On busy mornings, Chia pudding is my easy breakfast option. You will love this chia pudding formed with coconut milk and coconut sugar. Garnish with your favorite seasonal fruits and nuts and enjoy it.
Chia seed pudding is made by soaking chia seeds in liquids like juice or milk or nut milk for at least 2 hours or overnight. The chia seeds soak the liquid and become gelatinous. Once the chia seeds have swelled after 2 hours or more, add the fruits and nuts and serve. There are many variations of how to make chia pudding.
For busy mornings, you can make the pudding overnight and store it in the fridge. It’s as simple as that.
Being a super food, chia seeds are super healthy and have many health benefits. These tiny seeds are packed with many nutrients and are a great source of fiber, calcium, omega 3 fatty acids, and protein. Then chia pudding is right for you.
Ingredients and variations of chia pudding
- Milk: Any nut milk like almond milk, coconut milk, and cashew milk works well in the recipe. You can even use soy milk.
- Sweeteners: Adding sweeteners is optional, but I prefer to sweeten the pudding. You can choose from the following sweeteners.
unrefined cane sugar
coconut sugar
palm sugar
jaggery (Indian unrefined sugar)
honey
Maple syrup
fruit pastes, purees and preserves such as date paste, dried fig paste, all berry jams, applesauce, banana puree, mango puree.
sweet chocolate sauce - On coconut milk: Use light coconut milk or light coconut milk. Thin coconut milk is the second or third squeeze or extract. If you are using thick coconut milk which is the first extract, add ¼ cup of water to the coconut milk. Mix very well until a homogeneous and slightly fine consistency.
- Fruits: You can add fruits like apples, bananas, mangoes (in season), strawberries, blueberries, cherries, sapote.
- Nuts and dried fruits: Use the dried fruits and nuts of your choice. You can add among the following nuts and dried fruits: raisins, cashews, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecans, pine nuts, dried berries.
- For the chocolate chia pudding: First dissolve 3 to 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder with the nut milk. First sift the cocoa powder before adding it to the milk. Add the milk in pieces and mix well to obtain a mixture without lumps. Later add the chia seeds, sweetener (if needed). Mix and refrigerate.
- Aromas: You can choose from the following aromas and combine them accordingly: vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, ground cardamom, lemon peel, orange peel and natural edible extracts of flowers or fruits.
Also Read: Aloo Paratha (Flatbread Stuffed With Potatoes)
How to make chia pudding
In the step by step post I show the ingredient measurements for 1 serving of chia pudding. You can easily resize the recipe.
1. Add 2 tablespoons of chia seeds to a glass or jar. If you wish, you can rinse the seeds with water in an ultra-fine colander.
2. Add ¾ cup of light coconut milk. You can also use almond milk or cashew milk. For a less thick pudding, add 1 to 1.25 cups of light coconut milk.
3. Sweeten with 2 tablespoons of coconut sugar.
4. Sprinkle with 2 pinches of ground cardamom or cinnamon. You can even flavor with ⅛ teaspoon of vanilla extract.
5. Mix everything until the coconut sugar is dissolved. Break up any lumps if there are any with a spoon. Cover and place glasses in the refrigerator for 2 hours or a little longer or overnight.
6. Later, remove the glasses from the refrigerator. You will see that the pudding has thickened well.
7. Stir again and break up any lumps if there are any. The pudding will be thick.
8. Garnish the chia pudding with chopped fruit, nuts and serve. Most of the time I add bananas (as they are a staple in my house), strawberries (in season) and blueberries. During mango season, I love having mangoes in the chia seed pudding. For nuts, I add whatever I have in the kitchen – almonds, cashews, pine nuts, pistachios, raisins, walnuts, etc. Serve right away.
