Chocolate Chia Pudding: Almost Instant
Chocolate puddings are irresistible, but not usually particularly healthy. Well how about a chocolate chia pudding that tastes indulgent, but has no dairy or eggs and is pretty much guilt free? Indeed, it has many positive nutritional benefits. It’s also extremely quick and easy to make. Perfect for a midweek dessert as it can be on the table and ready to eat in minutes.
Why Is Chocolate Chia Pudding So Good For You?
- Chia seeds – low in calories, high in soluble fibre, protein, omega 3s and antioxidants
- Raw cacao powder – high in antioxidants, magnesium, iron and copper
- Medjool dates – high in soluble fibre, iron, potassium and B vitamins
- Pure maple syrup – high in manganese and zinc
- Coconut oil – high in good saturated fats and lauric acid
- Mesquite powder – low on the glycemic index, high in protein and soluble fibre
What Are Chia Seeds?
Chia seeds are a Mexican superfood that’s taken the vegan world by storm. They are little black, brown, grey or even white seeds that come from the desert plant, Salvia hispanica. This plant is in the same family as mint and has similar pretty purple or white flower spikes before it produces its seed.
The seeds are both healthy and easy to digest. They’re a good source of omega-3 fatty acids and are high in fibre as well as protein. They also contain a number of beneficial minerals and antioxidants.
Not only are the seeds exceedingly nutritious, but they act as a binding agent too. This means that you can use them as an egg replacement in many bakes. They’re also a brilliant thickener. Soak the seeds in liquid for a short while and they form a hydrogel capsule and swell as they soak it all up. Astonishingly, they can absorb up to twelve times their own weight in liquid, which is pretty amazing to see.
At the same time they produce a gelatinous oily substance and it’s this that works so well for binding other ingredients together. In fact, the word “chia” is derived from the Aztec word chian, which means oily.
Chocolate Chia Pudding
Chia pudding recipes have been featuring on the internet for some time now. Their nutritious profile and ability to soak up liquid makes them an ideal ingredient for light healthy desserts.
I was interested in the concept, but not raring to give it a go. The tapioca style result just reminded me of horrid school puddings. However, I read somewhere recently that if you grind the chia seeds, not only do you get a smoother result, but the pudding is set and ready to eat in minutes.
This indeed turned out to be true. I used my mini food processor to grind the chia seeds and then added the remaining ingredients. The chocolate chia pudding was ready to eat almost instantly. We tucked in soon after making it, somewhat trepidatiously in my case.
It certainly has its own distinctive personality. It’s not mousse-like nor silky smooth, more like the texture of stiff porridge. But, I was pleased to discover, it resembled tapioca not at all.
Next time I will try using my blender to see if I can get a smoother result. It has a pleasant flavour and is not too sweet. This is definitely a week night pudding, which feels indulgent and satisfying, but also allows you to feel somewhat virtuous before blowing out at the weekend.
Blender or Food Processor? January 2022 Update
I have made this pudding many times since. Sometimes I use a blender instead of a food processor. This gives a smoother result, but as it’s quite a small amount, it’s difficult to get it out of the jug. So I mostly use my mini food processor.
Chocolate Chia Pudding: Make It Your Own
- Both mesquite powder and maca powder give a sort of malty caramel flavour, but if you don’t have either of those, try vanilla, cinnamon or cardamom instead.
- This pudding isn’t particularly sweet, if you like your desserts sweet, add an extra tablespoon of maple syrup.
- You can use whichever plant milk you like for this. Each one will give a slightly different result.
- Use your favourite nuts as a topping or try my recipe for healthy roasted sweet and spicy nuts.
- Swap the nuts for chopped fruit or berries.
Top Tips
Pair a nut milk with the same nut topping. As you can see from the photograph above, I’ve topped the pudding with chopped hazelnuts. I used hazelnut milk in the actual pudding itself.
Double the quantity and enjoy your chocolate chia pudding for breakfast instead of dessert. It’s filling, healthy and nutritious.
