Overnight oats with vegan yoghurt and chia
A cold breakfast made the night before: fine oats soaked in oat milk and vegan yoghurt, with chia seeds, cinnamon and turmeric.
About this recipe
The simplest breakfast there is, because it makes itself. Stir everything together in a jar in the evening, put it in the fridge, and by morning the oats are soft and creamy without the hob ever going on. Vegan yoghurt gives it a gentle tang and a richer texture than milk alone, and chia seeds bind it all into a thick, spoonable cream.
It is also a fibre bomb: oats, chia, flax, berries and walnuts in a single jar. One portion covers a good part of your daily need and keeps you full until lunch, with no mid-morning snack required.
And the spices are not just there for flavour. Cinnamon and turmeric are both known for their anti-inflammatory effect — use either one on its own or the two together. A breakfast that works for you, rather than just filling you up.
Treat the recipe as a ratio rather than a fixed list: once you know how much liquid your oats take up, you can scale it to whatever jar is to hand.
Ingredients
- For the base
- 100 g fine porridge oats (the finer, the creamier the result)
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 2 tsp ground flaxseed — optional
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground turmeric — optional, alongside or instead of the cinnamon, with a pinch of black pepper
- a pinch of salt
- 300 ml oat milk
- 150 g vegan yoghurt (soya, coconut or oat)
- 2 tsp maple or agave syrup — optional, to taste
- To serve
- 150 g berries (fresh or frozen) or 1 banana, sliced
- 30 g walnuts, roughly broken
Method
1. Mix the dry ingredients
Put the oats, chia seeds, flaxseed (if using), cinnamon, turmeric and pepper (if using) and salt in a bowl, or straight into two lidded jars. Stir so the cinnamon and chia are evenly distributed — otherwise the chia settles in one spot and clumps.
2. Add the liquids
Pour the oat milk and yoghurt over the dry mix, plus the syrup if you like it sweeter. Stir well with a spoon or a small whisk until there is no dry oat left.
Leave for 5 minutes, then stir once more. This matters: chia starts absorbing liquid straight away, and the second stir breaks up any clumps before they set.
3. Refrigerate overnight
Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, ideally overnight. The oats soften completely, the chia swells and the mixture turns into a thick cream.
4. Serve
In the morning, give it a brief stir. If it is thicker than you like, loosen with 1-2 tbsp oat milk. Top with the berries or banana slices and the broken walnuts.
Notes and tips
Why fine oats?
Large, whole rolled oats stay slightly firm and fibrous even after a night in the fridge. Fine oats (or unsweetened instant oats) take up liquid faster and more evenly, and you end up with a smooth cream rather than a soup with bits in it. If you only have jumbo oats, give them a quick pulse in a blender first.
Chia and flax — what each one does
Chia seeds bind the liquid and give the pudding-like texture. Ground flaxseed does something similar but more subtly, and adds a faint nutty note — which is why it is optional. Use it ground: whole flaxseeds pass through the body almost undigested. A coffee grinder does the job; keep the ground seed in a sealed jar in the fridge.
Cinnamon, turmeric or both
Cinnamon gives the warm, classic note. Turmeric brings a golden colour and an earthy flavour that stays subtle at ½ tsp. Both are valued for their anti-inflammatory properties, so any combination works: cinnamon only, turmeric only or the two mixed. If you use turmeric, add a pinch of black pepper too — the piperine in pepper helps the body absorb the curcumin in turmeric. It pairs particularly well with banana and walnuts.
The yoghurt matters
Soya yoghurt gives the most neutral flavour and the best texture. Coconut yoghurt is richer and sweeter, oat yoghurt is lighter. Whichever you choose, go for plain and unsweetened — you control the sweetness with the syrup and the fruit.
Keeps for 3 days
The base (without fruit and nuts) keeps in the fridge for 3 days in sealed jars. Make three portions on a Sunday evening and add the fruit and walnuts only when you eat, so the nuts stay firm and the fruit fresh.
Variations
- Cocoa: 1 tsp cocoa powder in the dry mix, banana on top.
- Vanilla: ½ tsp vanilla extract in the liquids, berries on top.
- Peanut butter: 1 tbsp stirred into the liquids or spooned on top, with banana.
- Apple: swap the berries for a grated apple, stirred straight into the mix the night before.
If you want it warm
On cold mornings the same idea works on the hob, with soya milk and berries cooked straight into the oats.