Overnight oats have become a staple with me – as part of a sumptuous early dinner, a scoop into a small bowl when the cravings start or as a healthy and quick breakfast! I really didn’t make much of it until I moved house and found myself stuck with loads of items to sort through with little to no time to do it.

Enter my Imagination. I quickly googled quick breakfasts and overnight oats came up among other items. I was intrigued and decided to give it a try. I must say I was glad I did. So I tried to substitute the ingredients I didn’t have and came up with great tasting stuff. So here are my five favorite recipes. Enjoy with me. 

Banana

4 tablespoons steel cut oat

½ cup diced (half ripe) banana

1 teaspoon fresh peanut butter

1 teaspoon toasted millet

1 teaspoon fresh grated coconut

½ cup soy milk

3 African Blue pear diced

1 fresh date crushed

½Teaspoon grated ginger

Mango

1 cup diced mangoes

4 tablespoons steel cut oat

½ cup Cocomond (coconut and almond milk mix)

Dash cinnamon

1 teaspoon Greek yoghurt

1 Teaspoon sesame seeds

1 tangerine peeled

1 tablespoon groundnuts(raw/boiled)

Pineapple

4 tablespoons steel cut oat

1 cup chopped pineapple

3 African walnut (UKPA) halved

½ cup coconut milk

1 Teaspoon cacao powder

1 tablespoon toasted breadfruit

One small (sweet) orange peeled

½ teaspoon flax seed

Apple

4 tablespoon steel cut oat

1 red apple diced 

1 tablespoon roasted pumpkin seeds

½ cup Tigernut Milk

1/8 cup dehydrated unripe banana

5 pieces Atili (African olives)

½ cup firm papaya diced

Dash cinnamon

Sour-sop Base

4 tablespoon steel cut oat

½ cup sour-sop fruit

1 tablespoon cashew crumble

1 teaspoon watermelon seed

1 teaspoon Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon dehydrated unripe banana

2 tablespoons Monkey cola diced

Dash cayenne pepper powder

Overnight oats are super easy to prep, tasty and nutritious too. Plus it helps rev up your creativity (a big one for me!) and the ingredient combos are endless. All you need is your favorite milk and a willingness to experiment. The ingredients in these recipes can be substituted easily. Here’s a list of extra add-ons for those times when for those times when you are extra hungry or you are being frugal and want no wastes:

Zuchini bread crumble
Teeny scoop of grandma’s homemade peanut butter
Protein powder,
Toasted Millet
Toasted Acha
Extra fruit!

A word of caution though, steer clear of dried fruits. The drying process has concentrated the sugar and we don’t need the extra calories. Period.

Got a fave recipe to share? Take a pic and tag us on Instagram!