my go-to green overnight oats
- pvevergreen
- Mar 12, 2020
- 6 min read
Updated: Feb 6
Chances are you've probably heard about overnight oats before, but just in case you haven't here's what it's all about.
What are overnight oats?
It's one of those meal-prep tricks, usually a breakfast (but not necessarily) that you can quickly prepare the night before and waste no time working on in the morning- all you need to do is make time to eat it in peace and you're good to go on with your day. You can easily take it to go as well. (Just don't eat on the go, I beg you!)
Overnight oats are basically oats soaked overnight. Depending on your preference, you either soak them in water or in plant-based milk. I used to use water for a very long time until I realized how much more delicious they are when I use plant-based milk instead and I never looked back since.
Does it have to be overnight?
No, it doesn't. It can be for anything from about 1-2 hours to overnight. I sometimes don't know if I'll be in the mood for this kind of breakfast the night before, so if I wake up and it turns out that I am, I prep them as soon as I get up and they're absolutely fine by the time I'm done with my morning ritual of meditation, journaling, reading, yoga and bathroom. It's also okay if you do make them the night before and in the morning you decide to have something else fro breakfast, just pop them in the fridge and have them later or the next morning.
Why soak at all? especially if I can just pour some milk on raw rolled oats and have it as cereal...?
They're easier to digest this way. By soaking oats you're making it easier for your stomach to digest them and assimilate all their wonderful nutrients. This increased bio-availability is due to the fact that soaking oats breaks down the phytic acid that is said to impair absorption of certain minerals such as iron, zinc and calcium. Yes, cooking oats also softens them and makes them easier to digest but you actually have to DO IT, (soaking requires much less effort on your part) AND no nutrients or vitamins get destroyed, as they often do when exposed to heat. I wouldn't say that soaking is necessarily better than cooking, they're both absolutely fine and beneficial, but if I'm short on time, soaking is defiantly my preferred choice, but also becasue:
Overnight oats are high in RESISTANT STARCHES
You might have heard the term "resistant starches" being thrown around quite a lot over the last few years. Resistant starch is a kind of dietary fiber, the 3rd type of fiber after soluble and insoluble fiber. RS naturally resist digestion and don't break down until they reach the large intestine where they gets fermented a.k.a. eaten by our gut microbiome. This is what makes them a fantastic pre-biotic. And it's extremely important to our good health and proper digestive and immune function.
There are 3 naturally occurring types of resistant starches. Type 1 can be found in unprocessed whole grains, seeds and legumes, and its resistance to being digested is due to the starches being encapsulated within those foods. Type 2 can be found for example in uncooked potatoes and green bananas (but I generally wouldn't recommend consuming those). Type 3 occurs in starchy foods that have been cooked and then cooled down, for instance cooked and chilled potatoes, pasta, grains, legumes.
Resistant starches have been shown to improve digestion, increase feeling of fullness as well as decrease blood sugar spikes. All of this links consumption of resistant starches to better gut health (which, we now know, is intrinsically linked to virtually all the functions of our body from our immune system all the way to our mood) as well as healthy weight loss.
Overnight oats can be made quickly and in many different ways.
I'm sharing my personal go-to recipe below, but it's only one way of making them. I might share my other favorites here at some point as well. In the meantime, I encourage you to follow this recipe and allow yourself to get inspired to later experiment with the ingredients to your own liking. The possibilities really are endless here, just as with oatmeal.
Overnight oats can last a couple of days in your fridge which also makes them a perfect meal-prep meal:)
My Go-To Green Overnight Oats Recipe
yields: 1 serving
prep time: 2 to 5 minutes the night before
Ingredients
1/4-1/2 cup of rolled oats
1 cup of unsweetened plant based milk of choice (I usually use almond, soy or oat milk) you can also use just water
1 tsp of sesame seeds
1 tsp of chia seeds
1 tsp of ground flax seeds
1/2 Tbsp of pumpkin seeds
1/2 Tbsp of sunflower seeds
about 1 Tbsp of raisins or chopped dates
1 tsp of spirulina powder (I enjoy the taste (and the benefits) of spirulina so I don't mind 1 whole teaspoon, but some people may prefer to go for a bit less here)
1/4-1/2 tsp of cinnamon
Toppings are optional and you can mix and match and add whatever you enjoy, I usually add some fruit, nut butter and yogurt, here I used:
a couple of raspberries
a slice of papaya
1/2 small banana
1 Tbsp of plant-based yogurt
1 tsp of almond butter
Note: sometimes if you're not using sweet fruit as toppings you might find you need to add a little bit of a sweetener of choice (for example pure maple syrup), but I personally usually find that the oats themselves along with the unsweetened plant milk provide enough sweetness for me, so adding just some fruits (dried the night before or topping with fresh fruit before eating) is already making this taste like dessert more than breakfast. But as long as the sugars are balanced with enough fiber, protein and healthy fats, I'm good with that:)
Method:
Place the oats along with all of the other ingredients (not the toppings) in a mason jar, a glass or a mug that's roughly a bit bigger than a cup-size. Give them a mix with a spoon or if using a jar you can just pop the lid on and shake it.
Pour in the plant milk. And mix everything once again.
Close the jar or cover the top of the glass/mug with a plate.
Leave it in your fridge or, if it's not too hot where you live, you can leave the jar on the kitchen counter for anywhere from 1 hour to overnight.
If I leave mine in the fridge, I like to take it out a while before I'm ready to eat it, because I don't like the oats to be cold. I usually recommend people do the same and not consume it cold. It's better for our gut to avoid cold food, unless you really crave it. Room temperature would be best, slightly chilled should be alright too. You can also warm the oats up in a saucepan slightly if you prefer that. I sometimes do it, but I usually find that taking my jar out of the fridge a few hours in advance is enough for me.
When you're ready to have your oats, open the jar and add your add-ins on top of it. You can also transfer your oats into a bowl and then top them with your toppings of choice... but that requires you to use an extra bowl and I know that to some people (me? no..) this is just producing an additional (completely unnecessary) dish that later needs to be cleaned. So I stick to the jar:).
You can mix your toppings with your oats or enjoy them on the top. As always, you do you.
I hope you found this post helpful and that it inspired you to make yourself some overnight oats. Remember to mix and match! You can experiment using different kinds of add-ins, whether they're nuts, seeds, coconut flakes, different kinds of fruits, plant based yogurts, jams or even vegetables! I've made them with roasted butternut squash and sweet potatoes a few times and they were heavenly (although when using cooked veggies like that, I wouldn't mix in fresh fruits).
I hope whatever you make is delicious!
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