Can you imagine eating Bananas Foster for breakfast and calling it healthy? With this banana overnight oats recipe, you’ll be ready to eat a delicious and filling meal first thing in the morning!
One of my favorite restaurants in New Orleans, Brennans, makes the most amazing bananas foster dessert. Ordering it, is an experience on its own. The waiter brings a cart next to the table and combines the bananas, brown sugar, butter, liquor, cinnamon, and rum right on the skillet. Then, cooks it and flambés the dessert prior to serving it over vanilla ice-cream.
It sounds amazing, right? I won’t even tell you how delicious it tastes. Let’s just say… that if you ever come to New Orleans, Brennans is definitely a place you want to experience.
These oats are clearly super easy to make but still have all the “wow” factor in the taste department. Check out this quick video to see how easy they are to make.
Banana Overnight Oats Ingredients
It doesn’t take much to make a batch of delicious oats for breakfast; here is what you’ll need:
- Coconut oil
- Bananas
- Vanilla
- Cinnamon
- Maple syrup
- Old-fashioned oats
- Ground flax
- Milk
The recipe works best with steel-cut oats and with old-fashioned oats. Using quick or instant oats will yield a cup of delicious runny mush. The measurements are a little bit different if you want to make Banana Overnight Oatmeal with Steel Cut Oats.
How exactly did I decide to make a healthier version for breakfast? Well, my husband loves oatmeal. He used to buy oatmeal packets with the different flavors, bring fruit with him and mix it all up at work with milk. Feeling bad about the high content of sugar and fake flavors, I began pre-mixing his oatmeal in single serve jars.
After a while, I had to get creative making overnight oats… so I began adding fruits, cream, maple syrup… and recreating some of our favorite desserts right in the jar. The entire process is so easy and comes together rather quickly; so this is one breakfast staple you’ll often find in my fridge.
Making the Banana Topping for Overnight Oats
The caramelized bananas are what take these oats to the next level, and it’s so easy to make.
- Heat the coconut oil in a small saucepan. Add the bananas, vanilla, and cinnamon.
- Saute for 2 to 3 minutes or until the bananas become golden brown and begin to soften.
- Drizzle on the maple syrup, cook for an additional minute, and remove from heat.
Easy, right? By now, your kitchen should smell A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, and you are ready to make these overnight oats.
How to Make Banana Overnight Oats
Once you give overnight oats a try, you will have a hard time going back to the stove-top version. The oats practically cook themselves overnight, and in the morning, you know you are waking up to a delicious and satisfying breakfast.
Grab your ingredients, glass jars, and let’s get to it!
- Make the Bananas Foster
Prepare the bananas foster on the stove-top. - Make the Oat Base
In a glass jar, combine the oats, ground flax, and milk. Stir to combine. - Combine
Top each jar with the bananas foster and seal. - Chill out
Refrigerate overnight or up to 5 days.
And that’s all there is to it. When you’re ready to eat, give the oats a good stir, and enjoy chilled or warm up in the microwave- there’s no wrong way to eat them!
Assembly is fast and the fridge does the rest. While I like to make these overnight oats when bananas are at their prime, you can also use the overly ripe bananas you meant to use to make banana bread but somehow never got to baking. The mixture will be a bit more saucy, but just as delicious.
How Long to Soak Overnight Oats
Instead of cooking, overnight oats get their creamy, thick texture from slow soaking in milk. It takes about 4 hours for the oats to absorb the liquid and soften, but they can sit a lot longer, which is why you can make them the night before and eat the next morning.
Hot Or Cold Overnight Oats
Overnight oats can be enjoyed straight from the refrigerator or reheated. It’s entirely up to your taste and preference. Personally, I love them chilled, straight out the jar. It’s refreshing and just as hearty as oats cooked on the stove-top.
How Far Ahead Can You Make Overnight Oats
Once you make the overnight oats, you have up to 5 days to enjoy them. That’s a long time and another reason this is the perfect breakfast meal prep recipe.
Just combine the ingredients, refrigerate, and you have satisfying, delicious breakfasts on hand for the week. I often grab a jar after a run or pack them with me to the office for lunch; they are good any time of day!
More Overnight Oat Recipes
If you are eager for more tasty breakfast ideas, you’ll definitely want to check out my recipe for Honey Almond Butter Overnight Oats. This is another great one to make ahead so you have a healthy and hearty breakfast every day of the week!
I have many more healthy overnight oats recipes, and I’ve shared a few favorites in the list below. You’ll find ones made with old-fashioned oats as well as steel-cut.
- Cinnamon Apple Overnight Oats
- Strawberry Overnight Oats
- Peaches & Cream Overnight Oats
- Pineapple Upside Down Overnight Oats
- Strawberry Overnight Steel Cut Oats
- Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats
Banana Overnight Oats Recipe
This easy banana overnight oats recipe tastes like bananas foster! Full of flavor and alcohol-free it is the most epic way to start your day.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Diet: Low Calorie
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon butter or coconut oil
- 3 very ripe bananas, sliced
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 2 teaspoons ground flax
- 3 cups milk*
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, heat up butter or coconut oil over medium heat. Add the bananas, vanilla, and cinnamon to the heated pan and begin to sauté until they begin to break down and juice out their natural sugars – about 2 minutes.
