Who doesn’t love the idea of making breakfast seem bigger? These Voluminous Oats will do just that, and will keep you full for hours!
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A little prep the night before or early in the morning of will give you the most delicious bowl of Voluminous Oats!
Here’s how I make ‘em:
How To Secretly Make Breakfast Seem Bigger
Want to make breakfast seem bigger? These Voluminous Oats provide a huge bowl that you can totally customize and it will keep you full for hours!
Ingredients
Main Oatmeal Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup oats
- 1 cup water
- 2-3 tsp chia seeds
- 1/3 cup almond milk
Optional Add-Ins:
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or almond, also a favorite
- 1/2 mashed banana
- 1/3 cup pumpkin
- 1/2 – 1 scoop protein powder
- 1-2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp dried fruit
- As much fresh fruit as you want!
- Stir oats mixture again turn heat on high, bring to a boil. Once bubbling, reduce heat, cover, and simmer, about 5 minutes. Top with any desired toppings and go to town!
Instructions
THE NIGHT BEFORE:
- In a small sauce pot, combine oats oats, water, chia seeds, and any desired spices.
- Bring to a boil, and as soon as it starts to bubble, turn off the heat, stir, and cover. Leave overnight or for at least an hour.
THE NEXT MORNING:
- Stir your oats mixture (it will be thick). Add 1/3 cup almond milk (or any milk) and any optional add-ins you prefer.
- Stir oats mixture again, turn heat on high, bring to a boil. Once bubbling, reduce heat, cover, and simmer, about 5 minutes. Top with any desired toppings and enjoy!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
For today’s batch, I used vanilla extract, 1/2 a mashed banana, and loads of fresh strawberries and blueberries, as well as a sprinkling of Love Grown Foods granola.
Thanks to all of the fresh berries, this bowl had to be one of the largest yet. Gotta love that extra volume.
Looking for more delicious breakfast ideas? Check out the Recipe Index!
Have a great day, everyone! 
I feel like oats is one of the more filling breakfasts I have and I always feel like it is so much bigger, love it!
I find that fruits and huge salads always leave my stomach hurting and feeling bloated. I think sometimes our bodies just have a hard time digesting certain foods. That’s a huge reason why sometimes I don’t eat as much fresh produce as I should, it makes me feel sick! I love your oatmeal idea! Voluminous foods always leave me feeling full. Chia seeds always make my oats have more volume and a sprinkle of xantham gum does the same for my smoothies!
Hope you’re feeling better! I love that method, especially eating it cold- save even more time in the morning!
I absolutely LOVE quinoa. I find that it’s one of the foods that DOESN’T make my stomach hurt. I recently switched to all gluten free grains which has helped a lot of my discomfort pains go away! I don’t have celiacs but do have a sensitivity towards gluten! I also recently stopped eating vinegar with my salads and felt great! I’m thinking the glucose and fructose in it makes me severly uncomfortable! Triggers IBS (sorry TMI!) It’s all about process of elimination for me! HA! I hope you feel better….Love your oats!
Hey Michelle! I recently did this too, and could immediately tell a huge difference. I don’t have Celiacs, nor am I gluten intolerant, but I felt bloated all of the time! I wanted to see if by doing this it would make a difference, and it has. :)
Berries are so expensive at my store right now – they look delicious!
I neeeeeed a huge breakfast to make me feel complete! I love the tricks to make it seem bigger- I need to get my hands on some berries to add some volume and deliciousness to my breakfasts!
I do something similar by cooking my oats with a lot of liquid on low for a longer time. I let the oats soak it ALL up, then add more almond milk at the end to give it even more volume. Works so well! Pinned this for ya!
It’s funny that you have that experience with quinoa because for me it is the opposite; it is one of the few foods that can relieve bloating and gassiness for me.
Quinoa can also be a replacement for oats in overnight oats and possibly for voluminous oats. Makes for a high protein breakfast!
I love using that oatmeal trick!! And I definitely feel the bloating side affects after I eat quinoa! But I love it so much I eat it anyways lol
I guess I haven’t eaten enough quinoa to feel the effects, but I will definitely steer clear! It seems like everything makes me bloated–definitely don’t want to invite that feeling!
I’m not a chia seed fan. Would the oats work without them?
It would work, but you probably wouldn’t get as much volume. The chia seeds actually soak in a lot of the water overnight, causing them to plump up and give you a larger bowl of oats. Either way, it’s worth a try!
Hmm… quinoa doesn’t typically leave me bloated or uncomfortable but I have found that once in a while if I up my fiber intake or change the type of fiber I eat that it can definitely have an impact. All sorta seems to depend upon what I’ve been eating recently and what my body is “used” to. Not sure how scientific that is though.
