Overnight oats are the one breakfast where we spend five minutes the evening before and zero minutes in the morning. No pan, no hob, no waiting around. The oats soak overnight in milk, the yoghurt makes everything creamy, and the chia seeds bind the remaining liquid so firmly that a spoonable porridge is waiting in the jar the next morning.
We have been making overnight oats in the same basic form for years, because the ratios have to work out once and then they work every time. Too little milk, and the oats stay firm. Too much milk, and the jar is swimming by morning. With the 200 g of jumbo oats, 340 g of milk, and 300 g of full-fat yoghurt in our recipe, we hit exactly the point where the texture is spoonable and the oats are still soft.
Overnight Oats with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 8 ✓
- 100 g dried apricots
- 20 g dried cranberries
- 200 g jumbo oats
- 40 g cashew nuts
- 340 g milk (3.5% fat)
- 4 pinches ground cinnamon
- 300 g full-fat yoghurt
- 50 g honey
Instructions 0 / 5
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1
Chop the fruit.
Place the apricots and cranberries in the mixing bowl and chop for 7 sec / speed 8, then set aside.
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2
Chop the oats and cashews.
Place the oats and cashew nuts in the mixing bowl, chop for 4 sec / speed 5 and divide among the jars.
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3
Pour in the milk.
Pour the milk into the jars.
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4
Mix the remaining ingredients.
Place the cinnamon, yoghurt, 2 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp of the chopped apricots and cranberries in the mixing bowl, stir together for 5 sec / speed 4 and divide among four jars.
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5
Garnish.
Top with the remaining honey and remaining fruit. Cover and refrigerate overnight to soak. Enjoy in the morning.
Tip: Use frozen fruit for extra speed. You get a colourful variety in your jar with very little effort.
Nutrition per serving
Why oats, yoghurt and chia need to soak together
The secret to overnight oats is not one single ingredient but the interaction of three soaking components. Jumbo oats absorb milk and soften without losing their structure completely. Full-fat yoghurt brings acidity and creaminess, and at the same time binds liquid to its protein structure. Combining just those two gives a decent but slightly watery porridge.
Chia seeds are the component that lifts the result from “okay” to “properly creamy”. They absorb many times their own weight in liquid and draw in exactly the water that the oats and yoghurt cannot hold. In the original recipe above they are not listed in the ingredients, because the basic recipe is intentionally kept minimal, but we add them almost every time now. 1 to 2 tablespoons are enough for the four jar portions; any more makes the porridge too firm.
In the Thermomix®, the preparation runs in three short steps. Apricots and cranberries go into the mixing bowl first and are roughly chopped in 7 seconds at speed 8. Then oats and cashew nuts in 4 seconds at speed 5, so the jumbo oats soak a little more easily but still have some bite. We stir the actual mix of cinnamon, yoghurt, honey, and a tablespoon of the dried fruit together in 5 seconds at speed 4. That is exactly the speed at which yoghurt and honey combine without the yoghurt becoming foamy.
Speed 4 is not a coincidence
The 5 seconds at speed 4 is the only point in the recipe where things can go wrong. Speed 6 and above half-whips the full-fat yoghurt; the jar looks like collapsed foam in the morning rather than porridge. Speed 1 or 2 does not mix the honey properly, so it sinks to the bottom of the jar as it chills. Speed 4 for exactly 5 seconds is the narrow window in which everything becomes homogeneous without any air being beaten in.
The same applies to the oats. 4 seconds at speed 5 only lightly breaks the jumbo oats. Run them for longer and you get oat flour, which no longer soaks properly but becomes sticky. That is the most common beginner mistake with Thermomix® overnight oats: too long at too high a speed, and breakfast turns mushy instead of spoonable.
Six to twelve hours in the fridge, not less
The soaking time in the fridge is non-negotiable. Under 6 hours the oats remain firm in the middle, the yoghurt has not blended with the honey yet, and the dried fruit sits like little pebbles in the jar. After 6 hours everything has soaked through each other. Between 8 and 12 hours is the optimum; after that the porridge becomes firmer rather than better.
We fill the jars in the evening between 9 and 11 pm and reach for them in the morning between 7 and 9 am. If you get up very early and want to eat the porridge by 5 am, set the jars up correspondingly earlier the night before. The 250 ml jars are not a minor detail but the factor that keeps the ratio of oats to liquid stable per portion. Larger jars take in more air, which distributes the liquid unevenly.
