Healthy Overnight Oats Recipe!

Author's Bio: Jessie Gutsue, MA, RDN, IFNCP

Do you want a breakfast option that is as good for your gut as it is healthy?

Well look no further than overnight oats, and that's what we're going to talk about today. There's a simple formula to healthy overnight oats recipe, but there are loads of variations.

Hi, I'm Jessie Gutsue. I'm a functional medicine dietitian with Oswald Digestive Clinic. If you're interested in more ways to improve your gut health, then check the link below for Five Tips For Quicker Gut-Healthy Cooking. Now, let's get into overnight oats.

[Video Transcript Below Video - it is the same information]

Why Choose Overnight Oats?

Okay, so this is a really basic meal, if you will, but our mornings are pretty busy, and if you make this the night before, then you have no reason to leave the house without having some form of nourishment. You need about two hours of chill time in the fridge with your overnight oats, but eight hours to 10 hours works as well.

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Basic Healthy Overnight Oats Recipe

So let's get into it. It's as basic as half a cup of oats and a half a cup of liquid of your choice. Now, I have here Kefi, you're welcome to use a plant milk or a cow's milk or whatever other liquid along with your rolled oats. If you need gluten-free oats, then make sure you're getting certified gluten-free oats. Okay?

Now all you do is pour in your oats and pour in your liquid of choice and stir. It's that simple. This is the most basic version of overnight oats. There are lots of variations. Let's talk about why we want oats for breakfast.

Why Oats for Breakfast?

So number one, rolled oats are a great source of fiber. They have four grams of fiber per half cup serving. They have something called soluble fiber in the name of beta glucan. Beta glucan is a type of fiber that supports your immune system, helps with digestion and regularity, and also lowers cholesterol.

This is a great way to get beta-glucan into your day, but this by itself might be a little hoho. So there are a lot of variations in add-ins and I am going to show you just that. So we're going to take our overnight oats. Of course, you can use a milk or a non-dairy milk, but I chose kefir here because it's a little bit higher in protein.

Why Kefir?

If you're not familiar. Kefir is a drinkable yogurt. So it's like the consistency between milk and yogurt. So it's really great for this and it adds a whole host of probiotics, and those are the good bacteria that feed our gut.

So I use kefir a little bit tangy, and then I add in some chia seeds. Now remember, if you are going to use chia seeds, these are very hydrophilic, which means they absorb a lot of water or liquid, and therefore you may find the next morning that you need to add even more liquid to your dish.

But I would wait until the morning of to be sure that you like your consistency. So there we have chia seeds. Now we know chia seeds are a great source of omega threes. Those are those long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids that eventually turn into our good fatty acids that we think of like in fish, but it's our plant source that are great for an antioxidant and immune support and a lot of different benefits in our body.

So that has some omega threes, and then I'm going to add just a tinge of sweetener in the form of maple syrup and about a tablespoon. Maple syrup is a form of sugar, but it's not quite as processed as say, granulated sugar. There are some trace minerals that can be found in maple syrup, like manganese is actually a nutrient that's found in manganese superoxide dismutase, which is an important nutrient found in your immune support.

So we are going to add that just to get a little good taste and nutrition. Now, of course, I'm going to add some bit of plants, right? We're going to add in some apples. Apples are one of my favorite ways to enjoy the overnight oaks, so all I'm going to do is take an apple, chop it up into bite-sized pieces.

Now, I love adding plants here for more fiber, for more color. Of course, phytonutrients. Apples are also a really great source of pectin, which is a source of fiber beneficial for your gut bacteria. Of course, you're welcome depending on the season to use whatever kind of fruit you want. There are a lot of variations with overnight oats. This looks like it needs cinnamon, don't you think? Last but not least, we're going to add a little bit of cinnamon.

We'll sprinkle cinnamon over this. As you can see, with all these toppings, you will have to add a little bit more liquid perhaps, and when you go and taste it, if the consistency is not to your liking, add a little bit of more liquid, then finish it off with a little topping of coconut flakes, a little bit more cinnamon, and there you have it overnight, oats, and it couldn't be any easier.

Tips for the Perfect Overnight Oats

Now, you want to make sure that you get at least two hours of chill time up to eight or 10 hours, and that you're storing this in a sealed glass container. Try to avoid storing the sim plastic and make sure it's covered so that you don't absorb other flavors. This is what a plain overnight oat looks like after sitting with just the liquid and the oats. You can see the oats have softened.

It's almost similar to the way you cook an oat. That liquid just adds to break down on the grain. So overnight oats are a great source of fiber. Like I said, you get at least four grams from the oats, but if you're adding in various nuts and seeds, chia seeds or pumpkin seeds or pecans, all great types of seeds or nuts, it's a great way to add additional healthy fats, maybe additional protein and additional antioxidants.

Then you also get a source of probiotics and prebiotics depending on the add-ins that you use. Like I chose to use an apple, which does have prebiotics, but I also get the probiotics from the kefi that I used instead of a traditional dairy or non-dairy milk. Now, you could also choose to use yogurt and perhaps with a little bit of other liquid, like a milk or even a water to thin it out to get to the consistency that you like.

That way you're getting some probiotics. The great thing about using kefie or yogurt with your overnight oats is that you don't have to cook overnight oats, so you don't ever heat up these probiotics, which means they're still alive and active when you go to enjoy them the next morning. And lastly, there is a low glycemic impact with overnight oats.

Balancing Blood Sugar

With all these add-ins, you add in the fat, you add in protein, in that fiber from the oats, make sure that your blood sugar stays consistent all day long. This is a really important point because if blood sugar is off, it is one of those things that makes all the systems run of mon and it makes everything work a little bit harder.

So especially when people tend to skip breakfast, maybe because they're fasting or they're busy or whatever life might bring them, but I tend to see that people who skip breakfast do eat more either at the lunch and or the dinner meal or even into the nighttime hours.

This is really something you want to avoid in any case, if you can maintain your blood sugars from the morning, from the time that you get up all the way to the evening, this is really important that they're steady for everything to be balanced and working well.

So What's Your Favorite Take On Overnight Oats?

There are lots of different varieties. You could use peaches, you could use warmed nut butters like an almond and a peach, or you could do a cocoa version and use cocoa and a little bit of peanut butter because we know that's a favorite combo. Or you can use what I did and use apples and cinnamon.

The list goes on overnight. Oats are super versatile, and they're a really great option for a quick snack or a breakfast meal. Tell me what your favorite version is, and I'd love to see in the comments below, either with a photo or whatever your favorite combo is, and thank you again for watching.

Again, I'm Jessie Gutsue with Oswald Digestive Clinic, and if you're interested in a cooking demo like this,

Email us at cookingdemos@oswalddigestiveclinic.com for more information.

Thanks again. We'll see you next week.