Overnight Steel Cut Oats are a delicious, healthy, make-ahead breakfast. This recipe combines steel-cut oats and almond milk along with other goodies like fresh fruit, nuts, and seeds. This nutritional breakfast can be prepped quickly and packed in mason jars for an easy, take-along, healthy breakfast.

Do you like oatmeal? I have loved oatmeal since I was a little girl, so this recipe was right up my alley. Not fond of steel-cut oats? No worries, you can make these with old-fashioned rolled oats as well. It is so easy to personalize these with your favorite goodies. This is the perfect breakfast for health-conscious families that are always on the go. You can pack them in mason jars or Tupperware-style containers for little ones.
I have a whole house full of oatmeal fans. If you like oatmeal as much as we do, try my oatmeal muffins, oatmeal pancakes, oatmeal raisin cookies, and oatmeal bars.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
See the complete list of ingredients on the recipe card below.
- Steel Cut Oats: Steel-cut oats, also known as pinhead oats or Irish oats, are coarser than other types of oats and have a chewier texture. The cooking and softening time for steel-cut oats is longer than for old-fashioned rolled oats. They absorb more liquid and take longer to soak.
- Milk: I used almond milk, but use your favorite milk.
- Maple Syrup: This can be substituted for honey or agave at a 1:1 ratio. Other substitutions include date syrup, golden syrup, and caramel syrup.
- Vanilla Extract: You can use almond extract, vanilla bean paste, or vanilla yogurt.

How to Make Overnight Steel Cut Oats
This is a summary version; for the complete list of ingredients and instructions, please refer to the recipe card below.
- Grab an airtight container. Add oats, almond milk, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt. Stir to combine, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
- On the second day, add ¼ cup of fruit, nuts, or seeds to a mason jar. Spoon in an equal amount of the overnight oats mixture and top with more fruit and a drizzle of honey. Cover the jars with the lids and refrigerate.
Flavor Variations
- Banana Nut: ½ banana, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, almond butter, or any nut butter, and 1 tablespoon of chopped pecans or walnuts.
- Pina Colada: ⅓ cup chopped pineapple, 1 tablespoon toasted coconut.
- Almond Blueberry: ¼ cup blueberries, 1 tablespoon flax seeds or hemp seeds, 2 tablespoons sliced almonds.
- Mixed berry: A few blackberries, a few raspberries, ¼ cup chopped strawberries.
- Apple: ⅓ cup chopped apple, a couple of pinches of cinnamon, ½ tablespoon chia seeds.

Do You Have to Use Steel-Cut Oats for Overnight Oats?
If you prefer rolled oats in your oatmeal, mix them in place of the steel-cut oats. Jump to the second day when you fill the mason jars with fruit, nuts, seeds, and mixed oats. Cover and refrigerate for one night.
Feel free to mix or match any of these or try some new interesting combos that work for you and what you have on hand. These oats are a delicious, healthy breakfast that travels well when you are running late.
More Oatmeal Recipes

Overnight Steel Cut Oats Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup steel cut oats
- 1½ cups almond milk or your milk of choice
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Banana Nut
- ½ banana
- 2 tablespoons of peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon of chopped pecan
Pina Colada
- ⅓ cup chopped pineapple
- 1 tablespoons toasted coconut
Almond Blueberry
- ¼ cup blueberries
- 1 tablespoon flax seed
- 2 tablespoons sliced almonds
Mixed Berry
- ¼ cup blackberries
- ¼ cup raspberries
Instructions
- In an airtight container, add the oats, almond milk, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt. Stir to combine, cover, and refrigerate overnight, stirring a couple of times.
- On the second day, add about ¼ cup of fruit, nuts, or seeds to a mason jar. Spoon in a ¼ cup of overnight oats and top with more fruit. Cover the jars with the lids and refrigerate them one more night.
Notes
- If you prefer rolled oats in your oatmeal, mix them in place of the steel-cut oats. Jump to the second day when you fill the mason jars with fruit, nuts, seeds, and the mixed oats. Cover and refrigerate for one night.
- The nutritional information is just for the overnight oats.
Nutrition
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Donna White
Looks wonderful, I love steel cut oats – regular oatmeal is too mushy for me. I’ve never eaten oatmeal cold though; can this recipe be heated?
Beth Pierce
Yes they can. If heating in the microwave make sure to use microwavable canning jars and do not include any metal parts like rings, lids and caps.
Pauline
Could I use regular milk instead of almond milk? Or coconut or hemp milk.
Beth Pierce
Yes you most certainly can.
Megan
Really want to try this recipe but I’m not sure I will like it cold ….could I heat this up ?
Beth Pierce
Yes I think you could microwave them. However make sure you remove any metal lids from mason jars before microwaving.
Jacquelyn Hastert
This is the perfect breakfast to make ahead of time and take with you to work when you are in a hurry. It’s healthy too which is an added bonus.
Shannon Graham
Oh my goodness, I love all of these flavor combinations! Delicious and definitely a breakfast I’ll be adding on my “to-try” list.
Vik
These overnight oats sound so good, but I definitely like how the Banana Nut Oats sound! Trying those soon
Erin
YUM!!! I love this delicious version!!! This is so picture-perfect!
Krista
Each one of these looks fabulous! The perfect way to get up and get moving!
Katerina
I absolutely LOVE this!! The perfect breakfast!
Allie
I had oatmeal the other day because well i thought if everyone does it why not me and I could not do it, i tried i really did! I wanted to! 🙁 So i am really going to try this to change my mind.