Learn how to make chia pudding in all your favorite flavors! With this complete guide to chia pudding, we give you tips, tricks and our best chia pudding recipes!
CHIA PUDDING. You may have noticed there are a lot of chia pudding recipes around here. Chia pudding has been one of my favorite breakfast recipes to enjoy for a while now. I love that it's healthy, super filling, and naturally gluten and dairy-free. It's also incredibly easy to make – 5ish minutes of prep work, 15 minutes to thicken (and you can finish getting ready for the day during this step), and then voila, brekkie is served!
I also never really tire of chia pudding since the flavor possibilities are endless. It's super easy to change up the flavor of your chia pudding with nut butters, different kinds of milks, dried or fresh fruits, nuts, you name it. Though lately, this Lemon Raspberry Chia Pudding has been on repeat ;).
So today, I'm sharing my Ultimate Guide to Chia Pudding. We'll go over the key ingredients you need, my base recipe for chia pudding, troubleshooting tips, and of course, 10 fabulous chia pudding recipes.
Ready to learn how to make chia pudding? Let's get started!
Why do I love Chia Pudding?
1. Meal prep friendly. Chia pudding can be made the night before and stored in the fridge, so it's the perfect grab and go breakfast. Plus, you can double most recipes so you have a few batches ready for you!
2. Keeps you satisfied all day. Chia pudding is high in protein, full of omega-3s, and packed with fiber, so it's a great way to start any day.
3. Easy to Make. The best part about chia pudding is that it only takes a few minutes to prep, 10-15 minutes of rest time, and then you have a delicious breakfast ready for you!
4. Customizable. As you’ll see in just a second, chia pudding is totally customizable meaning you can really make any type of flavor you’d like! As long as you’re using the base recipe outlined below, you can make a different flavor each and every time!
Why Chia Pudding is Good For You
Another reason why I just adore chia pudding is that it's packed FULL of nutrients. Chia seeds are a superfood in my opinion as they contain an amazing blend of: healthy fats, plant-based protein, fiber, as well as vitamins and minerals.
One serving of chia seeds (3 tablespoons) has:
- 120 calories
- 9g of protein
- 15g of fiber
- 9g of healthy fats
- 30% of daily magnesium
- 24% of daily calcium
- 18% of daily iron
Chia pudding gets even better since you're also adding in some plant-based milk which will usually help increase the mineral content even more. Chia pudding is a nutritious and delicious way to start your day!
What You Need to Make Chia Pudding
Before we talk about how to create your own dreamy flavors, let's first talk about the essentials you will need for any chia pudding recipe. I usually stock up on these items and then they last me a LONG time. Plus, you can use these ingredients in all kinds of other recipes. You might already have all these in your pantry!
You'll need the following ingredients:
- Black or white chia seeds (same nutritional value, they're just different colors!)
- Maple syrup, honey, agave, or your sweetener of choice
- A splash of vanilla
- Any kind of plant-based milk
Once you have these, you should be able to create any type of chia pudding you can dream of!
The Perfect Chia Pudding Formula
Here's the formula for creating perfect chia pudding every time! This base recipe yields one serving, but as I mentioned earlier, this recipe can easily be doubled if you're making chia pudding for several days.
Ingredients needed:
- 3 tablespoons of chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon of maple syrup or sweetener of choice
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
- 3/4 cup milk of choice
Instructions:
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Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Leave on the counter at room temperature to thicken, about 15 minutes.
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Once thick, stir together again and add a splash of extra milk if needed.
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Stir in your favorite toppings/flavors and enjoy!
How to Customize Your Chia Pudding Recipe
Get creative! I've outlined here some of my favorite ways to make chia pudding delicious, but if you come up with a tasty idea you don't see here I'd love to hear about it. 🙂
- Nut butter: whether used as a topping, as a layer or stirred into the mix. I like raw almond butter, raw cashew butter and also peanut butter (duh)
- Chocolate: you can never go wrong with chocolate, but if you're looking for something different stir some raw cacao powder into your chia – it's going to make it taste like dessert!
- Fruit: fruit is another way to totally change up the flavors of your chia pudding, while also adding sweetness and more nutrients. I like berries, banana, apples, pears, peaches, you name it!
- Coconut: if you're a coconut lover like me, this is a great way to jazz up the flavor of your pudding – whether you use coconut milk in the base, shredded or flaked coconut on top, or even coconut butter as a drizzle.
- Jams & spreads: if you don't have access to fresh fruit, or you want to avoid browning or tons of added sweeteners, pick up a no added sugar 100% fruit spread. There are tons of flavors to choose from too!
- Spices: have some fun here – cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, vanilla, cardamom, etc. are all amazing ways to add a punch of flavor!
How to Meal Prep Chia Pudding
Chia pudding usually lasts about 5 days in fridge. It kind of depends on which fruit you're adding, so keep that in mind as well. Berries will last longer than bananas (I usually say bananas will only last 2 days, max!).
I like to use these tulip jelly weck jars to meal prep my chia pudding! They're super portable so you can take them with you to work or school, easy to clean, and c'mon – who doesn't love a cute mason jar?!
Chia Pudding Troubleshooting Tips
I hear from some of my readers that sometimes their chia pudding turns out a little too soggy and doesn't thicken up, so I definitely wanted to go over anything that could potentially go wrong with your puddings. Here are my best tips!
If your chia pudding is…
- Not thick enough: leave it out at room temperature for at least 15 minutes. If it still won't thicken, add more chia seeds.
- Too thick: stir in a bit of milk to thin it out
- Not tasty: try adding in a bit more sweetener or use a flavoring agent like cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, or fruit
- Smelly or moldy: toss it! I've never had this happen before, but if you've left it for too long in the fridge, it might be time to start over.
Any other questions you have? Drop them down in the comments!
The 10 BEST Chia Pudding Recipes
- High Protein Carrot Cake Chia Pudding
- Banana Bread Chia Pudding
- Healthy Apple Pie Breakfast Parfaits
- Peach Pie Breakfast Parfaits
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Quinoa Breakfast Parfait
- Chai Latte Chia Pudding
- Strawberry Cheesecake Chia Pudding
- Coconut Vanilla Cashew Chia Pudding
- Lemon Raspberry Chia Pudding
- High Protein Chocolate Chia Pudding
Simple Chia Pudding Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or sweetener of choice
- 3/4 cup milk of choice
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Leave on the counter at room temperature to thicken, about 15 minutes.
- Once thick, stir together again and add a splash of extra milk if needed.
- Stir in your favorite toppings/flavors and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Filed Under:
What flavor combination are you going to create?
I can't wait to see what chia pudding flavors you guys come up with! Let me know in the comments below.
⇣ PIN FOR LATER ⇣
Is it safe to have chia pudding for breakfast everyday?
Sure! I would suggest changing up your toppings every day, just to have a variety!
your stuff is awesome BUT the VIDEOS are so incredibly frustrating as they leave no amounts or measures and there is no link to a printable recipe…so just watching you do something is fruitless.
Appreciate the feedback. The printable part of the recipes is available for most of our posts, but I haven’t figured out the best way to do it for these posts that have multiple recipes. It’s something we’re working on. And for the videos, we don’t include measurements because the goal is to encourage people to read the post. Otherwise there would be no reason to come to our website if everything is included in the video itself (if that makes sense)! xo