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Carrot cake for breakfast? Why yes! These Carrot Cake Overnight Oats are a simple, hearty way to start your morning. Prep your oats at night in just 5 minutes and breakfast is ready on the go. Make enough for the whole week in no time. So easy!
This recipe was originally posted February 2015. Photos and copy were updated April 2020 to include process and ingredient photos.
Overnight Oats are my THING–literally. They are my go-to favorite make ahead breakfast. Easy, make ahead, hearty and healthy–can’t beat them!
Carrot cake flavored oats are a great way to start your day–and they are so stinking easy! Carrot Cake Donuts are another great way to get your carrot cake fix, just saying!
Why this oatmeal recipe is the Best:
- Great for meal prepping. You can even prep several servings and have breakfast for days. A lot of payoff for just a small amount of work.
- Easily customizable and adapted to meet dietary needs. This carrot cake oatmeal recipe is naturally vegan if you use a dairy free milk. Make sure the oats are certified gluten free if you can’t have gluten. Nut allergy? Omit the pecans.
- They taste AMAZING. The flavor of carrot cake combined into oatmeal is something you will be so happy to wake up to. Cinnamon, raisins, coconut, carrots, a hint of cinnamon and maple–so delicious!
Ingredients and Substitutions:
- Oats! That obvious?? But what kind of oats is the question. I use rolled oats. I have also made these, adjusting the milk slightly to taste, with quick oats and have found they work really great when I want the same recipe but right now.
- Milk: You can very easily make these Carrot Cake Overnight Oats dairy free by using almond milk or another dairy free option. I have made them with almond milk, whole milk, vanilla coconut almond milk (pleasantly surprised by this one!) and more.
- Maple/Sweetener: Sweeten to your own liking. You can honestly even wait until serving to add sweetener. Everyone has a different taste for sweetness in recipes like these overnight oats. I find it to be the biggest feedback on oatmeal recipes. I love maple syrup the best.
If you are brand new to overnight oats, I have lots of information in this Easy Overnight Oats post. Feel free to check it out if you need a place to start with overnight oatmeal.
How to make Carrot Cake Overnight Oats:
- There really is nothing to it once you have all the ingredients out and the carrots shredded. I honestly prep my overnight oats right in the jar, but for easier viewing, I prepped in a bowl this time. But seriously, just use the dish you plan to put in the fridge overnight.
- Toss all the ingredients into a bowl or jar that you can seal overnight. Stir ingredients well to combine. (steps 1, 2 and 3)
- Cover and place in the refrigerator and allow to chill for at least 4 hours. When ready to serve, warm up if desired in the microwave. Add an extra splash of milk at this point if desired.
Expert Tips for the best carrot cake oats:
- You can use steel cut oats for this recipe. Some people prefer steel cut oats over rolled oats. Steel cut will turn out much chewier than the rolled. Definitely not my preference by any means, but feel free to try if you would like!
- Try some of these optional add ins to give your carrot cake oatmeal a boost: chia seeds, ground flax, protein powder. All of these are great ways to give your breakfast a nice boost!
- Soak your oats for at least 4 hours for the best texture and flavor. You want to give the overnight oats enough time to absorb the liquid and soften the oats. If you don’t wait long enough, they will be tough and chewy.
- Eat your overnight oatmeal hot or cold. Some people think that overnight oats have to be eaten cold. Not true. These carrot cake oats can certainly be eaten chilled but are delicious warmed up. I put mine in the microwave for about one minute before serving.
Other Overnight Oats Recipes you will Love:
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Carrot Cake Overnight Oats
Carrot cake for breakfast? Why yes! These Carrot Cake Overnight Oats are a simple, hearty way to start your morning. Prep your oats at night and breakfast is ready on the go. So easy!
Ingredients
- ½ cup rolled oats, regular or gluten free
- 1 ½ T coconut, shredded or flaked
- ½ large carrot, shredded
- â…” cup milk of choice
- 1 T chopped pecans or walnuts
- 1 T raisins
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- Dash of sea salt
- 1 – 2 tsp maple
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a container that can be sealed and stir well.
- Refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours. Add a bit more milk before serving if oats seem a bit dry.
- Enjoy hot or cold!
Notes
- You can use steel cut oats for this recipe. Some people prefer steel cut oats over rolled oats. Steel cut will turn out much chewier than the rolled. Definitely not my preference by any means, but feel free to try if you would like!
