Craving sweets for breakfast? Put down that pastry and kick your morning off right with 14 grams of protein, 10 grams of fiber, and only 6 grams of sugar in these tasty chocolate protein overnight oats. Plus it is a make ahead breakfast so you do the work the night before and can just grab and go!
Nothing beats waking up to breakfast already being made. Especially when that breakfast has chocolate in it! Yessir, these overnight oats are loaded to the brim with chocolatey goodness, without the sugar overload that normally comes with it.
Overnight oats are one of my quick weekday breakfast staples since they’re satisfying and healthy. What’s faster than making breakfast the night before with zero prep required in the morning? Nada. Make ahead recipes rule.
When you’re in a rush to get to work, you usually don’t have time to stop and make a healthy breakfast. Sure, we all could wake up earlier… but then again, sleep is glorious.
Don’t let a lack of time in the morning ruin your clean eating streak though! A little planning ahead can keep you on track.
If you haven’t had overnight oats yet, these chocolate protein overnight oats are a great entry recipe. With over 14 grams of protein, this recipe is made for active folks that need to kick their day off with some gusto.
Why Eat Overnight Oats
The best part about eating overnight oats is that you make them the night before and the oats soften overnight in the fridge. No cooking necessary, just throw some ingredients together, stir and throw the jar in the fridge.
Then, bust it out in the morning and either gobble it down on the spot or take it with you.
Oats are a great addition to a healthy diet and a healthier way to satisfy your cab craving than most other options out there. Oats have been proven to lower cholesterol and be good for heart health in general. Healthline has a great article on the benefits of oats if you need more convincing.
Here are a few other highlights of this recipe:
- Prep only takes 5 minutes
- Made the night before for grab and go breakfasts
- Oats are incredibly healthy and filling
- Only 6 grams of non-refined sugar
- 14 grams of protein
- 10 grams of fiber
- Chocolate (need I say more?)
Protein overnight oats are a simple no brainer make ahead breakfast for me and will probably become a regular for you too after making them once.
How to Make Chocolate Protein Overnight Oats
To make chocolate overnight oats, you truly only need a few ingredients, minutes and steps.
First, as with most recipes, assemble the ingredients. Here we have:
- oats (obvi)
- almond milk
- cocoa powder
- protein powder (I used whey)
- pure maple syrup
- vanilla extract
You stir all of this together in a small container, let it chill in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight and then eat.
If you want them warm, you can certainly microwave overnight oats, just watch carefully since oats can easily overflow in the microwave.
Chocolate Overnight Oats Substitutions
There are so many overnight oat recipe options, I’m not going to go through them all here. See the section below on Other Overnight Oat Recipes for some ideas.
But, if you’re trying to tweak this recipe based on what you have on hand and/or prefer, I’ve got you covered.
Only have vanilla or chocolate protein powder? Perfect! That means you need one less ingredient. If using vanilla protein powder, leave out the vanilla. If using chocolate, leave out the cocoa powder or use less cocoa powder (the amount will depend on how chocolatey your protein powder is).
My other favorite part is that this recipe is made for two. That means that I can make sure my partner in crime gets a healthy breakfast too.
You can always cut the ingredients in half and make a single serving instead, no problem. Just drag the slider in the Servings area of the recipe and it will automatically scale it down to one serving for you.
I don’t recommend pre-mixing for two mornings at once because, while possible, the oats get too soft and the texture just isn’t great that second day. You can mix all the dry ingredients together at once though and then add the wet ones at night for the next morning. You can pre-mix the dry ingredients for a whole week’s worth of overnight oats at once if you want to.
Using Protein Powder in Overnight Oats
Making overnight oats with protein powder converts an otherwise carb heavy, lower protein breakfast into a power meal. That being said, there are lots of different kinds of protein powders, some much better than others.
Luckily, in this recipe, the strong chocolate flavor covers up the protein powder taste that is a major turn off in lots of other recipes.
To make the recipe vegan, just don’t use whey protein. While I’m sure any protein powder will do, here are some of my favorite types of protein powder that I’ve tried:
- Orgain Organic Plant Based Protein Powder is a great, readily available brand that you can buy in most stores, Amazon, or even Costco. This chocolate fudge Orgain flavor is one of my favorites. It is made from a blend of pea, brown rice and chia seed proteins which helps a lot with the flavor.
- Levels 100% Grass Fed Whey Protein is a high quality whey protein powder made from grass fed, pasture raised cows that aren’t treated with hormones. It is also flavored with cold pressed cacao and lightly sweetened with monk fruit so this one is Keto and Paleo friendly.
- Raw Organic Whey Protein Powder is made from grass fed cow milk with access to open pastures year round. It is processed at low temperatures which is great ideal since most whey protein powder isn’t.
Other Overnight Oat Recipes
If you’re now in love with overnight oats and looking for other options, here’s a consolidated list to try out:
- This blueberries and cream overnight oats recipe was one of my first overnight oat recipes and still a favorite.
- This strawberries and honey overnights oat recipe is always satisfying and a favorite for my toddler!
- For something a bit different, try this carrot cake overnight oats recipe out. The toasted oats and nuts add nutrition and texture!
- Kristen over on A Mindfull Mom has an incredible list of overnight oat options to check out from banana pie to peanut butter cup!
Other High Protein Make Ahead Breakfast Recipes
If oats aren’t your thing or you’re just looking for a change, here are some other high protein breakfast options that can be made ahead of time:
- Crustless quiches are a go to make ahead breakfast for me since they reheat so well.
- These spinach cottage cheese pancakes reheat well and as an added bonus, you get a veggie snuck in without even tasting it.
- Chia pudding is an all time favorite of mine either for breakfast or dessert – try this almond pudding.
- This cherry oat quinoa bake has oats and quinoa but in baked form – it reheats great and has 12 grams of protein per serving!
- These egg bites are a savory make ahead breakfast options and each one has 4 grams of protein so eat two or three for a full breakfast!
Chocolate Protein Overnight Oats
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or any milk you prefer)
- 1 cup rolled (old fashioned) oats
- 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder*
- 1/4 cup plain protein powder*
- 1 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract*
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together in a small jar or split between two jars to keep the two servings separate. Stir well to mix ingredients and dissolve chunks.
- Place jar(s) in refrigerator overnight or for 2 hours at the very minimum (overnight is preferred).
- Remove from refrigerator before eating and stir well.
- Either eat directly from the jar(s) or place in a bowl. Eat within 24 hours of mixing for best results.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe originally published on April 9, 2016 but post and recipe have since been updated.
