While technically a “pudding,” this is also our go-to breakfast. It’s a great source of omega-3s, protein, calcium, fiber, and deliciousness. Tasty by itself, it’s even tastier if you pile on fruit, granola, extra soy milk, etc. You can also make it more dessert-y by topping it with something sugary like a dollop of jam, chocolate sauce, chocolate chips, caramel sauce, banana & nuts, etc. Making this pudding is a weird experience… it’s like a science experiment that you can eat afterward!

Ingredients:

1 cup chia seeds

4 cups unsweetened soy milk (or other veggie/nut milk)

1/2 cup maple syrup (or preferred sweetener)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Toppings of choice!

Tips:

Servings: This makes 6-8 servings. It holds up great in the fridge, so you can make a batch and enjoy it all week. This is great to toss in your cooler for camping!

Chia seeds: Yes, it’s that chia — the same kind you put on a chia pet. The best place to find chia seeds is in the bulk section of the grocery. They’re cheap and will keep in the pantry for ages without spoiling, so we always have a big jar of them. When you buy chia seeds, they’re tiny black dots, sort of like poppy seeds. However, as soon as you mix them with water, they begin to form a gelatinous bubble around themselves, similar to the way a tomato seed has that gooey layer around it. This property is what causes the ‘puddingification’ of the chia. Rather than being a totally smooth pudding, it’s got some texture to it, almost like tapioca. The texture is a little surprising at first, but quickly becomes addictive.

Mason jars: This recipe exactly fits in three 16oz mason jars. I highly recommend using these instead of dumping it all into a big Tupperware, since the pudding is goopy and much easier to deal with when you’re pouring/scooping it from a jar.

Fruit topping: We always pair this pudding with our go-to Lazy Wonderful Fruit Topping.

Recipe: This recipe is based on one (that I can no longer find) from Oh She Glows. That site is a great resource for recipes that are healthy but also taste good. Some of the recipes there are a lot of work, but this one is not! Yay!

Recipe Instructions:

In a large bowl, add the soy milk, maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon. You can just dump it all in.

Measure your 1 cup of chia. The tricky thing about chia is that once it gets wet, it will try to clump. So what I do is pour the chia into the wet ingredients slowly, while I’m mixing the liquid with a fork. You don’t have to be super intense about it, but just try to pour slowly enough and stir enough that you aren’t ending up with huge clumps. The main thing you want to avoid is pouring the chia in and then letting it sit. If you do, you will be in clump city!

Once all the chia is stirred in, transfer it to the mason jars with a ladle. You don’t have to worry too much about whether the seeds are perfectly evenly distributed among the jars — it will sort itself out. If you have leftover chia globs on your bowl or ladle, you can use your finger to scoop those off into one of the jars. Again, no need to be too worried about even distribution.

Close the jars, wipe off any drips, give them a couple shakes, and put them in the fridge. Your chia will become pudding in about 8 hours. It can stay in the fridge for a week or longer.

One last step: rinse off the tools and the bowl you used to make the chia, and wipe down the counter if some chia seeds got there. It’s so much better to rinse off the seeds now — if you wait and let them dry, they will cement themselves to whatever they are on. And if you put something in the dishwasher that still has chia seeds on it, they will travel around and cement themselves to whatever is in the dishwasher. So just play it safe and rinse.

When the chia is ready: scoop some chia into a bowl and add your preferred toppings. Enjoy!