This overnight oats recipe is a no-cook breakfast you stir together in two minutes at night: rolled oats soaked in milk and curd with chia seeds, ready to eat cold from the fridge in the morning. The oats soften without any heat, the chia thickens the liquid into something like a pudding, and the curd gives a gentle tang that keeps it from tasting flat.
The best overnight oats recipe is the one you will actually make on a tired night, so this one has a single ratio to remember. Once you know it, flavours are easy. Further down are the exact proportions, six combinations with quantities (mango, chocolate peanut butter, apple cinnamon, berry, banana and a high protein jar with Greek yogurt or whey), how to keep the jars safe in an Indian summer, and how many days they really last.
6 hr 5 minServes 1Vegetarian420 kcal
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Recipe card
Basic Overnight Oats with Chia and Curd
Rolled oats, milk, curd and chia soaked overnight in the fridge, topped with almonds and a little honey.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 0 min
- Chill in the fridge (overnight)
- 6 hr
- Total
- 6 hr 5 min
- Serves
- 1
Ingredients
Makes 1 jar (about 300 ml)
Base
- ½ cup rolled oats
- ½ cup toned milk, chilled
- ⅓ cup thick curd (dahi)whisked smooth
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 tsp honey or jaggery syrupoptional
- salt
Topping
- 1 tbsp almondschopped
- elaichi (cardamom) powder or cinnamon
You will need
- Glass jar or steel box with lid, 350 to 400 ml
- Spoon
- Measuring cup
Method
Pick a jar
Use a clean glass jar or steel box with a tight lid that holds at least 350 ml. The oats and chia swell, so leave about a quarter of the jar empty.
Whisk the liquids
Put the curd in the jar and beat it with a spoon until smooth and lump free. Stir in the cold milk, honey and a tiny pinch of salt. The salt is not to make it salty; it rounds out the sweetness.
Add oats and chia
Add the oats and chia seeds and stir well, scraping the bottom and corners so no dry pockets remain. It will look runny now; that is what you want.
Stir again after 10 minutes
Leave it on the counter for 10 minutes, then stir once more. Chia tends to clump in the first few minutes, and this second stir spreads it evenly so the whole jar sets smoothly.
Chill overnight
Close the lid and put the jar on a middle shelf of the fridge, not in the door, for at least 6 hours. By morning the oats should be soft all the way through and the mixture thick enough to hold on a spoon.
Adjust and top
In the morning, stir and check the texture. If it is too thick, add 2 to 3 tbsp milk. Top with chopped almonds and a pinch of elaichi or cinnamon and eat cold, or let it stand for 10 minutes if you prefer it less chilled.
Tips that make the difference
- Stick to rolled oats. Quick oats go mushy overnight and steel-cut oats stay hard without cooking.
- Sour curd makes the whole jar sour by morning. Use fresh, set curd made within a day.
- Add banana, apple and other cut fruit in the morning, not at night, so it does not brown or turn soggy.
- Warm it if you like: microwave 60 to 90 seconds in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring halfway, or warm gently in a small pan with a splash of milk.
- Make three jars on Sunday night and you have breakfast until Wednesday.
Storing: Keep the jar closed on a middle shelf of the fridge at 4 to 5 degrees C. The plain base keeps up to 3 days; jars with fresh fruit mixed in are best eaten within 1 day. Never leave a jar out of the fridge for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour on a hot day.
The overnight oats ratio that always works
Think of it as 1 part oats to 1.5 parts liquid, plus 1 tbsp chia for every half cup of oats. For one jar that means 0.5 cup rolled oats, 0.75 cup total of milk and curd, and 1 tbsp chia.
| Liquid choice | For 0.5 cup oats | Texture by morning |
|---|---|---|
| Milk only | 0.75 cup milk | Soft, mild, slightly loose |
| Milk and curd (this recipe) | 0.5 cup milk + 0.33 cup curd | Creamy, gently tangy |
| Curd only | 0.5 cup curd + 0.25 cup water | Thick and sour, like a set dessert |
| Greek yogurt and milk | 0.5 cup milk + 0.4 cup Greek yogurt | Very thick, most protein |
Chia is optional, but without it the jar stays thinner. If you skip chia, cut the liquid by 2 tbsp. Ground flax seeds work in the same amount but give a nuttier, slightly darker jar.
Six overnight oats recipes with quantities
Each flavour starts from the base jar in the recipe card. Add the extras listed. Numbers are per jar and come from the nutrition data we use for the card above.
1. Mango overnight oats
Base without honey, plus 0.5 cup ripe mango pulp or chopped alphonso or kesar mango (about 100 g). Layer half the mango at the bottom and half on top in the morning. That jar is about 450 kcal with 16 g protein.
2. Chocolate peanut butter
Stir 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder and 1 tbsp peanut butter into the curd before adding the oats, keep the honey. Top with a few crushed peanuts. Roughly 550 kcal per jar with 21 g protein, so treat it as a big breakfast.
3. Apple cinnamon
Add 0.25 tsp cinnamon powder at night. In the morning grate half an apple (about 80 g) on top and add 1 tbsp chopped walnuts. About 520 kcal and 17 g protein.
