High Protein (40g!) Overnight Carrot Cake Oats
Breakfast prep changes my life when I am doing my work shifts. I often make egg bites, but I also switch it up by making overnight oats, and you guys have been asking me for my method.
Sooo, I'm here to share!
I like this carrot version because hey, getting a raw carrot in first thing in the morning feels pretty virtuous. And I love the spices and orange peel; to me, this mixture tastes like a lovely treat.
I also love using my homemade yogurt as the liquid in these; when I use milk, my overnight oats are always too watery. Regular yogurt is perfect!
If you don't like the texture of overnight oats, you're not gonna like these, so don't even try*. But if you want a high-protein (40 grams), high-fiber (13 grams) start to your morning and you already know you like overnight oats, then go for it.
*Try the microwave version instead!
Protein Powder
I add protein powder to my mix because I need a serious breakfast before I go to work. It is not uncommon for 8 hours to transpire between my breakfast and my lunch, so a half-hearted breakfast is not gonna cut it.
I use Promix Madagascar vanilla protein powder because it's very lightly sweet, and these are the only ingredients:
Grass-fed whey concentrate, maple sugar, Madagascar vanilla extract, non-GMO sunflower lecithin
It is not a very cheap protein powder (about $2 per half cup serving) but hey, you get what you pay for.
A note on calories
This single serving has 577 calories, which may make some of you faint. But as we have established, I eat these oats on days when I need some serious calories.
Also, I am 5'8" and fairly active, which means I generally eat about 2200 calories a day. So 577 calories is not remotely shocking for my breakfast.
If you don't need such a hearty breakfast, you could certainly eat only half a recipe, you could cut the protein powder in half, or you could leave it out altogether. You do you!
To make these:
Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl. I am always making three servings at a time, so I go assembly-line style.
Add the wet ingredients on top and stir thoroughly.
It takes some doing to get the oats and the protein powder all mixed up, but it does all come together eventually.
Then all you have to do is cover and refrigerate, and ta-dah, your breakfasts will be ready for you.
Apologies for the unaesthetic photo, but it's 6 am here and too dark for natural light!
It is so freaking nice not to have to mix or cook anything before work, and also super nice not to make any dirty dishes (aside from the empty bowl when you're done eating!)
Here's the printable for ya.
High Protein Carrot Cake Overnight Oats
40 grams of protein keeps me going during nursing shifts!
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- ¾ cup old fashioned oats
- 2 scoops Promix Madagascar vanilla protein powder (½ cup total)
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- pinch salt
Wet Ingredients
- ¾ cup vanilla yogurt
- ½ teaspoon fresh orange peel
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup finely shredded carrots
- 2 tablespoons raisins
Instructions
- In a lidded bowl, mix together dry ingredients.
- Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight
Notes
I usually make three bowls at a time so breakfast is covered for all of my work shifts.
You can use whatever protein powder you like; I just like Promix because it has very few ingredients.
Nutrition Information
Yield 1 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 577Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 1.6gUnsaturated Fat 5.9gCholesterol 48.8mgSodium 366mgCarbohydrates 88.2gFiber 13.6gSugar 33.6gProtein 40g
I often have porridge (oatmeal) for breakfast with a scoop of vanilla protein powder, a spoonful of skyr or Greek yoghurt, pumpkin seeds and berries. It's pretty tasty and this has reminded me to get more protein powder!
I will have to give these a try. I am 5'7" and fairly active. I generally eat 2500+ calories a day and at least 900 of them are in the morning. My usual oat mixture with chia and flax seeds, Greek yogurt, and berries is at least 500 calories.
Let's hear it for good breakfasts.
I, too, have a high-powered, nutritious breakfast; mine isn't as big or calorie-dense as Kristen's. I have:
- 4 oz (weight) Dannon Light and Fit regular* yogurt
- 1/2 T. chia seeds**
- 2 oz (weight) Kashi Go cereal
It has:
250 calories
15g protein
37g carbs,
including 14g fiber (60% RDA)
3g fat
210 mg calcium (20% RDA)
4 mg iron (50% RDA)
* Using Greek yogurt increases the protein and decreases the calcium
** I soak 1/4 c chia seeds in 1.75 c water, then use 1/4 c (2 oz weight), because I don't like dry chia seeds between my teeth.
I always feel virtuous with this breakfast, knowing that I'm off to a good start, nutritionally.
Your flavor profile looks good! I've been too scared to try overnight oats and chia pudding because I have texture issues. Maybe I'll try a single serving so if I hate it, not much is wasted.
My typical breakfast is frozen or fresh berries, plain Greek yogurt or skyr, 1/4 cup granola and an iced latte with cashew milk or a protein shake subbed in.
Do you have a good blender that can really smash seeds to oblivion, like a Vitamix?
Chia seeds blend up well in a Vitamix, but not so well in a bullet or Ninja. They tend to blend better if you soak them overnight first!
Oat flour is literally just oatmeal that's been pulverized, so that might be a good thing to try first. You can make oat flour by just running oatmeal through a good blender until you're left with powder.
Also: chia seeds have a really similar texture to raspberries, so if you like raspberries mixed into yogurt (especially frozen ones that kind of break up!), try adding some soaked chia to that kind of breakfast.
