4 Ingredient Basic Chia Pudding Recipe + 3 Variations

This post contains a base chia pudding recipe with only a little vanilla for flavoring and no sweetener. It is good if you want something simple or if you aren’t into sugar. I think it tastes fine like this and is a good everyday healthy breakfast recipe – but when I want something special or if I want my children to eat it, I do the sweetened base with one of the flavors in this post – chocolate, banana or strawberry.

What I love is how easy it is to make this. Trust me. I’ve made it tons of times and it didn’t take long to memorize the base recipes because there are so few ingredients.  There are only four ingredients to the base, one more to the sweetened base and the flavor variations only have one or two more ingredients.

I usually start it at night so it will be ready to grab in the morning, or since I tend to do most of my meal prep in the morning, I often make it in the morning and have some for dessert that night and the rest for breakfast the next morning.

What ingredients do you need?

• Plant-based milk – my personal favorite is homemade cashew milk. That’s what I took these photos with and what I almost always make for myself. My daughters slightly prefer refrigerated coconut milk * though so sometimes I’ll mix things up and make it with coconut milk *. I have more notes down in the recipe about the different kinds of milk.
• Chia seeds * – these are the star of this recipe. When I first started making and eating the pudding I couldn’t believe how many seeds you put in and how crazy filling it is. It must be because they are 40% fiber by weight.
• Vanilla – this isn’t totally necessary but I’ve been using vanilla a lot more in my cooking and I can’t believe how much better it makes things taste.
• Sweetener – my favorite sweetener is real maple syrup * because it gives it a deep, rich flavor and my body does well with it. I did list in the recipe notes several sweetener and their approximate 1 tablespoon equivalent so you can use your favorite sweetener.
• Add-ins – I really can’t choose a favorite flavor between these three recipes. I tried several other flavors when making this post and they just didn’t get me or my children excited, but all three of these are so good!

How to Make

Flavor Ideas

Chocolate –

After a day spent testing one too many recipes (seriously there was a lot of pudding in my fridge!) I finally came up with this winning combo, and to say that it’s mind-blowingly good is an understatement.

Because, friends, this tastes like actual chocolate pudding – but it’s actually pretty healthy. It’s creamy and not watery at all; it has a sweetness punch that’s not overpowering and the perfect dose of crunchiness to keep things interesting. We often top it with raspberries or strawberries to put it over the top. Or sometimes I give it a protein boost with a ¼ cup of almond butter (put it in the blender at the beginning so it gets evenly distributed.)

Banana Bread –

I love this banana bread flavor and my favorite part is it doesn’t have any added sweetener. I think the bananas add enough sweetness on it’s own, although you may want to add a little sweetener to taste, but a tablespoon should do it.

I love the subtle hint of cinnamon. Feel free to add a little more if you like a stronger cinnamon flavor. Sometimes I add bananas on the top and that reminds me a bit of banana cream pie or sometimes I eat it without the bananas on top or add chocolate chips so it tastes a bit like banana bread with chocolate chips.

Strawberry –

This is just the sweetened base over some strawberries pureed in the food processor or smashed with a fork. It’s simple and good and I love the contrast of the slightly tart strawberries with the vanilla pudding.

You could easily substitute your favorite fruit, like raspberries, blueberries, peaches or blackberries – or even mix a few of them. I often just use some frozen smoothie mix and sit it on the counter to unthaw for about 15 minutes. When they unthaw, they smash really easy or I don’t bother smashing them and just put them on top and have a little with each bite.

Tips for making the best pudding

• If you haven’t noticed yet. this recipe is perfect to customize just how you like it. If it isn’t thick enough for you, add a few chia seeds * and wait 15 minutes. If it’s too thick, add a little milk. You can even do it a little different every time if you want.
• If it doesn’t thicken – try stirring then give it more time; your seeds may be old and may just take longer.
• If you don’t like the texture of the whole chia seeds *, you can blend your pudding after it’s done soaking. I tried blending the chia seeds * with the cashew milk and hated the texture so I wouldn’t recommend that.
• I will often add a tablespoon or two of collagen powder to get an extra boost of collagen protein when making this.
• White or black chia seeds * will work. As far as I can tell, the only difference is color.
• Older seeds may take more time and some brands work better than others. I had better luck with ones from the bulk section at the grocery store than the Trader Joe’s brand for some crazy reason. They don’t get as plump and are kind of crunchy.

FAQ

I love how most of this recipe is just a matter of waiting for the chia seeds to create all the magic while they are sitting in your fridge. Have you had chia seed pudding before? Please let me know how you like this by commenting below!

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