Whether you’re the type of person that eats a robust breakfast every morning, the person that eats whatever they dig out of their center console on your commute, or if you rarely eat breakfast at all, I urge you to give chia seed pudding a try! Changing your routine can be tricky, but skipping breakfast or eating a less-healthy breakfast in the morning can affect everything from your mood to your hormones.
I first stumbled on chia seeds when they became popular amongst health bloggers and popped up on my facebook feed, as “superfoods” always do. I began my love affair with chia seeds by adding them into smoothies and noticing I felt fuller longer. Since then, I’ve been experimenting with different ways to incorporate them into my meals.
Chia seeds can be used in a variety of foods. They can be blended if you absolutely hate the texture of them, but I don’t mind eating them whole after they get a good soak.
About a year ago, I started experimenting with chia pudding and developed a few recipes that I keep in rotation now. If you’ve never seen or heard of chia seeds, they are tiny black seeds that are sold in bulk in most stores these days as well as places like Amazon and Thrive Market. Chia seeds have been dubbed a super food due to their nutrient-density and fiber content.
Chia seeds are related to mint plants but do not taste like much of anything at all which makes them exceptionally versatile.Two tablespoons of chia seeds contains about 140 calories, 4 grams of protein, 9 grams of healthy fats (omega-3) and 11 grams of fiber, not to mention their vitamin and mineral content. Most Americans are wildly deficient in their daily consumption of fiber. Adding chia seeds to your routine will help keep your gut happy and keep things moving, know what I’m sayyyyin’ here?
When you combine these bad boys with a liquid and some tasty mix ins, you’ve got yourself a healthy breakfast that will keep you full until lunch.
I like to prep chia pudding a few times a month. It’s easy to make jars of the good stuff well in advance and store in the fridge for up to 5 days. I love having the ability to grab a jar when I’m running out the door (because I likely hit snooze one too many times) or to enjoy on the couch on a Saturday morning when I don’t feel like getting elbows deep in the kitchen.
When making chia seed pudding it’s important to create a base for the seeds to flourish (expand and soften) and then you can go wild with your mix ins! As your chia seeds “bloom” they will form a gel consistency which helps thicken the mixture significantly. I always start my chia pudding with a base of full-fat coconut milk and a frozen banana.
If you want your pudding to be lower in healthy fats and calories, or you don’t like it to be very thick, you can sub light coconut milk. Be sure if you’re choosing to go the light route you look for a brand with only two ingredients; coconut and water. Some of the light ones can sneak in extra sugar and nasty chemicals to make up for the missing fat. The more chia seeds you add, the thicker your pudding will be.
Here are 3 chia seed pudding recipes to keep your taste buds happy and your health on point! For each recipe, divide the mixture into 4 glass jars with a lid and store in the fridge for at least 12 hours and up to 5 days.
Carrot Cake Chia Pudding
Servings: 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Ingredients for chia pudding:
-1 can full fat or light coconut milk
-1 frozen or fresh very ripe banana
-5-6 tablespoons chia seeds
– ½ teaspoon cardamom
-1 teaspoon cinnamon plus extra for garnish
-½ teaspoon ground ginger
-3 small carrots, shredded
– ⅛ cup no sugar added raisins + 1 tablespoon
– ⅛ cup chopped walnuts
Ingredients for “cream cheese” topping
-⅓ cup soaked cashews (soak with hot water for 30 minutes)
-1 tablespoon lemon juice
-1/4 cup milk or creamer of your choosing (I like french vanilla Nutpods or New Barn almond milk)
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Combine coconut milk, carrots, banana, and spices in a large bowl. Using an immersion blender or stand blender, mix all ingredients until combined (the mixture should be pale orange). Stir or whisk in chia seeds, raisins (minus 1T) and walnuts. Pour mixture into four glass jars and make cream cheese topping.
For cream cheese topping, blend all ingredients with an immersion blender until smooth, adding liquid slowly to combine. You may decide you want to use more or less than ¼ cup depending on how thick you want your topping. Dollop 4 equal amounts onto 4 chia puddings and garnish with remaining raisins and cinnamon. Store overnight and enjoy!
Chocolate Coconut Cherry Chia Pudding (C squared pudding)
Servings: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
-1 can full fat or light coconut milk
-1 frozen or fresh very ripe banana
-5-6 tablespoons chia seeds
-2 tablespoons almond butter (optional)
-⅛ cup shredded no sugar added coconut flakes
-2 tablespoons good quality unsweetened cocoa powder (I like the one from Trader Joe’s)
-½ -1 cup roughly chopped dark cherries (I buy the frozen bag of organic cherries at Costco)
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
Combine coconut milk, banana, chia seeds, coconut flakes, cocoa powder, almond butter, and vanilla using a whisk (do not blend). Divide mixture equally into 4 jars. Top chia pudding with desired amount of dark cherries. Store in the fridge for at least 12 hours and enjoy!
Matcha Latte Chia Pudding
Servings: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
-1 can full-fat or light coconut milk
-1 frozen or fresh very ripe banana
-5-6 tablespoons chia seeds
-2 dates
-2 teaspoons matcha powder
-1 tablespoon coconut butter (optional)
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-Fruit topping (blueberries, banana, etc)
Directions:
Combine coconut milk, banana, dates, matcha, coconut butter and vanilla using an immersion blender or stand blender until combined (mixture should be green). Stir in chia seeds until combined and divide into 4 jars with lids. Top each pudding with a fruit of your choosing. I really like the combination of blueberries or banana slices or strawberries with my matcha chia pudding. If you choose to add a more flavorful fruit like mango or pineapple, you may lose some of the matcha flavor. Store in the fridge for at least 12 hours and enjoy!
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