Chocolate Protein Overnight Oats

These Overnight Oats with Protein Powder are rich, creamy, and deeply chocolate (with a vanilla option in the recipe notes). Packed with protein and fiber, these chocolate protein overnight oats can be meal prepped for a grab-and-go balanced breakfast that’s delicious and filling.

Why You’ll Love These Overnight Oats with Protein Powder

• They’re creamy, flavorful, and so delicious. Plus, did you know overnight oats can be enjoyed hot or cold?
• They’re SO easy. Low maintenance is the name of the game here. Literally toss a few ingredients in jar, shake, refrigerate, and breakfast is ready in the AM.
• Protein powder overnight oats make a nutritionally balanced, satisfying breakfast. They’ve got over 30 grams of protein, 10 grams of fiber, healthy fats, and are a good and excellent source of many vitamins and minerals.
• They’re crazy convenient, whether you want to meal prep them for breakfasts at home or to grab-and-go to eat at work or school.

Featured Ingredients

• Oats: Old-fashioned rolled oats work best in this recipe (instant, quick, and steel cut oats require different amounts of liquid and setting time). Use certified gluten free oats if you have a medical need.
• Chia Seeds: These add fiber, healthy fat, a little protein, and help thicken the overnight oats.
• Flax Seeds: They also add nutrition (fiber and healthy fats) and function (help thicken).
• Protein Powder: This provides most of the protein and adds flavor and sweetness. You can use any flavor or type of protein powder you prefer, just always choose a third party tested option!
• Cocoa Powder: Gives a really rich and fudgy chocolate flavor. And did you know cocoa powder actually adds a nutritional boost of fiber, protein, and iron?
• Milk: I personally enjoy unsweetened almond milk in this recipe, but use whatever kind of milk you prefer to drink.
• Greek Yogurt: A little bit of plain, nonfat Greek yogurt adds a little flavor and creaminess, as well as protein and vitamins and minerals like calcium.

What Type of Protein Powder Should You Use?

It depends! When it comes to food and nutrition, there’s never just one right answer. The best protein powder for you is one that best fits your needs! Consider your taste preferences, if you tolerate artificial sweeteners, any food allergies, whether you’re a vegetarian or vegan, etc.

That said, as a dietitian I HIGHLY recommend you choose a protein powder that is third party tested to ensure product safety.

Whey Protein Powder

My current personal favorite is Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey Protein in Double Rich Chocolate. It’s delicious and safe, as it’s third party tested, they do daily quality assurance audits, and every ingredient has a Certificate of Analysis.

Plant-Based Protein Powder

If you’re looking for a plant-based alternative, there is a Plant-Based Optimum Nutrition Protein Powder (lol I promise this is not sponsored, Optimum Nutrition has never heard of me).

Orgain makes a plant-based protein powder that’s quite popular with some of my clients and among some of my dietitian colleagues. They do use facilities with a third party Food Safety and GMP certification from either NSF, or other Global Food Safety Initiative (also known as GFSI) benchmarked certifications such as SQF, BRC, or FSSC, but they do not third party test their actual supplements themselves.

How to Make Protein Overnight Oats

1. In a wide-mouth pint-sized mason jar or other storage container, add all of the ingredients.
2. Stir ingredients (or shake, if using a mason jar) until all the ingredients are evenly combined.
3. Now WAIT! Let the overnight oats mixture sit for 5 minutes then stir a second time before storing in the fridge overnight. *This second shake is KEY to preventing the oats and seeds from settling at the bottom!*
4. Place in the fridge overnight, or at least 4 hours.
5. In the morning, give your oats a quick stir before eating. Don’t forget to top with anything you’d like to add for taste and/ or nutrition! (I love adding fresh berries and sometimes nut or seed butter or even chocolate chips – I like these Lily’s stevia-sweetened dark chocolate chips!)

Note that based on the protein powder you use or your preferences for how thick you like your overnight oats, you may need to adjust the amount of milk used.

Storage

Overnight oats can be both stored and eaten out of the same container. You need a container with an airtight seal, like these 16 ounce wide-mouth glass mason jars or these 22 oz glass meal prep containers.

How to Meal Prep Overnight Oats

You can meal prep overnight oats two ways: making them fully and storing in the fridge, or prepping the dry ingredients and storing in the pantry.

To Fully Prep Ahead: Make the chocolate protein overnight oats as instructed in the recipe then refrigerate up to 3-5 days in airtight containers.

