If you’re not on the “overnight oats” train, it might be time to hop on. Overnight oats are an amazing way to eat oats cold, which is perfect for the summer. And the tropical flavors these Tropical Yogurt Overnight Oat Parfaits are great any time of year.
How Do You Make Overnight Oats?
Making overnight oats is simple. Instead of boiling oats in water, you let them soak overnight in the fridge, which gives them a fabulously soft and chewy texture. But letting them soak in water would be just plain boring, and that’s not how we do things around here. Instead I like to kill two birds with one stone and soak my oats in yogurt.
As the oats absorb moisture from the yogurt, it magically transforms it into thick Greek style yogurt. Add a few fun extras like fruit or nuts and you have a well rounded breakfast with next to no work. Seriously, just throw everything into a jar (or other container) and come back the next day. That’s it.
What Makes Them “Tropical”?
For this tropical version of overnight oats I’ve combined bananas, pineapple, mango, and shredded coconut. I like to use plain yogurt because that’s my jam, but you could use vanilla if you prefer things a bit sweeter. I found that between the banana and mango I had all the sweetness that I needed. The same goes for coconut. I paid a little extra to get unsweetened coconut shreds, but if all you have is the regular sweetened coconut that is used for baking, go ahead and toss it in. Your parfait will just be a bit more sweet.
How Long Do They Stay Good?
You can keep these Tropical Yogurt Overnight Oat Parfaits in the refrigerator for about 4-5 days.
Tips for Dicing Mangoes
If you need help learning how to cut a mango, check out this tutorial from thekitchn.com. You may also be able to find diced mango in the freezer section. You can just pop the frozen cubes into the jar and they’ll thaw as the oats soak overnight. ALSO, I saw this amazing trick for peeling mangos with a cup the other day and it kind of blew my mind. I’ve done it a couple times now and it works great, although it works best with super ripe mangoes.
Tropical Yogurt Parfaits
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats ($0.17)
- 1 1/3 cup yogurt* ($0.66)
- 2 bananas ($0.43)
- 1 20oz. can pineapple chunks in juice ($1.37)
- 1 mango ($1.00)
- 4 Tbsp shredded coconut ($0.33)
Instructions
- Add 1/4 cup rolled oats to the bottom of four 12oz. mason jars, or another container of comparable size. Add 1/3 cup of yogurt on top of the oats in each jar.
- Slice the bananas, drain the pineapple (the juice can be saved for smoothies), and dice the mango. Divide the sliced bananas, pineapple chunks, and mango between the four jars. Layering the bananas between the yogurt and pineapple will help prevent the banana from browning. Top each jar off with a tablespoon of shredded coconut.
- Refrigerate the jars overnight to allow the oats time to soak and soften. Use a spoon to stir the ingredients in the jar just before eating. Refrigerate the parfaits for up to five days.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Try These Other Overnight Oat Recipes:
- Golden Milk Overnight Oats
- No Sugar Added Blueberry Almond Overnight Oats
- No Sugar Added Apple Pie Overnight Oats
I don’t have any step by step photos for these Tropical Yogurt Parfaits because there’s only one step–put the ingredients in the jar…
Have a great weekend!
Welp, this was my first Budget Bytes recipe, and it was not a success. Everything was layered just as it was last night, oats still just as dry as when I put them in. I just added some milk to each jar and shook it up, hoping and praying that I don’t just have to toss them.
How would I go about using frozen fruit?
You can just add it to the jars while still frozen. They will thaw in the fridge overnight. :)
I love this recipe! I make these with Greek yogurt and just pour some of the pineapple juice in for more moisture I also added a little chia seed in with the oatmeal. So yummy!
I’m not a huge fan of yogurt but I love these! I do shift work so I get home pretty late and I have one of these yogurt parfaits for dinner instead of a heavy meal. They’re so good! Thanks for the super recipe!
Have you tried this with steel cut oats?
I don’t think that this would work with steel cut, although I haven’t tried it. They don’t absorb moisture nearly as easily as rolled oats.
I HAVE tried it with steel cut, and while they get softER, they end up pretty chewy. It’s not inedible however.
Hi Beth,
Went against your instructions about Greek yogurt because that was all I had at the time and thought what the heck. I just stirred the oats in with the yogurt the night before. It turned out okay but was really thick. Maybe next time, I’ll add a little milk?
These are awesome. I’ve loathed mango my whole life and reluctantly tried it again for this recipe. I found out I no longer hate mango! My husband loves these too. My kids? Not so much. Too much plain oatmeal at the bottom. They’re too little to mix it or scoop all the way to the bottom before the good stuff is gone. I think for them, I’d do better layering the oats between the other layers.