Even though it may taste like dessert, this vegan chocolate peanut butter overnight oats recipe is still loaded with nutrients like fiber, protein, healthy fats, and antioxidants. (Chocolate is full of antioxidants!) You’ll love this no-cook recipe that can be easily scaled up and meal prepped for the week.
Although it may taste like dessert, this chocolate peanut butter overnight oat recipe is still loaded in healthy nutrients! Chocolate is a good source of flavonols which act like antioxidants in our body to protect against cell damage and may also help promote vascular health. Plus, it tastes delicious in this vegan overnight oats recipe.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- No-Cook: unlike your traditional bowl of oatmeal, overnight oats need no cooking! As the oats sit in the milk, they soak it up and soften so you can eat it without ever heating it up. Great for a healthy dorm friendly breakfast or even a mid-afternoon snack.
- Scalable: this plant-based blueberry overnight oats recipe is written for one serving, but it can easily be scaled to meal prep several servings of overnight oats at the same time. Perfect for a grab-and-go breakfast for busy parents and teens.
- Diet & Allergen Friendly: this recipe is vegan, dairy free, egg free, and gluten free (when using gluten free certified oats).
Want more vegan overnight oats recipes developed by a plant-based dietitian? Check out my basic vegan overnight oats recipe post that includes recipes and tons of helpful tips for the perfect batch of vegan overnight oats!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Old Fashioned Oats: Choose regular old fashioned rolled oats for overnight oatmeal. Since your oats are going to be sitting in liquid for several hours, you want to achieve the perfect balance between too mushy and too chewy. Quick cooking oats are too mush-y for my taste and steel cut oats are too chewy.
- Milk: To make these vegan, I use plant-based milk for my overnight oats. I typically use soy milk because it is higher in protein than other non-dairy milks, but you can use any plant-based milk you prefer like almond, hemp, oat, rice, or cashew.
- Yogurt: To make your overnight oats extra creamy, add some yogurt. Any type of yogurt will do, but I like to use a plant-based yogurt, especially one that has at least 7 grams of protein per serving.
- Cocoa Powder: Adds all the chocolate-y flavor that we are looking for in these oats. Use an unsweetened cocoa powder for this recipe.
- Peanut Butter: Use any type of peanut butter here: creamy, chunky, natural, or even homemade.
- Chia seeds: Using chia seeds takes your vegan overnight oats to another level by making them more pudding-like. They are technically optional, but I feel like this base overnight oats recipe is so much better with them.
- Maple Syrup: Add a touch of sweetness to your overnight oats with some maple syrup. You can easily skip the maple syrup if you want to make the recipe sugar free. If you don’t like maple syrup, you can also use brown sugar, coconut sugar, or agave.
- Salt: It may seem counterintuitive to add a pinch of salt to your plant-based overnight oats, but I promise you that a dash of salt takes your overnights oats from meh to Y-U-M!
Pssst… All the ingredient measurements and detailed instructions are located in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post!
Step by Step
Step One: Add all of your overnight oat ingredients to a bowl or wide mouthed jar and stir well to combine. If you’d like, you can stir the peanut butter into the oats, or layer it on the bottom of your jar and stir when ready to serve.
Step Two: Place your chocolate peanut butter overnight oats in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours to overnight to thicken. To serve, add the peanut butter, chopped peanuts, and chocolate chips.
Recipe Notes:
- Batch Prep: Rather than make one serving of this overnight oats at a time, you can batch prep at least 5 servings at once at the beginning of the week. They store well in the fridge for up to a week so just adjust the portions of the recipe below to batch prep as many servings as you need.
- Use Old Fashioned Rolled Oats: quick cooking oats will work for this recipe, but they become mushy when chilled. However, if you like a softer, more pudding-like texture that might work for you! You just want to avoid steel cut oats as they will not soften enough overnight to be edible by morning.
- Oats too thick?: If you meal prepped your oats, you may find them to be thicker after 2-3 days so just stir in a splash of milk to thin them out again.
Topping Suggestions
Here are a few different ideas for toppings to serve with these vegan overnight oats:
- Fresh or Frozen Fruit: add some sliced banana or fresh berries like raspberries or strawberries.
- Dried Fruit: unsweetened coconut flakes or unsweetened shredded coconut both make great toppings for this plant-based chocolate peanut butter overnight oats recipe.
- Seeds: hemp hearts or ground flax seeds will provide some additional fiber and health fats. Pumpkin seeds are also a great option!
- Nuts: add some crunch as well as healthy fat by topping these oats with chopped peanuts.
- Granola: add crunch to these oats by sprinkling some granola on top. This homemade vegan granola recipe is my favorite!
Oats are a versatile and budget-friendly pantry staple that I always keeps on hand. Check out my health benefits of oats post for the lowdown on this nutritious whole grain from a plant-based dietitian.
Recipe FAQs
I have tested dozens of variations of overnight oats and I think the best one has both milk and yogurt. If you want the ultimate creamy and rich overnight oat recipe, you’ll want to use both.
Yes! This chocolate peanut butter overnight oats recipe provides tons of fiber, protein, and healthy fats as well as gut-friendly probiotics and antioxidants. It’s a great way to start your day off on a healthy note!
If you’ve run out of peanut butter, just substitute another nut butter instead like almond butter. You can also just omit the peanut butter and serve these chocolate overnight oats with fresh berries or even stir in some jam.
Storage
- Refrigerator: store overnight oats in an airtight container or mason jar in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days.
- Freezer: you can freeze this overnight oats recipe in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw in the fridge overnight before serving.
More Overnight Oat Recipes
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Overnight Oats
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 3/4 cup unsweetened, plant-based milk of choice (I like soy)
- 1/3 cup plain vegan yogurt
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 dash sea salt
Optional Toppings
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
Instructions
- In a large mouth jar, add the oats, milk, yogurt, cocoa, maple syrup, chia and salt. Stir well with a spoon. Cover and chill overnight in the refrigerator.
- Top oats with peanut butter, peanuts and chocolate to serve.
Notes
- Chia Seeds: if you don’t have chia seeds, you can use 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds instead. If you don’t have either of those, just reduce the milk from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup.
- Heating: If you want to serve these overnight oats hot, just add to a bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute until warmed.
- Storage: store in an airtight container or jar for up to 5 days in the fridge. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before serving.
Nutrition
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