This super delicious and healthy chia pudding recipe lets you try a new flavor for breakfast or snack every day of the week!
Chia pudding is the ultimate healthy dessert
If you’re new to chia seeds, this easy chia pudding recipe is a great starting point.
You simply stir everything together and refrigerate until thick. No fancy cooking gadgets, no whisking on the stovetop, and no baking required.
The resulting pudding is deliciously thick and creamy, with so many health benefits! It can be vegan, gluten free, raw, paleo, sugar free, oil free, nut free, low calorie, low carb, soy free, and keto friendly.
You may also like: Keto Cheesecake – 5 ingredients
I’ve posted the basic recipe below, along with some of my favorite flavor variations, each of which can be prepared in under 5 minutes.
And you can eat chia pudding for breakfast, snack, or a healthy dessert.
Why you should try chia pudding
1. High in fiber, protein, and calcium
It’s also high in B vitamins, iron, phosphorous, zinc, and magnesium.
2. Chia seeds are rich in Omega 3s
Just 2 tbsp of chia seeds have the same amount of heart-healthy Omega 3s as four ounces of salmon, so it’s a good vegetarian source of Omega 3s.
3. They’ve been shown to help you feel full
Chia seeds can expand up to 10 times their size by soaking up liquid, which can help keep you hydrated and aid in the digestion process. They are a great source of energy and can help in weight loss but are not strictly a diet food.
4. Natural alternative to cornstarch or heavy cream
The chia seeds naturally thicken the pudding, with no need to add any flour, starch, cream, eggs, or thickeners like xanthan gum, cornstarch, or carrageenan.
5. A new flavor idea for every day of the week
Try some of the flavor variations below, or have fun coming up with your own.
You can make chia seed pudding with almond milk, coconut milk, oat milk, yogurt, cashew cream, or even other liquids such as orange juice or coconut water.
Or make a breakfast chia parfait by layering the pudding with fresh berries, banana, coconut yogurt, graham cracker crumbs, or Vegan Brownies, Sweet Potato Brownies, or Black Bean Brownies.
Chia seed pudding flavors
Chocolate Chia Pudding: Add a spoonful of mini chocolate chips and 2 tbsp cocoa powder or your favorite chocolate protein powder to the base recipe below for a yummy chocolate fudge pudding variation.
Strawberry Coconut: Use canned or carton coconutmilk for the milk of choice in the base recipe, and garnish with chopped or sliced strawberries or layer the pudding in a glass between layers of fresh berries (as shown in the photo below with raspberries).
Peanut Butter Cookie Dough: Stir one or two tablespoons of peanut butter or powdered peanut butter into the base recipe. If desired, crumble a few Keto Peanut Butter Cookies or these Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies on top.
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread: Stir in mini chocolate chips and 1/4 cup mashed banana for a banana chia pudding. I like to quickly heat the banana first so it caramelizes, adding natural sweetness.
Blueberry Pie Chia Pudding: Stir in 1/4 cup mashed or pureed blueberries or blueberry yogurt. Add a dash of cinnamon and tiny sprinkle of cardamom if desired.
Other flavor ideas for how to make chia pudding include mocha, pumpkin pie or sweet potato, matcha, pb&j, piña colada, chocolate chip cherry, cinnamon roll, orange vanilla, key lime pie, or coconut chocolate.
Or stir in a tablespoon each of cocoa powder and this Homemade Nutella Recipe.
How to make the recipe
Start by gathering all of your chia pudding ingredients, and take out a container with a lid that can be used to store the pudding once it’s made.
Whisk all ingredients together in the container until evenly combined. Cover the container, shake it up, and refrigerate overnight.
This recipe will keep 4-5 days in the fridge, so it’s great for meal prep.
Feel free to double or triple the recipe below if you want a larger batch, or make up a bigger version of the base and then portion individual servings into containers, turning each one into a different flavor so you can try a new flavor every day.
And if you’ve tried chia puddings in the past and weren’t a fan of the gel-like texture, simply blend all of the ingredients together before letting it sit overnight. The resulting pudding the next day will be thick and smooth.