- Try some of these optional add ins to give your carrot cake oatmeal a boost: chia seeds, ground flax, protein powder. All of these are great ways to give your breakfast a nice boost!
- Soak your oats for at least 4 hours for the best texture and flavor. You want to give the overnight oats enough time to absorb the liquid and soften the oats. If you don’t wait long enough, they will be tough and chewy.
- Eat your overnight oatmeal hot or cold. Some people think that overnight oats have to be eaten cold. Not true. These carrot cake oats can certainly be eaten chilled but are delicious warmed up. I put mine in the microwave for about one minute before serving.
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Nutrition
Calories: 357kcal, Carbohydrates: 51g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 15g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Sodium: 247mg, Potassium: 409mg, Fiber: 9g, Sugar: 7g, Vitamin A: 5095IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 231mg, Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did you enjoy this recipe? Have a question?Leave a comment below!
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I left out the nuts because my son is allergic, but it was absolutely delicious! I can’t wait to make this again, everyone in my family loved it!
So glad you loved it!
Hi Lorie. I’m new to your page. My wife sent me this recipe so i could make it for us a couple of weeks ago, as I am in charge of breakfasts, and I have to say it’s delicious. I also love carrot cake and in fact anything with carrots in it usually, so I was thrilled to try this and very happy when it was this good. Thanks for that! 🙂
This is so good to hear, Marco. I am also carrot cake obsessed. And breakfast obsessed. So I gladly take over breakfast duties around our house as well. Thanks so much for sharing and have a great day!
Just finished making this recipe. No flax seeds so substituted with chia seeds. Can’t wait to hace some “cake” for breakfast!!!
Chia seeds will be great as well! You may need to add just a bit more milk in the morning as the chia may absorb more of it. Cake for breakfast is always a win for me!
Do you know the nutritional breakdown?
Hi Lacey! I don’t count calories as it was once an obsession of mine so I don’t collect the nutrition info on my recipes. However, it is really easy to just copy and paste the ingredients into a counter and get it all! Thanks!
I plugged it in to see about the sugar content. I omitted the raisins and flax but added about 1T of cream cheese. I mixed warm almond milk with the cream cheese and maple syrup and then heated it through. Because carrot cake must have cream cheese, right? It was delicious. As far as healthy? Not bad on the sugar, really high in carbs, could stand to have some protein powder added if I was really inclined. But sometimes, you just want to have the carrot cake oatmeal and a cup of tea.
Great recipe.
Here’s what I got:
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 1
Per Serving % Daily Value*
Calories 326
Total Fat 11.9g 18%
Saturated Fat 2.8g 14%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 184mg 8%
Potassium 512mg 15%
Total Carb 48.2g 16%
Dietary Fiber 8.2g 33%
Sugars 13.1g
Protein 8.6g
Vitamin A 120% · Vitamin C 4%
Calcium 30% · Iron 17%
Thanks Kestrel!
Do you not cook this at all? Don’t the oats need to be cooked first?
Hi Ginnie! The soaking overnight is essentially the secret to this. It’s sort of the “cooking” I guess you could say as the oats soften and absorb the liquid. You can still heat it up just a tad in the morning though!
What do you mean by maple? Like maple syrup?
What do you mean by maple? Like maple syrup?
Hey there! Yes, maple syrup. Sorry about the confusion!
Cathy, you are too sweet! I agree with you, rolled oats are my preference. Thanks so much for sharing and I’m so glad you liked the recipe!!
I had this wonderful oatmeal this morning. Lorie gives us the choice of Steel-cut oats or Rolled oats. I chose the steel-cut, but next time I will use the rolled oats. I really do prefer those in my cold overnight oatmeals. Spices are perfect and this will easily become a staple in my home. I am sending Lorie’s recipes for this to all my cooking friends.
Because the zucchini bread overnight oatmeal was so fabulous, I plan to make this one next. I have printed nearly every overnight oatmeal recipe in here! I would love to see Lorie put together a Cherry Almond overnight oatmeal using almond extract. It would be awesome!! I trust Lorie’s taste in spices.
I actually can’t decide between this one and the Banana Bread overnight oats for my favorite. Cherry Almnod? I will get to work on that one. I am always happy to take requests!