Overnight Oats · Classic Vanilla

Creamy Vanilla Overnight Oats

Stir oats, milk and yogurt in a jar before bed and wake up to a creamy, ready-to-eat breakfast. Make a few at once for grab-and-go mornings.

New, no ratings yet0 reviewsby Simmerbee Kitchen

Prep
5 min
Cook
0 min
Total
6 hr 5 min
Serves
1 jar
Level
Easy

Ingredients

  • Oats
  • ½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats ≈ 41 g
    Swaps for old-fashioned rolled oats

    Instead of oats

    • Quick oats: The same amount. Softer, more cake-like cookies and bars with less chew; mushy in granola and overnight oats.

    More for oats

  • ½ cup milk, dairy or plant-based
    Swaps for milk

    Instead of milk

    • Unsweetened soy milk: The same amount. The closest plant milk for baking: its protein helps things brown and set.
    • Unsweetened oat milk: The same amount. Creamy and mild with a hint of sweetness.
    • Unsweetened almond milk: The same amount. Thinner and less rich, so cakes are a little paler and drier.

    All 5 swaps for milk

    Cooking for an allergy? Check every label.

  • ¼ cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
  • 1 tbsp chia seeds (optional)
  • 2 tsp maple syrup or honey, to taste
  • ¼ tsp vanilla extract
    Swaps for vanilla extract

    Instead of vanilla extract

    • Vanilla bean paste: The same amount. Stronger, with visible vanilla seeds.
    • Vanilla bean: The seeds of 1 bean for each 1 tbsp extract. A deeper, floral flavor and visible seeds.
    • Alcohol-free vanilla: The same amount. Made with glycerin; a slightly milder taste.

    All 5 swaps for vanilla extract

  • 1 pinch kosher salt
    Swaps for kosher salt

    Instead of salt

    • Table salt or fine sea salt: About half as much as Diamond Crystal kosher, about ¾ as much as Morton kosher. The same saltiness when measured this way.
    • Salt by weight: 1 tsp is about 6 grams of table salt, 5 grams of Morton kosher, 3 grams of Diamond Crystal kosher. The most reliable way to swap, especially in baking and brines.

    More for salt

  • Toppings
  • ⅓ cup berries or sliced banana
  • 1 tbsp peanut butter, nuts or granola (optional)

Missing something? Tap Swaps next to an ingredient, or see all substitutions.

Steps

Kid helper. A child can do steps 1, 2 and 3: no knife, no heat. Steps marked “Grown-up” use heat. Cooking with kids

  1. Add the oats, milk, yogurt, chia seeds, maple syrup, vanilla and salt to a pint jar or container.
    Kid step
  2. Stir well, scraping the bottom so no dry oats hide there. Cover tightly.
    Kid step
  3. Refrigerate overnight, or at least 6 hours, so the oats soften and thicken.
    ⏱ Soak: 6 hrKid step
  4. In the morning, stir and loosen with a splash of milk if it's too thick. Add your toppings and eat cold, or microwave 1 to 2 minutes if you prefer it warm.
    Grown-up: heat

Tips

  • Use old-fashioned oats. Steel-cut oats stay too firm, and instant oats turn mushy.
  • Try a flavor twist: cocoa and banana, apple and cinnamon, or peanut butter and jam.

Storage

Keeps covered in the fridge up to 4 days. Add crunchy toppings and banana just before eating.

Make ahead

Make 4 jars on Sunday for the week.

Quick answers

What can I swap?
  • Instead of oats: Quick oats, the same amount.
  • Instead of milk: Unsweetened soy milk, the same amount.

Cooking for an allergy? Check every label.

Answered from this recipe's own storage, make-ahead and swap notes.

Estimated nutrition per serving

Calories
340
Protein
15 g
Carbohydrates
49 g
Fiber
5 g
Sugars
20 g
Fat
10 g
Saturated fat
4 g
Sodium
190 mg

Whole recipe, 1 servings: about 340 calories.

Estimate from USDA FoodData Central; not medical or dietary advice. Based on 7 of 7 ingredients.

How we estimate

We add up USDA FoodData Central values for each measured ingredient as written and divide by the recipe's 1 servings, so changing the servings or units here doesn't change a serving. Brands, swaps, trimming and cooking all change the real numbers.

Not counted: chia seeds, peanut butter, nuts or granola (optional).

Estimated cost

About $1.30 a serving

About $1.30 for the recipe as written (1 serving).

Estimate; prices vary by store and region. U.S. average prices for September 2026 from BLS Average Price Data and USDA ERS Purchase to Plate prices updated with the BLS Consumer Price Index. Priced: 4 of 7 ingredients, 95% by weight.

How we estimate

Each measured ingredient is weighed as in the nutrition estimate and priced at the U.S. average: BLS's average price where BLS publishes one, else USDA ERS's Purchase to Plate price for 2017-18 raised to September 2026 with the CPI for that food group. Whole packages, store brands, sales and regions all change the real cost: treat it as a ballpark.

  • plain or vanilla Greek yogurt $0.45 ERS
  • berries or sliced banana $0.45 BLS
  • old-fashioned rolled oats $0.25 ERS
  • milk $0.15 BLS

Not priced (no official average price we can match, so not in the total): maple syrup or honey, vanilla extract, kosher salt.

Not counted: chia seeds, peanut butter, nuts or granola (optional, or to taste).

More dishes for less: cheap eats.

Keep this one

Sign in to save recipes into your own collections, log the days you cook them and keep private notes, like "use less sugar next time". Only you see them.

Sign in to saveNo password: we email you a code.

Gear for this recipe

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Brands are suggestions; any similar item works.

More kitchen gear and our gear guides

Reviews (0)

No reviews yet. Made it? Tell us how it went.