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Once I saw a banana walnut overnight oats recipe with 350 calories in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025, I realized I could transform it into an excellent high-calorie breakfast for anybody looking to build muscle more easily.
The result was a delicious High-Calorie Banana Walnut Overnight Oats recipe with 982 calories, 40 g of proteins and many complex carbohydrates that's fast to make and eat.
After all, I'm not a nutritionist certified in personal training and strength and conditioning for nothing. And it's no secret that I've become a fan of oat dishes. Overnight oats, oatmeal, granola recipes, oat muscle-building smoothies and shakes, I did them all.
But that's enough arrogance. Let's start exploring the recipe.
For this overnight oats recipe, you'll need the following:
To make these banana walnut overnight oats, you'll need the following ingredients:
If you're on a gluten-free diet, use rolled oats with a clear gluten-free label.
If you're on a dairy-free or vegan diet, swap whole milk for a kind of plant-based milk, like oat or almond milk. Also, you can swap the low-fat Greek yogurt for plant-based yogurt.
In case you're allergic to nuts, replace walnuts with seeds.
First, rolled oats are the core ingredient of this recipe and a great source of complex carbohydrates.
Secondly, whole milk has the mission of softening the crunchy texture of the oats, making them easier to chew.
The pinch of salt highlights the flavors in our recipe.
The low-fat Greek yogurt adds muscle-building proteins and extra creaminess.
Honey sweetens this breakfast dish. Since honey is considered added sugar, we ensured it doesn't represent more than 10% of our recipe's total calories.
The banana adds flavor, vitamins, and extra carbs. Also, bananas count among the cheapest high-calorie foods.
Last but not least, the dried banana chips and the walnuts add calories and crunchiness.
Below are the step-by-step instructions for making our High-Calorie Banana Walnut Overnight Oats.
Add the rolled oats to the bottom of the jar. Try to hit the jar's mouth when pouring them in.
Add whole milk over the oats so they can soak properly.
Salt the oats to bring out the flavors in the recipe.
Cover the salted milky oats in the jar with low-fat Greek yogurt.
Add honey over the coat of yogurt to sweeten things out. Then, mix everything with a spoon.
Use a knife to slice the banana. Then, sink the slices in the jar.
Cut the dried banana chips into smaller pieces and press them into the jar. Then, chop the walnuts and top the jar with them.
Use a spoon to mix everything in the jar. Then, screw the lid and place the jar in the fridge for 8-12 hours.
Take the jar of High-Calorie Banana Walnut Overnight Oats out of the fridge, grab a spoon and enjoy. If you're in a rush, you can even eat the oats on the go.
These overnight oats have a creamy mouthfeel. Their flavor is dominated by bananas but settled down by the Greek yogurt and walnuts' crunchiness.
You can prepare multiple jars of these Banana Walnut Overnight Oats in the evening. To ensure freshness, we recommend refrigerating the oats in airtight jars and eating them in 3-5 days.
| Serving size | 584 g |
| Calories | 982 |
| Proteins | 40 g |
| Carbohydrates | 146 g |
| Fiber | 16 g |
| Added sugars | 23 g |
| Fats | 31.5 g |
| Saturated fats | 7 g |
| Unsaturated fats | 24 g |
Vitamins: A, E, C, D, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B8, B9, B12.
Minerals: calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc, iodine, selenium, copper, manganese, chromium, molybdenum, boron.
Other compounds: choline and flavonoids.
Our high-calorie banana walnut overnight oats can bring many health benefits. Let's explore some of them.
Here are the reasons why our banana walnut overnight oats helps you build muscle:
Let's delve deeper into each of the characteristics above.
Since our overnight oats are high-calorie, they will help you keep a caloric surplus.
After all, the recipe delivers 982 calories per serving, about half of a 2000-calorie diet. This is because many of our recipe's ingredients are good sources of calories.
For example, oats are among the best weight-gain foods for females. Walnuts count among the high-calorie nuts and nut butters. Also, dried bananas and bananas count among the fruits with the most calories.
If you don't know what caloric surplus means, know it's eating more calories than you consume. And it's essential for building muscle.
The International Society of Sports Nutrition has the same position. In 2017, after reviewing over 140 scientific articles, they concluded that people who want to build muscle efficiently should follow diets that get them into a "sustained caloric surplus."
However, you can eat high-calorie overnight oats when cutting as well. In this case, you'll need to make sure you stay on a caloric deficit.
Besides boosting calories, these banana walnut overnight oats make for a muscle-building pre-workout meal. Since one serving has 40 g of protein, it will also help you maximize your bulking efforts. That's good news for those of you bodybuilding.
Wondering how do you maximize the rate you're gaining muscle?
