• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • eBook
  • About
  • Contact me
  • Privacy Policy
Family-Friends-Food
  • All Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Soups & Starters
    • Main Dishes
      • Vegan
      • Vegetarian
      • Fish
    • Side dishes & Salads
    • Baking & Desserts
  • Holiday Recipes
    • Chanukah
    • Purim
    • Pesach
    • Lag Ba’Omer
    • Shavuot
    • Rosh Hashanah
    • Succot
  • Healthier Jewish Food ebook
  • Get Updates
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • EASY SWAPS FOR HEALTHIER JEWISH FOOD
  • SPECIAL DIETS EBOOK
  • BREAKFAST
  • SOUPS & STARTERS
  • MAIN DISHES
  • – VEGAN
  • – VEGETARIAN
  • – FISH
  • SIDES & SALADS
  • BAKING & DESSERTS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • PRIVACY POLICY
×
Home » Breakfast » Bircher muesli (overnight oats) with berries and nuts

Bircher muesli (overnight oats) with berries and nuts

This page may contain affiliate links, which won't change your price, but may share some commission. For more information, please visit my Privacy Policy page.

Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

Bircher muesli – aka overnight oats – is a delicious and healthy breakfast of soaked rolled oats, fruit and yogurt topped with nuts and honey or syrup.

We are creatures of habit when it comes to breakfast. DH has porridge. I have tea and toast. Not every day, you understand. But most days. 

On this page...

Toggle
  • A healthy start
  • Maximillian’s Muesli
  • Not quite muesli
  • Bircher muesli – Updated and improved
  • Let’s get fruity
  • Bircher muesli toppings
  • Vegan bircher muesli
  • Overnight oats – or not
  • Overnight oats (Bircher muesli) with berries and nuts
  • More delicious breakfast recipes

A healthy start

I think his breakfast is probably healthier than mine. I like my toast slathered with an indecent amount of butter and marmalade, so it’s basically wheat, fat and refined sugar. His porridge, by contrast, is oats and milk. A sensible, wholesome start to the day.

Bircher muesli (0vernight oats).

Maximillian’s Muesli

I was looking for an occasional healthier breakfast for myself, when my thoughts turned to bircher muesli. Developed in the early 20th century by Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner, this essentially raw combination of oats, fruit and dairy products feels like a delicious bowl of healthfulness.

Dr B-B believed that raw foods were more nutritious than their cooked counterparts. He encouraged his patients to eat more fruits, vegetables and nuts, and to cut back on white bread and meat. His ideas were largely dismissed at the time, but later developments in our understanding of nutritional science, including the existence of vitamins, suggests that he was really just way ahead of his time.

Bircher muesli (0vernight oats).

Not quite muesli

Bircher muesli is a million miles from the dry dusty muesli you get in packets. Also known as ‘overnight oats’, bircher muesli is sometimes found on posh hotel breakfast buffets, so it even has a vaguely indulgent quality about it.

It’s simple to prepare and makes a really delicious start to the day.

Bircher muesli – Updated and improved

The good Dr Bircher-Benner apparently used condensed milk and fresh lemon juice in his original version, since pre-pasteurisation, there were concerns about giving raw milk to his hospital patients.

I, meanwhile, used organic natural yogurt, which gave a thick, creamy texture and a sharp, pleasantly acid taste.

Bircher muesli (Overnight oats).

Let’s get fruity

For the fruit, I used a combination of blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, but you can use just about anything you like. Grated apple seems to be a popular addition, if that’s your sort of thing.

Bircher muesli toppings

I topped my bircher muesli with agave syrup, a natural sweetener with a low GI. You can skip this altogether, or use a drizzle of honey or maple syrup if you prefer.

I also sprinkled on some toasted chopped hazelnuts, which added a pleasant crunch. Make sure to add these last so that they don’t have a chance to go soggy.  

Bircher muesli (0vernight oats) with nuts & agave syrup.

Vegan bircher muesli

It’s easy to adapt this recipe to be dairy-free and vegan. Simply replace the natural yogurt with a plant-based alternative and Bob’s your uncle! I like to use a creamy coconut yogurt but there are lots of options – soya yogurt, almond-milk yogurt, or even go super-oaty and use an oat-based yogurt!

Overnight oats – or not

As the name suggests, overnight oats (aka Bircher muesli) are traditionally prepared the night before so the oats have time to absorb the liquid. However modern rolled oats don’t need so much soaking, and depending on the brand/type you use, you might get away with as little as 10 minutes. So you can enjoy this healthy breakfast even if you forget to make it the night before!

This recipe make a single serving of this delicious healthy breakfast.

Bircher muesli - also called overnight oats. A delicious and healthy breakfast of oats, fruit and yogurt topped with nuts and honey or agave syrup.

