These coconut blueberry overnight oats make the perfect breakfast at home or on the go. Eat chilled in the summer or warm for a cozy start to the day!
I started making overnight oats when I worked my 9-to-5 job in PR and needed quick, filling breakfasts I could eat at my desk. After that, I went back to school 5 years ago to become a Registered Dietitian and my mornings became even crazier. That’s when these oats became a staple. My Sunday meal prep included making 3 jars and eating them Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings, whether I was home or on the go. Only last summer did I discover how delicious and refreshing this recipe is COLD on sweltering NYC summer mornings.
How to Make Overnight Oats
Similar to chia pudding, overnight oats could not be easier to make. You literally dump all the ingredients into a mason jar, shake it up, let it sit in the fridge, and then enjoy warm or cold with additional toppings of choice. And once you perfect the base with the below ingredients, the flavor combinations and toppings are endless.
Just remember these ingredients to make a healthy overnight oats base:
- 1/3 cup oats
- 3/4 cup milk or milk alternative
- Nuts and/or seeds like chia, flax, and hemp
After perfecting your base, add fun and flavor like spices, seasonal fruit, bee pollen, coconut shavings, cacao nibs or powder, dried fruit, nuts, and nut butter. There are an infinite amount of combinations to keep it fresh and seasonal depending on your mood! Here’s what my base usually looks like the night after I’ve made it. It’s ready to pour into a bowl and add my toppings, or add them directly into the mason jar if I’m on the go.
Health Benefits of Oats
Oats may seem old fashioned, but their health benefits are anything but. First, they’re a great source of fiber and protein. One serving of oats provides 6 grams of fiber and 7 grams of protein. When you combine that with additional nuts, seeds, and fruit toppings, you’ve got a complete meal that will keep you full ’til lunch!
Second, the soluble fiber in oats, called beta-glucan, generates health-promoting substances called short-chain fatty acids in our gut. Butyrate is one of these short-chain fatty acids and it has a myriad of health benefits. It supports digestive health, helps control inflammation, may lower cholesterol, and aids in the prevention of disease.
Lastly, the fiber in oats keeps you feeling full for longer, can reduce cholesterol, and helps balance blood sugar. It’s also considered a prebiotic, which literally feeds the good bacteria in your gut allowing it to beat out the bad bacteria. More on prebiotics below.
What are Prebiotics?
You may have heard about prebiotics recently in relation to probiotics. To clarify any confusion, prebiotics the food our gut bacteria need to eat and thrive. Probiotics are the beneficial bacteria that we want in our gut. Fortunately, many probiotics now come with prebiotics, called a synbiotic, but if not, it’s beneficial to consume fiber before or with your probiotics (either as a supplement or fermented foods like kefir – in this recipe! – yogurt, kombucha, sauerkraut, and kimchi), to give the bacteria something to eat while they’re getting settled in your gut. Unfortunately, by not consuming enough fiber/prebiotic, we can starve the good bacteria leading to dysbiosis, or an imbalance in our gut.
Are Oats Gluten Free?
Oats are also a great whole-grain option if you’re gluten free, since most oats are in fact, naturally gluten free! Just be sure to find a brand that’s certified gluten free to avoid any cross-contamination that may happen during harvesting and processing. My favorite is Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Extra Thick Rolled Oats, which I use for everything. In addition to oatmeal, they can be used to make gluten free granola, added into smoothies, or used whole or blended into flour in a pinch if you’re baking and don’t have a gluten free flour on hand.
Now that I’ve convinced you of the health benefits of oats, check out some of my other favorite recipes with oats:
- Almond Butter & Goji Berry Breakfast Bars
- Banana Walnut Oatmeal Muffins
- Blueberry Spiced Overnight Oats
- ⅓ cup rolled oats
- ½ cup blueberries
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon hemp seeds
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
- Pinch of cinnamon
- 1 cup milk or milk alternative
- Kefir, coconut shavings and bee pollen for toppings
- Pour all ingredients into a 12oz mason jar.
- Close the lid and shake well.
- Allow it to sit in fridge overnight, up to three days.
- Serve chilled (in summer!) or warmed and topped with a drizzle of kefir, coconut shavings, and bee pollen.