Trying to find out how much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building, researchers came to the following conclusion.
"To maximize anabolism one should consume protein at a target intake of 0.4 g/kg/meal across a minimum of four meals in order to reach a minimum of 1.6 g/kg/day. Using the upper daily intake of 2.2 g/kg/day reported in the literature spread out over the same four meals would necessitate a maximum of 0.55 g/kg/meal," Brad Schoenfeld and Alan Aragon concluded in 2018.
For example, to maximize muscle-building, a 176 lbs (80 kg) individual needs 32-44 g of protein from one meal. Do you remember how much protein our overnight oats recipe has? 40 g.
Right on target.
Besides protein, the high-calorie banana walnut overnight oats contain vitamins that help with muscle growth.
One is vitamin B12, coming from low-fat Greek yogurt and whole milk. Here is scientific proof published in the Advances in Nutrition journal. Researcher Lindsay Allen states that one of B12's roles is to restore methionine, an amino acid used in protein synthesis.
Another compound that improves muscle growth is choline. It's present in our overnight oats because of the oats and the low-fat Greek yogurt. The researchers behind a 2020 review of scientific studies that examined choline highlighted the compound's contribution to muscle growth and physical performance.
Our overnight oats recipe fights muscle cramps and reduces muscle damage during exercise. Thus, performance increases. The oats do this because they contain walnuts, which have vitamin E.
A 2013 Nephro-Urology Monthly study of 20 patients with renal disease showed Vitamin E significantly reduces muscle cramps.
Moreover, a 2009 study of 21 participants published in The Journal of Physiological Sciences reached interesting results. The researchers concluded that vitamin E supplementation protects against oxidative stress and muscle damage.
More recently, a 2022 review published in Nutrients showed that even a low dose of vitamin E could prevent "exercise-induced muscle damage."
Another mineral you get from consuming our banana walnut overnight oats is zinc. And guess what? Oats, the core ingredient of our recipe, are a good source of zinc.
According to a 2020 Redox Biology review, zinc helps form new muscular cells and regenerate depleted muscle tissues.
No matter when you eat them, our high-calorie overnight oats energize you for many hours. They're rich in complex carbs, low in added sugars and abundant in vitamins and minerals that help your body produce energy.
The American Heart Association backs this up. Complex carbohydrates will give you energy for a longer period than simple carbs, like the ones found in white bread or candies.
Here are the ingredients containing complex carbs in our banana walnut overnight oats:
The only added sugar in our overnight oats comes from honey. Since the sugar in honey makes up only 9.5% of the recipe's total calories, it respects the recommendation of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. According to the DGA, the calories we get from the added sugar in our diet should not exceed 10% of our daily calories.
Besides carbohydrates, our overnight oats have compounds that help the body get and use the energy found in foods:
Let's look at some proof regarding the above micronutrients' roles.
A 2020 scientific review of B vitamins, vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and zinc is titled "vitamins and minerals for energy, fatigue, and cognition."
Sources of B vitamins in our overnight oats:
The only ingredient with notable amounts of vitamin C in our recipe is the banana.
As for copper, magnesium and iron, the oats and walnuts in our breakfast dish contain plenty.
When it comes to phosphorus, the National Institutes of Health describes it as a component of "the body's key energy source, adenosine triphosphate (ATP)." The best sources of phosphorus in our overnight oats recipe are low-fat Greek yogurt and whole milk.
As for manganese, a 2015 article reviewed its effects on health. The research states that manganese plays a role in significant physiological processes, including energy metabolism. Most of the manganese in our recipe comes from oats.
Also, our overnight oats contain chromium, which "might play a role in carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism," according to the NIH. In our recipe, chromium comes from walnuts and oats.
Besides, a 2022 study on 138 soccer players states from its beginning that molybdenum plays an important role in adapting our bodies to physical training. Oats and walnuts, both present in our recipe, contain molybdenum.
Our overnight oats recipe strengthens your bones and connective tissues because it contains calcium, copper, manganese, boron, and vitamin C.
A 2012 review of the essential nutrients for bone health agrees. It found that calcium, copper, manganese, boron, and vitamin C are commonly used to improve bone health.
Since they don't have to be cooked, you can make these overnight oats in only 5 minutes. You can prepare them in the evening and have them ready by the next morning.
If you forget to prepare them in the evening, you can make them in the morning and consume them as a late breakfast or snack after refrigerating them for a few hours.
To save even more time, you can consume these oats on the go.
Another good idea to save time is to make 3-5 portions of our banana walnut overnight oats on a Sunday and eat one per day until the next weekend.
To follow our high-calorie banana walnut overnight oats recipe in a compressed format, use the summary below.
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