Overnight buckwheat oats can be made the night before, set in the refrigerator and served for breakfast the next day. No cooking necessary.
The overnight oat thing is kind of beaten to a pulp in the world of food blogs. Beaten with pumpkin, stabbed with extracts and shot with toppings. No matter how you slice it….it’s dead.
Overnight buckwheat groats, however? Bet you didn’t know that was possible.
I figured if you can do the overnight thing with steel cut oats, why not try buckwheat groats which are actually softer to the touch. In theory they should be even better suited for the overnight “cooking” method.
And, they were.
I ground half of of the groats in the food processor to increase the surface area for absorption just in case the whole groats didn’t work out as well as I hoped and the resulting texture was kind of like oat bran with the taste of buckwheat.
I love buckwheat for when I want something different than oats in the morning and eat more than my fair share of it for breakfast with bakes like this zucchini buckwheat bake and my favorite, the coconut buckwheat bake. It’s also a great addition to a breakfast grain bowl paired with quinoa and other grains.
So, an overnight porridge like this is a nice option for some variety.
This “recipe” is more of a base than anything else. Play around with extracts as you wish, top it with whatever you want and even blend in some pumpkin since that’s the cool thing to do with breakfast grains.
So there it is, a new “grain” (it’s actually a gluten-free pseudo-grain) to play with overnight.
I promise not to post 10 million varieties of it and kill it like it’s cousin, the oat.
I think you’re all capable of tweaking and customizing your own bowl without me spelling it out on screen. Enjoy!
Overnight Buckwheat Oats
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup buckwheat groats
- 1/4 cup ground buckwheat groats, quickly pulsed in the food processor
- 1/2 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup milk, any variety, plus 1/4 cup more before eating
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and stir together.
- Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours to overnight.
- Before eating, add 1/4 cup (or desired amount until it reaches a consistency you like) of milk and stir into “oats”.
- Top with whatever you’d like. Featured in pictures: coconut, almonds & diced pineapple)
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
I did not enjoy this, but my husband loves it and has it for breakfast every morning.
I have been hearing about overnight oats for quite some time now while wandering through blog-land, but I only tried them about a week ago for the first time, so like Hannah, they are still very much alive and most exciting for me!! They have made an appearance every day since my first batch! I am having so much fun making different combos with different grains and mix ins. I have found that if I want to eat it right away… or within a few minutes, quick oats do the trick, as they only take a couple of minutes to soften! I have also used the old fashioned oats, barley flakes, oat bran, and in the fridge soaking in some strawberry yogurt and almond milk is an 8-flake rolled grains mix. I am curious to try the steel-cut oats knowing that they will be much chewier in texture… only thing I don’t like about them, is that since they won’t be cooked in water, the portion will be very small (I’m all about BIG portions for less calories – while keeping it as healthy as is reasonable!). I am now excited to try this with buckwheat, as I’m not a huge fan of the stuff used in other ways, but want to be able to eat it sometimes for the variety, so this might do the trick!!… One thing I find funny about the whole overnight oats thing is that it’s really just muesli, which is quite old really… but whatever one calls it, I’m glad it’s made a comeback!!
Looks delicious, but is curious to know what is the texture of this cereal? Is it chalky because it’s not cooked?
It is slightly “chalky” I guess from the buckwheat. Not overly so in my opinion, but it’s definitely different than oats.
This looks doable! I shall admit to only having tried overnight oats once so for me they aren’t dead (they were barely alive!) but this looks like another great thing to add to my breakfast list. Does it get thick? Or does it remain more of a soupy pudding?
It does get very thick actually. The reason it doesn’t really look it in the pictures is because I added a bit more milk (like it says in the recipe) to “un-thicken” it before serving. You can add as much or as little milk as you want to get whatever consistency you’re going for though :)
I have never tried buckwheat… Might be time to start getting to know it!
Great recipe, I’m going to include it on my next weekend meal list. :)
This looks SOOOOO delicious! I LOVE buckwheat, I am so excited to make this! Thank you for sharing!
Ooooh I love this idea! I’ve been kind of tired of the overnight oats thing too – I think I overdid it this winter – so this is the perfect solution to that :)
Oats, groats, buckwheat…so many combinations with toppings, add-in’s, and preparation techniques that everyone has their faves. Glad to hear this worked out well and they were soft and perfect the next morning!
Can’t wait to hear about your trip!