Other Chia Seed Recipes You Might Like
- Banana chai pudding
- Blackberry overnight oats
- Chia seed muffins
- Chocolate Coconut Bean Cake
- Pea protein pancakes with spicy peanut sauce
- Tropical smoothie with coconut, mango and banana
Other Vegan Chocolate Pudding Recipes You Might Like
- Black forest cherry chocolate avocado mousse via Veggie Desserts
- Chocolate chip and peanut butter mousse via Tinned Tomatoes
- Raw chocolate banana mousse via Tin and Thyme
- Vegan banana chocolate tofu mousse via Planet Veggie
- Vegan chocolate mousse via Thinly Spread
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this chocolate chia pudding, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
For more delicious and nutritious recipes follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard or Pinterest. And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my weekly newsletter. Or why not join the conversation in our Healthy Vegetarian Whole Food Recipes Facebook Group?
If you’d like more raw food recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Chocolate Chia Pudding. PIN IT.
Chocolate Chia Pudding – The Recipe
Chocolate Chia Pudding
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp chia seeds
- 400 ml coconut milk (or plant milk of choice)
- 4 medjool dates
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup use 2 tbsp if you like your puddings sweet (I used an Amber grade from Quebec)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 3 tbsp raw cacao powder
- 1 tbsp mesquite powder or maca powder (optional)
- 20 g pistachios chopped
Instructions
- Pulse the chia seeds in a food processor to break them up a bit.4 tbsp chia seeds
- Add all the other ingredients and pulse for 10 seconds or until thoroughly combined.400 ml coconut milk, 4 medjool dates, 1 tbsp pure maple syrup, 1 tbsp coconut oil, 3 tbsp raw cacao powder, 1 tbsp mesquite powder
- Pour or spoon into four ramekins or small dessert dishes and leave to set for ten minutes.
- Add a sprinkling of chopped pistachio nuts and serve.20 g pistachios
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Sharing
This month’s #WeShouldCocoa is being hosted by Lisa at Lovely Appetite. She has thoughtfully chosen simple recipes to give us a breather after the December rush. Do join in if you can. There’s not many desserts that are as simple as this chocolate chia pudding. Just bung everything in the food processor or blender and blitz for a few seconds.
This is such a good vegan breakfast!
I work outdoors and a portion of this kept me going all morning in the frost.
It’s a surprisingly sustaining meal and great for breakfasts as it’s so quick to make. Hope it kept the frostbite at bay too.
Really delicious, and so quick to make.
Thank you Nicette- you make Veganuary an absolute pleasure.
Plus I love all the information you give around the ingredients, not just nutritional aspects but including , in the case of Chia seeds- their Latin name and origin. Such details inspire such greater depth of knowledge around our food and where it comes from. Thank you.
Thank you Kathleen. Food is so much more than just what you put on your plate. Good to hear you’re finding Veganuary a pleasure.
I love how healthy this chocolate chia pudding is! It doesn’t take much time or ingredients to make at all. Perfect little treats for after meals but good for breakfast too!
I’ve never actually had one for breakfast, but you’re right, they’d make a good healthy start to the day.
So delicious. I used cinnamon instead of maca powder and it turned out perfect.
Yes, cinnamon is always a good bet with chocolate I find. Glad you liked it and thanks for letting me know.
this reminds me of the ones i used to get as a kid! but better!
Yes, you’re right Nancy. They are a like a healthier version of a traditional dairy pudding.
I love chia pudding. It’s such a healthy easy breakfast option. I love that you used coconut milk in your recipe. I will give this a try.
I’ve never actually had chia pudding for breakfast, but I can see it would be a great start to the day. Hope you like my coconut version.
This chocolate chai pudding was so delicious! It is so nice to have pudding again! The only bad thing about this recipe is that now I will be making it all the time!
Hahaha, luckily it’s quite a healthy pudding. Really happy you like it so much. Thanks for letting me know.
