Chocolate Chip Overnight Oats (vegan)

Breakfast needs a little chocolate every now and again, don't you think? Try these kid-approved chocolate chip overnight oats this week. Don't let the chocolate fool you, these oats also have fiber, protein and whole grains to fuel your morning. We share tips for finding affordable vegan, dairy-free chocolate chips, too.

glass with overnight oats and chocolate chips

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Convenient and easy, overnight oats are great for busy weekday mornings, camping, road trips, traveling or anywhere where you can't cook.

These chocolate chip overnight oats use our vegan basic overnight oats recipe as the base!

Jump to:

🧄 Ingredient notes
📋 Substitutions and variations
🔪 Instructions
⭐️ Expert tips
🍳 Equipment
🥡 Make ahead and storage tips
❓ FAQ
💜 More recipes you'll love
📖 Recipe
💬 Reviews

🧄 Ingredient notes

ingredients for chocolate chip overnight oats: old-fashioned rolled oats, plant-based milk, ground flax, plant-based yogurt, maple syrup and vegan chocolate chips

Vegan chocolate chips - Dairy-free chocolate chips are surprisingly hard to find and tend to be expensive. Good news for Trader Joe's shoppers, their semi-sweet chocolate chips are dairy-free! And, usually around a reasonable $2 a bag.
Old-fashioned rolled oats - do not use quick oats for this recipe, they turn out mushy. Don't use steel cut, they don't get soft enough to enjoy with this method. You want old-fashioned rolled oatmeal for this method of cooking oats.
Plant-based milk - any vegan milk you enjoy should work here, like almond milk (pictured), soy milk, oat milk (for that double oat flavor!), coconut milk, cashew milk and rice milk. You can use unsweetened or sweetened original varieties, if you like. Vanilla milk works great, too.
Ground flax - adds health benefits of added fiber, along with omega-3. Flaxseed also thickens the oatmeal slightly.
Plant-based yogurt - amps up the creaminess and protein. Vegan yogurts made from cashew, soy, coconut, almond and oat will all work here. Soy yogurt will give you the most protein.

📋 Substitutions and variations

Here are some suitable substitution options for the ingredients:

Chocolate chips - If you can't find vegan chocolate chips, try using dairy-free dark chocolate chips, chopped dark chocolate or shaved dark chocolate. If you are not vegan (but rather plant-based, flexitarian or veganish and are okay with a small amount of dairy, then standard chocolate chips are fine here).
Plant-based milk - Use any plant-based milk you enjoy. Vanilla-flavored (or chocolate!) milk works especially well in this recipe.
Flax - use chia seeds instead of ground flaxseed. Or, omit them (it will be less thick if you omit one of these options).
Nut-free - make this nut-free by using a nut-free plant milk, such as soy milk, rice milk or oat milk.

Here are some variation ideas for these chocolate chip overnight oats:

Double chocolate - mix in cocoa powder for a double chocolate overnight oats
Use chocolate plant-based milk - make it extra chocolatey by substituting regular plant-based milk for a chocolate version in this recipe
Add nuts or seeds - chocolate goes especially well with nuts and seeds like pecans, walnuts, pistachios, almonds, sunflower seed kernels and cashews. Add a tablespoon in for added nutrition and protein.
Top with fruit - Chocolate pairs nicely with almost any fruit, so top these chocolate chip oats with fresh or frozen strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, cherries, mango, banana, raspberries, peach, apricot or melon.
Matcha chocolate chip - add chocolate chips to our matcha overnight oats

🔪 Instructions

Step by step instructions for how to make chocolate chip overnight oats.

Add rolled oats to a pint-size mason jar or container that holds at least 2 cups.

Pour in plant-based milk and ground flaxseed (or chia).

Add plant-based yogurt to jar.

It will look like this when you've added all your ingredients.

Screw on your lid and then shake it all up! Or, use a spoon to mix all the ingredients together. Place jar in refrigerator overnight or at least 2 hours.

Mix in the chocolate chips or sprinkle them on top. When you're ready to eat them, pull it out of the fridge and eat cold or warm up in microwave for 30-60 seconds.

⭐️ Expert tips

Use a canning funnel to add ingredients to jars without making a mess
Don't go overboard on the chocolate chips, they pack in lots of calories (70) and fat per tablespoon

jar with overnight oats and chocolate chips

🍳 Equipment

a container to hold your overnight oats that holds 1 pint (about 2 cups, 16 ounces or 550 milliliters). I recommend using wide mouth pint size mason jars. The pretty glasses in my pictures are 15 ounce stemless wine glasses from Walmart.
measuring spoons and cups

🥡 Make ahead and storage tips

Overnight oats are perfect for meal prep and batch cooking. Make them Sunday night to have breakfast ready to go all week long. Store overnight oats in the refrigerator, combined, for up to 5 days.

This recipe does not stand up well to freezing.

❓ FAQ

How many calories in chocolate chip overnight oats?

For one serving of chocolate chip overnight oats using ½ cup rolled oats, ½ cup plant-based milk, 2 tablespoons yogurt, 1 teaspoon flaxseed, 2 teaspoons maple syrup and 2 tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips, the calories are 413.

Are chocolate chips vegan?

Most chocolate chips have dairy milk in them, so they are not vegan. However, you can find dairy-free chocolate chips. Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate chips contain no dairy and are vegan. Also, some dark chocolate chip products are vegan. Check the nutritional label for milk to be sure.

💜 More recipes you'll love

If you love this chocolate chip overnight oats recipe, check out these other plant-based breakfast recipes!

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