How to Make Chia Pudding from Scratch:
Chia seeds, you may know, are extremely nutrient rich little seeds you’ll want to incorporate into your diet, especially if you want to look younger and be healthier! Research shows they are helpful in supporting the heart and digestive system, building stronger bones and muscles, and have even been linked to helping reverse diabetes. They become easier to digest when they are softened by soaking in liquid.
How to Soak Chia Seeds:
I use alternate milks such as unsweetened almond milk, coconut milk or a blend of the two, and soak them overnight in a glass mason type jar with a lid. That’s how they become “chia pudding”. However, in an effort to make a breakfast even more heavily loaded with nutrients, I’ll sometimes combine chia pudding with healthy smoothies, especially ones made with leafy greens.
Add a Green Smoothie:
Almost like a salad in a glass! There’s no one recipe for a green(s) smoothie, but, it’s a general combination of vegetables and fruits meant to boost your intake of healthy plant nutrition. I don’t love salads in the winter, so this is perfect this time of year (or any time of year) to make sure you’re getting enough of these crucially important leafy greens into your body. And, if you want to upgrade your green smoothie and chia pudding, here’s the next super easy suggestion.
Add Fresh Fruit to Make Everything Taste Better:
An obvious premium upgrade that tastes fantastic! The addition of fresh fruit to this breakfast truly makes it an ultimate healthy and delicious breakfast. Add any type of fresh fruit, nuts, or dried fruits you like! In the winter, I like kiwi, bananas, walnuts, unsweetened shredded coconut, dried cranberries or raisins. If you want, add frozen fruit to the green smoothie, instead. Either way, make your favorite combination and you won’t go wrong! In addition to overnight soaking, this will take about 20 minutes to prepare. Here are my current favorites. Enjoy!
- For the Chia Pudding:
- ½ C Chia seeds
- 2 C Unsweetened almond or coconut milk (more or less depending on how thick you want it)
- 1 T Agave nectar, maple syrup, or honey
- 1 t Vanilla extract, or almond, coconut, or lemon extracts
- For the Green(s) Smoothie:
- 1 C Water
- 1 C Coconut Milk, Skim milk, almond milk, unsweetened
- 1 C Baby Spinach, loosely packed
- 1 Celery Stalk, chopped into 5 pieces
- 1 Fuji apple, cored and chopped into 6 pieces
- 1 T Agave nectar
- Garnish with kiwi, pomegranate seeds, or as desired
- For the Chia Pudding:
- In a quart-sized jar with a tight fitting lid, combine chia seeds and milk of choice.
- With a spoon, stir very well, a few times, for the next 6 minutes.
- Add the sweetener, vanilla or flavoring, spice mix, if using, and stir well again.
- Tighten lid and place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, or, up to overnight.
- For the Green(s) Smoothie:
- Combine each of the items in a blender container in the order listed.
- Process on Grate (or blend), then highest speed until texture is very smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Add more or less water depending on desired consistency.
- To Combine:
- In 4 small clear serving dishes, pour in equal amounts of chia pudding.
- Add fresh fruits as desired.
- Slowly pour in green smoothie, leaving room to add more fresh fruit, if desired.
You may want to try my other chia pudding recipes, or other smoothie recipes. If you want to see other breakfast ideas, see these.
