Easy Banana Chia Pudding Recipe (Vegan)

Easy Banana Chia Pudding might just be your new favorite breakfast, snack, or dessert! This meal prep friendly recipe is also vegan, gluten-free, naturally sweetened, and requires only 6 ingredients and 5 minutes of prep!

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Hey Internet, it's no secret that we love easy breakfast recipes in this house so we do love a good chia pudding recipe. They're just the perfect make-ahead breakfast and packed with all kinds of nutritious goodies like protein, fiber, healthy fats, omega 3 fatty acids, and more.

We've actually been racking up quite a few healthy chia puddings lately! Our favorite easy chia puddings include Strawberry Chia Pudding, Peach Chia Pudding, Lemon Blueberry Chia Pudding, Tiramisu Chia Pudding, Chocolate Peanut Butter Chia Pudding, Apple Pie Chia Pudding, and Pumpkin Chia Pudding. And honestly... more on the way! We've got at least one other chia pudding recipe that's ready to be photographed (psst, it's coconut chia pudding!) and put on the blog, but we can't post those all the time...

But we are talking about a chia pudding today, and it's a good one. This is the best banana chia pudding recipe because it's delicious, healthy, easy, and LOADED with great flavor thanks to the caramelized bananas we topped it with! 

Much like when we made our Vegan Banana Pudding dessert, we discovered that putting banana slices in the pudding the night before may not be the best option. They tend to brown and get a bit mushy. So we added them the next morning and they were good, but we thought: there's got to be a way to get even more banana flavor without much effort. 

Thus our caramelized bananas were born. It makes sense though, since we've already made Caramelized Peaches and Caramelized Apples and both of those turned out amazing.

Anyway, we loved serving those caramelized banana slices on top of (dairy-free) ice cream and they were amazing! But we wanted another way to enjoy these bananas, and a healthy breakfast seemed like the best choice.

This vanilla chia seed pudding makes the best creamy pudding base to top with our sticky and sweet Caramelized Bananas. There is so much GREAT flavor in this recipe and great nutrition too. Plus, there's really only a handful of ingredients!

Why You'll Love Our Banana Chia Pudding Recipe

• Simple Ingredients: You only need a handful of ingredients to make this delicious banana chia seed pudding. Top it with your favorite toppings like coconut flakes or chocolate chips!
• Healthy Breakfast or Snack: This healthy meal or snack is loaded with fiber and nutrients (chia seeds are a good source of omega-3 fatty acids and quite a few grams of fiber!), plus it's perfect if you have a sweet tooth and like to have a sweet breakfast (we both do!) but with natural sweetness.
• Perfect for Meal Prep: You can make several of these healthy chia seed pudding cups at once in just 5 minutes, so it really works well for meal prep. Pop them in the fridge and they're ready the next day! Perfect for busy mornings.

Ingredients

Pick up the following basic ingredients for this creamy chia pudding recipe the next time you're at your local grocery store. See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredients, instructions, and accurate nutrition information (to the best of my ability; please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or healthcare professional if you have specific dietary needs or need to meet certain daily values of any nutrient). I give substitutions for the ingredients in the section below this one, so most people can still make this recipe!

• ½ Cup Almond Milk: Really any plant based milk will work! We did almond milk for this recipe because the brand we buy (and many are) is boosted with calcium, but soy milk and pea milk are higher in protein content so they're definitely some great options.
• 5 Ounces Vegan Yogurt (a heaping half cup): Any plant based yogurt is great here. This is what makes it really creamy and luscious! For extra protein, try some plant based Greek yogurt! We make our own homemade Soy Milk Yogurt that we use daily.
• 1-2 Tablespoons Pure Maple Syrup, To Taste: This is what we used for our sweetener, feel free to use your favorite sweetener.
• Splash of Vanilla Extract: How much you use is up to interpretation, but we used about ¼ to ½ teaspoon. 
• 2 Tablespoons Chia Seeds: Black chia seeds are usually what you'll find, but white chia seeds work fine too.
• Half to a full serving of our 10-Minute Caramelized Bananas OR sliced bananas: Depending on what you're in the mood for, this is how we're getting a ton of delicious banana flavor in our banana chia pudding. We can't recommend the caramelized bananas enough

Substitutions

• Almond Milk: It doesn't really matter what type of milk you use. Coconut milk would be lovely in this, but if you're using full fat coconut milk it will be thicker than with most other kinds of milk. Almond milk, soy milk, cashew milk, hemp milk, rice milk, coconut milk, pea milk, oat milk, etc. will all be delicious here.
• Vegan Yogurt: Any yogurt should work here. We used soy yogurt because we make it every week, but coconut yogurt or oat milk yogurt both sound great or really whatever you like! There are a few nice vegan Greek yogurt options out there nowadays.
• Maple Syrup: Agave is an excellent choice as a maple syrup replacement. You just need a liquid sweetener for this recipe, as granulated sugar will not dissolve well in cold liquids. If sugar is all you have, you can make a simple syrup out of it. After it cools, you can add the syrup to the chia mixture.
• Different Fruit: You can use mango to make a mango chia pudding or really any fruit you want! This banana chia pudding rexipe doesn't atually feature bananas since they tend to get a little brown and slimy if you open and prep them ahead of time, so we just made it like a vanilla pudding and topped it with our Caramelized Bananas the next day for that reason (and you could just used sliced banana or mashed banana instead), just like how most people make a traditional banana pudding!

Toppings

• Caramelized Bananas or sliced ripe bananas
• Or go a different flavor with Caramelized Apples or Caramelized Peaches
• Chopped walnuts, pecans, or peanuts (or try our Air Fryer Pecans for extra goodness)
• Homemade granola such as our Coconut Cacao Granola
• Hemp seeds, raw pumpkin seeds, or raw sunflower seeds
• Coconut flakes
• Cacao nibs or mini chocolate chips
• A drizzle of peanut butter or almond butter
• Fresh berries or other fresh fruits

How to Make Banana Chia Pudding

1. Add Ingredients: To a jar or airtight container, add the non-dairy milk, plant-based yogurt, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Whisk with a fork until combined. Taste it and adjust sweetness as needed.
2. Add Chia Seeds: Now add the chia seeds and stir it in really well until they are fully distributed throughout the container.
3. Chill: Cover containers and add them to a refrigerator. Let chill for at least 2-4 hours or overnight for best results.
4. Optional, Make the Caramelized Bananas: You can follow our caramelized bananas recipe for the exact measurements, but you basically toss sliced ripe bananas in skillet with melted vegan butter and sugar of choice (we like coconut sugar for this because it's naturally sweet AND the flavor goes great with the bananas) and stir and let it cook for like 10 minutes over medium heat or until desired tenderness. You can also just top your banana chia pudding with fresh sliced bananas if you prefer.
5. Serve: Serve with whatever form of bananas you like and any crunchy toppings such as nuts, seeds, or granola. Enjoy! P.S. If it's too thick for your preference, stir in a splash of plant-based milk.
6. Storage: Didn't finish? You can store this in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days no problem.

More Healthy Vegan Breakfast Recipes

• Strawberry Chia Pudding
• Protein Overnight Oats
• Plant Based Pancakes
• Tiramisu Chia Pudding
• Cookie Dough Overnight Oats
• Vegan French Toast
• Peach Chia Pudding
• Coffee Overnight Oats
• Peach Dutch Baby
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Chia Pudding

And if you really like sweet banana breakfasts, try our Banana Bread Vegan Baked Oats, Easy & Healthy Chocolate Banana Protein Muffins, Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Bread, or Vegan Chocolate Banana Muffins with Walnuts.

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