Ree Drummond’s Overnight Oats Recipe ‘Is the Perfect Combination of Satisfying, Healthy, and a Little Bit Decadent’

If you haven’t yet given overnight oats a try, Food Network star Ree Drummond’s recipe is a great place to start.

Just grab a bowl, fill it with Drummond’s add-ons and toppings, and prepare yourself for an incredibly satisfying—and convenient—breakfast, The Pioneer Woman style.

The ingredients in Drummond’s overnight recipe are entirely up to your preference

The culinary personality’s breakfast recipe calls for old-fashioned oats, whole milk, half-and-half, raisins, brown sugar, vanilla extract, a chopped Granny Smith apple, granulated sugar and if you like, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries.

“Overnight oatmeal is always a treat in the morning,” Drummond says in the Food Network video, link below, for this recipe. “So I’m going to make myself a batch, let it sit in the fridge overnight, and it’ll be a perfect way to start the day tomorrow.

“I love overnight oatmeal because you can pretty much add anything you want, you can do any kind of fruit. … This is the perfect combination of satisfying, healthy, and a little bit decadent.”

Get the complete recipe, video, and reviews on Food Network’s site.

Ree Drummond’s overnight oats recipe is infinitely customizable

The Big Bad Budget Battle star chops an apple and places it in a bowl (“I left the peel on and everything”), and follows that up with the uncooked oats and brown sugar, about which she notes, “I’m one of those people that has to have sweetness in her oatmeal, so I’ll add a couple of heaping tablespoons of brown sugar, and when I say heaping, I mean heaping-heaping.”

Drummond doesn’t forget to add just a pinch of salt to the morning dish, “just to offset the sweetness” of the next ingredient, raisins (“Delicious combination”).

Whole milk and half-and-half go in next (“I’ve gotta have some richness”), along with the vanilla extract.

It’s all stirred together, and it’s ready to be covered and stored in the fridge for the overnight part! And you can customize your version of overnight oats however you like, as Drummond notes.

“Overnight oatmeal could not be any easier,” she says. “All you have to do is just throw everything in a bowl, stir it together, and then let it sit overnight in the fridge. You can change up the fruit you add, you can even add some nuts if you want, different flavorings. It is really one of my favorite breakfasts.”

Once you’re ready to enjoy it the next day, “it’s delicious cold, right out of the fridge,” Drummond adds. “You can also warm it up in the microwave or a saucepan if you like it warm.”

Most reviewers loved Drummond’s overnight oatmeal, and others were critical of it

While most home cooks praised the foodie’s recipe, others found fault with it. Those who didn’t care for it took issue most with the amount of sugar Drummond uses in the recipe, as one person expressed.

“I cannot believe anyone would want to eat a breakfast with 4 TABLESPOONS of sugar, which equals 12 TEASPOONS – that alone is 200 calories. … You’d be better off eating a Snickers bar for breakfast.  Actually, for the same amount of calories, you could eat 12.5 Snickers Fun Size bars,” they wrote.

Still, many reviewers were pleased with the simple-to-make breakfast, including one who said, “Love this fast, easy recipe.  Usually, I don’t bother with breakfast but this easy, night-before recipe works for me.  It really makes 3-4 breakfasts for me. … Yummy in the summer!”