Healthy Chocolate Chia Pudding (2024)

Make this healthy, rich, and creamy Chocolate Chia Pudding that is nutritious yet tastes like a dark chocolate mousse with a different texture. It makes the perfect breakfast for meal prepping or a snack on the go!

Save time while shredding some pounds by preparing your meals for the week ahead of time.

Then, store them in individual containers and either refrigerate or freeze them to be available when you want to eat them.

I often make 3 to 6 mason jars of this chocolate chia seed pudding and refrigerate them for the week.

In the morning, I will take them out of the fridge and enjoy! Yep, I don't have to wake up earlier to make breakfast in time or order one on the way to school or work.

They are full of nutrients, satiating, and quite delish!

Why You'll Love This Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding

• Easy: All you have to do is to mix some ingredients. Then garnish with some protein yogurt and berries.
• Quick: It takes just 10 minutes to get ready!
• Healthy: It is rich in vitamins, minerals, complex carbs, healthy fats, and protein. In addition, there is no added refined sugar! It is gluten-free, low-carb (not keto), vegetarian, and high-protein! It can also be vegan or dairy-free if you use dairy-free yogurt and plant-based protein powder.
• Budget-friendly: Our homemade chocolate chia pudding costs way less than one you can order at any other healthy breakfast place.
• No cooking!

Chocolate Chia Pudding Recipe

Our chia pudding recipe makes a healthy breakfast option for busy people. You can prep it ahead in batches and either refrigerate or freeze it for when you need to serve.

All you have to do is combine chia seeds, ground flax meal, a sweetener of choice, plant-based milk, vanilla extract or ground cinnamon, protein powder, and unsweetened cocoa powder until you form a homogeneous mixture.

Then, allow it to rest for up to 5-15 minutes to gel and thicken. As a topping, which is optional, you can add a spoonful of protein yogurt and berries.

It's like having a dessert without all the sugar and other simple carbs.

Plus, it is much healthier than any chocolate dessert yet quicker to make and as comforting and satisfying!

Ingredients and substitutions

For the chia breakfast pudding:

• 2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or ¼ to ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon)
• 4 tablespoon maple syrup (or honey if you're not on a vegan diet or another sweetener of choice such as monk fruit or stevia if you're on a keto diet). TIP: If using a granulated sweetener, please add a couple of tablespoon of water to dilute the cocoa powder.
• 2 scoops protein powder ( I used sugar-free whey isolate protein powder but you can use any plant-based protein powder or replace it with protein yogurt, regular or dairy-free). TIP: If using protein powder, make sure to add a little bit more milk so the chia seed pudding doesn't become too thick.
• 4 tablespoon chia seeds
• 2 tablespoon ground flaxseed meal (optional)
• 1 cup unsweetened plant-based milk (e.g. unsweetened almond milk, coconut milk, oat milk, or even regular milk if not on a vegan diet), cold or warm. NOTE: If you are in a hurry, add warm milk so it will take about 5 minutes for the chia seeds to gel and thicken. You'll be able to eat the chia seed pudding right away. But if you intend to store the pudding for a few hours or overnight, add cold milk taking about 10-15 minutes for the seeds to gel.

For the toppings (optional):

• 2 tablespoon protein yogurt (regular or vegan)
• Fresh berries (or any chopped fresh fruit of your choice)
• Shaved chocolate (dark or semisweet), vegan or regular (or mini chocolate chips)
• Chopped pistachios (or another nut)

How to make chocolate chia pudding

1. In each of 2 jars, combine 1 tablespoon sifted unsweetened cocoa powder, ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract, and 2 tablespoon maple syrup, whisking well until homogeneous and thick like a paste. TIP: If using a granulated sweetener such as stevia, add just enough water to stir the cocoa powder until the mixture turns into a paste-like consistency.

2. Then, add 1 scoop of protein powder, 2 tablespoon chia seeds, 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal, and gradually ½ cup of milk, whisking well so the protein powder gets dissolved.

3. Tightly cover the jars for 5-15 minutes depending on whether you use warm or cold milk. TIP: It only takes 5 minutes for the chia seeds to gel and thicken the mixture if using warm milk, and about 10-15 minutes (or overnight) if using cold milk.