This is my favorite method to make oats!! I love using chocolate almond milk!! I’m kinda addicted!
Great tips! I’m a volume eater too – so I always appreciate tips that make me feel like I’m eating more (but healthily…). Thanks!
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I love overnight oatmeal! It’s the best! I like to pput it in a masonjar with greek yogurt and berries and of course peanut butter and granola! Yum, it’s my favorite!!
Your dinner looks delicious! I love the homemade chicken tenders and the veggies look great! :) Thanks for the overnight oat tip! I’m going to try making my oats like that sometime this weekend! :)
chia seeds are so great for amping up the volume of breakfasts as long as you don’t get them stuck in your teeth!
I have recently been eating more quinoa and have noticed the bloating too?! I am not sure what is up with that! haha, thought it would be a good alternative to other wheat based products because I do have a sensitivity to wheat but was surprised to feel bloated with this too!! I am thinking the body just can’t digest some days the way it should!? Not very medically sound but I am just just thinking that some foods can bother us more on some days than others?!
Just this morning I was thinking I’m really sick o f microwave oats at work, I hope Simone posts an easy recipe for overnight oats. Thanks!
How do you get Jay to eat quinoa?? My fiancé thinks it’s weird but i love it! Argh
I made him try a bite of this quinoa bowl from the other night… https://www.sweettoothsweetlife.com/2012/01/27/it-may-not-be-a-luau/
He was SUPER hesitant, but declared that it was “alright.” Good enough for me! That means he eats it ;)
Those baked chicken tenders look fantastic!!!
This recipe sounds great. Does it matter what type of oats you use?
I’ve used it with regular rolled oats and with Coach’s Oats, and both have worked great.
I’m all for making breakfast as big as possible! The process seems a tad more time-consuming than I’m used to, but maybe I can try it out on the weekend!
Courtney, have you ever had Coconut Milk (Silk)? I had it today for the first time in my oats and I am HOOKED!
No, I haven’t tried it yet! I see it all the time though…perhaps I’ll have to give it a go once this carton of almond milk runs out?
OKAY finally! It’s not so much a “sensitivity” with quinoa but… let’s just say it keeps me extremely regular the next day. It’s so weird!! I’m glad somebody else feels it too hahah
I will have to try this method! I use Chia seeds in my overnight oats but had never used them on stove top oats till the weekend, they add so much volume, I loved it!
Those oats sound great! One question though, do you leave the oats out all night or put them in the fridge?
A lot of those really fibrous foods often make my stomach hurt really badly. Super bloaty and uncomfortable. The doc said it’s because they are harder to digest, causing a lot of discomfort. No real solution unfortunately :(
I basically eat oats every single morning, so this sounds like a great thing for me to try!! Thank you for posting :D. I hope you feel better asap!
Those healthier chicken tenders look so yummy! I’m not a vegetarian, but I’ve been hooked on Gardein “chicken” tenders. They’re soooooo good, or maybe I just have very accomodating taste buds haha.
SO glad that you are feeling somewhat better :) I hate being sick!
I love Quinoa, but have never noticed it to make me swell up…hmmm, maybe it’s the fiber?
I have a question about the oats… When you say, “leave overnight”… do you mean on the stove? or in the refrigerator?? I know, it’s a nerdy question, I just wanted to be sure. :)
I love naps….I got 10 hours of sleep last night and I feel amazing this morning!
I just leave ’em right on top of the stove! Nice and easy :)
I would have to agree with some of the other comments. Quinoa is one of the grains that does not bother my stomach. Too many veggie will, so I am guessing it was all of you veggie intake for the day between the soup and sauteed veggies.
I am usually too full from oatmeal actually…I can never finish the bowl! But I do like oats!
And I love quinoa–never had ‘gas’ from it though?? It does have a lot of fiber and protein, so maybe your stomach/GI was not so used to it on that day? Just a though.
I sometimes have that same problem with quinoa! I experienced bloating the past couple of nights after eating quinoa for dinner, but I have no idea why this happens!
I had quinoa for the first time two weeks ago and within 30 mins. I had really bad stomach pain. It was so bad I had to go to bed. The next morning I was fine. I googled it and it seems to happen to some people. I also can’t eat sugar alcohols or inulin.
I get a bloated feeling with quinoa and other rices too….I try to stay away from them. I also noticed that you had some sauteed veggies that included zucchini and carrots. Those are some pretty gassy sometimes too although they are good for you:)
I just tried quinoa for the first time 2 days ago and I felt sick after I ate it too. Great idea with the oatmeal! I will have to try it.
Do you refrigerate it overnight? Or do you just leave it out?
I’ve done both! :)