4. Berry overnight oats
Mash 4 strawberries (about 60 g) and stir them in with a small handful of blueberries, fresh or frozen. Frozen berries can go in at night; they thaw into the oats. About 450 kcal and 17 g protein.
5. Banana and dates
Skip the honey. Stir in 2 chopped dates at night so they soften, and slice half a banana on top in the morning. Sweet enough without any added sugar, at about 500 kcal and 17 g protein.
6. High protein overnight oats recipe
Swap the curd for 100 g thick Greek yogurt, or keep the curd and whisk 15 g (half a scoop) unflavoured or vanilla whey protein powder into the milk first so it does not clump. Add half a banana. The Greek yogurt jar comes to about 520 kcal and 23 g protein, and the whey jar about 525 kcal and 28 g. For more drinks built around whey, see our protein shake recipe.
Overnight oats recipe with yogurt or with milk
Overnight oats with milk alone taste like cold kheer and suit people who do not like sourness. An overnight oats and yogurt recipe like the one above gives more body and a fresher taste, and the curd makes the jar more forgiving if you add a little too much liquid. Indian curd is thinner than Greek yogurt, so if you use regular dahi and want a thick jar, hang it in a cloth for 20 minutes first.
One caution: curd keeps fermenting slowly even in the fridge. A milk-only jar tastes the same on day three; a curd jar gets noticeably tangier each day. If you are making jars for several days, use milk for the later ones.
Food safety: keeping overnight oats safe in the fridge
Overnight oats are milk and curd sitting for hours, so treat them like curd or kheer rather than like dry cereal.
- Chill quickly: mix with cold milk and put the jar in the fridge within 30 minutes. Do not leave it soaking on the counter overnight, especially in summer.
- Right shelf: the fridge door warms up every time it opens. Keep jars on a middle or lower shelf.
- Boiled milk: if you use loose dairy milk, boil it and cool it fully before mixing. Packet pasteurised milk can be used straight from the fridge.
- Clean jars and spoons: wash and dry the jars well. A wet or dirty spoon dipped in later brings in bacteria.
- Office or college: carry the jar in an insulated bag with an ice pack and eat it within 2 hours of leaving home.
- When to throw it out: a strong sour or yeasty smell, fizzing, grey liquid, or any mould means it goes in the bin, not into you.
How many days do overnight oats keep
| Jar | Fridge life | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Oats with milk and chia | Up to 3 days | Gets thicker each day; loosen with milk |
| Oats with curd or yogurt | 2 to 3 days | Turns more sour each day |
| With mango, berries or banana mixed in | 1 day | Fruit softens and leaks juice |
| With whey stirred in | 1 to 2 days | Taste becomes chalky after that |
An overnight oatmeal recipe does not suit the freezer; the texture turns watery once thawed. Prepare no more than three days ahead.
Healthy overnight oats recipe for weight loss
A jar of overnight oats can suit a weight loss plan, but only if you keep an eye on the add-ons. One base jar works out to 420 kcal, close to 16 g protein and 9 g fibre. Spoonfuls of peanut butter, honey, granola and dried fruit can quietly push it past 600.
- Keep oats at 0.5 cup (about 45 g) per jar.
- Use toned or skimmed milk and plain curd, not flavoured yogurt.
- Sweeten with fruit, not honey, or use no more than 1 tsp.
- If you want more protein, the whey version adds about 12 g for roughly 100 kcal more.
- Count the jar as your whole breakfast, not as a snack before another meal.
No breakfast melts weight on its own. What helps is a filling, measured portion that stops mid-morning snacking. If you would rather have a hot, savoury bowl, our masala oats recipe is a lighter option with vegetables, and moong dal chilla gives more protein from dal.
Easy overnight oats tips for the best texture
- Shake the jar with the lid on instead of stirring if you are in a hurry; it mixes chia evenly.
- For a smoother, pudding-like jar, pulse the oats once in a mixer before soaking.
- Add a spoon of roasted chana powder or ground almonds for a nutty taste and a little more protein.
- Toasting the oats in a dry pan for 2 minutes before soaking gives a deeper flavour.
- Do not add crunchy toppings like nuts or seeds at night; they go soft. Add them in the morning.
For a warm breakfast on cold days, browse our healthy breakfast recipes collection or the milk porridge on our oats page.
Questions cooks ask
Do overnight oats need to be cooked?
No. Rolled oats are already steamed during processing, and soaking them for 6 hours or more in milk makes them soft and easy to digest. You can warm the jar in the morning if you prefer it hot.
Can I make overnight oats with water?
You can, but it tastes thin and plain. If you cannot have milk, use half water and half curd, or a plant milk, and add fruit for flavour.
How long should overnight oats soak?
At least 6 hours in the fridge. Four hours works in a pinch, but the oats will still have a little bite. Longer than 12 hours is fine, just thicker.
Can I use quick oats for overnight oats?
Quick oats soften in an hour but turn pasty by morning. If that is all you have, cut the liquid by a quarter and soak only 2 to 3 hours.
Is it okay to eat overnight oats every day?
For most people, yes. Rotate the fruit and toppings so you do not get bored, and swap in a savoury breakfast like poha now and then.
Can I add whey protein to overnight oats?
Yes. Whisk 15 to 20 g whey into the milk first, then add the other ingredients. Use a little extra milk, because whey thickens the jar.