How much liquid do I put in overnight oats?

When it comes to fast, healthy breakfast options, it's hard to beat overnight oats. They're the ultimate big-batch food, meaning they easily double, triple, and quadruple in scale—and they get better the longer they sit. But it's not all rainbows, unicorns and chia seeds—there are a few major errors you can make when whipping up a batch of "refrigerator porridge." Avoid these common mistakes, and your mornings will be so easy, you may even have time to pick out matching socks.

1. Not Adding Enough Liquid

At their most basic, overnight oats are raw rolled oats (or other grains, like rolled spelt, for example) that are combined with a liquid—most frequently milk, alt-milks like almond or coconut milk, or yogurt. They're seasoned, sweetened, and mixed well, then left to soften in the fridge overnight. At their best, they're creamy, spoonable porridges. But if the oats-liquid ratio is off, the grains will absorb all of the milk and lose their spoonable consistency; they'll be less creamy and more akin to freshly-mixed concrete. You know what's not palatable at 7 a.m.? Freshly-mixed concrete. Make sure you have at least double the liquid per each serving of oats (so, 1 cup of milk to ½-cup of oats), increasing the amount if you want a soupier texture.

Steel-Cut Oats are best when cooked; use rolled oats for refrigerator porridge. Photo: Kimberley Hasselbrink

2. Using the Wrong Kind of Oats

We love the chewy, hearty texture of steel-cut oats, but they're too firm to use for overnight oats. Steel-cut are much better simmered slowly, although if you are short on time, soaking them in water overnight then draining them before simmering will drastically cut down the cooking time. On the other hand, instant oats will break down after an overnight spin in the fridge, disintegrating completely into the milk, etc. Associate food editor Rick Martinez says stick with old-fashioned regular or thick rolled oats for the best results.

3. Adding the Mix-Ins Too Soon

If you're looking for a little crunch, don't add any nuts or seeds to the porridge until just before eating. Most fresh fruit should be added just prior to digging in, too. Banana can go either way; if you add it before refrigerating, make sure it's ripe, and mash it to help it better incorporate into the porridge.

One exception: Chia seeds. These super seeds need time to absorb liquid. Martinez points out that they also help to thicken the porridge, so increase the amount of liquid accordingly. If you're grain-free, you can make a porridge with just the liquid portion and chia seeds; they plump up enough to thicken any milk or alt-milk.

Yogurt Chia Pudding. Photo: Danny Kim

4. Under-Sweetening and Under-Seasoning

Cold food needs more seasoning than hot, says Martinez, so no matter what you put in your overnight oats, be sure to add a little more than you would to hot oatmeal. Martinez also considers a pinch of salt imperative. "Without salt, oats just taste like glue," he says. He also likes to use brown or raw sugar, which has deeper and richer flavor than granulated white sugar.

Another way to add flavor? Toast the oats in a dry pan until they're golden brown and nutty-smelling. They'll be much tastier in the final product.

5. Skipping the Pre-Meal Mix

Yes, overnight oats are one of the lowest-maintenance breakfast foods in your arsenal. But most people miss an important step in between removing them from the fridge and chowing down: re-mixing. Take a few extra seconds to stir the oats, and you'll be rewarded with the perfect mix of sweetness, chewy texture, and crunch in every bite.

Sheela is the Senior Contributing Food Editor at Kitchn and the author of Mediterranean Every Day: Simple, Inspired Recipes for Feel-Good Food. She received her master's degree from the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy and is also a Registered Dietitian.

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updated Sep 9, 2019

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Morning Glory Overnight Oats (Image credit: Joe Lingeman)

It’s hard not to love the convenience of overnight oats. Stir oats and milk together in a bowl or a jar, let them hang out together while you sleep, and come morning you have a hearty, satisfying breakfast waiting for you. Yes, it’s as simple as it sounds, but there are a few things to keep in mind to ensure your morning oats are as creamy and comforting as possible before you run out the door. Here are five mistakes to avoid.

1. Guessing on the liquid-to-oat ratio.

Getting the liquid-to-oat ratio down is one major key to success when it comes to overnight oats. Since overnight oats are really just oats that have been left to soften for hours in liquid — usually milk of some sort — to break down and become porridge-like, if you use too little liquid, the oats won’t be able to soften enough and get that creamy consistency. Instead you’ll have something more like cement. Yet, use too much liquid and you’ll end up with soup.

Follow this tip: Stick with a 2:1 ratio of liquid to oats when making overnight oats to achieve a spoonable, porridge-like consistency.

Zucchini Bread Overnight Oats (Image credit: Kaitlin Flannery)

2. Not adding a pinch of salt.

As much as oats love maple syrup and brown sugar, they also love (and need) salt. Just like any other food, overnight oats needs to be seasoned properly and will frankly taste like cardboard without that pinch of salt, regardless of how much syrup you drizzle on.

Follow this tip: Stir in a pinch of salt to your liquid and oat mixture at night, in addition to whatever sweetener you use, and know you’ll have a well-seasoned breakfast in the morning

3. Reaching for instant oats.

Leave instant oats behind when making overnight oats. Since they are so small, they’ll actually just end up almost dissolving in the liquid. Steel-cuts oats can be used but expect them to very chewy and fairly dense.

Follow this tip: Old-fashioned rolled oats are the best when it comes to the variety to use for overnight oats. They’ll give you that creamy, smooth texture with just the right amount of chew.

Blueberry Pie Overnight Oats (Image credit: Izy Hossack)

4. Tossing all the nuts and fruits in at once.

It may be tempting to stir nuts and fruit into the oats before you go to bed to make it extra easy on yourself in the morning, but try to hold back. Just like the oats, anything you add to the liquid is going to soak and soften so you’ll be left with chewy nuts and mushy fruit.

Follow this tip: Reserve mix-ins like nuts, seeds, fresh fruit, granola, and coconut flakes for the morning. Chia seeds and dried fruit can be adding at night, as chia seeds do need time to absorb liquid and dried fruit will plump up overnight.

5. Forgetting to stir before digging in.

You already stirred the oats into the liquid last night, so no need to stir them again in the morning, right? The bottom of the oats might be pretty mushy while the top still could have a little crunch left in it, which means you’ll be digging through all sorts of different textures.

Follow this tip: Give your overnight oats one final stir after taking them out of the fridge to ensure all that chewy, crunchy, mushy goodness is well-combined and you’ve got all those great textures in each bite.

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