and a boost of nutrients. 
• Superfoods: If you’re looking for a great way to incorporate an extra dose of health benefits into your daily diet, add a pinch of superfoods, such as chia seeds, hemp seeds, or ground flax seeds, into your yummy breakfast. 

How to Make Overnight Oats with Yogurt

In only five minutes, you can whip up this basic vanilla overnight oats recipe with yogurt to have it ready to go first thing in the morning. If you’d like to make your own vanilla yogurt from plain yogurt to use in this recipe, follow the first two steps below. If you purchased vanilla yogurt from the store, you can skip to step three. Here’s how to do it:

1. Make the vanilla yogurt: Place plain, whole milk yogurt (regular or Greek), honey, and vanilla extract in a bowl. Whisk to combine. 
2. Taste and adjust: Give it a taste and add more honey or vanilla if needed. 

3. Combine the ingredients: Add the vanilla yogurt, honey, and water to a large mixing bowl. Whisk until well combined. 
4. Stir in the oats: Add in the oats and ground cinnamon (if using) and give it a stir until the mixture is well combined. 

5. Rest: Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for at least 6 hours. 
6. Stir: In the morning, take the vanilla yogurt overnight oats out of the fridge and give them a good stir to reincorporate the ingredients. 
7. Serve or store: If you’re ready to serve, place your desired amount of oats in a bowl and garnish with your toppings of choice and a drizzle of honey. If you wish to store your Greek yogurt and oats recipe, divide it into jars and store it in the fridge.