This is halfway between a recipe and a mason jar craft and is super simple to gift. This overnight oatmeal can be tweaked as you like it – I like to keep it healthy but you can pretty much do whatever you want here.
If you’re looking for something to give in situations where someone is having a hard time making meals i.e. birth of an new baby, death in the family, on sick leave etc, this is ideal. Breakfast is tough and people often skip it because of time constraints or worse, they grab a donut or other nutritionally void item they have at hand. This is a great alternative they can wake up and eat with little effort and it will provide enough energy and nutrition to get them through to whenever they can grab their next meal. Nursing mamas will usually benefit well from oatmeal and overnight oatmeal will meet pretty much any dietary restrictions you might find. Use gluten free oats for those with gluten sensitivities and vegans can use almond milk in place of dairy.
I hope you give it a shot and I’ll even provide an overnight oatmeal labels printable to print out the labels so you can gift them with instructions. I just cut the labels out and stuck them on to my jars with a glue stick.
These Make a great gift for new moms or those who might not be able to cook breakfast easily. Layer all ingredients into the jar and close it up with a lid. If using ground flax it's best to keep jars in the fridge until ready to mix with milk but if you omit the flax they should stay well in a pantry for several weeks. When ready to prepare, add in 1 cup of milk (dairy, almond or even water) and let sit in the fridge overnight (5 hours min). In the morning microwave (remove the lid!) for 60 seconds or until desired temperature is reached. Top with fruit, yogurt, maple syrup, honey or whatever you like!
Overnight Oatmeal in Mason Jars
Ingredients
Instructions
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 1
Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 348
There are so many ways you can tweak this. Try adding dried blueberries, dried chopped apricots, dried mango or banana chips. What about walnuts, hemp hearts or chocolate chips? You can do whatever you want with this – just consider how well it will stay fresh in the jar until you’re ready to mix it up with milk. I hope you will take this idea and make it your own. Eat your breakfast people 😉
I don’t have a microwave. Do you know the stove top cooking instruction for this? Thanks!
Hmmm I don’t think you could do it the same on the stove top. I bet it would be better to just make it according to the instructions on the oatmeal bag and then add in the nuts etc as it cooks. Oh! I bet you could heat this in the oven! Loosen the lid and pop the jar in the oven and heat until it’s warm. No idea how long it would take though. If you try it let me know!
These are so good and have been a life saver since going back to work!
Um…oh ya! These look super! Thanks for the idea!
I am going back to work in a couple of weeks, and this is going to be a life-saver for me on busy mornings. I can just throw a jar in my bag and eat it at work! Thank you!
This sounds similar to a recipe I used for my mother-in-law who is on a special diet (no salt among others). I put them in her freezer and she would take them out the morning before so they had a chance to thaw. She isn’t a huge oatmeal fan, but she did like these! I made a varied assortment so she didn’t get bored. I’ll be pinning this so next batch I can see if you have any new ideas for me.
Debbie 🙂
I made these in the summer because the husband and kids weren’t too interested in warm oatmeal and they’re great as a cold breakfast too. I adore these labels and the idea of doing it for a new mom!
What a great idea! I’m always looking for new breakfast ideas to eat with our little one (she’s 2). Anything that can make breakfast quick for both of us is perfect! These sound yummy too, and I love the idea of gifting them to a new Mom!
Oh, I love that idea! We eat a lot of oatmeal here in the Winter too, but we call it “mush” – can’t remember why… oh well, thanks for the idea again and Pinning!
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!
Kyla you’re the best. Lol.
Love this! I make something similar called BIrcher Muesli that is made with steel cut oats and you can keep it in the fridge and eat it without cooking. Healthy and fast! This looks like a great variation to try.
What a fantastic idea! Always looking for quick and easy breakfast ideas 🙂
Sounds great – you almost make me wish I still had a microwave…
Happy Saturday!
I love your labels, super cute! I don’t have a microwave, I wonder if I could do this another way….
Such a yummy and cute idea!
I have never actually made overnight oats. LOVE the lables!
What size is the jar?
They are medium sized – 500ml wide mouth I think. One size up from a jam jar.