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Chocolate banana overnight oats offer a ready-to-eat morning meal with a soft texture and rich chocolate flavor balanced by natural banana sweetness.

Made from rolled oats and chia seeds soaked in a warm mixture of milk, banana, melted milk chocolate, and cinnamon, it’s a convenient and comforting start to the day.

Recipe Info

This recipe is:

Rich and dessert-like. Thanks to the generous amount of real milk chocolate, these overnight oats taste almost like a decadent dessert rather than just a breakfast.
Uses real chocolate. Melting actual milk chocolate into warm milk and banana gives a creamy, smooth chocolate flavor that’s more indulgent than cocoa powder.
Easy prep. Not as quick and simple as those dump-and-mix overnight oats recipes, but it’s only a tiny bit more complex. Perfect if you have 15 to 20 mins to prep instead of 5.

Making chocolate banana overnight oats for the first time? Read the ingredients notes, step-by-step instructions, and tips. If you’re familiar with the recipe, feel free to jump to the recipe card.

Extra Learning

Before we jump in, here are a few handy resources to help you nail this recipe:

Overnight oats 101. Our overnight oats base recipe that covers ingredient swaps, tips on adjusting the recipe, and how to fix common issues.

Ingredients and Substitutes

Rolled oats. Provide the chewy base of the overnight oats, absorbing the liquids to create a creamy texture.
Milk of choice. Softens the oats and adds creaminess. Use any dairy or plant-based milk you like.
Cinnamon. Adds warm spice and depth of flavor, plus it pairs well with bananas, chocolate, and oats.
Salt. Enhances overall flavor by balancing sweetness.
Chia seeds. Help thicken the mixture and adds a bit of fiber.
Banana. Wouldn’t be chocolate banana without bananas, eh?
Milk chocolate. Add sweetness and chocolate flavor. Use regular chopped chocolate or chocolate chips.

Step-by-Step: How to Make Chocolate Banana Overnight Oats

Warm the milk and cook banana. Start by gently warming your milk in a saucepan until it’s just about to boil. Add the mashed banana and let it cook together for about 5 minutes. Then, remove the pan from the heat.

Heating the milk — Heat milk until almost boiling, stir in the

Adding the mashed banana — Heat milk until almost boiling, stir in the

Melt the milk chocolate. Add the milk chocolate to the hot banana and milk mixture. Let it sit for about 1 minute, then stir until the chocolate is fully melted. For an extra smooth texture, you can use an immersion blender, but it’s totally fine to simply stir it well.
Add cinnamon and salt. Sprinkle in the cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Give everything a good stir to combine the flavors.

Adding the chocolates — Melt the milk chocolate into the hot mixture,

Melting the chocolate — Melt the milk chocolate into the hot mixture,

Mix dry ingredients. In a clean bowl or jar, combine the rolled oats and chia seeds. Stir them together to distribute evenly.

Dry ingredients — Add the rolled oats and chia seeds in

Mixing the dry ingredients — Add the rolled oats and chia seeds in

Combine with banana milk mixture. Pour the cooled banana and chocolate milk mixture over the oats and chia seeds. Stir well to make sure everything is fully mixed.

Adding the banana chocolate mix — Stir in the cooled banana-chocolate milk mixture with

Mixing in the dry ingredients — Stir in the cooled banana-chocolate milk mixture with

Refrigerate overnight. Let the mixture cool down to room temperature, then cover and place it in the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight. This gives the oats time to soak and get nice and creamy.
Serve and enjoy. When you’re ready to eat, take the oats out of the fridge, give it a good stir, and enjoy. Feel free to top it with anything you like.

Sweet chocolate banana overnight oats for two — Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, add your favorite toppings, and enjoy!

Variations

Vegan

This variation uses plant-based ingredients to keep it vegan-friendly:

Replace regular milk with unsweetened oat or coconut milk (the carton option).
Swap regular milk chocolate for vegan-friendly milk chocolate to maintain the chocolate flavor while keeping it dairy-free.

Two jars of delicious chocolate banana overnight oats

High-Protein

Boost the protein content easily with these changes:

Add one 30g serving of vanilla or chocolate protein powder to the banana milk mixture.
Reduce the milk chocolate amount by half to balance sweetness and texture.
Decrease milk by 2 tablespoons to keep the right consistency.

Option	Protein per serving (g)
Regular	14
High-Protein	34

Tips

Don’t skip cooking the banana. Cooking the banana with warm milk helps develop deeper caramelized flavors that meld beautifully with the chocolate, enhancing overall richness.
Taste and adjust before mixing with oats. Taste the banana-chocolate milk. If it’s not chocolatey enough, add 1/2 tsp cocoa powder to deepen the chocolate notes.
Use very ripe bananas. Overripe bananas are sweeter than ripe ones, so they’re a slightly better choice.

Storage

Store the prepared chocolate banana overnight oats in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days to keep them fresh and safe to eat.

A glass jar of chocolate banana overnight oats — Chocolate-banana overnight oats
topped with fresh banana slices and chocolate chips

Similar Recipes to Try

Looking for more? Check out the following recipes:

Chocolate Overnight Oats. Cocoa powder base intensifies chocolate flavor without cooking—just mix oats, milk, and chill overnight.
Peanut Butter Banana Overnight Oats. Swap chocolate for peanut butter: mash banana with peanut butter for a protein-packed creamy breakfast.
Chocolate Banana Chia Pudding. Same flavor but in a chia pudding. Great if you’re looking for a low-calorie breakfast or snack.