- Add the maple syrup, stir to combine, and cook for another minute, remove from heat.
- Inside each jar, place ½ cup oats, ½ teaspoon ground flax, and ¾ cup milk. Divide the cooked bananas evenly over each glass jar
- Stir to combine, place the lid on, and refrigerate overnight.
Equipment
Buy Now →
Notes
- You can use butter instead of coconut oil and your favorite dairy-free milk as well.
- You can eat your oats cold right out of the fridge or warmed in the microwave.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 jar
- Calories: 388
- Sugar: 27.1g
- Sodium: 95.7mg
- Fat: 6.8g
- Saturated Fat: 4.1g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 64.7g
- Fiber: 7.3g
- Protein: 13.1g
- Cholesterol: 15.7mg
Nina
Do you know the nutritionals on this recipe, along with calorie content?
Laura Fuentes
I do not. You are welcome to plug the ingredients into a nutritional website.
Sarah
Made these last night but forgt to stir! Can’t wait to try them! Hope they don’t take too much longer!! 🙂
Laura Fuentes
ooooh yum! you an always “speed it up” by microwaving them for 30-60 seconds…
jennifer
I made this using buttermilk. Delicious!
★★★★★
Kallie
This sounds divine, I can not wait to make them, but it makes four jars, how long do they stay good for?
Laura Fuentes
They will stay good for 3-4 days in the fridge. Enjoy Kallie!
Amber @ rick•a•bam•boo
Oh. My. Goodness! I found these yesterday and made some up for breakfast this morning. They are divine! I’m definitely going to make up some individual servings to grab from the fridge next week. They are so so SO good. Great work.
Laura Fuentes
I’m glad you liked them Amber!
jennifer
Laura, made this last night for today! So yummy! thanks! and easy 🙂
★★★★★
Laura Fuentes
I’m so glad you liked them Jennifer!
Melissa
I do not like oatmeal but have been looking for ways to get my 2 year old to eat it and this might work 🙂 wondering if I can use almond milk instead of dairy? Thank you so much! Love your recipes!
Laura Fuentes
Melissa, yes! you can use almond milk in these. Enjoy! Also, for your 2yo I recommend using old fashion oats (like in the video) instead of steel cut. The texture tends to be much more appealing to kids.
Anny
I don’t usually stock maple syrup at my home. Can I replace it with honey or agave nectar? if yes, do I use the same measurement as maple syrup? thx
Laura Fuentes
Absolutely Anny! Thank you!
Rebekah Blalack
Do you possibly have the calculations or the nutrition facts?
beth c
the bananas cooking with the vanilla & cinnamon smells absolutely divine! i can’t wait to eat this in the morning! 🙂 i guess i should have read through the recipe before i started making them though- i cooked the banans & then realized this makes four servings! 😀 surprise breakfast for the work week! thanks!
beth c
..do you happen to steel-cut your own oats? i just tried in my vitamix & got powder & some steel cuts… hm. i think i’m going to add chia seed in lieu of the flax. yum!
Laura Fuentes
I don’t but I know people that do. You can definitely add chia seeds instead of flax. Enjoy!
Debbie
Thanks for this recipe. It was very tasty but WAY too sweet, definitely more of a dessert taste. I’d recommend trying it with less maple syrup, you can always add more to taste. The coconut oil gave it wonderful flavor.
Heidi
Wow this was yummy!!! My daughter and I LOVED IT! To the person who said too sweet that it felt like dessert…that was my favorite part 😉 I hate oatmeal but I know it’s good for me..now thanks to this recipe, I’ll happily eat it!
Thank you for such a great share!!!
★★★★★
Sean
For the true steel cut oats texture, I recommend cooking the steel cut oats for 10 min, covered, letting sit for another hour and then transferring them to the jars overnight.
I also used some spiced rum during the last 30 seconds of cooking the bananas (make sure to cook it off), and tossed in some brown sugar upon leaving the heat as I prefer a mine a little sweeter. Overall, a good recipe.
Amy
Hi! If I wanted to just make one serving, what would be the proportions?
Chicken
Even the bananas alone are really good! Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Traci G
We have made this several times and LUV it! Thank you for the great recipe! I did have to double the portion size of oats(to 1/2 cup dry) for each person, we must be bigger eaters ;). I love your office lunch ideas too. Been loving looking around at your site.
★★★★★
Laura Fuentes
Thanks so much Traci! I’m so glad you love this recipe.
NCJ
hi, wondering wether i can use quick oats for this … the recipe looks fabulous and it has bananas! my favorite ingredient
Laura Fuentes
Absolutely, just reduce some of the liquid since quick oats don’t need as much. Enjoy!