Guilt free chocolate indulgence. Who could ever turn down anything like this. It looks and sounds so delicious. Can’t wait to make this recipe at home. Thanks so much for posting this.
Indeed, you’ve got it in one. On top of all this, you can knock it up in just a few minutes.
This chocolate chia pudding is so tasty and I enjoyed the texture. I did not have mesquite powder on hand but I want to try it!
So glad you enjoyed the chia pudding. Mesquite is a bit of a specialised ingredient, but a really useful one nonetheless.
Do you mind if I quote a couple of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back to your site?
My blog is in the exact same niche as yours and my users woukd really benefit ftom a lot of the information you present here.
Please let me know if this alright with you. Appreciate it!
Hi Harlan. Thanks for enquiring. I couldn’t see your blog only a sales site. However, as long as you link back to the original post and give credit, then it’s fine to use some quotes – not the whole post obviously!
This looks delicious – pudding for breakfast. yes please!
Haha Sandy. I haven’t tried this for breakfast, but it could certainly work.
This is one of my favourite desserts to make, and so easy too!
Love desserts that taste good, are simple to make and are healthy too – an all round win 🙂
Ooh I rather fancy this – I’ve never been a huge chocolate pudding fan as I find them rather boring but this really appeals as it is a little bit different. The pistachios will make it even more amazing.
Thanks Helen. Pistachios really are such a special nut. I guess that’s why they are so expensive 🙁
So pretty and looks easy to make too x
Dead easy to make Emily. This combined with it being relatively healthy makes it very appealing.
I do like chia seeds, I read about them a good few years ago before they were easy to buy. Such a useful pantry ingredient. this pudding looks wonderful.
You know Helen, I think I might first have come across chia seeds on your blog – a long time ago now.
Chia pudding is one of those things I’ve been meaning to make for ages! Must try this one.
Chia pudding would have been a good one for our vegan cookery workshop I reckon.
I’m still a bit hit and miss with chia seeds, sometimes I like them, other times unsure. But with chocolate how can I say no. I made something similar but it was with Oat Chocolate ‘milk’ http://allotment2kitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/oat-chocolate-chia-pudding.html
I really like chia seeds sprinkled over things or ground up in smoothies. I guess I ought to try them whole and soaked, but I’m really not sure. Interested to see your pudding.
Your recipes are so lovely! I have never had Chia seeds, keep reading about them and have a hard time staying healthy so I think the fact that this uses raw cacao powder would be perfect to satisfy my cravings 🙂 will try it soon and let you know how i faired
Thank you very much Davina. I’d be very interested to know how you get on. Please do let me know.
Chocolate and chia are the best! I love the pairing of coconut milk here too, I can taste those flavours all ready!
Mmmm, me too Sus. think it must be time to make another batch 😉
This sounds really good, I haven’t done much with chia yet but I keep meaning to so this will spur me on!
I’ve mostly used chia in smoothies, so it was nice to do something a bit different.
This sounds like a really interesting recipe, and definitely worth a try as i’m trying to have a cleaner diet this month after all the over indulgences of Christmas. I’ve got a thermocook so it’s good to see some recipes that I can try out in it!
It’s a brilliant pudding all round as it’s quick to make and good to eat. It’s not the cheapest though.
What a fabulous quick and easy dessert:-)
It really is Camilla and we really enjoyed eating it too 🙂
What a great idea to grind the seeds! I’ve tried them whole and the texture is interesting, although I’ve never tried tapioca so I don’t know if it’s the same! I wouldn’t say it’s terrible though 🙂
Haha, too young for tapioca Kerry. It was standard school fare in my day and I’ve never met anyone who actually likes it.
I’ve got a huge bag of chia seeds just sitting there, because after the first use I decided I couldn’t stand the tapioca texture! So thanks for the advice to grind them up. I shall give it a go!
I couldn’t bring myself to even try them like that Helen, they really do look like frogspawn. Luckily, this gets round the problem. Look forward to hearing what you think.
