Home / Recipes / How to Make Low-Glycemic Chocolate Overnight Oats [Video]
Chocolate Overnight Oats [Vegan, Low-Carb]

How to Make Low-Glycemic Chocolate Overnight Oats [Video]

Perfect low glycemic chocolate overnight oats recipe that is super simple and quick to prepare, requiring only a bowl and a spoon.

My chocolate overnight oats are:

  • Vegan
  • Gluten-free (if you use gluten-free oats)
  • Sugar-free
  • Candida diet friendly
  • Nut-free and peanut-free
  • Soy-free (donโ€™t use soymilk)

Different oats you can use in this recipe:

Choose the type of oats according to the desired end result. If youโ€™re after mushier outcome, go for quick oats or rolled oats. On the other hand, should you like to have a crunchier texture, opt for steel cut oats.

Since this overnight oatsโ€™ recipe is part of Low Carb Vegan Breakfast Porridge Guide, itโ€™s worth mentioning that steel cut oats have the lowest glycemic load. The reason is that rolled oats and jumbo oats have already been treated with steam, hence being more processed.

Chocolate Overnight Oats [Vegan, Low-Carb]

How to Make Low Glycemic Overnight Oats

Did you know that oats by themselves have quite high glycemic load? To be more precise, 39 GL points per 100 grams of dry weight, whereas unhulled lentils and oat bran only have 16 GL points.

Read more on Low Glycemic Diet:

  • what is low GL diet,
  • the difference between GI and GL,
  • the limitations associated with low GL diet.

Given that itโ€™s recommended not to exceed 20 GL points per one meal, itโ€™d be quite tricky to have a decent portion of porridge if youโ€™re someone who struggles with keeping your blood sugar stable.

Even just ยฝ cup of rolled oats (40g, 1.4oz) would equal 15.6 points. Add all the fruits and other toppings and you easily go above the suggested line. However, people very often make their porridge with a whole cup of oats in addition to all the add-ins and toppings, which would be almost double of the suggested GL points.

The good news is, there are tricks to still have oats, but keep your bowl low glycemic. In fact, this is what Iโ€™ve been constantly hacking since I went on Candida diet back in 2016.

My hacks for making low glycemic overnight oats.

  1. Be smart with quantities.

    Keep the amount of oats around 20-25 grams (0.7-0.9oz).

  2. Use low glycemic bulk ingredients to increase volume.

    For example, oat bran, unhulled lentils, seed and nut protein powders, chia seeds, flaxseeds, psyllium husks, superfood powders, vegetables like carrot, cauliflower and zucchini.

  3. Top the oats with low glycemic fruits and berries.

    For example, wild blueberries, strawberries, green apples, kiwis, pears, plums.

  4. Finally, opt for low glycemic sweeteners.

    Mesquite, carob, monk fruit, yakon, stevia, xylitol, and erythritol.

Read more in Low Carb Vegan Breakfast Porridge Guide.

Why I love overnight oats:

  • Perfect for meal prep โ€“ make ahead 3-4 ready to eat portions for those busy mornings when you donโ€™t have a minute to spare.
  • Healthy breakfast โ€“ made of wholesome low glycemic ingredients that contribute to balanced blood sugar.
  • Simple and quick โ€“ no cooking needed, simply mix the ingredients together, refrigerate overnight, and grab to go the next morning.

You may of course tweak this overnight oatsโ€™ recipe to your liking by ditching, adding or swopping ingredients. However, if your aim is to have low glycemic porridge:

  • Donโ€™t add any high GL sweeteners, e.g. maple syrup, coconut nectar, coconut sugar, date sugar, raw cane sugar etc. Find out which are suitable low glycemic sweeteners from blog post Low Carb Vegan Breakfast Porridge Recipes.
  • Stay away from dried fruit (dates, figs, raisins, apricots etc.) and sweet fresh fruits (banana, mango, persimmon).
  • By all means, donโ€™t increase the amount of oats.

More Low Glycemic Breakfast Ideas:

Cauliflower Oatmeal
Lentil Oatmeal
Vegan Omelette with Sprouted Chickpeas
Creamy Oat Bran Porridge with Silken Tofu
Sweet Mung Bean Breakfast Porridge
Spiced Oat Bran Porridge with Carrot and Zucchini

Low Glycemic Plant-Based Diet Guide



Download my Guide to Low Glycemic Plant-Based Diet!

What are glycemic index and glycemic load and why those matter.

The list of low, medium and high glycemic foods.

Easy tips on staying on a low glycemic diet.

Learn the secrets of stable blood sugar, weight loss, more energy, and better health

Sign up to download your copy!

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Chocolate Overnight Oats [Vegan, Low-Carb]

Chocolate Overnight Oats [Vegan, Low-Carb]


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  • Author: Nele Liivlaid
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 1 serving 1x

Description

Perfect low glycemic chocolate overnight oats recipe that is super simple and quick to prepare, requiring only a bowl and a spoon.

P.S. Add the overnight soaking time!