If you want deliciously easy, family-friendly recipes like this one delivered straight to your inbox, simply click here to subscribe. (Of course, I’ll never pass on your email address to anyone.)

📖 Recipe

Bircher muesli (0vernight oats).

Overnight oats (Bircher muesli) with berries and nuts

Prevent your screen from going dark
Bircher muesli – aka overnight oats – is a delicious and healthy breakfast of soaked rolled oats, fruit and yogurt topped with nuts and honey or syrup.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Saved!
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Total Time 5 minutes mins
Course Breakfast
Cuisine European
Servings 1
Calories 334 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

  • 30 g rolled oats
  • 160 ml natural yogurt
  • 50 g mixed berries – I used blueberries, blackberries and raspberries
  • 1-2 tablespoon agave syrup or honey
  • 1-2 teaspoon roasted chopped hazelnuts

Instructions
 

  • Combine the oats, yogurts and fruit. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
  • In the morning, remove the cover, drizzle over the agave syrup, sprinkle with nuts, and serve!

Notes

Y

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Overnight oats (Bircher muesli) with berries and nuts
Amount per Serving
Calories
334
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
11
g
17
%
Saturated Fat
 
4
g
25
%
Polyunsaturated Fat
 
3
g
Monounsaturated Fat
 
3
g
Cholesterol
 
21
mg
7
%
Sodium
 
77
mg
3
%
Potassium
 
406
mg
12
%
Carbohydrates
 
51
g
17
%
Fiber
 
5
g
21
%
Sugar
 
26
g
29
%
Protein
 
10
g
20
%
Vitamin A
 
182
IU
4
%
Vitamin C
 
2
mg
2
%
Calcium
 
218
mg
22
%
Iron
 
2
mg
11
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Keyword fruit, nuts, oats, yogurt
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

More delicious breakfast recipes

Other delicious morning treats for you to enjoy include this Paleo porridge – free from grains, gluten, dairy and refined sugar, these naturally sweet fruit and veg packed breakfast muffins, or these easy, yummy 5-ingredient waffles.

Perfect porridge

Incidentally, if you’d like DH’s perfect porridge recipe, finely honed over years of practice, here it is. Weigh out 30g porridge oats, then top up with milk till the scale reads 180g. Cover with a plate, and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, microwave on high for 2 minutes, remove the plate and stir, and then microwave for a further minute. Enjoy! 

More Breakfast

  • Overhead image of a hand holding a spoon, taking a spoonful of fruit and nut yogurt parfait. The topping of mixed berries and flaked almonds over a layer of creamy yogurt is visible in the glass.
    Fruit and Nut Yogurt Parfait – an easy, nutritious breakfast or dessert
  • A blue and white china bowl of fruit salad. Resting on top is a fork which is spearing a piece of strawberry.
    How to make the best fruit salad (and why it’s healthier than a smoothie!)
  • A plate of matza brie, tomatoes and basil, with a knife and fork, and a red and white chequered cloth, all seen from above.
    Matzo brei – a Passover classic that’s good all year!
  • A stack of French toast slices on a fancy plate with spoon and fork, red napkin in background.
    Purim fritters, aka Queen Esther’s Toast (aka French toast!)
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Nicola

    March 28, 2014 at 1:59 pm

    Ahh looks amazing! Inspiration for weekend breakfast…

    Reply
5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Find Recipes

Newsletter Archive

Browse through past email newsletters here.
 

TEA FUND - THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

All my cooking, recipe-writing, photography, research and more, is fuelled by TEA. So every cuppa you provide is very much appreciated! ☕️

Featured Posts

A wooden tray containing two bunches of yellow bananas with brown spots, seen from overhead.

Banana bonanza! Recipes to use up brown bananas

Overhead image of a dark coloured bowl of cold sesame noodles, topped with a generous amount of fresh coriander (cilantro), sliced spring onions (scallions) and a sprinkle of black and white sesame seeds, on a woven mat. Chopsticks are visible to the right of the bowl.

Easy Sesame Noodles – cold, noodly deliciousness

Overhead image of challah panzanella salad in a white china bowl on a wooden table, showing pieces of toasted challah, tomatoes, cucumber, spring onion, and olive, garnished with fresh basil. A white cloth napkin is to the left.

Challah Panzanella Salad – a fresh and delicious dish with a Jewish twist!

Foodies100 Index of UK Food Blogs   Copyright © 2025 Family-Friends-Food · Log in

Rate This Recipe

Your vote:




Let us know what you thought of this recipe:

Delicious recipe - I'll make it again!
My family loved this!
Thank you for sharing this recipe

Or write in your own words:

A rating is required
A name is required
An email is required

Recipe Ratings without Comment

Something went wrong. Please try again.