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.
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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
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!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.
These were great! I splashed in a little almond milk onto the oats because I was afraid there wouldn’t be enough moisture. Turned out wonderful and so flavorful. I can’t wait to make again.
I made this last night for breakfast this morning. It was pretty, but most of the oats were still too dry. So, I mixed it all up, and served it with dinner.
The kids all thought it was desert (I may have called it banana pudding…). Now that’s a win for a recipe.
Gonna try this later this week, but since I only have steel cut oats I’m worried they might not soak up enough moisture! I’m going out of town for a few days in the beginning of the week, so I might mix the oats and yogurt up before my trip and hope they soften by the time I come back. Taking a bunch of strong antibiotics so hopefully a good dose of probiotics in the morning will do me good.
Thanks for the recipe! My daughter and I made a half batch (2 servings) last night and it turned out great.
I mixed the oats and yogurt together from habit before topping with the fruit. The oats softened perfectly.
My daughter left hers in the individual layers. We both agreed that hers was prettier this morning. But the oats were a little dry. She mixed hers and let it sit another hour before eating it.
Sigh. I love this recipe, but I wish people would stop serving perfectly good food in jars.
http://eccentricculinary.com/mason-jar/
Ha! That was a pretty funny post. :) I have to admit though, that for this recipe in particular I really like the practicality of the mason jar. It keeps the parfait cold as you eat it, kind of like a chilled glass beer mug. Otherwise, I’m a fan of my blue top Ziploc reusable containers. :P
Mind blown!!! After going ‘meh’ at the many oats in mason jar recipes online, this one made me get ingredients the next day. I forgot pineapple but dipped the bananas in lemon juice. Mango in season so all good. Weather warming up so this will be a very handy portable snack.
Thanks, Beth!
This is awesome…it’s too hot to make granola (and I’m lazy) and my kids have been complaining. Yogurt and granola is our breakfast but this is such a great substitute. Thanks Beth!
I made these last night and had one for breakfast this morning and it was delicious. I didn’t have the tropical fruit on hand so I used inspiration from an oatmeal recipe I tried on this site and used apple sauce and pitted cherries. Simple way to make breakfast for me to take to work all week. Thank you Beth!
This looks a-MAY-zing! I am definitely making a batch. I love the idea about toasting the coconut too.
I think if you were to buy something like this from the local luxury grocery store, you’d pay a lot more than just a buck a piece! And I like know the exact ingredients in here. Scratch that, no grocery store would be able to mimic this because they’d want like 10 bucks a piece.
Well, you’ve almost sold me on trying this – your photos make it look yummy and the instructions are simple. (You know me…)
Ooh, yogurt and oatmeal, two of my favorite breakfast foods! I’m definitely putting these together for the week.
This looks yummy! I don’t like big heavy breakfast foods and this looks perfect. Definitely will be trying it this week. Thanks!
Looks fabulous! I have a seven-month old grandson who would probably happily chow this down alongside me. (He has texture issues in that he doesn’t like smooth and sloppy..he likes some heft.)
Kefir works amazingly well for overnight oats. Also (in reference to your note), Greek yogurt has worked for me just fine, also. =)
Good to know, thanks!!
MM the coconut takes it up SO many notches. You could even toast it for a wild time! Love.
Yum! You could toss the banana in a little lemon or lime juice to stop it browning too. Would add a little zing to contrast with the sweetness of the fruit too