Overnight oats are brilliant! Convenient, simple, wholesome. But when you are feeding lots of people, those individual jars are too tedious. Here is our simple hack and some of our favorite recipes.

Overnight Oats for a Crowd - Overnight oats are brilliant! Convenient, simple, wholesome. But when you are feeding lots of people, those individual jars are too tedious. Here is our simple hack and some of our favorite recipes. From CheapskateCook.com #onabudget #healthyliving #realfood #oats #oatmeal #savemoney #frugal #eathealthy #breakfast #makeahead #healthybreakfast

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Have you tried overnight oats? I remember when the original post first swept Pinterest. It was brilliant, simple, and almost didn’t work for me. Those individual jars are cute, but for anyone feeding more than 1.5 people or trying to make oatmeal to last the week, it might feel tedious.

Sure, you follow the recipes, but they essentially tell you to sweeten the oatmeal to taste and figure out what works for you. First of all, I love recipes like that. Second, I don’t want to spend the time taste-testing each little oatmeal jar. I’ve read a lot of posts on overnight oatmeal, but none of them addressed feeding a crowd.

How to Make Overnight Oats for a Crowd

Here’s a secret (it’s not, really).

Use a big bowl, add liquid and sweetener to taste, then either cover and refrigerate the bowl or spoon it into individual jars. That way you can still take a cutesy mason jar picture for Instagram.

Not that I encourage a pinterest-perfect facade. I’m just sayin’.

So here is my solution. It’s not brilliant, by any means, but since I haven’t seen it anywhere else, I think it’s worth sharing. Because it’s easy, it’s cheap, and it’s fast. – 3 qualities that more often herald a bad dating relationship than healthy food that feeds a crowd. 

This Overnight Oats Recipe is:

  • Gluten-free
  • Dairy-free
  • Make-ahead
  • Easy
  • Crowd-friendly
  • Whole food
  • Allergy-friendly
  • Egg-free
  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

Overnight Oats Flavor Variations:

Try the flavor combinations in these recipes!

Overnight Oats for a Crowd - When you want to make a lot of oatmeal, but all those individual jars are too tedious. From CheapskateCook.com

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and tag a photo #cheapskatecook and @cheapskatecook on Instagram.

Overnight Oatmeal for a Crowd - When you want to make a lot of oatmeal, but all those individual jars are too tedious. From CheapskateCook.com

Overnight Oats for a Crowd

Yield: 6
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Inactive Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 8 hours 5 minutes

Overnight oats are brilliant! Convenient, simple, wholesome. But when you are feeding lots of people, those individual jars are too tedious. Here is our simple hack and some of our favorite recipes.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups oats, (quick or old-fashioned)
  • 4 1/2 cups liquid, (see Recipe Notes for suggestions)
  • 6-8 tbsp sweetener, (see Recipe Notes for suggestions)
  • Pinch of salt
  • Add-ins, (see Recipe Notes for suggestions - excuse the repetition)

Instructions

  1. Take a large bowl or container with a lid, and fill it about halfway with oats. 
  2. Add liquid until oats are just barely covered. Add optional salt and some sweetener (better to add less than you need at first).
  3. Stir well. Taste test, and add more sweetener if needed.
  4. Option 1: Cover your bowl and refrigerate it. It will keep for up to 3 days. When ready to serve, set out a variety of add-ins and let everyone spoon out a bowl of oatmeal and flavor it as desired. 
  5. Option 2: Stir in whatever add-ins you desire then cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
  6. Option 3: Divide the oatmeal into jars and flavor them individually. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Notes

  • Liquids - Any kind of dairy or non-dairy milk (dairy and almond are my favorites), plain or flavored kefir, Greek yogurt and milk/water, plain yogurt and milk/water, flavored yogurt and milk/water.
  • Sweetener - Whatever you like! Raw honey, maple syrup, sugar, brown sugar, coconut sugar, evaporated cane juice, sucanat, rapadura (those last two links are for educational purposes in case you don't know what those sweeteners are - I've never purchased those particular brands), date paste (not an affiliate link; just a recipe), stevia, molasses (use with another sweetener as molasses has a very strong flavor). Consider what add-ins you will use when choosing your sweetener. For example, if you're making raspberry oatmeal, you might not want to use molasses. However, molasses tastes great with apple cinnamon oats.
  • Add-ins - Chopped nuts, chia seeds, ground flax seeds, hemp hearts, chopped fruit (almost any kind), cocoa powder, protein powder, collagen powder, superfood powders (matcha, cacao, baobab and other words I can't pronounce), etc.

Recommended Products

Some of these links are affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1/2 cup
Amount Per Serving Calories 194Total Fat 3gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 0mgSodium 24mgCarbohydrates 38gFiber 4gSugar 10gProtein 5g

Please note: The actual calories and nutrition of this dish will change depending on what ingredients you use. Nutrition information is not always accurate.

Did you make this recipe?

If you try this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, and tag your photo @cheapskatecook on Instagram.

More Easy Make-Ahead Breakfasts:

Overnight Oats for a Crowd - When you want to make a lot of oatmeal, but all those individual jars are too tedious. From CheapskateCook.com

What You Can Do Now:

What add-ins do you like on your overnight oats? Chia seeds? Chopped fruit? Protein powder?

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