This looks so good – going to get some chia seeds specifically for this! I bet the kids will like it too.
Great to get the kids enjoying healthy puds Sophia. If they have a sweet tooth, you may want to add more maple syrup than I did.
Now that I’ve finally got on the chia seed bandwagon I am going to move on to chia seed puddings. EEK! This looks easy enough even for me 🙂
Haha Emma, with the wonderful dishes you produce, this will be a complete breeze. Think I better start a new hashtag #ChiaChampions 😉
A very virtuous pud indeed!
I use ground Chia seeds as a gluten alternative sometimes in bread, but desserts with whole Chia have always really put me off using it any other way because of its similarities with tapioca…… I hadn’t considered using it ground like this…….. sounds far more palatable!
Haha, it seems as though there are rather a lot of us tapioca haters around Kate – school dinners what did they do to us?
Delicious and so healthy too! We love our chia pudding too.
Thanks Angie. I really should come over to you for more ideas. This was really good, but I bet you’ve got something more interesting.
Intriguing! I have to say that any other chia seed puddings I’ve seen online sort of look like mini frog spawn and have put me off the notion, but yours looks amazing! Will definitely be trying this out next time I get some chia seeds!
Yes indeed, reminds me of tapioca, aka frogspawn as we used to call it at school. Yuck. This was nothing like it – thank goodness.
Great recipe!!! I love all the ingredients.
Thanks for sharing
xox
Thanks Manu. They keep really well too. We had another one last night – even better!
I’d heard that grinding the chia seeds is a spiffing notion for desserts and suchlike but I’ve not tried it until now. Chocolate pudding sounds like an excellent reason for giving it a go. Love the sound of this. Around this time last year I was barely aware of the existence of chia seeds and now I find them everywhere – 2015 was the year of the chia, I suppose. Some people in recent years have tried to persuade me that tapioca is deeply misunderstood and should make a comeback. I have tried some tapioca in response to these suggestions. I remain unconvinced. I fear the tapioca apologists are mistaken.
Haha Phil, I fear you are right. I think sago was even worse! I’ve been using chia seeds for a few years now, but you are right they have suddenly come into their own.
Looks absolutely delish and healthy too for a chocolate pudding! Will definitely give it a go.
Thanks Daphne, hope you like it 🙂
I haven’t dared to try chia seeds before but this could well help,me get over it! Where do you get the seeds from? With lots of nutritious ingredients, your pudding should fit into my current healthier way of eating as well,:-)
Way to go Lucy 🙂 You should be able to find chia seeds in any health food shop worth its salt or failing that online.
A deliciously healthy dessert. Love the look of this one and your recipe is so simple. I have chia seeds quite often, love them!
Thanks Alida. I find chia seeds really useful for thickening smoothies and they work nicely in biscuits too.
Ooo this is my kind of dessert 😀 looks delicious and I love how quick it is!! Must try it next time I’m craving chocolate, which is basically everyday 😛
Haha Nadia, you’re a woman after my own heart 🙂
Ooh, now…this looks delicious! I’m echoing Kath’s frogspawn comment above – I’ve been a bit put off chia seeds for that very reason but I think this recipe may be the nudge I need to have a go! Thanks for linking to my mousse 🙂
It was the frogspawn effect which has stopped me trying this a long time ago Chris – too many horrible school pudding memories!
Now I have some chia seeds that are sitting here and they need using up. I bought them to make gluten free bread but became frustrated with my inability to make a decent loaf. I might make this pudding. I like the fact that it doesn’t look like the frogspawn that some of the puddings using chia seeds resemble.
Keep at it Kath, I have every faith you’ll find your way to baking a perfect gluten free bread. Can’t say as I’ve tried a good one yet, but then again I haven’t tried that many. As for the frogspwan, my sentiments entirely – school puddings – yuck!
Wow. Chocolate pudding that is good for you? Wonders will never cease! Thanks for sharing. Eb x
Thanks Eb – chocolate isn’t called the food of the gods for nothing 😉