This 4-way Chia Seed Pudding Recipe is an easy, healthy breakfast full of protein, fiber, and healthy fats with delicious flavors to make your chia pudding fun and tasty every day.
Plus, this recipe is also gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan-friendly.
If you love a healthy breakfast in the morning but don’t have much time to prepare it, then this chia pudding recipe is perfect for you. It’s the base version I used for my Raspberry Chia Pudding, High Protein Chia Pudding, and Tiramisu Chia Pudding.
Is Chia Seed Pudding Healthy?
Chia seed puddings are simple breakfast recipes made with chia seeds, a super-seed loaded with nutrients
The health benefits of chia seeds are well documented as they contain loads of fiber, protein, antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, potassium, calcium, iron, and magnesium.
It’s fantastic for breakfast but can also be enjoyed as a snack or a healthy dessert. For another healthy pudding, try my Flaxseed Pudding!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This chia seed pudding recipe is going to become your go-to breakfast treat because it is:
- Healthy
- Loaded with Nutrients
- Dairy-Free
- Vegan
- Gluten-Free
- Low-Carb and Keto
- Paleo
- Takes Only 10 Minutes of Prep
- Only 4 Ingredients (Base Recipe)
Ingredients and Substitutions
It’s very easy to make a chia seed pudding recipe using only 4 basic ingredients. All the ingredients you need are:
- Chia Seeds – White or black, see the paragraph below for more information about chia seed colors.
- Non-Dairy Milk– You can use almond milk, coconut milk, cashew milk, or make chia seed pudding with oat milk.
- Sweetener – Maple Syrup adds a great flavor to the mixture. You can also use plant-based honey alternatives such as coconut nectar. For a keto low-carb chia pudding pick a sugar-free sweetener like a few drops of natural stevia or erythritol.
- Vanilla Extract
How To Make Chia Seed Pudding
- The day before, add the chia seed, sweetener of choice, and vanilla extract with 2 cups of milk in a sealed container.
- Stir, seal the container, and store for a few hours in the fridge until the mixture forms a gel-like texture.
- Chia pudding often forms clumps and the top of the mixture stays liquid.
- So to make sure all the liquid gets in contact with the chia seeds, give the jar a good stir or whisk with a fork after 3 or 4 hours of soaking to blend it fully and break clumps of seeds.
- Return to the chia seed pudding fridge and enjoy the next day.
Taste And Texture
A chia seed pudding is bland in flavor, it has a jelly texture with small bits of seeds very similar to tapioca pudding.
The key to making a chia pudding delicious and tasty is to:
- Add flavors to the mixture – for example, add cocoa powder and peanut butter to make peanut butter chocolate chia pudding. Or add mashed banana to make a banana chia pudding recipe
- Add layers of other ingredients – like for plain yogurt, chia seed pudding taste better if served with layers of fresh fruits compote, yogurt, nut butter, berries, nuts, or melted chocolate. Below I listed 4 ways to serve this easy 4 ingredients chia pudding recipe and make it super tasty.
4 Amazing Chia Pudding Flavors
Below are 4 delicious ways to make your chia pudding recipe taste better and meal prep a week of healthy breakfast.
Banana Bread Chia Pudding
First, chop some pecan nuts and walnuts. Place the nuts in a mixing bowl with a pinch of cinnamon and a drizzle of maple syrup. Set the bowl aside.
To assemble the pudding, add your favorite yogurt at the bottom of the jar like plant-based vanilla yogurt.
Then, arrange banana slices all around the jar and top with the nut mixture and chia pudding.
Finally, top up the jar with more nuts and banana chips.
Peanut Butter Jam Pudding
First, mash some fresh or frozen strawberries with a drizzle of maple syrup and a teaspoon of lemon juice until a compote-like texture forms.
Pour the fresh fruit compote into the bottom of the jar. Next, top up with natural peanut butter and chia pudding.
Serve the jar with roasted peanuts and fresh strawberry on top.
Lemon Blueberry Chia Pudding
In a small bowl, stir the blueberries, maple syrup, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
In a small jar, add your favorite yogurt, then top up with the blueberries and chia pudding.
Serve with extra lemon zest and blueberries on the top.
Snickers Chia Pudding
First, add a layer of natural peanut butter to the bottom of the jar.
Then, top up with melted dark chocolate, some chia pudding, and finish with dark chocolate chips, roasted peanuts, and an extra drizzle of melted chocolate.
Storage Instructions
Store the whole pudding in an airtight glass mason jar or airtight container and serve in the morning with your favorite toppings.
You can also prep chia pudding flavors above in a glass mason jar and it’s ready to eat in the morning.
Chia seed pudding store up to 3 days in the fruits, or freeze very well for up to 3 months. Take them out of the freezer and thaw the pudding in the fridge the day before serving.
