Does lemon-y oatmeal sound weird to you? I wasn’t too sure about the combo either. But I figured, if I can get Carrot Cake Quinoa and Banana Split Energy Balls to taste delicious, why not make a lemon dessert into overnight oats?
I actually meant for these oats to be lemon bar overnight oats because lemon bars are my favorite dessert of all time. But these oats are deliciously creamy and lemon bars are not. So thank goodness there’s a creamy lemon dessert in existence. Otherwise, this recipe would’ve been called Creamy Lemon Oats. Doesn’t exactly have a nice ring to it.
The taste though. I guarantee you these oats will be unlike any kind of overnight oats you’ve ever tasted. But at the same time, the flavor will be so familiar. Imagine the most luscious lemon cream pie or lemon cheesecake. All those sweet, tangy, and fresh flavors are packed into this simple oatmeal-in-a-jar.
The line up of ingredients is quite basic: oats, chia seeds, almond milk, lemon juice and zest, vanilla extract…But, what REALLY brings these oats from good to great is the almond extract. I’m absolutely obsessed with almond extract and convinced that it should be a part of every cookie, cake, pie, oatmeal, and porridge recipe out there. But I digress… Shake up all those ingredients in a mason jar and you’re good to go.
My husband, who loves his morning ultra-muscle-pro-tech-pure-nitro protein shakes and his manly omelets on the weekend, is obsessed with these somewhat dainty-flavored overnight oats. I ended up eating the last serving and found him at the fridgethe other morning with a sad puppy face. sowwy.
These oats are so easy to throw together for a wholesome and filling grab-and-go breakfast so I’ll for sure be making many more batches. Lemon oatmeal for the win. Trust me on this one!
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened almond or coconut milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- ¼ cup chopped and toasted nuts (I used chopped almonds)
- Coconut whipped cream
- Lemon zest
- Toasted coconut flakes
- Mix all oats ingredients together in a large mason jar. Put the lid on the jar and give it a good shake! Store the oats in the refrigerator overnight.
- In the morning, give the oats a shake or stir and add more almond milk if needed. Divide oats evenly between 2 bowls. Top each bowl with chopped nuts and lemon zest if desired.
Nutrition Information (per serving) from Caloriecount.about.com
Calories: 276 Fat: 7.5g Carb: 47.9g Fiber: 8.1g Protein: 7.8g Sugar 14.1g Sodium: 140mg
Hi! I'm Krista, a self-proclaimed vegetable lover who likes to put a creative spin on healthy cooking. Here you'll find a variety of lightened up recipes using fresh and wholesome ingredients! 
Krista – Made this last night and just devoured it for breakfast. So ridiculously good! Thank so much for sharing the recipe and luv your blog.
Cindy, that is so awesome to hear! I had it for breakfast this morning! Thanks for the sweet comment 🙂
I love overnight oats, but I was a bit leary of this recipe simply because I’ve never made them without yogurt before. However, I had a bowl full of delicious lemons waiting for me to do something other than squeeze them into my water. I am eating this as we speak. It’s so good. It tastes like summer and sunshine and happy!
I’m mixing up a double batch this evening. Instant amazing breakfast for four days!
Oh my goodness. This makes me so happy! I actually had the same thought about the yogurt when I sat down to write the recipe, but the almond milk helps to thicken the oats and the lemon juice gives the oats some extra tanginess! Thanks so much for the comment, Laura. Have a wonderful weekend!
Hi Krista, im new in your blog i really love your recipes, they all look delicious. I have a question, can i replace almond milk for vanilla soja milk?. Have a nice weekend
Hi Tist. Thank you very much for the kind words! You can absolutely replace the almond milk with your preferred milk! Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Hi Krista How do you make the coconut whip cream? Just whip cream with coconut mixed in?
Hi Janice, you could totally use regular whipped cream with coconut mixed in. But I usually chill a can of coconut milk overnight in the fridge, and use the thick white part as a whipped cream substitute. This is a great post explaining the method: http://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-coconut-whipped-cream/
OMG!!! I was sceptical about doing this, but love lemons, so have given it a go – ITS GORGEOUS!!!! I didnt have maple syrup unfortunately (kids had it all 🙁 ) but used a tablespoon of honey instead – COR!!! YUMMY!!! Thank you so much for sharing, breakfast just got a whole lot more interesting and tasty!!! 🙂 xxx
Thanks so much for this kind comment, Karen! I’m so happy you and your kids loved it! It does seem like an odd flavor for oats, but it’s so good! Also, I totally had to google the meaning of COR 🙂 Thanks for all the love from the UK!
Hi Krista!
Hope you are very well.
Krista, would this recipe work without the almond extract? I don’t like it… Could use lemon extract instead.
Do you think that would work?
Thank you so much for your feedback!
Wishing you a happy and lovely day,
Vivi
Hi Vivi! Yes, this recipe will work without almond extract. If you’d like more enhanced lemon flavor, you could use a bit of lemon extract. Otherwise, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract would work too. Thanks for reaching out!