High Protein Overnight Oats
Overnight oats are a firm favourite in my family – I’ll generally make some around once a week, and my kids are always excited when they wake up to find a batch ready in the fridge. A bowlful of these sweet and creamy oats is a great way to start the day, and also a really easy way to sneak in some wholesome ingredients, in a tasty and enjoyable way.
This time, I added some vanilla flavoured whey protein powder to my overnight oats. The protein powder brings a lot of flavour to these overnight oats, and also brings them to a whopping 34 grams of protein per bowlful!
You might also like: High Protein Lentil Tortillas; Mediterranean Scrambled Eggs; Peach Melba Overnight Oats.
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🥣 High Protein Overnight Oats
I’m sure most of you are familiar with overnight oats (or the more traditional Swiss dish of Bircher muesli) – essentially, oats soaked in liquid overnight, so that they soften without needing to be cooked. You can mix any number of ingredients with the oats, and this time, I boosted them with vanilla protein powder for an extra creamy sweetness.
I’ve only started eating protein powder in the last year or so, but it has quickly become a regular feature of my diet, particularly at breakfast time. I don’t feel the need to eat it religiously, every single day – it’s more something useful to have on hand for those times I feel my protein intake has been a little lacking (vegetarian protein doesn’t have to be hard to come by, but it is something we need to be mindful of).
Protein aside, I’ve also been eating protein powder purely for enjoyment – it tastes wonderful, and is a great addition to a banana smoothie or my morning porridge. Often I’ll just mix it with some Greek yogurt, which makes an incredible high protein vanilla pudding (it tastes more like a dessert than anything else!).
🥛 Whey Protein Powder
I’ve tried several types of protein powder over the past year or so – soy protein, pea protein, whey protein… and my favourite, by a long way, is the whey protein. I’ve found some of the other kinds can have a very strange aftertaste, but whey protein just tastes sweet and creamy.
This time I used a seriously tasty vanilla whey protein powder from Naked Nutrition. It tastes incredible, and is perfect for mixing into my overnight oats. You can buy a small tub of it, or a huge one like the one you can see in my photos – and although its size may look a little intimidating, we’re thoroughly enjoying working our way through it!
If you’re interested in checking out any other health supplements, do have a browse on the Naked Nutrition website. They have all kinds of things available, including a chocolate version of the whey protein powder! I might try another version of overnight oats using chocolate protein powder and a dollop of peanut butter…?!
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🥗 Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make these high protein overnight oats. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.
- oats – a pretty important part of overnight oats! I use regular rolled oats (porridge oats).
- milk – I use cow’s milk, but you could easily use a different kind of milk if you prefer.
- protein powder – as mentioned, my favourite is a whey-based protein powder, and I chose to use vanilla this time, since it’s sweet and delicious, but doesn’t overpower the other ingredients I used in my overnight oats. You could experiment with other flavours of protein powder if you like.
- cottage cheese (a great way to up the protein content even more)
- honey (for sweetness)
- raisins
- pumpkin seeds
- milled flax seeds – these are totally optional, but I love adding them. They don’t make much difference to the finished meal (even my kids don’t notice them), but they’re a great way to add some extra fibre and omega-3 fatty acids, which aren’t always easy to get into a vegetarian diet.
🍌 What Other Ingredients can I use in Overnight Oats?
I never usually measure any ingredients for my overnight oats (it felt quite strange weighing everything out to write this recipe), and I don’t always make them the same way – you can pretty much just add a dollop or a splash of whatever you feel like. See where your heart takes you!
Here are a few ingredients that regularly find their way into our homemade overnight oats:
- fresh berries (or even frozen berries, which will defrost overnight)
- Greek yogurt (which I usually use instead of the cottage cheese – my kids prefer the smoother texture)
- maple syrup (instead of the honey)
- milled hemp seeds (instead of the flax seeds)
- peanut butter (try to find one made with 100% nuts, rather than a peanut butter with lots of added salt and sugar)
- mashed banana (which tastes great – but beware, it can make the overnight oats go slightly brown after a couple of days)
- any other favourite chopped nuts or seeds
🖨️ Printable Instructions
High Protein Overnight Oats
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Print Pin Comment(if you suffer from allergies, please double check all ingredients before eating)
Ingredients
- 200 g (~ 2 cups) rolled oats
- 200 g (~ 1 cup) cottage cheese (I used full fat)
- 55 g (~ 2 oz / 3 scoops) vanilla whey protein powder
- 450 ml (~ 1 3/4 cups) milk
- 1 Tablespoon milled flax seeds (optional)
- 1 Tablespoon runny honey
- 1 Tablespoon raisins
- 1 Tablespoon pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl, and mix thoroughly to combine. The mixture will be quite wet at this stage, since the oats have not yet absorbed the liquid.
- Cover the bowl with a plate (or alternatively, you could use an airtight storage container), and place it in the fridge. Leave to soak overnight, or for at least 6-8 hours.
- When you’re ready to serve, thoroughly mix the overnight oats to recombine any ingredients that may have settled. Taste the oats, and adjust with a little more honey (for added sweetness) or milk (if a little dry), as needed.
- Serve the high protein overnight oats on their own, or topped with some fresh fruit and / or seeds, as desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
💭 Recipe FAQs
Technically, raw oats are safe to eat, so you could eat your overnight oats immediately after preparing them. However, to soften up properly, the oats need at least a few hours to soak. I prefer to leave them overnight, or for a full day in the fridge before eating – ideally at least 6-8 hours.
I regularly make a large batch of overnight oats, and eat them over the course of 3 days – but if you decide to use an ingredient that can go brown, like mashed banana, they’re best eaten in just one day. I wouldn’t recommend trying to stretch a batch for longer than 3 days.
Overnight oats must be stored in the fridge. I’ll generally just store any leftovers in a bowl with a lid on top, but you could also use an airtight container.
These high protein overnight oats are really tasty on their own, and already contain a big variety of flavours, textures and nutrients – so they don’t need to be served with anything else. However, I do often like to add some extra fresh fruit to serve, especially fresh berries.
Oats are technically gluten-free, but they are often cross-contaminated during farming and processing. If you need to follow a gluten-free diet for health reasons, make sure you specifically use oats that are labelled as gluten-free.