4. Remove the lid and stir the mixture again. If you want, add a spoonful of protein yogurt on top, a few berries, nuts, and some shaved chocolate to make your breakfast chia pudding richer. You can eat it right away or store the closed jars in the fridge for a few hours or a few days.

NOTE: If you intend to freeze them, only add the topping right before eating. Also, make sure to thaw them in the fridge about 2 days ahead.

Tips for making chocolate chia seed pudding

• Texture: If you can stand the texture of chia pudding, you can blend it in a blender and have it as a thick smoothie or enjoy it as a smoothie bowl. Just make sure to not strain it; otherwise, you'll be discarding the fiber that is in it.
• Ratio for any basic chia pudding recipe: Use 2 tablespoon chia seeds for every ½ cup of milk/liquid. This way it won't be either too thick or too thin!
• For thickening your chocolate chia pudding: You can add more protein powder, yogurt, or nut butter.
• For thinning: Add more milk!
• Quick prep: To prepare it faster, simply add warm milk to your chia seeds and let the mixture rest for 5-10 minutes, tightly covered, at room temperature. It will be enough to make the seeds gel and the combination thicken.
• Overnight chia pudding: But if you prefer to prepare an overnight chia pudding, use cold milk.
• Liquid: You can use any non-dairy milk or regular milk of your choice, or any other liquid of choice such as a fruit smoothie, coffee with a splash of milk, hot cocoa, and so on. It can be any liquid that can make the seeds gel.
• Flavoring: You may flavor your pudding with whatever you want such as pumpkin pie spice, chocolate chips, almond extract, this healthy sweetened condensed milk, nut butters, Nutella, etc
• Add-ons: Rolled oats, oat flour, flax seeds, hemp seeds, pepitas, etc will make your chia pudding thicker and richer while adding extra fiber and/or protein to your breakfast meal. I recommend 1-2 tablespoon of any of those!
• Nuts: Avoid mixing chopped nuts into the chia pudding and then storing it either in the fridge or freezer. Why? The pudding will still taste good but the nuts will become soggy. Even if you add them as a topping, the humidity will make them soggy. This is why I prefer to add nuts to my creamy chia pudding (either mixed in or as a topping) right before serving.

FAQS

Is this Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding Healthy?

Yes, absolutely! Chia seeds are a great source of omega-3 fatty acids and healthy fats. Two tablespoons of chia seeds contain 120 calories, 4 grams of protein, 8 grams of fat, 10 grams of complex carbohydrates, and 6-10 grams of fiber, plus vitamins and minerals. You can make many things with chia (e.g. smoothies, muffins, overnight oats, cookies, sweet bars, bread, adding them to your salads, fruit preserves, salad dressings, and many more).

What kind of milk makes the best chocolate chia pudding?

You can make it with any milk, either regular or plant-based, but I prefer unsweetened plant-based milk because it doesn't contain added sugars (or even natural milk sugar), making this chia pudding recipe healthier.

What kind of sweetener is best?

It depends on your preferences and dietary needs. However because I added cocoa powder to the recipe and it needs to get diluted before adding the milk, I prefer to use either maple syrup, agave, or honey which are liquid sweeteners. But you replace it with a granulated sweetener such as stevia, monk fruit, or brown sugar and then add just enough water to combine everything.

Is this chocolate chia seed pudding keto?

No, but you can easily adapt the recipe by using a keto sweetener such as stevia as well as sugar-free chocolate and yogurt. However, the recipe is still low-carb or good for those on a plan for a diabetes diet or a PCOS diet.

How to Store

• FRIDGE: Store chocolate chia pudding jars, tightly covered, in the fridge for up to 4-5 days (or use airtight containers). Only add nuts right before eating so they won't get soggy!
• FREEZER: You can freeze the pudding itself (without the toppings) for up to 2 months and thaw it 2 days ahead in the fridge. However, make sure to use Mason jars with straight sides and leave about 2 inches of headspace in the Mason jar so the chia mixture can expand. Nuts must be added only before eating to not get soggy!

Other easy breakfast meal prep ideas:

• Coconut chia pudding with mangoes
• Banana chia pudding
• Oatmeal recipe
• Chia parfait recipe
• Protein pancakes
• High-protein overnight oats
• Keto berry smoothie
• Energy bars
• Low-carb egg bites
• Dairy-free quinoa pudding

PIN AND ENJOY!