What can go wrong during soaking
Adding citrus fruit too early. Lemon juice, orange segments or mandarin pieces cause the milk and yoghurt to curdle in the jar. The milk separates after a few hours and the yoghurt takes on a grainy texture. Citrus fruit belongs on top in the morning, just before eating.
Stirring honey in directly rather than mixing it. If honey is only spooned on top, it sinks to the bottom during chilling and sticks to the base of the jar. That is why 2 tablespoons go into the mixing bowl with yoghurt and cinnamon, and the rest is added on top when garnishing. This leaves a sweet layer on top while the porridge itself is mildly sweetened throughout.
Low-fat yoghurt instead of full-fat yoghurt. Using 1.5% yoghurt gives a watery porridge. The fat in full-fat yoghurt binds the milk and makes the texture creamy. If you do want to use low-fat yoghurt, reduce the milk by 50 to 80 g or add a tablespoon of chia seeds.
Fresh berries stirred in unwashed. Fresh blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries will turn the porridge completely blue or purple overnight. Visually fine, but the acidity of some berries accelerates curdling just as citrus does. We put berries on top in the morning. Frozen berries can go in the evening, as they thaw slowly and release less acid in the process.
Toppings and variations we actually eat
Apple and cinnamon variation. Half a finely grated apple per jar in the morning, with a squeeze of lemon and an extra pinch of cinnamon. Works from September onwards when the first firm apples arrive. The grated apple should not sit in the jar overnight as it will turn brown.
Banana and peanut butter. Half a banana in slices, a teaspoon of peanut butter, and a few roughly chopped walnuts. Very filling and great for long mornings without a lunch break. The banana can go directly on top and will not brown even after 12 hours, because it sits between yoghurt and honey with no oxygen reaching it.
Chocolate and cherry. Add 10 g of cocoa powder to the mix, then in the morning top with pitted sour cherries from a jar and a few dark chocolate shavings. Tastes less like breakfast and more like a dessert you are allowed to eat in the morning.
Plant-based version. Instead of full-fat yoghurt we use coconut yoghurt or a firm soya yoghurt with at least 4% fat. We replace the milk 1:1 with oat or almond milk. Important: avoid reduced-sugar plant milks, as they taste watery and flat in the finished porridge.
Preparing for the whole week
The four jars from the recipe keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. That makes it possible to batch-cook on Sunday evening for Monday through Thursday without any loss of quality. From day 5 the porridge becomes noticeably firmer and the yoghurt tastes more sour, so it is better to make a fresh batch.
If you want to make double the quantity in the Thermomix®, you can keep the 4 seconds at speed 5 for the oats and cashews without any problem, as the mixing bowl holds enough. For the yoghurt and honey mix, the 5 seconds at speed 4 also stays the same; only the quantities double. Eight jars fit neatly in a standard fridge in a single row.
Freezing does not work. We tried it twice, once with screw-top jars and once in airtight containers. Both times the yoghurt became grainy after thawing, the milk separated, and the oats were soggy rather than spoonable. Overnight oats are a breakfast for three to four days of advance prep, not for the freezer.
Matching breakfast and dessert recipes
If you enjoy overnight oats, you will also love our Thermomix® rice pudding as a warm alternative on cooler mornings. For Sunday brunch, our banana caramel layer dessert in a jar is a great addition that looks beautiful alongside overnight oat jars. If you want more warm oat breakfast ideas, our oat recipes section has more Thermomix® recipes made in the mixing bowl.
How other recipes do it differently
Other Thermomix® overnight oat recipes often use just 2 ingredients: around 160 g oats and 350 g milk, with no yoghurt at all. That saves effort but stays watery and needs toppings to add flavour. Cookidoo works with 800 g milk, only 180 g natural yoghurt, and 30 g chia seeds, sweetened with honey or sugar. We take the opposite approach: 340 g milk, 300 g full-fat yoghurt, and chia as needed. That makes the porridge creamy from the start, without needing to sweeten or add toppings in the morning. Jar rather than bowl, 8 to 12 hours soaking, everything in one mixing bowl.
Goes well with: Nuts.
Goes well with: Low-Carb Porridge Thermomix®.
Try our banana caramel layer dessert in a jar or our creamy Thermomix® rice pudding alongside this recipe.
