Make Ahead Greek Yogurt Breakfast Bowls

One of my favorite healthy eating hacks is to prepare high protein breakfasts in advance. It saves time and takes the thinking out of it on busy mornings. And these high protein Greek yogurt bowls are some of my favorite make ahead breakfast options.

They are made with vanilla nonfat Greek yogurt, fresh blueberries, almond butter, and an optional homemade cinnamon cashew granola that can easily be swapped for your favorite store bought version. Each bowl is packed with 24 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber, healthy fats, and tons of vitamins and minerals.

Blueberry and Vanilla Greek Yogurt Bowls

Aside from the granola, which we’ll get to in a minute, you only need three ingredients to make these bowls.

• Vanilla Nonfat Greek Yogurt – Siggi’s Icelandic Skyr is my choice of yogurt, but any yogurt works. If you only have plain Greek yogurt on hand, you can sweeten it with 1-2 teaspoons of maple syrup and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract per cup of yogurt used.
• Fresh Blueberries – Any fresh berries work, but blueberries hold up best when stored with the yogurt and other ingredients. Raspberries and blackberries can get a bit mushy, especially if you’re storing in the refrigerator for longer periods.
• Almond Butter – Any nut butter works, but almond works best with the other flavors in the granola. Powdered almond butter works fine as a lower calorie substitute.

Pro tip: Place your fresh berries in a large bowl with a mixture of vinegar, baking soda, and water for 10-15 minutes. Then rinse them well and dry before assembling your yogurt bowls.

What About Greek Yogurt and Protein Powder?

For a protein boost, you can definitely mix protein powder with Greek yogurt before assembling your yogurt bowls. I wouldn’t use more than a 1/2 scoop (about 15g) per cup of yogurt. More than that, and your yogurt might be a little too thick or gummy after refrigerating.

But I would encourage you to experiment with different protein powders. Whey concentrate protein powders will have a reduced thickening effect compared to something like casein, for example. Let me know in the comments if you make these breakfast bowls with protein yogurt!

Homemade Cinnamon Cashew Granola

This granola is a copycat of my favorite granola of all time, White Rock Granola’s C4 Explosion. It gets its name from the four-c’s of cinnamon, cashews, cayenne, and cranberries. It’s sweet, savory, and slightly spicy. We used to buy this granola in Central Market when we lived in Austin, and have been ordering online since we moved away. It’s great stuff!

You may be surprised to learn that cashews, despite their deliciously buttery flavor profile, are one of the highest protein nuts out there. In my nuts and seeds protein content rankings, cashews only ranked behind three other nuts in percent of calories from protein.

In case you were wondering, almonds, pistachios, and peanuts are the top three. I guess it’s a good thing these yogurt bowls include almond butter!

If you’ve tried my homemade protein granola, you know there are lower calorie substitutes like Walden Farms pancake syrup and light butter to swap for the maple syrup and butter. But I used small amounts of both, so I think the real things are worth the calories.

In the photos here, I made a double batch to use for 2-3 weeks of Greek yogurt bowls. If you think this recipe will tickle your fancy, I recommend doing the same!

As a final calorie-saving note, I’ll mention the amount of dried cranberries as a potential way to reduce the carbs. The blueberries provide plenty of sweetness, but the cranberries are great if you’d like to use this granola for other purposes.

Assembling and Storing

First of all, if you don’t mind pulling out the food scale and taking a few minutes to assemble in the mornings, you can store everything separately. But I had breakfast meal prep in mind when making this recipe, so I’ve included specific amounts for each component to make eight make ahead breakfast bowls.

The blueberries, yogurt, and almond butter all store perfectly together. I even tested a few bowls refrigerated with the granola, and while it loses some crunch, it’s surprisingly not bad. I recommend storing it separately and adding right before serving, though.

As for shelf life, the recipe makes eight bowls. So if you’re only planning to eat one bowl per day, you may want to cut the recipe in half just to keep things as fresh as possible. Or you could always freeze the second half of the batch and transfer from the freezer to the refrigerator once you reach day four.

You can also make larger bowls if you have calories to spare.

Okay, I think that covers everything you need to know about these breakfast yogurt bowls. There’s a printable recipe card below. If you enjoy the recipe, I always appreciate recipe reviews! And if you’re interested in a savory breakfast meal prep option, check out my chicken breakfast scramble bowls next.