Easy Plant-Based Overnight Oats (Vegan & Healthy!)
Start your day right with these easy plant-based overnight oats! Vegan, healthy, and made in minutes—perfect for busy mornings or meal prep.
These easy plant-based overnight oats are a clean-eating staple. Healthy, highly customizable, and made in minutes—what’s not to love? Use this basic recipe as a starting point and add your favorite toppings!
Why You’ll Love These Vegan Overnight Oats 🩷
- Beginner-friendly: No fancy equipment or cooking experience necessary. Just 6 simple ingredients, a bowl, fork, and 5 minutes!
- Super healthy: Oats, banana, chia seeds, and flaxseeds combine to make this a high-fiber, heart-healthy breakfast.
- Perfect for meal prep: The last thing you need in the morning is one more decision to make. Do yourself a favor: whip up a batch before bed and wake up to a stress-free morning!
Ingredients for Vegan Overnight Oats 🛒
- Banana: Adds natural sweetness and a creamy texture. Bananas are a great source of vitamins and nutrients, including vitamin B6 and potassium.
- Soy milk (or other plant milk): I prefer soy milk because it has a slightly creamier texture than other kinds of plant milk. Almond milk, oat milk, and cashew milk are all fine substitutes.
- Old-fashioned (rolled) oats: High in fiber, oats give you sustained energy and help you feel full longer. They also support healthy arteries and can help lower cholesterol. Do not substitute steel-cut oats (they require a much longer soaking time).
- Ground flaxseed: Flaxseeds are high in omega-3 fatty acids and help support healthy blood pressure. If you don’t have any on hand, feel free to omit them.
- Chia seeds: A fantastic source of fiber, antioxidants, and protein, chia seeds help thicken the mixture to make it more pudding-like.
- Maple syrup: Maple syrup is higher in antioxidants than refined sugar and adds a touch of natural sweetness.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Easy Plant-Based Overnight Oats (Step by Step) 🥄
Step 1: Peel the banana. Place it in a large bowl and mash it with a fork.
Step 2: Add the plant milk, oats, flaxseed, chia seeds, and maple syrup to the bowl. Stir well.
Step 3: Cover the bowl or transfer the mixture into 3 small storage containers and cover. Refrigerate for 6 to 8 hours, or overnight.
Step 4: Add your desired toppings. Serve chilled.
Equipment 🥣
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Large bowl
- Fork
- 3 small storage containers (optional)
Storage ❄️
Store plant-based overnight oats in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Add the toppings just before serving. Serve chilled.
Pro Tip for the Best Vegan Overnight Oats ✨
To keep these plant-based overnight oats tasting extra-fresh, store the toppings in a separate container and add them right before you are ready to serve.
FAQ ❓
Overnight oats are rolled oats (also called “old-fashioned” oats) that have been soaked in a plant-based liquid overnight. The milk softens them and gives them a smooth, creamy texture.
No. Steel-cut oats need a lot more liquid to soften to the perfect consistency, so save them for other recipes.
Yes! Stir in the frozen fruit with the other ingredients before refrigerating. They will thaw overnight.
Sure! While this recipe does not call for yogurt, feel free to mix in a couple spoonfuls of your favorite dairy-free yogurt before refrigerating. Adding yogurt will boost the protein content and make the oats even creamier.
I only recommend doing this if you’re extremely short on time. The flavors of fresh fruit will not stand out as much and crunchy ingredients like granola or cacao nibs will get mushy.
Easy Plant-Based Overnight Oats (Vegan & Healthy!)
Equipment
- measuring cups and spoons
- large bowl
- fork
- 3 small storage containers (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 banana
- 1½ cups unsweetened soy milk or other plant-based milk
- 1 cup old-fashioned (rolled) oats
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- ½ tablespoon maple syrup
Topping suggestions
- fresh strawberries diced
- fresh blueberries
- shredded coconut
- granola
- cacao nibs
Instructions
- Peel the banana. Place it in a large bowl and mash it with a fork.
- Add the plant milk, oats, flaxseed, chia seeds, and maple syrup to the bowl. Stir well.
- Cover the bowl or transfer the mixture into 3 small storage containers and cover. Refrigerate the mixture for 6 to 8 hours, or overnight.
- Serve: Add your desired toppings. Serve chilled.
Notes
- This recipe gets a touch of natural sweetness from the banana and maple syrup, but it is deliberately not overly sweet. This is so it compliments the toppings without overpowering them. If you prefer your overnight oats on the sweeter side, a touch more maple syrup should do the trick.
- Feel free to experiment with the suggested toppings or others! I prefer to mix something crunchy (like granola) with something sweet (like fresh fruit).
- Plant-based overnight oats will keep well in the fridge for about 4 days. I recommend storing the toppings in a separate container and only adding them when you’re ready to serve.
Tried this Recipe? Leave a Review! 📣
I hope you love this recipe for easy plant-based overnight oats! They make busy mornings so much easier! If you tried this recipe, I’d love to hear what you think. Please leave a ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ rating and a comment below to let me know how it turned out. Don’t forget to save this recipe for easy vegan overnight oats on Pinterest so you have it handy next time you need a quick make-ahead breakfast. Be sure to check out my other breakfast recipes for more tasty and healthy options!
More Vegan Breakfast Ideas 🌱
For more delicious vegan breakfast ideas, try:
