Estimated reading time: 14 minutes
Experience the goodness of Chia Seed Pudding. Discover how to make this delicious and healthy dessert with sugar-free options for a guilt-free indulgence.
You don’t have to be keto to enjoy this pudding because the only difference is the sugar, dairy, or topping you use that makes it keto.
With Valentine’s Day on February 14th, a Strawberry Chia Seed Pudding is a nice treat for two.
There’s not much to preparing chia seeds as we’ve sprinkled them on desserts, salads, and savory foods.
I wanted to make a few different types of chia pudding to give you different variations.
The jams and ingredients are all sugar-free and are made using a ground keto sweetener.
- Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding topped with sugar-free chocolate chips or cacao seeds.
- Strawberry
- Mulberry Jam
- Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding
- Pumpkin Spice Chia Seed Pudding
- Blueberry Cinnamon Almond
- Sugar-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
- Carrot Orange marmalade
- Sugar-Free Peanut Butter mixed with Black Cacoa is amazing
- Sugar-Free Chocolate with Unsweetened Coconut Flakes tastes like a Bounty Chocolate Bar.
Plus, let’s learn a little history behind the chia seeds because learning about food is a great way to create new recipes.
What Are Chia Seeds?
Chia seeds are the edible seeds of Salvia hispanica, a flowering plant in the mint family (Lamiaceae) native to central and southern Mexico.
I had no idea that chia seeds were used as an egg substitute for cakes, pudding, or vegan cooking.
The seeds are hygroscopic, absorbing up to 12 times their weight in liquid when soaked and developing a mucilaginous coating that gives chia-based foods and beverages a distinctive gel texture.
It’s a case of you either love the texture or you don’t, but I enjoyed it and the different variations.
Ground or whole chia seeds are used in Argentina, Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Paraguay for nutritious drinks and food.
Today, chia is cultivated in its ancestral homeland of central Mexico and Guatemala and commercially in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Mexico.
Source: Wikipedia Chia Seeds
Chia Seed Nutrition
Chia seeds are loaded with antioxidants, Omega 3 fatty acids, and a giant dose of fibre.
I was shocked to learn about the health benefits of chia seeds and their use for bone health.
These seeds may prevent heart disease, support weight loss, and support blood sugar levels.
Chia seeds have even more benefits, making them a pantry staple in our home.
Mrs. CBB has lost over 100lbs on her keto journey, and chia seed pudding has been part of it.
Buying Chia Seeds
When Mrs. CBB started her keto journey, she bought a bag to make chia seed pudding.
The Kirkland Organic Chia Seeds bag is large, which you can buy on Amazon Canada if you can’t find them at your local Costco or grocery store.
The Ultimate Guide with Photos Of Keto Products At Costco Canada
Our first thought was that we hoped we liked chia seeds; otherwise, it was a waste of money.
If you haven’t tried them, go to a bulk store and buy black chia seeds.
You can also buy smaller bags of black chia seed on Amazon Canada to test at home.
Types Of Chia Seed Pudding
The jams and ingredients are all sugar-free, using a ground keto sweetener or granulated sugar if not keto.
Today, I’m working my way through just a few types of chia seed puddings we’ve made.
I’ve added other variations at the start of this post for more ideas.
Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding topped with sugar-free chocolate chips or cacao seeds.
Strawberry Chia Seed Pudding
Mulberry Jam Chia Seed Pudding
Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding
Pumpkin Spice Chia Seed Pudding
Blueberry Cinnamon Almond Chia Seed Pudding
Pudding Toppings
Since there are many variations of chia pudding, this recipe is fun.
For the most part, we make a plain chia seed pudding with pure vanilla extract and add toppings.
Besides the chocolate chia pudding, we incorporate dark black cocoa that tastes like Oreo cookies.
- Almond Slivers
- Cacao Nibs add a crunchy texture to the chia pudding.
- Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips either Krisda or Lily’s
- Fresh Blueberries and sugar-free blueberry jam
- Homemade sugar-free Strawberry jam
- Unsweetened Coconut
- Organic Pumpkin Seeds
- Epicure Pumpkin Spice (gift), or you can make pumpkin spice at home.
- Powdered keto approved sweetener or granular sweetener and using an electric coffee grinder to make it powder or homemade sugar-free maple syrup or homemade keto condensed milk.
- Homemade keto granola
For example, we make a homemade pumpkin spice and keep equal parts of nutmeg, ground cinnamon, organic ground cloves, and ginger in a jar.
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Any other pure extract or extract without added sugar
- Pure Almond Extract
- Maple extract
- Anise Extract (very little as this is powerful like a black licorice)
Dairy Products
You can use just about any milk if you want this to be a keto chia pudding.
These are the types of milk we’ve tried to make this simple chia seed pudding recipe.
We used 1 cup of dairy or 1 can of coconut milk for the recipe.
- Sugar-Free Oat Milk (Keto) Check grocery store health food shelf stable or refrigerated for best price or Costco.
- Oat Milk Check grocery store health food shelf stable or refrigerated for best price or Costco.
- Almond Milk
- Sugar-Free Almond Milk (keto)
- 2% Milk
- Unsweetened Coconut Milk (keto)
- Macadamia Nut Milk (keto) is cheaper at Costco Canada.
Our favorite milk for this recipe is sugar-free oat milk and unsweetened coconut milk.
The coconut milk gives you the creamiest texture set overnight in the refrigerator.
Some recipes say you can eat the pudding after 2-4 hours in the refrigerator, which you can, but we let it set overnight.
Chia Seed Pudding Variations Keto and Non-Keto
This is an easy base recipe for chia seed pudding that you can top or add any flavours you like.
Ingredients
- 1 can of organic unsweetened coconut milk or the same as any other dairy approximately 1 cup.
- 3 tablespoons of black chia seeds
- 3 tablespoons of keto powdered sweetener or 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla (optional See notes below)
- Sugar-free whipped cream (optional see notes below)
Instructions
- Mix the can of coconut milk with the chia seeds
- Add your desired extract, sweetener or sugar, cocoa powder and mix to combine
- Cover the bowl tight and refrigerate for 2-4 hours or overnight for the best creamy results. (we do overnight)
Notes
We keep the chia seed pudding overnight in the refrigerator
You'll notice we add a sugar-free whipped topping made from 35% cream and a bit of sweetener.
Whether you are making a keto version or a non-keto version you can taste the recipe to see if you want more sugar or any other flavour variations before you refrigerate it.
Some people refrigerate the pudding for 2-4 hours or overnight 24 hours which we find the best creamy results.
You can add toppings to the base version of the chia seed pudding or add them on top when it's finished.
Spoon the amount you want into portions. This recipe makes 2 to 4 portions.
Before You Refrigerate
Before putting the pudding mixture into the refrigerator, see if the flavor satisfies you.
You can always add more before or after refrigerating, but we try to taste beforehand.
Try the recipe at two, four, and 24 hours to see which time you like best.
Let me know in the comments what route you went and what flavors you tried.
Mr. CBB