Family Size Overnight Oats
Overnight oats have been around for a while–soaking rolled oats overnight with add-ins of choice to make any type of oatmeal you can imagine. They have become a summer go-to for us as an easy and affordable grab and go breakfast to fuel our summer fun.
The majority of recipes out there are designed to make one, or maybe two servings. So after needing to make a lot in minimal time, I’ve come up with a family sized overnight oats recipe and system that is as efficient as possible. It’s also super flexible so you should easily be able to adapt it to your needs and taste buds.
Here are ways I’ve used these:
We’ve relied on these family size overnight oats heavily for years for our early morning summer swim meets. We’d need to be getting kids up and to the pool around 6:30 am for warm ups, and then they’d usually have at least an hour before the meet actually began.
A lot of kids are eating donuts for breakfast at this time, but of course I wanted something a little more likely to fuel the boys to their best performance! The oats and chia were satisfying yet not too heavy and I always made sure to tell the kids how good all those foods were to help them swim their best.
TIP: did you know that one of the best ways to encourage kids to eat better is to tie it to their performance? It can be pretty hard for any of us to grasp how today’s food choices will affect us 20, 30, or even 50 years from now. But learning about how it can and does help us do better today is highly motivating.
So I would mix up a big batch and then portion it into Ziploc sandwich bags. Usually I’d make it into 9 bags or so, leaving us with a few extra for whoever happened to be extra hungry.
Another way I’ve used these is when we’ve gone to family reunions where we are responsible for our own breakfasts. I used coconut sugar as a dry sweetener and mixed up all the dry ingredients in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. Then I could easily add frozen berries and plant milk when we arrived, massage the bag to mix it up, and pull them out ready to eat the next morning. And while my kids love cold cereal, they also recognize that it takes A LOT of cereal to keep them full the way our hearty oatmeal does. One day we ended up topping the oatmeal with some yogurt and granola which seemed to be a good combo for most everyone.
I start this recipe with minimal sweetener–feel free to add more to taste, or add sweeter fruit–bananas, mangos, strawberries–whatever appeals to you! Just keep in mind that some fruits (think banana) may brown or otherwise not hold up well overnight and will be best added just before serving. Or allow others to sweeten to taste.
Tips: Also, you can switch up the liquid according to whats available. You can use plant milk that is ready to go–I like soy milk because it has a higher protein content and is more filling (and all that bad stuff you’ve heard about soy is NOT TRUE!). But another inexpensive option I often use is to blend up water with almond or peanut butter (or sun butter for nut free is good as well!). Again, this will give you more protein and fat than straight almond milk which is a good thing when you are feeding a house full of boys. It’s also a nice way to really combine the sweetener, as honey and maple syrup can be a little difficult to combine. But when needed I’ve just used a vanilla, sweetened milk to add a little more flavor to the mix. Just do what works best for you!
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Passive Time | 1-8 hrs or overnight |
| Servings |
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- 5 cups rolled oats
- 3/4 C chia seed
- 2 T cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 c honey/maple syrup/coconut sugar more to taste
- 4 c water or plant milk
- 1/4 - 1/2 c almond or peanut butter optional
- 1 T vanilla
- 3 + C fresh or frozen mixed berries or blueberries
Ingredients
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- Mix dry ingredients. Puree water with vanilla, nut butter and liquid sweetener if using. Combine dry and wet ingredients and add berries. Allow to soak overnight or for at least 1 hour.
Note: I made dry mixes to take on a road trip and then added plant milk and berries. This is barely sweet, add more sweetener, berries or add-ins to taste!
Also, you can switch up the liquid according to what's available. You can use plant milk that is ready to go--I like soy milk because it has a higher protein content and is more filling (and all that bad stuff you've heard about soy is NOT TRUE!). But another inexpensive option I often use is to blend up water with almond or peanut butter (or sun butter for nut free is good as well!).
Again, this will give you more protein and fat than straight almond milk which is a good thing when you are feeding a house full of boys. It's also a nice way to really combine the sweetener, as honey and maple syrup can be a little difficult to combine. But when needed I've just used a vanilla, sweetened milk to add a little more flavor to the mix. Just do what works best for you!