Recipe: “Overnight Oats”-In-A-Jar

December 22nd, 2010 - filed under: The Food » Recipes

You know you’re crunchy when you tuck your overnight oats to bed in between your oatstraw infusion (left) and your homemade kombucha (right).



You know what I adore? Nut butters! Mmmm, yeah.

But you know what sucks? That inevitable end-of-the-jar, desperate-attempt-to-get-every-last-lick-out-so-as-not-to-waste-one-single-molecule of the delicious goodness. A girl could drive herself crazy just scraping away . . .

Enter “Jar Oats” to the rescue! I can’t think of a better way to turn lemons into lemonade, so to speak. This recipe is resourceful, super easy (no cooking at all!), and it’s great for a morning on the go (very portable!) Best of all it tastes great – and it’s great for your body, too!

Begin with your ‘finished’ jar of nut butter.



Add your ingredients. The general rule is 1 part oats to 2 parts liquid, plus extras. In this batch I did 1/3 cup oats + 1/3 cup coconut milk + 1/3 cup coconut yogurt, then added 2 tbsp flax seed meal, a splash of water kefir, and a handful of raisins. For liquid you can use any alt milk, any alt yogurt, any probiotic drink (kombucha or kefir), or even water. Great add-ins are any dried fruit, any nuts, mashed or sliced bananas, fresh berries, shredded dried coconut, chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp oil . . . I could go on!



Shake it up!



No need to get it uniformly mixed, just give it a good sloshing and then screw the cap back on. Stick it in the refrigerator to soak overnight.



The next morning, all you’ll need to do is grab the jar, grab a spoon, give it a stir and dig in! Om nom nom, brekkies!




  • Helen

    I LOVE this idea! I always hate wasting that last scrap of nut butter that won’t come out of the jar… (Might try a naughtier version with the ends of my jam and dark choc spread… waste not want not, right?!)

  • Nahui

    I like this idea! but for me, there’s a problem: how do I explain to my dogs they are now discharged from their “lick the last few scraps of peanut butter” duty?

  • Minna

    HA! Brilliant! As always.

    Mm, I need to make that coconut yoghurt.

  • http://easierthanyouthink.wordpress.com Ginger Baker

    Funny thing is, I almost always soak my oats overnight in a PB jar, but I’ve never thought to do this lol. Possibly because my kids didn’t like nut butters in their oatmeal in the past. I may try again though!

  • wendi

    That looks gross, but oh so yummy!! I wish yogurt making was easier for me… I need a yogurt maker! the last and only time I made it…it was really sad.. :( Thanks for this though !

  • Tenise Rae

    This is freaking genius! Do you just come up with this shit off the top of your head? Goddamn, girl!! Nice!

  • http://sweetness-light.tumblr.com Natasja

    ok so I only just discovered what you meant when you said ‘crunchy’, ha! By the way I have one of these http://www.worldwidefred.com/batterfinger.htm
    Not that I’m encouraging mass production of plastic products or anything… but it was the best present ever.!

    ps: I love your blog, it’s really inspiring & full of beautiful ideas… x

  • Gabrielle

    I tried this last night, it came out delicious and the I have a hard time defining the energy I’m feeling this morning but it’s awesome :)

  • http://mutualmenu.blogspot.com Joselle

    I may have to try this, although the dog will be mad that he doesn’t get the almost-empty jar to lick and kick around for half an hour!

  • Arzu

    Wow! What a great and simple way to make “fast” breakfast food. I didn’t have any peanut butter, but tried it with 1/4 c of oatmeal and 1/2 c of homemade yogurt in a Bonne Maman jar. Also added some pomegranate seeds for texture and color. This might turn me into a breakfast convert. Will try making coconut yogurt next. Thanks for sharing.

  • Tenise Rae

    I can’t get this out of my head!!! I SOO want some!

  • Chance

    This is a great idea! Usually I make myself granola for the morning but lately I just haven’t had time. Instead I’ve been eating uncooked oats and dried fruit in soymilk. It’s not bad but everyone thinks I’m totally weird for not cooking the oats. I’ll definitely be trying this.

  • Melisa

    This is BRILLIANT! I am so excited that the near-empty peanut butter jar will no longer be such a thorn in my side. But, like a couple other people said, my poor dogs will have to go without now. Thank you for the great idea!

  • http://www.heathers-perspective.blogspot.com Heather (Perspective Is Everything)

    this IS such a great idea! i have seen this on lots of food blogs over the past year and a half or so-and still haven’t tried it.
    what the heck am i waiting for?! LOL!

  • Sarah

    Oo! Definitely doing this for the morning! I’m going to have to start working out of the house a couple of mornings a week minus babby :( (But really, it’s a great schedule for what it is so I’m not complaining!) This will save me some time and it’ll be easy to eat while doing the marathon nurse/express before I have to leave!

  • http://spectaclealamaison.blogspot.com/ sanne

    I love this!! Made it last night and it’s soo good. First time for oatmeal in general. I always thought it was gross. Due to some horrorstories from my parents I think;)

  • Katie

    As a grad student always on the run, this ensures I eat breakfast and it tastes fantastic! (I added a diced apple before I left this morning.) I may be a breakfast convert… Thank you!

  • Meghan

    Ought I soak the oats in water + acid first? ( I am finally actively trying the soaking thing! )

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ Meghan – The overnight soak counts as THE soak here, so yeah using an acidic medium would definitely be optimal. Any probiotic would be good (kombucha/kefir/yogurt). You could also do lemon water and then add your alt milk in the morning.

  • Sarah

    Yussss, my peanut butter FINALLY ran out & I’m tucking into my first jar of overnight oats at my desk as we speak. Sultanas, peanut butter and honey flavour – YUM!!! I’ve been hangin’ out to try this and it’s delish. Thanks Sayward :)

  • Sarah

    …oops, hope I didn’t offend anyone with the honey thing. I’m heading toward being fully vegan, honey’s the hardest part so far…

  • http://bluknotsoriginals.blogspot.com @tishushu

    Ok, I just experienced the Oats in a Jar… I snagged a nearly empty peanut butter jar from my mom’s last night (Shhhhh!)… I think I put tooo. much liquid (I added 2/3 cup of almond milk to 1/3 cup of oats, plus a handful of raisins, & some cinnamon)… It came out very liquidy, but omg, the taste! My daughter said, “Gawd, mom, is it that good?” because I was making yumyum sounds… Will definitely try this again…

  • Kaila

    It is SO good! I’m eating some right now and loving it :)
    Although, every recipe I’ve tried from here is amazing.

  • Ro

    I’ve been eating this every morning for the past 3 months I LOVE IT SO MUCH!! Since I don’t always have a jar of almond butter that’s almost gone, I keep my old jars and mix it up every night. Now, I can’t go a morning without my overnight oats:-)

  • Birit

    I currently have several end of the road jars of raw almond nut butter in my fridge that I can’t bring my self to throw away… going to make this tonight. Looks amazing!!!!!!!!!

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