What would be your dream flavor chia pudding?
Trending now: Healthy Banana Bread
Above, watch the chia pudding recipe video
Chia Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk of choice or cashew cream
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- sweetener of choice, as desired
- scant 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
- *Sweetener amount will depend on the type of milk and sweetener you use, as well as your tastes. Options include maple syrup, stevia, sugar, coconut sugar, date paste, etc.Chia Pudding Recipe: Whisk all ingredients in a container. If desired, you can blend everything together now, which will result in a smoother consistency the next day, but I actually love the taste and fun texture of leaving the seeds whole, so it's up to you. Cover, shake, then refrigerate overnight. The next day, it will be nice and thick. The pudding will keep 4-5 days refrigerated, so feel free to make a larger batch and portion into individual containers. I’ve included some flavor ideas earlier in this post, or have fun dreaming up your own!View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
Healthy Ways To Use Chia Seeds
(15 NEW Recipes!)
This is another of my favorite recipes, because eating it makes me feel good. Everyone was telling me about chia, but I did not try it until I saw your recipe. Love the pictures, too.
I have determined you are a sorceress.
I HAVE made chia pudding before… or at least tried to. I don’t know what it is but the chia seeds don’t behave, and I get something gross in the end. I tried this recipe, because frankly after the Apple Pie Muffins, if I was going to attempt chia pudding again it was going to be this.
LO! But It actually turned into pudding this time! That and declicous pudding at that, sorta like baby tapioca. Soooooo good. Well, now between the cook book and the blog I’m likely going to be making my way through all your recipes.
Any thoughts on a second book that encompasses the recipes on the blog? I’m just a fan of the paper books when it comes to stuff in the kitchen. Just curious!
Aw made my morning 🙂
I am working on a second book of non-desserts… definitely will include a few from the blog!
This is fantastic! I threw in some peanut butter and mini-chips, oh man <3
Loved this recipe. It was a perfect serving for my mason jar and kept me full until lunch. I had it with almond butter and it was heavenly!
Loved this recipe! It was a perfect serving for my mason jar and kept me full until lunchtime. I topped mine with almond butter and it was heavenly!
When you list the Smart Point values, but the recipe calls for stevia OR sugar, or milk OR cashew cream, which ingredient are you using for the Smart Point calculation and do you have a suggestion for how to recalculate if I use sugar instead of stevia or milk instead of cashew cream for example?
Thanks! Love that you include Smart Points by the way. Your recipes have become key in my home!
SmartPoints always include the lower-calorie item 🙂
Does anyone find that when using canned coconut milk, after refrigerating overnight, the coconut milk fat separates and solidifies on the top of the pudding? Is the simple solution just to break it up and stir the pudding back together, or am I missing something?
Hi Katie. I stirred up my chia seeds in some almond cashew milk and the next morning it was just milk with chia seeds floating around. No pudding or thickening. What do you think might have happened?
Hi, I’m confused. Katie only posted this a few hours ago, so how could you have let it sit overnight?
Jason
Truthfully, I rarely ever have chia pudding! I do love the way it looks and I LOVE LOVE LOVE chia seeds though! These pudding ideas look glorious–peanut butter and banana bread, oh my! I’m sure adding lots of blueberries, pistachios, and dark chocolate chunks into the pudding would yield a beautiful flavor too.
Question: has anyone ever tried blending BEFORE letting it sit? I made this for breakfast today, and it was better than I expected, but I’m not crazy about the texture of whole seeds. So, I was curious if it’s okay to blend before soaking, or if needs to be after because it would somehow affect it negatively? Any ideas from anyone? Thanks!
You absolutely can! You can blend either just the seeds, or everything, before letting it sit. We will add that to the recipe now.
Awesome! Thank you so much! 😀
I’m going to try this tonight. By blending the seeds, do you mean grinding them so they’re not whole any more, or just blending them with the other ingredients?
Either! Honestly I prefer the taste and texture of having them whole (not blended at all), but you can blend at any stage. I’d probably blend before gelling though.