A gold spoon sits in a jar full of mocha overnight oats. The jar rests on a white dishtowel.

Iโ€™m calling itโ€”these are the best overnight oats Iโ€™ve ever had (and thatโ€™s saying something, considering Iโ€™m a bit of an overnight oats expert)!

If youโ€™re craving something sweet and rich to enjoy for breakfast, look no further than these Mocha Overnight Oats. They are creamy, thick, and have a gloriously decadent flavor of chocolate and espresso. Itโ€™s like your favorite mocha latte packaged up in an easy-to-eat speedy breakfast!


A gold spoon sits on a glass jar of overnight oats. Coffee beans surround the jar on a white countertop.

Magic happens when you use cocoa powder in overnight oats. There is a chemical reaction between the cocoa powder and the acid in the yogurt, and the resulting oats are fluffy and incredibly creamy. It happens with our Chocolate Peanut Butter Overnight Oats, Chocolate Peppermint Overnight Oats, and our Chocolate Coconut Overnight Oats, and it happens here with these coffee-flavored oats, too! Itโ€™s a must-try for any chocolate-lover!

A spoon rests in a jar of chocolate coffee oats.

What are overnight oats?

Overnight oats are my favorite no-cook breakfast. Instead of cooking your rolled oats in water or milk, you stir them together with the liquid and other mix-ins, and let it all rest in the fridge overnight. In the morning, youโ€™ll have a grab-and-go breakfast that you can eat cold, or warm up. For more on this pudding-like porridge, head on over to our Overnight Oats 101 post.

A golden spoon rests in a white bowl. Ingredients for mocha overnight oats are arranged in the bowl.

What makes overnight oats so special?

I think that overnight oats should be a staple in most households. Hereโ€™s why youโ€™ll always find them in our weekly meal prep sessions:

  • Overnight oats are so easy to make ahead. With just a few minutes of prep work in the evening, youโ€™ll have a grab-and-go breakfast ready by morning. Overnight oats are designed to be meal prepped, and who doesnโ€™t want to make their mornings simpler?
  • You can customize them to fit your dietary preferences. Need your overnight oats to be vegan? Gluten-free? A little more decadent? These are all easily doable! Weโ€™re talking about coffee overnight oatmeal here, but once you get a feel for overnight oats, you can experiment to find your own favorite flavor combination.
  • They can be as healthy (or as decadent) as youโ€™d like. You are the master of your overnight oats, so you can make them as nourishing or extravagant (or both!) as you wish. The possibilities are endless!
  • Overnight oats can be made in bulk. Thereโ€™s a reason overnight oats appear on so many meal prep menusโ€”you can make a full weekโ€™s worth of breakfasts at once.
  • Overnight oats are straight-up delicious! If youโ€™ve never had cold oatmeal before, it may sound unappealing, but trust me! This porridge is creamy, hearty, and tastes like eating pudding for breakfast! (But if you still donโ€™t like the idea of eating them cold, you can heat them upโ€”more on that in a sec.)
A hand pours milk into a bowl. Bowl holds oats, cocoa powder, Greek yogurt, and other ingredients.

Can you warm up overnight oats?

Overnight oats are usually eaten cold, to stick to their grab-and-go style. But if youโ€™re not into cold oatmeal, just warm them in the microwave for 30-60 seconds, stirring often. Alternatively, you can heat them in a small saucepan on the stove.

Talk to me about instant espresso powder!

Instant espresso powder is one of my kitchen secretsโ€”and I think itโ€™s something that all cooks should have stashed in their pantry. It adds richness to chocolate goods (try adding a teaspoon or two into the next chocolate cake you bake), and itโ€™s a quick way to get dark coffee flavor whenever you need it.
Close up of mocha overnight oats garnished with espresso beans.

Do these mocha overnight oats contain caffeine?

Thanks to the instant espresso powder or instant coffee, there will be some caffeine in these overnight oats. You get a nice little energy boost with your breakfast! But if youโ€™d prefer your breakfast decaf, be sure to grab some decaf instant coffee to use instead. Iโ€™ve used the Starbucks Decaf Via in these oats with great (jitter-free) results!

A spoon holds a bite of chocolate coffee oats.

Can you make substitutions to these overnight oats?