Prep the Dry Ingredients for the Pantry: Short on fridge space? Place all the dry ingredients (oats, chia seeds, flax seeds, cocoa powder, and protein powder) in a mason jar and seal the lid. Store these in your pantry or a dry environment up to 30 days. When you’re ready to make the overnight oats, add wet ingredients (milk and Greek yogurt), shake, shake again, then refrigerate overnight and enjoy in the AM!

Warming Up Overnight Oats

Protein overnight oats can be enjoyed hot or cold. To warm up your overnight oats, heat in the microwave, stirring frequently. Start at 30-60 seconds, then add 10-15 seconds until your oats are at your desired temp.

Overnight Oat Toppings

One fun thing about these overnight oats with protein powder is they make a great vessel for toppings! When it comes to toppings, I like to keep flavor, fun, and nutrition in mind.

For example, strawberries and raspberries pair deliciously with chocolate AND they add more fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients.

A drizzle of nut or seed butter is super tasty and satisfying AND adds more healthy fats, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and a little protein.

More overnight oats topping ideas include:

• Fresh fruit
• Frozen fruit (add before refrigerating, so the fruit will thaw and soften some overnight)
• Dried fruit
• Nut and seed butters
• Chopped nuts
• Seeds, like pumpkin or sunflower seeds
• Hemp hearts
• Shredded coconut
• Chocolate chips

Recipe Q&A

Do you eat overnight oats hot or cold?

You absolutely can! It’s totally your preference, but overnight oats are absolutely safe to enjoy cold. They can be quite refreshing in the summer months, or heated in the microwave on a chilly morning.

Are overnight oats safe?

Overnight oats are perfectly safe to consume. Some folks get concerned about phytic acid in oats, dubbing it an “anti-nutrient” as phytic acid can slightly inhibit some nutrient absorption (iron, zinc, and calcium) at the time you’re eating that current meal.

Research shows us that phytic acid is rarely a concern if you’re eating an overall balanced diet.

But, if you’re concerned about the phytic acid content of oats, rest assured that soaking foods higher in phytic acid, especially overnight, is one way to reduce phytate content (study 1, study 2).

Are there benefits of overnight oats vs cooked oatmeal?

Nutritionally speaking, not really! Overnight oats and cooked oats are pretty nutritionally equivalent.

The main benefit of overnight oats is how much time it saves you on busy mornings! Low prep and no cook is hard to beat!

Are overnight oats good for weight loss?

No single food, including overnight oats, is going to have any effect on your weight, no matter how nutrient-dense it is. Your weight is an outcome independent of specific foods, but more related to your genetics, environment, medical conditions, medications, and your habits, including your eating habits.

Does nutrition play a role in weight management? Sure, but it’s important to remember that eating an overall balanced diet is going to be more important to you finding your feel good weight than any one specific food.

Are Overnight Oats with Protein Powder Healthy?

That said, these high protein overnight oats are something that I would consider generally healthy, as a dietitian.

Many of my clients find that starting their day with a higher protein breakfast, around 20-30 grams, helps them be more satisfied throughout the day. Which can prevent overeating and binging later.

Know, too, that “healthy” is subjective. The foods that help one maintain their health may or may not work for you – and that’s okay! Honor the body you have. As a registered dietitian nutritionist, I suggest eating a variety of nourishing foods that help you feel good and achieve or maintain your health, balanced with the foods you love. Remember – an election isn’t won with every vote, but the majority. Your health is the same way – the overall dietary pattern is what matters most.

Overnight Oats Nutrition

The fudgy variety of these protein overnight oats contain 340 calories, 37 grams protein, 28 grams carbs, 10 grams fiber, and 11 grams fat. They’re also an excellent source (provides 20% daily value or more) of magnesium, potassium, vitamin E, vitamin K, calcium, copper, iron, phosphorus, selenium, zinc, and omega-3 fatty acids.

Please note that these nutrition stats are based on using unsweetened almond milk, nonfat plain Greek yogurt, and Optimum Nutrition Double Rich Chocolate 100% Whey Protein Powder.

Nutrition information will vary based on type of protein powder and milk used, and if you adjust the amount of milk based on your preferences/ how absorbent your protein powder is.

Other Related Healthy Oat Recipes You’ll Love

• Mango Overnight Oats
• Healthy Baked Oatmeal Cups
• Baked Vanilla Oatmeal Custard
• Green Smoothie Oatmeal
• Almond Flour Oatmeal Cookies

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