Steel Cut Overnight Oats with Banana

Whether it’s the large bag of unused steel cut oats sitting in your pantry or the drool-worthy idea of bananas foster for breakfast that brought you to this post, I’m glad you’re here! It’s time we take it up a notch with this epic Overnight Steel Cut Oats recipe.

I live right outside of New Orleans where the classic Bananas Foster dessert is a thing. However, I’d never eat it for breakfast because all that butter, sugar, and ice-cream… well, it’s no breakfast material unless you spent too much time on Bourbon Street.

Bananas Foster Steel Cut Overnight Oats

These overnight steel-cut oats with bananas are one of my favorite recipes when I want sweet oatmeal for breakfast. I mean, oats + milk isn’t really that exciting, but the added bananas, cinnamon, and maple syrup… woah. We totally just made an epic breakfast my family loves that’s also nutritious.

One of the advantages of making these overnight oats in the fridge is that it’s a no-cook method. The quick-cooking steel-cut oats soak up the liquid while they’re sitting in the fridge all night while you sleep, and in the morning, they’re ready to eat.

Can You Make Overnight Oats with Steel-Cut Oats

I’ve made the mistake of using traditional steel-cut oats and they did not soften up overnight! Instead, you’ll want to use quick-cooking steel-cut oats, where the groat has been cut into smaller pieces and can soften up overnight in the fridge.

If you have traditional steel-cut or Irish Oatmeal and want to cook it overnight, you can use this overnight crockpot oatmeal recipe or grind it to make oat flour.

Benefits of Steel Cut Oats

Steel-cut oats, also called coarse oatmeal or Irish oatmeal, are groats of whole oats chopped into two or three pinhead-sized pieces (sort of like long-grain rice). They are minimally processed and are an excellent source of protein, soluble and insoluble fiber, and minerals. 

I like that they’re nutritionally dense. On their own, one serving, about ⅓ cup or 45g of dry steel-cut oats, has 170 calories, 3 grams of fat, 29g carbohydrates, 5g fiber, and 7g protein. For this recipe, I’m using fewer oats (¼ cups) since we’re adding volume from the bananas.

Ingredients

The coarse texture of quick-cooking steel-cut oats is incredible when combined with sweet, ripe bananas and cinnamon. The amounts are at the end of the post, but first, check what you’ll need for this recipe:

• Butter: to sauté the bananas. Swap it for coconut oil to make this recipe dairy-free.
• Bananas: not too green nor too ripe bananas are the best. That said, use any banana you have on hand, even frozen!
• Vanilla: adds an irresistible flavor to the oats. 
• Cinnamon: a little goes a long way!
• Maple syrup: mixed with the natural sweetness of banana, makes these overnight oats the ultimate dessert-like breakfast!
• Quick-cooking steel cut oats: yes, they need to be quick cooking which means they’ve been cut once more by blades and they cook faster. Take a look at the ones I use in the recipe card.
• Milk: any type of milk or your favorite dairy-free milk alternative.
• Ground flax: optional for extra nutrition.

Steel Cut Oats to Water Ratio

The ratio in the bag for steel-cut oats to water (or milk) is 1 to 3. This means that for every 1 cup of steel-cut oats, you’ll need 3 cups of liquid. However, like with most overnight oats recipes, you’ll want to reduce that amount a little so the mixture is nice and thick. You can always add more.

For creamier oats, I like to use milk but you can also use water to make overnight oats. There’s no right or wrong ingredient it’s a personal preference.

How to Make Overnight Steel Cut Oats

The recipe below shows you how to make bananas foster overnight steel-cut oats in single-serve jars. However, you can make one big bowl of overnight oats as well. Here is how to make them:

1. Sauté the bananas
   You’ll cook the banana with vanilla, cinnamon, and maple syrup in a saucepan for 3-4 minutes until it begins to break down and juice out its natural sugars.
2. Assemble
   In each jar, you place steel-cut oats, ground flax (if using), milk, and the banana foster mixture.
3. Let it soak
   Refrigerate steel-cut oats with banana for 8 hours or overnight. 
4. Enjoy!
   In the morning, eat overnight oats cold, straight out of the jar, or warm them up in the microwave if desired.

Can this delicious breakfast be this simple? Check by yourself in this video where I show you the process and the creamy oatmeal consistency:

How Long Does it Take to Make Overnight Oats

Since overnight oats don’t require cooking, they take time to soak in the liquid added to the jar or bowl. They are called “overnight” because they require 8 hours at a minimum to soak in the liquid. Quick-cooking steel-cut oats will take closer to 12 hours to soften up.

Favorite Mix-Ins

What’s great about making oatmeal with overnight oats is that it’s a “base” for terrific add-ins. In this recipe, I use bananas but below are other ways you can customize your one-bowl meal. Some of my favorite mix-ins:

• ground flaxseed, ½ teaspoon per serving
• honey or maple syrup, 1 teaspoon per serving
• hemp seeds, 1 teaspoon per serving
• chia seeds, ½ teaspoon per serving
• nut butter, 1 teaspoon per serving
• protein powder, 2 tablespoons per serving
• fresh fruit, ½ cup per serving
• dried fruit, 1 tablespoon per serving
• chopped nuts, 1 tablespoon per serving

Whether you add the add-ins before you refrigerate or after, the possibilities are endless! For a simpler recipe that tastes like summer, try these Strawberries & Cream Overnight Steel Cut Oats.

Make Ahead Steel Cut Overnight Oats

One of the claims to fame of overnight oats is that they can be made ahead and kept in the fridge for several days. If you’re making overnight oats without fruit, you can make them up to 5 days in advance.

If you are adding fruit to your overnight oats, I recommend no more than 3 days since the fruit loses its texture and tastes different—especially berries. You can read more about how long overnight oats last here.

The Best Jars to Use

Most recipes call for 8-ounce mason jars. These are available in glass or plastic. If you have young kids, these freezer jars are great for making overnight oats and freezing smoothies. 

You can also make overnight oats in a large bowl, cover it with plastic wrap or a lid, and then measure out the overnight oats mixture into individual bowls.

The biggest takeaway for the best “jar” is that the container has a lid to prevent any spills in the refrigerator and that they are covered airtight.

Serving Steel Cut Overnight Oats Hot or Cold

I personally love eating steel-cut overnight oats cold, straight from the refrigerator. However, microwaving them for 1 minute will warm them up and make them softer in texture. A lot of people enjoy them hot and use this overnight oat method to cut down the cooking time of steel-cut oats, which also helps them enjoy a healthy breakfast quickly.