Chocolate Banana Overnight Oats are a healthy, hearty way to cure your morning chocolate cravings without the sugar crash.
Just stir together 5 simple ingredients before bed, then hit the ground running with a comforting, chocolatey bowl of yumminess topped with all your favorite flavors.
Chocolate Banana Overnight Oatmeal is THE solution for a quick and healthy breakfast on busy mornings.
It's creamy and chocolatey and easy to make the night before so you can literally grab and go the next day!
Honestly, all you do is stir together mashed banana, oats, almond milk, cocoa powder, and some salt. The next morning, a nutritious breakfast is ready and waiting for you to add your favorite toppings!
Load them up with fruit, nuts, or whatever you love for a delicious and convenient breakfast the whole family will devour!
No need to cook or warm them up, because they’re quite delicious cold.
Once you get the banana overnight oats base recipe down, there's no limit to the delicious recipes you'll come up with!
Like these Peanut Butter & Jelly Overnight Oats or Cinnamon Banana Overnight Oats!
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Delicious make ahead breakfast recipe that takes two minutes to make the night before.
Easy meal prep recipe for fast and easy breakfasts all week long!
Perfect way to use up ripe bananas that isn't banana bread.
Healthy morning chocolate fix you won't regret later.
This chocolate overnight oats recipe has no yogurt, it's completely dairy-free.
Ingredients
Nothing but healthy ingredients right here!
Ripe banana. I prefer bananas that are the perfect ripeness -- yellow peel with some brown speckles — or just slightly overripe bananas.
Oats. Steel cut oats or old-fashioned oats both work well in this banana overnight oats recipe. Quick oats will break down and become mushy.
Unsweetened almond milk. You can use any kind of dairy or non-dairy milk.
Cocoa powder. Dark cocoa powder is my favorite for its deep, dark, rich intense flavor. But regular cocoa powder also works.
Salt. A little bit of salt helps bring out the flavors.
Step-by-step Instructions
Step 1
Mash the banana in a bowl, mason jar, or resealable container.
Step 2
Add the oats, almond milk, cocoa powder, and a pinch of salt. Give everything a good stir until it's thoroughly combined.
This overnight oats recipe uses a ratio of one banana to one half-cup each of milk and oats for a thicker oatmeal that's really creamy. If you like a looser consistency, add an extra splash of milk. You can also add more milk in the morning, if you find it’s too thick.
Step 3
Cover with a tightly fitted lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
Step 4
This is the BEST PART!! In the morning, stir the oats again and layer them with whatever makes you happy.
This one has fresh banana slices, coconut flakes, mini chocolate chips, and almonds.
Storage
Store overnight oats in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Expert Tips
Use steel cut or old fashioned rolled oats. Instant oats or quick oats can get mushy overnight.
Use a 1:1 ratio of oats and almond milk for a thick, creamy texture.
Meal prep a few days' worth of breakfasts in just a few minutes!
Recipe FAQs
If overnight oats are new to you, here’s what they are and how they work. Instead of cooking oatmeal in liquid, you soak them for 8 hours or overnight in the fridge. During this time, the oats absorb the liquid and become nice and soft -- as if you had cooked them. But there is no cooking involved. You can eat cold oats, or warm them up. Up to you.
Often, overnight oats start with oats, milk, and yogurt. This dairy-free version swaps a banana for the yogurt and uses a 1:1 ratio of oats and almond milk per bowl. Let this combo sit overnight, then, in the morning, you can add your toppings. If you add your toppings at night, you’ll run the risk of everything getting mushy.
There are so many fun topping ideas you can add to your overnight oats. Try these!
Yogurt: plain Greek yogurt or flavored yogurt
Berries: fresh blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries
Fresh fruit: bananas, plums, peaches, pears, apples
Dried fruit: cranberries, blueberries, raisins
Nuts: pecans, walnuts, almonds, macadamias, pistachios
Seeds: pepitas, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds
Nut butters: peanut butter, cashew butter or almond butter
Chips: dark, milk, or white chocolate
Coconut flakes
Granola
Sweetener: honey, maple syrup, brown sugar
Both steel cut and old fashioned rolled oats will work great in overnight oats. Instant, not so much. Instant oats are pre-cooked, then dried, so they’ll break down into nothingness during the overnight soaking process.
If you prefer a chewy texture, the steel-cut variety is the oat of choice. Rolled oats because they aren’t as textural and become nice and creamy as they soak.
Chia seeds add fiber, healthy fats, and give it a tapioca-like texture. This overnight oats recipe has no chia seeds, but if you’d like to give them a try, I recommend stirring in 1-2 teaspoons of chia seeds into the oatmeal mixture before letting it sit overnight.
No. This dairy-free banana cinnamon overnight oats recipe needs no yogurt. If you’d like to add yogurt to your overnight oats, stir ¼ cup of Greek or regular yogurt into the raw oat mixture before letting them sit overnight. You can also top your overnight oats in the morning with yogurt.
Hungry for more easy breakfast recipes?
Recipe Essentials
I make my overnight oats in these glass food storage containers. It's so easy to stir everything together and stack them in the fridge, and there's plenty of room to add toppings in the morning.
We buy these steel-cut oats in bulk, it's so much less expensive that way!
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Chocolate Banana Overnight Oats (Dairy-Free)
Ingredients
- 1 ripe banana
- ½ cup oats (steel-cut or old fashioned rolled)
- ½ cup almond milk
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Mash one banana in a resealable container. Add ½ cup oats, ½ cup almond milk, 1 tablespoon cocoa powder, and a pinch of salt. Mix until thoroughly combined. Cover with a tightly fitted lid and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
- In the morning, layer with whatever makes you happy. I like to use fresh bananas, coconut flakes, mini chocolate chips, and almonds.
- Store in refrigerator for up to 5 days.
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