Do you eat this cold?
Yes! I feel like something strange would happen to the yogurt if I heated it up.
Unlike Kristen, I heat my oats on a stove and then add cold toppings. It does mean having to wash a pan and wooden spoon, but it's a lovely breakfast!
Have you tried this heated? I like a nice, hot oatmeal.
Today is a big day. I finally am going to a nutritionist. This is a private pay, 1 hour gal. I am hoping I will get more than the previous nutritionist appointments that offered generic templates and sent me on my way.
In preparation I have logged in My Fitness Pal all my food since April 1. I have never done this before and it was quite emotional. I kept accountable through my "good days" and my sugar binges which bring tremendous shame to me. Through this process I have had some big awakenings:
1. I deeply suspected I had metabolic resistance/ insulin exhaustion, blah, blah, blah.. After all I am eat about 1600 calories a day and have only managed 8 pounds lost in 8 months. Nope. My daily average is 1946 calories a day. Wow. My many healthy 1600 hundred calories days ( 5'6, 62 years old, fairly active) do not erase 3,000 sugar days.
2. It is wheat that is seems to contribute to binges, not sugar.
3. My most often logged foods are protein drinks and cheese. Hmmmm. That doesn't sound very healthy.
Fingers crossed this becomes a working relationship with the nutritionist. Since August I have worked with a personal trainer with weight lifting. I have dropped 2% body fat, no longer have a BMI that is obese and have increase my strength in every area. I have low blood pressure, no cholestral issues and a normal blood sugar. This is my next step.
I had a period of time when I used My Fitness Pal daily. I found it really educational, to be honest, though I do think it's a bad idea if one is prone to disordered eating/eating disorders. But personally, it really helped me reflect on the choices I was making and why, and actually helped me disentangle some of my emotions from food. I learned stuff about nutrition and portion size, and it also pushed me to be more active. It's an interesting tool!
Slow and steady wins the race! The hardest part isn't losing the weight, it's keeping it off. Slow loss is more commonly associated w sustained loss, as compared to rapid loss. Another way to look at it - how long did it take you to gain the weight? That's not an unreasonable amount of time to lose the weight. Best of luck.
I was laughing a bit at your comment regarding the calorie count! That is a completely normal number of calories to eat for breakfast, especially heading into work that keeps you on your feet.
I'm 5'9" and about 230lb (NOT interested in losing weight, thankyouverymuch, my body has been hanging out at this weight for well over a decade and I'm in my 40s), and accumulate 50-60 miles per week biking, walking, and rollerblading, on top of weight lifting and swimming.
600 calories is kinda my bare minimum for breakfast calories! I average 2500-3000 calories per day, depending on what I'm doing that day.
If you're ever looking for a quick "I need to eat something while working" shelf-stable snack to bring, Aldi makes a chocolate-peanut protein bar that's actually pretty good, and has decently balanced macros (fat, protein, carb, fiber). That's my mid-morning snack when doing a 12-hour shift, and it gets me comfortably to 2pm, when I normally eat my lunch.
I'm diabetic, so I usually can't do oatmeal for breakfast - too many carbs first thing in the morning. I can only handle about 20-25g of carbs. My typical breakfast is 4 fried eggs plus 2 slices of Aldi keto bread, toasted, with Benecol (about 20g of carbs with about 20g of fiber!)
This one sounds like it might be possible, if I sub a non-sugar sweetener, use plain Greek yogurt, and probably knock back some of the oatmeal, and add some nuts (more calories & fat!).
I am in the happy circumstance to have time to make my oats in the morning - I have never liked cold breakfasts on the stomach. I bloom my oats for some 5 minutes, add some berries and yoghurt, and call it good. However I can entirely understand that you fell for the carrots and orange combi, like a carrot cake breakfast!
Do you gave a julienne veg grater? It makes all the difference in the beetroot and carrots you add to your salads -
Thanks for this idea. I added it to my Pinterest page under breakfast ideas. And I just made myself some for tomorrow! I didn't have chia seeds or the orange peel (I'm going to put that on my shopping list) and I cut down on the protein powder. But I made the same basic recipe. I sampled -- It already tastes great.
As you mentioned, I am not a fan of overnight oats. I think I will try to make this but microwave it. the recipe in the link doesn't have protein powder so I will just this one.
Thanks for the yummy recipe Kristen. Great ideas from the Commentariat. I think raisins could be a good addition as well. Just curious, do you grate the orange peel yourself, or buy it dried? If you grate it, do you have any tips? I've never liked grating fruit skins.
Sounds crazy but I use a pedi egg to zest citrus rinds. So much easier than a grater. And yes, I bought & save it just for this.
Use a micro zester!
I would make this all in one batch in my stand mixer with the paddle attachment and then portion it into three dishes to save the trouble of mixing together three dishes. It looks really good.
I came and lurked when there were only 4 comments and I had nothing really to say. Not a big overnight oats fan. I tried when you posted it during Covid. But I stopped by again and it is very interesting. I have been diabetic for almost 40 years type 2. I did not know I should not have oatmeal for breakfast.
Is there a meet-up? Could it be near a train station so I can attend?