With protein overnight oats you can have your oatmeal and get your protein in! This simple breakfast packs over 20 grams per serving.
Lately I’ve been focusing on my protein intake and looking for easy ways to increase the amount of protein I’m eating each day.
I eat oatmeal for breakfast almost daily and love it, but on it’s own it’s not super protein-rich. So recently I took my basic overnight oats recipe and added protein powder to create this protein overnight oats recipe.
During the summer months, when it’s too hot for warm oatmeal, overnight oats are the perfect way to satisfy your oatmeal craving! You still get to chow down on a bowl of oats, but they’re cool and refreshing.
Added bonus: they’re so easy to make and you can prep everything the night before.
I am a huge proponent of making protein oatmeal (aka proats)!
If you have ever eaten oatmeal and been hungry an hour later, it’s likely because you didn’t add any protein to your oats!
Adding protein to overnight oats ensures that breakfast will keep me full for hours and the vanilla protein powder I use adds extra flavor (and sweetness) as well.
Here’s everything you’ll need to make these protein-packed overnight oats:
If you don’t have protein powder on hand or simply don’t want to use it, here are some other ways to add protein to your overnight oats!
Greek yogurt: Add 1/4 cup of plain Greek yogurt to the overnight oats mixture. This will add about 4 grams of protein, depending on what brand you use.
Cottage cheese: Add 1/4 cup cottage cheese to the overnight oats mixture. This will about around 7 grams of protein.
Nuts and nut butter: Chopped nuts and/or nut butter are a great way to add a little bit of extra protein to your overnight oats. They also add healthy fats, which will make the oats even more filling!
You actually don’t! I know the name is “overnight oats” but you actually just need to soak oats for a few hours.
When I am on top of my meal prep I prefer to soak the oats overnight. But if I forget to prep them, I just make the oats in the morning and let them soak for about 2-3 hours. The longer you soak the oats, the softer they will be. When I only soak for a few hours, the oats are a little chewier, but I don’t mind!
This is a great “base” recipe for protein overnight oats. It’s designed to eat cold, but if you would rather eat them warm you can heat in the microwave for 30-60 seconds after the oats soak.
You can enjoy the overnight oats plain, but I recommend adding some toppings for extra flavor! I love adding fresh berries, sliced bananas, drizzled nut butter and/or sliced nuts.
One of the best parts about overnight oats is that they can be prepped in advance! After prepping your oats, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. You can make a double or triple batch and enjoy for multiple days! The longer you store overnight oats, the more liquid they will absorb so you may need to add an extra splash of milk before serving.
Be sure to check out all of my overnight oats recipes as well as all of the protein recipes here on EBF!
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I followed this recipe to a tee and the oats came out as a hard lump with very little moisture. Even after adding more almond milk, there was no change. I used old fashioned rolled oats. Not sure if the protein powder makes it too thick but I did not enjoy this recipe at all.
I am so sorry to hear this recipe did not turn out as you had hoped. How much protein powder did you add? Each protein powder is different for how many scoops = 25 grams. It sounds like there just was not enough liquid.
What size mason jar do you use for the overnight oats?
Hi Terra – I use a 16 oz mason jar, so there is enough room for all the toppings etc. Enjoy!
How does steel cut oats change the recipe?
Ty!
Hi Michelle – I don’t recommend using steel cut oats for this recipe, they will not properly absorb the liquid and remain hard and inedible, plus the liquid won’t absorb correctly. I would recommend using rolled oats for this recipe. I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Brittany, Happy New Year 🎉. How are you and your family? My family and I are very fine ☺️. I made protein overnight oats. I added chopped strawberries 🍓and blueberries 🫐 and drizzled peanut butter 🥜 on top. It tested very delicious 😋, mouthwatering, nutritious, and heavenly 😇. I loved it 😍.
WOO! I am so excited to hear that you are loving this recipe, Ana. Thank you so much for your review & star rating, I appreciate it
Unsure about the macros quoted here. 1 scoop of protein powder will usually be 20/25gs of protein yet the above states the whole meal has 22g protein?
Hey Dominic – Sorry about the confusion. The macros originally were based on 1 scoop of Nuzest protein powder, which I use regularly. 1 scoop is only 12.5 grams of protein powder, which is why the protein seemed off. I just updated the macros to be the full 25 grams of protein powder, which brought the protein up to 28 grams for the recipe. Thanks for noticing that and apologies again!