How long do overnight oats keep in the fridge?

Up to three days in a sealed jar, so you can make three at once on Sunday. Add the banana, peanut butter and honey in the morning, not the night before, so the banana does not brown and the texture stays right.

Can I eat this right before training?

Not the full bowl. 820 kcal with 27 g of fat takes a while to digest; eaten two to three hours before a session it fuels a hard workout, eaten thirty minutes before it sits in your stomach. Close to training, eat half a portion or swap the peanut butter for a second banana.

Can I make it without whey?

Yes. Replace the 30 g of whey with 150 g of Greek yoghurt or skyr stirred into the milk, which gives about 15 g of protein instead of 25 and a creamier texture, or with a plant protein powder. Adjust the milk down by 50 ml if you use yoghurt.

How do I reduce the calories for maintenance?

Use semi-skimmed milk, drop the peanut butter and reduce the oats to 60 g; that lands at around 550 kcal with 45 g of protein. Keep the whey and the banana, which are the parts that make it a fighter's breakfast rather than a dessert.

Is it fine to eat this every day?

Yes, as one meal in a varied day. Oats, milk, whey, fruit and nut butter are all foods you can eat daily; rotate the fruit and the nut butter if you get bored, and keep an eye on total fibre if the rest of your day is also oats-heavy.

Recipe

Overnight Oats “Bulk Bowl”

Name: Overnight Oats “Bulk Bowl”
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 1 servings
Ingredients: 80 g rolled oats; 250 ml whole milk (3.5 %); 30 g whey protein (unflavoured or vanilla); 1 banana; 20 g peanut butter; 1 tsp honey; 1 pinch cinnamon, salt

820 kcal and 50 g of protein for breakfast, five minutes the night before. Why it suits a bulk, how to time it around training, and how to scale it down.

BulkBreakfastvegetarian

By Carlo Santana · Editor, Beyond Dojo

3 min read · 17 September 2026 · updated 21 September 2026

In this article

Prep: 5 min
Cook: 0 min
Servings: 1

Per serving · makes 1

Approximate values

Calories: 820
Protein: 50 g
Carbs: 100 g
Fat: 27 g

Ingredients

1 serving

80 grolled oats
250 mlwhole milk (3.5 %)
30 gwhey protein (unflavoured or vanilla)
1 banana
20 gpeanut butter
1 tsphoney
1 pinchcinnamon, salt

Method

1
Mix oats, whey, cinnamon and a pinch of salt in a jar or container so the powder doesn't clump.
2
Pour in the milk and stir well. Lid on, into the fridge overnight.
3
In the morning slice the banana and top the oats with it, the peanut butter and the honey. If you like it creamier, stir in another splash of milk.

Nobody who is trying to gain weight has ever been hungry at seven in the morning. That is the whole problem with a bulk. The calories have to go in, the appetite is not there, training is in the afternoon, and the meal that gets skipped is always breakfast. Overnight oats fix it by moving the work to the night before: five minutes with a jar, and in the morning you spoon out 820 calories and 50 grams of protein without turning on a stove or making a decision.

The short answer: rolled oats, whole milk, a scoop of whey, peanut butter, banana, honey, a pinch of salt. Mix it at night, eat it in the morning, two to three hours before training. Here is why the numbers are what they are, when to eat it, how to scale it down when the bulk is over, and the swaps that keep it interesting for a whole camp.

Key facts

Per bowl: 820 kcal · 50 g protein · 100 g carbs · 27 g fat
Time: 5 minutes the night before, no cooking
Best for: Bulk breakfasts; a scaled-down version for maintenance
Timing: 2–3 hours before training; half a portion if closer
Keeps: 3 days in a sealed jar, toppings added in the morning

Why these numbers

Gaining muscle needs a calorie surplus and protein spread across the day, and breakfast is where most fighters miss both. The bowl gets the surplus from foods that are dense but easy to eat when you are not hungry: oats, whole milk, peanut butter, honey. It gets the protein from 30 grams of whey stirred into the oats, which takes a typical 15-gram breakfast to 50 grams. That is a full serving for a 100-kilogram fighter aiming at 2 grams per kilogram, delivered before nine in the morning. The 100 grams of carbohydrate are why it works before training: the oats digest slowly, the banana and honey faster, and between them they cover a hard afternoon session.

When to eat it

Two to three hours before training it gives you enough carbohydrate for a hard session without sitting in your stomach. The fat from the peanut butter and whole milk is what makes it slow, which is good three hours out and bad thirty minutes out. If you are eating it right before training, have half, or swap the peanut butter for a second banana to bring the fat down. On rest days it stays on the menu. The point of a surplus is that it is there every day, not only on days when you feel you have earned it.

Scaling

Maintenance: semi-skimmed milk, no peanut butter, oats down to 60 grams. About 550 calories, 45 grams of protein.
Even more: 20 grams of chopped nuts or a second spoon of peanut butter, around 120 extra calories, mostly fat, which goes down easily. Or a second scoop of whey for another 25 grams of protein.
Lactose-free: lactose-free milk or soy milk, whey isolate instead of concentrate. Oat milk works but adds carbohydrate and almost no protein.
Without whey: 150 grams of Greek yoghurt or skyr stirred into the milk, minus 50 millilitres of milk. About 15 grams of protein instead of 25.

Making it so it tastes like food

Mix the oats, whey, cinnamon and salt dry before the milk goes in, so the powder does not clump into little bitter islands. Stir well, seal, refrigerate. In the morning add the banana, peanut butter and honey: the banana browns overnight, and peanut butter stirs into cold oats better than into the mix. Rolled oats give the right texture. Instant oats turn to paste, steel-cut oats stay hard enough to be a mistake. The pinch of salt is not optional. It is the difference between breakfast and sweet cardboard. Make three jars on Sunday night and you have not thought about breakfast until Wednesday.

Where to go next

The strength work this breakfast feeds: Kettlebell Strength for Fighters.
Everything else for growing: recipes and guides under Bulk.
The opposite direction, when the weigh-in is coming: Chicken and Zucchini Stir-Fry and Weight-Cut Basics.

Frequently asked questions

How long do overnight oats keep in the fridge?: Up to three days in a sealed jar, so you can make three at once on Sunday. Add the banana, peanut butter and honey in the morning, not the night before, so the banana does not brown and the texture stays right.
Can I eat this right before training?: Not the full bowl. 820 kcal with 27 g of fat takes a while to digest; eaten two to three hours before a session it fuels a hard workout, eaten thirty minutes before it sits in your stomach. Close to training, eat half a portion or swap the peanut butter for a second banana.
Can I make it without whey?: Yes. Replace the 30 g of whey with 150 g of Greek yoghurt or skyr stirred into the milk, which gives about 15 g of protein instead of 25 and a creamier texture, or with a plant protein powder. Adjust the milk down by 50 ml if you use yoghurt.
How do I reduce the calories for maintenance?: Use semi-skimmed milk, drop the peanut butter and reduce the oats to 60 g; that lands at around 550 kcal with 45 g of protein. Keep the whey and the banana, which are the parts that make it a fighter's breakfast rather than a dessert.
Is it fine to eat this every day?: Yes, as one meal in a varied day. Oats, milk, whey, fruit and nut butter are all foods you can eat daily; rotate the fruit and the nut butter if you get bored, and keep an eye on total fibre if the rest of your day is also oats-heavy.