Easy Overnight Muesli
Assemble this overnight muesli at night for an easy breakfast in the morning! Vegetarian or vegan and gluten-free. If you like Bircher muesli, then you’ll love this recipe.
My simple recipe for healthy, homemade overnight muesli with oats, coconut, nuts, seeds, and cinnamon. If you like granola or overnight oatmeal, you’ll love this healthy breakfast recipe.
What Is Overnight Muesli?
Overnight Muesli is the champagne of oatmeal breakfast. It’s way fancier than those packets of instant oatmeal and slightly more elevated than regular overnight oats.
Overnight muesli is packed with shredded coconut, raisins, nuts, and seeds, the perfect option for those who love texture. I’m not big on traditional hot oatmeal, but I love muesli.
To make weekday mornings go even smoother, try this overnight muesli mix. A quick scoop at night mixed with milk, yogurt, and maple syrup, and breakfast is ready in the morning.
I know that making a bowl of muesli doesn’t take that much time, but every minute is precious in the morning, especially with kids! Getting all of the ingredients out of the fridge to assemble often seems like so much work; so much that I often find myself passing on breakfast for the sake of time.
Not with this muesli– in just minutes I can have a healthy, nourishing bowl of oats.
Ingredient Notes
- Rolled oats: Rolled oats are traditional in muesli, but instant oats or porridge oats will also work.
- Mix-Ins: My go-to mix-in ingredients are unsweetened coconut flakes, almonds, raisins, and pepitas. See below for substitution options.
- Seeds: Chia seeds and hemp seeds help to add texture and extra omega-3 fatty acids.
- Cinnamon: Adds warmth and flavor, though ginger and nutmeg can also be added.
Substitutions
Swap in your favorite nuts and seeds for the ones listed here. Instead of regular raisins, you can use golden raisins, dried blueberries, cherries, currants, apricots, or other dried fruit.
For extra texture and crunch, you can add in sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds (pepitas), pistachios or pecans for some or all of the almonds and seeds in this recipe.
If you’d like a more indulgent muesli, you can also add in chocolate chips or include a pinch of warming spices along with the cinnamon, like ginger or nutmeg.
How To Make Overnight Muesli Mix
The best part about this simple breakfast recipe is that once you make your initial batch, it takes just minutes to make a bowl of overnight muesli.
Toast the oats
Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the oats in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast until golden, taking care not to burn. This step helps to add flavor to the oats and results in a nutty, richer tasting muesli.
Transfer to a large container
Transfer the oats to a large airtight container along with the coconut flakes, slivered almonds, raisins, chia seeds, hemp seeds, cinnamon and salt. Store at room temperature in the pantry with your other cereals for up to 6 months.
That’s it! Now that you’ve made your overnight muesli mix, it’s easy to create a simple bowl for breakfast the next day.
Muesli Serving Suggestions
To serve, combine 1/2 cup of the muesli mix with milk of choice, yogurt and maple syrup. Stir together, then cover and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight.
For a more traditional bircher muesli, add shredded apple to your overnight muesli mix and a little vanilla extract.
If you want to try a vegan version, use a dairy-free yogurt or even canned coconut milk or coconut cream for a creamier batch.
When ready to eat, enjoy with fresh fruit of choice, like sliced banana, strawberries, and blueberries. As a bonus, the added vitamin C from the fruit paired with the oats can help to increase iron absorption.
Frequently Asked Questions
What milk works best?
I normally have at least three different plant-based milks in my fridge at all times and as long as you like the taste of it, it will work in this muesli recipe. My go-to is usually almond milk or oat milk but any works!
Do you have to add the yogurt?
As a predominantly plant-based dietitian, I consume small amounts of regular yogurt to help meet calcium and protein needs and usually use plain Greek yogurt in this. Non-dairy yogurts will also work, and I’m partial to unsweetened or lightly sweetened coconut or almond-based ones; if you can find a calcium-fortified version, even better.
Is this muesli sweet?
You can make this overnight muesli as sweet as you’d like, depending on taste preference. You can also use honey or no sweetener instead of the maple syrup.
Notes And Tips
For an extra-special bowl of muesli, I prefer to remove from the fridge and top with more yogurt, fresh fruit and a sprinkle of whatever seeds I can quickly get my hands on. That’s how I eat it on mornings when I have a little more time. It’s healthy, hearty and packed with both fiber and protein.
On extra-hectic mornings, I assemble everything at night in a mason jar (just like overnight oats) then grab and go on my way out the door. If you like cereal in the morning, then muesli is a great way to enjoy the same whole grains with added goodies– like fruit, nuts and seeds.
For my gluten-free friends, then you’ll want to ensure that you are using gluten-free oats, otherwise this recipe is naturally gluten-free. Steel-cut oats will not work in this recipe, I recommend only rolled oats. If you use instant oats, then only cook them a few minutes in the oven to brown.
Hope you’ll try this one and if you do, let me know your favorite muesli toppings!
More Vegan Breakfast Recipes:
- Instant Pot Raspberry Oats
- Strawberry Lemonade Scones
- Vegan Baked Oatmeal with Berries
- Healing Cranberry Smoothie
- Vegan Potato Breakfast Hash
If you like this overnight muesli recipe, make sure to come back to leave a comment and and a rating. Your feedback helps other readers and seeing you make my recipes makes my day.
Overnight Muesli
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 2 tablespoons pepitas, shelled pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 2 tablespoons hemp seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
To serve:
- 1/2 cup of muesli mix
- 1/2 cup milk of choice
- 1/4 cup yogurt of choice
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place the oats in a baking sheet in a single layer and cook until golden, about 5-8 minutes taking care not to burn. Remove and let cool completely.
- Transfer to a large container with the rest of the ingredients and store in the pantry for up to one month.
- To serve, combine 1/2 cup of the muesli mix with milk, yogurt and maple syrup. Stir together, then cover and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Enjoy as is or top with fresh fruit and more seeds/drizzle of maple syrup.