Frequent Asked Questions
I often bake with white chia seeds raising the question, is there a difference between white and black chia seeds?
The only difference between them is their outer layer color but the nutrition profile of both chia seeds is absolutely the same.
You won’t notice any difference in taste or consistency.
However, for raw baking, I find that white chia seeds soak faster and stay softer.
Also, their color is much more appealing because their light color pops out with fruits, and also, if you make a peanut butter pie filling with them, it stays light and golden.
One tablespoon of chia seeds contains 138 kcal calories and weighs about 1 ounce ( grams).
You get about 2 tablespoons of chia seeds per serving of this chia pudding. Therefore, one serving of chia pudding without toppings contains about 276 calories.
Yes, chia seeds are a great addition to your keto diet and a delicious way to make a low-carb breakfast.
In fact, chia seeds carbohydrates are mostly fiber, non-assimilated carbs that won’t raise blood sugar levels and will keep you in ketosis.
An ounce of chia seeds contains 138 kcal and 12 grams of carbs, including 9.8 grams of fiber.
So the net carbs per ounce of chia seeds are only 2.2 grams.
Absolutely, chia seed pudding is one of the healthiest breakfasts because it’s high in proteins, healthy fats, and fiber.
It keeps you full for hours, and because of its low carb profile, it keeps your energy steady all morning.
It’s also a great food to improve transit and digestion as it’s high in fibers.
You can definitely blend the base chia pudding in a blender, but it doesn’t dramatically accelerate its gelling.
And blending tends to break the seeds, making them less tasty in my opinion.
To use this recipe as part of a keto diet, swap the sweetener for a low-carb sweetener like stevia and use unsweetened almond milk.
Serve the pudding with low-carb fresh fruits like raspberries and low-carb ingredients like shredded coconut, almonds, or peanuts.
More Chia Seed Pudding Recipes
If you like this chia pudding recipe, you’ll love these:
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Chia Seed Pudding Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Almond Milk - or oat milk or coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons Chia Seeds - white or black
- 1 tablespoon Maple Syrup - or 1/4 teaspoon stevia drops
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Peanut Butter Jam Flavor (Optional)
- ¼ cup Strawberries - thawed or fresh
- 1 teaspoon Maple Syrup
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 1 tablespoon Peanut Butter (Unsalted)
- 1 teaspoon Roasted Peanuts
Snickers Flavor (Optional)
- 2 tablespoons Peanut Butter (Unsalted)
- 3 tablespoons Dairy-Free Dark Chocolate Chips - divided
- 1 teaspoon Roasted Peanuts
Banana Bread Flavor (Optional)
- 2 tablespoons Dairy-Free Yogurt - I used vanilla soy yogurt
- 2 tablespoons Chopped Nuts - pecans or walnuts or both
- ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Maple Syrup
- ¼ Banana - peeled, sliced
Blueberry Lemon (Optional)
- ¼ cup Blueberry - fresh or thawed
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 1 teaspoon Maple Syrup
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Zest
- 2 tablespoons Dairy-Free Yogurt - I used vanilla soy yogurt
Instructions
- The day before, add the chia seeds, almond milk, vanilla extract, and sweetener to a large container. Stir, seal the lid of the container, and store it in the fridge for 3 hours.
- After 3 hours, stir very well to break any lumps. Seal the container again and store it overnight.
- The next day, pick your favorite flavor below and assemble your breakfast in a glass mason jar or yogurt jar in layers with the above ingredients and your just-ready chia pudding.
Peanut Butter Jam Flavor
- Mash the strawberries with maple syrup and lemon juice until a compote-like texture forms. Pour it into the bottom of a glass jar and top it up with peanut butter and chia seed pudding. Ser with roasted peanuts and fresh strawberry on top.
Snickers Flavor
- Add peanut butter to the bottom of the jar and top up with melted dark chocolate, and chia pudding. Serve with roasted peanuts, extra chocolate chips, and a drizzle of peanut butter.
- In a small bowl, mix chopped nuts, maple syrup, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Banana bread flavor
- In a glass jar, add yogurt at the bottom, stick the banana slices on the side of the jar, and add chopped cinnamon nuts and chia pudding. Serve with extra nuts on top and yogurt.
Lemon blueberry flavor
- In a small bowl, mix blueberries, lemon juice, lemon zest, and maple syrup.
- At the bottom of a glass jar, add yogurt and top it with marinated blueberries, and chia pudding, and serve with more blueberries and lemon zest.
Storage
- Store plain chia pudding, with no fruit for up to 3 days in the fridge. If fruits are in the jar, store it for up to 48 hours. Freeze plain pudding for up to 3 months and thaw in the fridge the day before.
What size Mason Jars?
Any size works, it depends on the serving you want to make, but I use jars that are about 8 fluid ounces.