One of the greatest parts of overnight oats is how easy they are to customize to your preferences! Whether you need them to be gluten-free, vegan, or lower in sugar, the swaps are simple. We discuss all kinds of swaps you can make in our in-depth overnight oats post, but here are some specific swap ideas for these mocha overnight oats:

  • Make it vegan: Use dairy-free yogurt and milk, and maple syrup instead of honey.
  • Make it sugar-free: Drop the sweetener, make sure to use unsweetened milk, and add 1/2 mashed ripe banana. Or use stevia or monk fruit sweetener in place of the maple syrup or honey, if you prefer.
  • Make it gluten-free: Make sure to use certified gluten-free oats.
A gold spoon rests in a jar of chocolate overnight oats. A small bowl of honey also sits on the white dishtowel.

Where can you find more overnight oats recipes?

Weโ€™ve got you covered when it comes to simple and easy overnight oats recipes! Here are some of the most well-loved recipes on Wholefully.

 
A gold spoon sits in a jar full of mocha overnight oats. The jar rests on a white dishtowel.

Mocha Overnight Oats

Yield: 1 large serving, or 2 small
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes

These Mocha Overnight oats have a rich chocolate and espresso flavor with a hint of caffeine, all in a breakfast that keeps you going all morning long!

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Whisk together all ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Spoon into a pint or half liter jar with a tight-fitting lid.
  2. Close and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight, before eating.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1 half batch
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 246Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 127mgCarbohydrates: 42gFiber: 4gSugar: 25gProtein: 10g

At Wholefully, we believe that good nutrition is about much more than just the numbers on the nutrition facts panel. Please use the above information as only a small part of what helps you decide what foods are nourishing for you.

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15 Comments

    1. Hi Greg! Yesโ€”you can use steel-cut oats in any of our overnight oats recipes! You’ll need to increase the amount of liquid in the recipe by 1/4 cup, and the finished oats will be chewier. They’ll be just as delicious, as long as you’re okay with the texture!

      You should be able to find instant espresso right in the regular grocery store. If yours doesn’t carry it, you can always pick some up at your local Starbucks or online.

  1. I never heat up my overnight oats because I always put yogurt in it and I’m too scared to find what’ll happen to the yogurt if I heat it up… but I see you use yogurt in this one and do suggest heating it. Does the yogurt fare alright even when heated?

    1. Hi Ziaheart! We’ve never had any issues heating these, even with the yogurt. Yogurt can separate when heated too high, so you have to be careful when using it in a sauce. But for something like this, the relatively small amount of yogurt and the gentle heat mean you shouldn’t have any issues!

  2. All the recipes sound delicious. I need to buy the jars but will definitely making for a quick flavorful breakfast with or without fruit &!topping with my favorite nuts.

    1. Thanks, Maggie! Before you buy jars just for this recipe, think about the containers you already have in the house. Anything with a well-fitting lid will work. I like making our Chocolate Peanut Butter Overnight Oats in our empty peanut butter jars. Bonus: it also makes them easier to clean before recycling them! I’ve also used take out containers and deli meat containers, too. Of course, if you’re looking for an excuse to buy more jars, don’t let me stop you! You’ll find all kinds of uses for themโ€”they’re worth the investment =)

  3. Brace yourself: this recipe is very chocolate-ty. It makes a dense chocolate mush that tastes very good once you adjust to the intensity of the chocolate. For my purposes, I think I will add more oatmeal next time and a textural element like walnuts (or coffee beans) or something. I would add chocolate nibs but it has more than enough chocolate flavor already. Love the photography.

    1. Hi, Vanessa! Since they don’t have any fruit in them, these Mocha Overnight Oats can easily chill in the fridge for up to a week. We like to make up a week’s worth as part of our meal prep on the weekend and then have easy grab-and-go breakfasts all week!

    1. Hi, King! Overnight oats are super flexible recipes so you can definitely play around with it so it will work with that you have. It might take a bit of experimentation to get it just right, but that’s all part of the fun!

      If you don’t have instant espresso you could try leaving it out and swapping in some of your cold brew for the unsweetened milk of your choice. Try 1/3 cup cold brew and 1/3 cup milk of your choosing and see how it goes! The coffee flavor won’t be as intense as the instant espresso, but it should still be delicious. And then you can adjust to suit your needs and tastes until it’s just right!

      Hope this helps! Please let us know how it works out for you =)

  4. Good recipe with some adjustments, with the cocoa and espresso amounts in the recipe it turned out too bitter, I lowered the amounts to half of what it says in the recipe and turned out much better.

  5. Nice recipeโ€”such a treat! Easy to veganize with cashew yogurt (Forager) and almond milk. Thank you for this recipe.