It's strawberry season and these strawberry shortcake overnight oats are the perfect way to enjoy fresh strawberries! With only 10 minutes of hands-on time, you can have nourishing, seasonal breakfasts prepared for the week ahead.
Springtime and early summer means strawberries AND crave-able warm weather breakfasts that are ready for you right when you wake up, so you can get on with your beautiful summer day. What better way to combine them than with flavors of strawberry shortcake?!
Dessert-inspired yet healthy breakfasts are nothing new around here (see carrot cake baked oatmeal... yummy). And these strawberry shortcake overnight oats use my tried and true ratio for overnight oats to get that indulgent, thick and creamy texture. The secret to giving them shortcake vibes? A bit of almond extract is all it takes. Add in fresh, juicy strawbs, and you've got a healthy breakfast that tastes like a treat!
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Key Ingredients
- Whole rolled oats - Whole rolled oats work best for this recipe. Be sure to use oats labeled certified gluten free, if needed.
- Strawberries - If you're trying to eat sustainability with the seasons, it's best to use fresh strawberries (local is even better, if you can!) only when in season (usually April - June, depending on where you live), and use frozen in the off-season. Frozen fruit is frozen at peak ripeness, so it'll not only taste better than off-season fresh berries, but it'll also contain more nutrients.
- Greek yogurt - I prefer 2% or whole milk, and I can't get enough of Siggi's vanilla skyr. Be sure to use plant-based yogurt if you want to make this vegan.
- Milk - Feel free to use dairy or plant-based! Milks with more protein will of course help this recipe become a high-protein breakfast or snack. For reference, I talk about my favorite brands in my high protein overnight oats recipe post.
- Almond extract - This is a key ingredient for getting these overnight oats to taste like strawberry shortcake.
Side note, once berry season rolls around, you'll need to try this delicious blackberry oatmeal bake or these blueberry lemon overnight oats!
Please see recipe card for full ingredients list and quantities.
Sweeter Strawberries
If you want to make these strawberry overnight oats even more dessert-like, you can prepare the strawberries accordingly (without a ton of sugar)! Here's what I suggest:
- Try some macerated strawberries! Macerating berries simply means marinating them in a bit of natural cane sugar, honey, agave, or maple syrup for about 30 minutes, which helps them break down slightly and become syrupy and sweet.
- Make a quick strawberry compote. I do this for my Greek yogurt pancakes with strawberry compote, and this simply step levels up any breakfast recipe! Simple simmer fresh or strawberries on the stovetop for 10 minutes until reduced and syrupy. Let it cool before adding to overnight oats, but you could add it to pancakes or French toast while warm. What a treat!
Let's Make These Oats!
Step 1
Combine all ingredients except for strawberries into a bowl.
Step 2
Stir everything together until combined, then cover and chill in the fridge overnight (or at least four hours).
Step 3
In the morning, divide oats into servings and top with strawberries and chopped almonds. Enjoy!
Expert Tip: I've eaten overnight oats after one, two, three, and four hour chilling times to test the minimum amount of chilling time needed. My favorite texture is after they've chilled overnight, but if you want to eat them the same day, four hours is the minimum I recommend.
Strawberry Overnight Oats FAQ
Sure thing! I recommend thawing in the fridge first and topping your oats when you're ready to eat. Thawed frozen strawberries release a delicious, sweet juice that tastes amazing when topping overnight oats.
Store your overnight oats in the fridge for up to five days in jars with lids or airtight containers. I recommend storing the strawberries separately and adding them to the overnight oats right before serving. When I tested leaving the strawberries in the overnight oats while they chilled, the strawberry texture was a little too mushy for my liking.
Nope! You can make these oats without chia seeds if you'd like. I personally love the creamy texture they help create, but your overnight oats will still taste delicious without them.
📖 Recipe
Dessert-for-Breakfast Strawberry Shortcake Overnight Oats
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Description
These strawberry shortcake overnight oats are a healthy, easy breakfast that's ready for you when you wake up! Get the most out of a strawberry season by using fresh, sweet strawberries, along with almond extract to get that shortcake flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole rolled oats
- ½ tablespoon chia seeds
- ⅛ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 cup milk (use your fave!)
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon agave (maple syrup or honey are also great)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup fresh strawberries, diced
- 2 tablespoons almonds, roughly chopped
- Whipped cream or whipped coconut cream, optional
Instructions
- Combine dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine the oats, chia seeds, and salt, and mix together.
- Add wet ingredients. Add milk, yogurt, agave, and vanilla. Stir until everything is well-combined.
- Chill. Cover the oats and let them chill in the fridge overnight (or for at least four hours to ensure thick, soft oats that have mostly absorbed the liquid).
- Top and eat. Remove your overnight oats from the fridge and divide into two servings. Top with diced fresh strawberries and chopped almonds. Add a dollop of whipped cream or whipped coconut cream for a true strawberry shortcake experience!
Notes
- Storage. Store these overnight oats in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Frozen strawberries. Frozen strawberries are delicious with this recipe. As they thaw, they release water and juice and it almost makes its own delicious, naturally sweet syrup. To use frozen strawberries, I like to let them thaw first and then chop them up so that when eating the oats, you can enough bite size pieces (some frozen strawberries are giant).
- Prep Time: 10
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Chill Overnight
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 423
- Sugar: 20.5 g
- Sodium: 223.7 mg
- Fat: 9.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 57.9 g
- Fiber: 8.6 g
- Protein: 19.2 g
- Cholesterol: 11.7 mg
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