As a widespread trend food, so-called overnight oats (cold porridge) have been enriching our breakfast tables for some time. It is basically a breakfast porridge that is very similar to the classic Bircher muesli.
Like Bircher muesli, overnight oats are based on soaked oats. This breakfast dish is particularly practical because it is prepared the day before and is ready to eat in the morning.
Enriched with all kinds of fresh and delicious ingredients such as fruit or nuts, overnight oats, like Bircher muesli, contribute to a balanced diet and make starting the day a tasty event.
Overnight oats for breakfast – find out more!
Overnight oats and Bircher muesli – what's the difference?
Overnight oats definitely belong in the trend food category. They are quick and easy to prepare and there are endless variations.
They are also healthy and delicious, just like the traditional Bircher muesli was and still is.
Incidentally, Bircher muesli was developed and popularised by the Swiss Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner.
Who was Bircher?
The Swiss doctor Bircher-Benner lived from 1867 to 1939 and discovered Bircher muesli for the first time on a hike in the Swiss Alps. He prescribed the muesli to his patients as a healthy dietary food. That is how it became known beyond the borders of Switzerland.
In Swiss, muesli means something like a small puree. To this day, Bircher muesli is named after its inventor and commemorates its origin.
What is so special about Bircher muesli?
As already mentioned, Max Bircher Benner, a pioneer of whole foods, recommended his Bircher muesli as a ‘dietary dish’.
According to his recommendations, Bircher muesli is supposed to activate the self-healing powers of the human body and have a positive influence on intestinal function.
Max Bircher Benner originally soaked his oats in condensed milk. Today, water or milk is usually used for soaking. And plant-based drinks are also becoming increasingly popular among muesli fans.
Bircher muesli for breakfast – find out more!
The traditional Bircher muesli
The Swiss doctor prepared his Bircher muesli according to the following recipe:
- Cover the oats with liquid and stir.
- Cover and leave to soak in the fridge overnight.
- The next morning, wash and grate an apple. Squeeze the lemon and add the juice to the oats along with the grated apple. Then mix everything together.
- You can also sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts if you like.
Overnight oats – today's Bircher muesli
The preparation of overnight oats is basically the same as that of Bircher muesli. Simply put the oats in the fridge overnight with milk, water or yoghurt and enjoy them fresh in the morning. Depending on your taste, you can add fresh fruit, berries, nuts, honey or seeds to the overnight oats.
Here are a few ways to vary your overnight oats:
For a vegan version, replace the cow's milk with a plant-based milk such as almond or oat milk. Prepared with cream, yoghurt or quark, the oats taste particularly delicious and creamy.
The original apple can be replaced and/or added to with almost any fruit. Finely chopped fruits as a topping provide colourful variety for the reinvented Swiss muesli, which is now known worldwide as overnight oats.
Sweetened with maple syrup, honey or agave syrup, it meets the individual tastes of almost every connoisseur. There are virtually no limits to creativity and variety when it comes to the ingredients. Chia seeds, pomegranate seeds and all kinds of other seeds give your overnight oats that certain something.
Packed in screw-top or clip-lock jars, the reinvented Bircher muesli is also popular as a snack or a meal for when you're on the go.
Preserving jars or jam jars with screw caps are ideal for storing the delicious porridge safely and gently and taking it with you wherever you go.
Discover overnight oats from Verival
How healthy are overnight oats and Bircher muesli really?
Whether and to what extent the ‘healthy’ muesli is actually beneficial to health depends on the quality of the ingredients and components. The basic recipe with grated apple, oats, lemon juice, nuts and milk is certainly more nutritious and healthier than most snacks and ready-made products that await customers in supermarkets.
High-quality oats have many health benefits. Adding other ingredients, such as chia seeds, can increase the health benefits. Yoghurt and quark also offer additional advantages, such as an increased protein content.
Whether you leave it at the grated apple, like the Swiss Bircher Benner, or whether you combine different fruits with the oats, is left to the taste and creativity of each individual.
What is certain is that the combination of cereal flakes, fruits, nuts and dairy products is a healthy power mix that contains important minerals, vitamins and fibre.
Seeds and nuts provide valuable unsaturated fatty acids and ensure a long-lasting feeling of satiety. This helps to prevent those dreaded hunger pangs that otherwise lead to the consumption of calorie and sugar bombs.
The overnight oats that are so popular with food bloggers online are therefore more than just a colourful fad. As a breakfast or snack, overnight oats are nutritious, healthy, varied and practical.
Overnight oats – a lifestyle product?
The Swiss doctor's tried and tested mixture has now become a lifestyle product and successfully contributes to the well-being of many breakfast eaters.
Especially in families with children, the healthy breakfast with oats can ensure a conscious and imaginative approach to food when it is freshly prepared every day.
And because we eat with our eyes first, children and adolescents usually respond very positively to being able to choose and select the ingredients and toppings for their muesli themselves.
Starting the day with fun, joy and creativity is sure to increase the health benefits of this traditional meal, in addition to the valuable ingredients.