Ingredients

Scale

Instructions

  1. In a medium jar or bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients, i.e. rolled oats, ground chia seeds, coconut flour, carob powder, cacao powder, and psyllium husks.
  2. Now, start adding oat milk and soymilk gradually to avoid any lumps. Donโ€™t forget that itโ€™ll thicken up a bit as the oats, chia seeds and psyllium absorb liquid.
  3. Finally, stir in grated zucchini and transfer into a sealed container or mason jar, and refrigerate overnight. Enjoy!

Notes

This portion has 20 glycemic load points.

Feel free to add a pinch of Himalayan salt if necessary. However, add salt in the morning as it inhibits liquid absorption.

Unless you use steel cut oats, you don’t necessarily have to soak your oats overnight. Instead, a few hours or even half an hour would do the job, i.e. as soon as you feel the consistency is enjoyable, go ahead and grab a bite!

See substitution and serving tips below the recipe card.

  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Category: Breakfast

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: The whole recipe
  • Calories: 324
  • Sodium: 133mg
  • Fat: 10.7g
  • Carbohydrates: 30.8g
  • Fiber: 16.8g
  • Protein: 12.8g

Substitution tips on my chocolaty overnight oats:

  • Feel free to use any preferred combination of plant milks, e.g. almond milk, oat milk, soymilk, rice milk etc. Remember that oat, rice and cashew milk have higher glycemic load.
  • If you donโ€™t have psyllium husks, you may also use more ground chia seeds instead. Remember that the latter absorbs less liquid, so you might need to add less plant milk. Alternatively add more than a tablespoon of extra ground chia seeds.
  • Whole chia seeds could also be used but remember that theyโ€™d absorb less liquid than ground seeds. Also, your mixture would be thinner in the beginning as ground seeds swell up much quicker.
  • Carob powder or flour can be substituted with mesquite flour or yakon powder.
  • Should you be allergic to cacao or avoid it for other reasons, substitute carob for it.
  • Also, coconut flour can be substituted, e.g. with any nut protein powder like almond, peanut or cashew. Again, the before mentioned powders donโ€™t have the absorption capacity of coconut flour, so add less liquid if necessary.

More tips:

  • Always grind your own chia seeds and store them in a sealed container or jar in fridge. Use spice/coffee grinder.
  • If you feel that the oats could use some more sweetness, add a little bit of liquid stevia or other low glycemic sweetener.
  • If you donโ€™t need to watch those fats, go ahead and top your overnight oats with seed or nut butters, i.e. additive free almond butter, peanut butter, tahini, sunflower seed butter etc.
  • If you must have some berries on top of your overnight oats, go with some goji berries, wild blueberries, raspberries and/or blackberries.
  • Finally, plain soy Greek yogurt would make an excellent topping. Furthermore, you could mix some into the oats as well.

Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. For every purchase made from the links in this post, youโ€™ll be able to support my work. So, you can look after your health, and contribute to my mission at the same time. Thank you!

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Chocolate Overnight Oats [Vegan, Low-Carb]

4 Comments

  1. Allison Plastridge

    Dear Nele,

    Hello from Singapore! I am so excited to try these wonderful porridges! I have watched the videos and am reading your guide and will try to procure these ingredients and cook at home. Some may be a bit hard to find but perhaps the local health/organic grocery will have them?

    I noticed that the portion for the oats is tiny, so I wonder what size sauce pan do you use? The proportions on the video make it look a bit โ€œlargerโ€ or more than the actual amounts. I am used to making oatmeal with 2/3 cups oats and 1 cup milk and 1 cup water, so this is quite different but no doubt will be more healthy and lower GL, which I want.

    Also, which food processor do you use? I would like to try make those Gingerbread Flavored Vegan Energy Balls.

    Thank you for your consideration.

    Warmly,
    Allison

    • Hi Allison,

      Did I talk to you on Instagram? ๐Ÿ™‚ If so, we covered the pan size. To confirm, I’m making one serving in the video.
      2/3 cups of rolled oats is about 52 grams, which is a bit over 20 GL points without any toppings or add-in’s ๐Ÿ™‚ It’s easy to lower the glycemic load by simply replacing half of the oats with oat bran and/or cauliflower rice.

      I have an old 1000W Kenwood food processor that does a decent job.

      Let me know if you have any further questions!
      Nele

  2. Hello, Im following along for your candida friendly recipes and found this one. The wealth of information you share is hugely appreciated and has been such a relief to find.
    Just wondering, are the ingredient links listed all actually your recommendations?
    I have yet to find a candida-friendly oat milk option but when I clicked on the link here, the one listed has quite a lot of added sugar. Is this one specifically ok for the diet? Also curious about the cacao powder – is this ok for the candida diet? Thank you!

    • Hi! Thank you! It is recommended to avoid cacao during the cleanse phase but can be reintroduced later. Use carob instead if you can’t have cacao. Plant milks should be added sugar free. When I insert the links, I make sure they correspond to my criteria. However, when a product disappears (which can happen quite often), Amazon will automatically recommend something else. I hope this helps!

Let me know your thoughts