6 great things about chia seed pudding

Have you heard about chia seeds? And I am not talking about chia pets here, although they do use chia seeds to create those bizarre creatures. Chia seeds are actually a very nutritious food. They are a vegetarian source of omega 3, and they have lots of fiber, as well as some calcium, iron, and magnesium. One tablespoon of chia seeds has a whopping 5 grams of fiber and 3 grams of protein! But most people don’t want to just toss a tablespoon of seeds in their mouth, even if it is super nutritious. So, what to do?

Using chia seeds is just about the easiest thing imaginable. You can sprinkle them on any food or add them to a drink. When added to liquid, they absorb it like crazy and thicken the liquid. If you go looking for chia seed recipes online, you will find lots of pudding recipes.

There are several great things about making pudding with chia seeds …

1. No cooking! Just add the chia seeds to milk — 2 tablespoons chia seeds per 1/2 cup milk — let it sit for a couple of hours, and you’ve got something that is the consistency of pudding. (Recipe coming in a minute.) This also means that you can use raw milk to make the pudding, and it stays raw. (When you cook pudding, it automatically pasteurizes the milk.)
2. You can make a single serving of pudding. This is good if you live alone or don’t trust yourself with a lot of pudding sitting around.
3. It’s not any more difficult or time consuming to make six or eight servings of the pudding than it is to make one serving, so you can easily make enough for a big family.
4. The chia seeds don’t really taste like anything.
5. You can be creative and add whatever you want to create the flavor you want. Below is the recipe I used for spiced chocolate pudding, but you could add a couple tablespoons of peanut butter and blend it with the milk and chocolate in a blender to make chocolate peanut butter pudding.
6. And it’s good for you!

Chocolate Pudding

(serves 1)

• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon Ghirardelli sweetened baking cocoa
• A dash of cinnamon and nutmeg

Whisk together the ingredients in a 2-cup measuring cup and let sit for two hours to thicken. Stir, pour into a dessert dish, and put it in the refrigerator to thicken for another couple of hours. Eat and enjoy! Simply double, triple, or quadruple ingredients if you want to make more servings of the pudding. (And use a bigger mixing bowl!) If it sounds like you’re making chocolate milk and adding chia seeds, yep, that’s about right!

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

This post contains affiliate links. If you click on the chia seed picture and order them from Amazon, you’ll pay exactly the same price as you normally would, and Thrifty Homesteader will receive a small commission. The chia seeds were sent to me by Garden of Life in exchange for writing this post and hosting the giveaway.