Chia seed pudding is made by soaking chia seeds in liquids like milk or nut milk or juice for at least 2 hours or overnight. The chia seeds absorb the liquid and become gelatinous. Once the chia seeds have swelled up after 2 hours or more, add fruits and nuts and serve. There are many variations of making chia pudding.

For busy mornings, you can make the pudding overnight and keep in the fridge. It is that easy.

Being a superfood, chia seeds are super healthy and have a lot of health benefits. These tiny seeds are loaded with many nutrients and are an excellent source of fiber, calcium, omega 3 fatty acids and protein. So chia pudding is good for you.

Ingredients & their variations

1. Milk: Any nut milk like almond milk, coconut milk and cashew milk work well in the recipe. You can even use soy milk.
2. Sweeteners:  Adding sweeteners is optional but I do 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
   • fruits pastes, purees and preserves like dates paste, dried figs paste, any berry preserves, apple sauce, banana puree, mango puree.
   • sweetened chocolate sauce
3. On Coconut milk: Use light coconut milk or thin coconut milk. Thin coconut milk is the second or third press or extract. If you use thick coconut milk which is the first extract, then add ¼ cup water to coconut milk. Mix very well to a homogenous and slightly thin consistency.
4. Fruits: You can add fruits like apple, bananas, mango (when in season), strawberries, blueberries, cherries, sapota.
5. Nuts & Dry fruits: Use dry fruits & nuts of your choice. You can add from the following nuts and dry fruits – raisins, cashews, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecans, pine nuts, dried berries.
6. For chocolate chia pudding: Dissolve 3 to 4 tablespoons cocoa powder with the nut milk first. Sift the cocoa powder first before adding it to the milk. Add milk in parts and mix very well to get a lump-free mixture. Later add the chia seeds, sweetener (as required). Mix and refrigerate.
7. Flavorings: You can choose from the following flavorings and pair accordingly – vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, ground cardamom, lemon zest, orange zest and edible natural flower or fruit extracts.

How to make Chia Pudding

In the step by step post, I am showing the ingredient measurements for 1 serving of chia pudding. In the recipe card below, the measurements are for 2 servings. You can easily scale the recipe.

1. Add 2 tablespoons chia seeds in a glass or jar. If you want you can rinse the seeds with water in a superfine strainer.

2. Add ¾ cup light coconut milk. You can even use almond milk or cashew milk. For a less thick pudding, add 1 to 1.25 cups light coconut milk.

3. Sweeten with 2 tablespoons coconut sugar.

4. Sprinkle with 2 pinches of ground cardamom or ground cinnamon. You can even flavor with ⅛ teaspoon vanilla extract.

5. Mix everything till the coconut sugar is dissolved. Break lumps if any with a spoon. Cover and place the glasses in the refrigerator for 2 hours or for some more time or overnight.

6. Later, remove the glasses from the fridge. You will see that the pudding has nicely thickened.

7. Stir again and break lumps if any. The pudding will be thick.

8. Top chia pudding with chopped fruits, nuts and serve. Most of the time I add bananas (as they are a staple in my home), strawberries (when in season) and blueberries. During the mango season, I love to have mangoes in the chia seed pudding. For the nuts, I add whatever I have in the kitchen – almonds, raisins, cashews, pistachios, pine nuts, walnuts, etc. Serve straight away.