These chocolate banana overnight oats bring together oats, banana and chocolate protein powder to make a quick and easy breakfast option that tastes like dessert.
If you’ve been reading EBF for awhile you’ll know that throughout the summer months (and occasionally in the winter) I’m all about overnight oats. They’re cool, creamy and so easy. I love that I can whip up a batch before bed and wake up to a healthy and delicious breakfast without having to cook anything.
I’ve made (and shared) so many different overnight oat variations, but this one is a little different because there’s chocolate involved! It’s like dessert for breakfast, only healthy and packed with protein, healthy fats and smart carbs.
Per the usual with overnight oats, the process is quite simple. Simply add your oats, protein powder, mashed banana, chia seeds and almond milk into a bowl. Stir, stir, stir… until all the protein powder has dissolved. Then put the mixture in the fridge overnight and let the oats do their thing.
The base “recipe” for overnight oats is so simple! The hardest part is getting the right ratio of oats to liquid, but if you follow my recipes you’ll be set!
I aim for a 1:1 ratio of rolled oats to milk, plus half as much yogurt. So for 1 cup of oats, I use 1 cup of milk + 1/2 cup of yogurt (or an additional 1/2 cup of milk). For this recipe, I’m skipping the yogurt and using the extra milk. This seems to give the oats the perfect consistency, not too thick, but not soupy. For the liquid, I usually go for non-dairy milk like almond milk, but you can use whatever milk you have on hand and if you really want to experiment you can try using different liquids like fruit juice.
Given the name, you’d assume overnight oats need to soak overnight, but you can actually make them in 2-4 hours if you’re in a rush. While it does take some time for the oats to absorb the liquid, they don’t necessarily have to be soaked overnight. I recommend at least 8 hours for true overnight oats, but there have been mornings where I decide I want overnight oats for breakfast even though I didn’t prep them the night before. When this happens I’ll make them the morning of and let the oats soak for just 2-4 hours. With this quick soak, they’re not as soft as overnight oats that have soaked longer and they’re a bit more liquidy, but they’re still delicious.
When stored in an airtight container in the fridge overnight oats should last for up to 5 days. They will soften more the longer they sit so I find they’re best on days 1-3, but they’re still safe to eat on days 4 and 5. With this said, overnight oats are great for meal prep. Feel free to make a whole batch for the week on Sunday. I like prepping them in wide mouth 16 oz mason jars.
Short answer, yes! You can definitely warm up overnight oats, but the whole point of overnight oats is to eat them cold like muesli. Even if you think cold oats sound strange, I recommend giving it shot before you write them off. Of course, if you simply can’t do the cold oats you can always heat them up. Just pop the overnights oats in your microwave, cooking in 30 second increments until the oats are warm throughout and enjoy.
After letting your overnight oats soak overnight (or at least a few hours), take the oats out of the fridge and top with banana slices and cacao nibs. Add a big spoonful of almond butter… if you please. It’s never a question for me. If I’m having oats, there’s going to be a spoonful of nut butter involved. That’s it. Time to dig in!
If you make these chocolate banana overnight oats be sure to leave a comment and star rating below letting us know how it turned out. Your feedback is so helpful for the EBF team and our readers!
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Nutritious & Delicious! Perfect mix of chocolate & banana! Great consistency! Thank you 🙂
Sounds awesome but wouldn’t a whole banana and 1 cup of oats be closer to 90 g carbs?
The recipe is for 2 servings. The macros are for 1 serving.
Yes! Thank you!
I feel like I can open an oat shop every time I make the overnight oats from this website. You have figured out the perfect proportions for each ingredient. I use oat milk instead of almond and I use powdered peanut butter. It’s perfect.
Ah yay! I love hearing this, Jessica! I’m so glad you’ve been loving these overnight oats. Thanks so much for the review. I really appreciate it!
This is delicious! I look forward to having these. I love these so much I haven’t even bothered to try other recipes haha. The nutrition info, is that for the whole recipe or once it’s divorced?
So glad you’ve been loving this recipe, Megan! The nutritional info is for one serving.
What is better than PB and chocolate? I love that the sweetness comes from banana. I like to heat my banana up prior to mashing. It makes a world of difference and perfects this awesome recipe.