Vegan and Gluten-free Chia Seed Puddings

These Vegan and Gluten-free Chia Seed Puddings are healthy enough for breakfast, delicious enough for dessert, and easy enough for anyone to make! You only need 3 ingredients to make the basic recipe, and you can modify it in any way that you would like.

There's all kinds of things you could add to this recipe like fruits, nuts, extracts, spices, etc. The possibilities and combinations you can make are endless, but today I'll give you 5 of my flavorite combinations (sorry, had to).

In this post you'll learn how to make the basic recipe (hint: dump it in a container, stir, and refrigerate), and my method for super quick, extra delicious, and refined sugar-free chia seed pudding.

The 5 Vegan and Gluten-free Chia Seed Puddings I’m sharing with you today are:

• Blueberry Lemon
• Mango Chipotle Lime
• Pina Colada
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana
• Pumpkin Pie

You could pick a favorite and batch prepare it so that you have enough to eat all week *OR* you could make all 5 of these flavors and have a different breakfast / dessert to eat all week! These store quite easily in a mason jar or small container, and they’re easy to take with you on the go. Just grab a spoon before you head out the door or use a travel utensil set.

What Are Chia Seeds?

Chia seeds are from a plant called Salvia hispanica a plant in the mint family. It’s native to South America.

Chia seeds are not only edible but high in quality protein, fiber, antioxidants, calcium, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, omega-3 fatty acids and are also rich in zinc, vitamin B3 / niacin, potassium, vitamin B1 (thiamine) and vitamin B2. They are also relatively low in calories for their nutrition (about 46 calories a tablespoon).

Another impressive thing about chia seeds is that when soaked in liquid for a relatively short amount of time, they absorb up to 10 – 12 times their weight in water! This gelling ability not only makes them easy to turn into things like pudding and chia eggs used in baking (in place of eggs), but it helps you to feel fuller for longer.

Can I Really Just Dump Everything in There?

For the basic recipe, yes. All you do is add your chia seeds to your jar or container, add your non-dairy milk, and add your sweetener of choice (I use a date since I blend my filling, but if you’d like to skip the blending, try date sugar, date syrup, or maple syrup for a refined sugar-free option).

For the blending, I have a Vitamix which I find instrumental in my vegan and whole food plant-based lifestyle. I use it on a daily basis, sometimes multiple times per day (luckily it’s easy to wash!). I used to have a blender that was better than your average one and around the $100 price point I expected it to do better than it did.

It was after that that I saved up the money and decided to invest in a Vitamix, which was the best purchase I ever made. This is a discussion for another time, but just FYI, I use a refurbished Vitamix so it was cheaper than most, and I can make anything in it: nut butters, smoothies & smoothie bowls, hummus, cheeze sauce, dips and more. 10/10 would buy again.

That being said, if you do not have a high-speed blender, I would soak your pitted dates in hot water for around an hour before blending. You should get a fairly consistent result. You could also use maple syrup or another sweetener.

The basic recipe is tasty, but if you want a flavor explosion, just keep reading!

Blueberry Lemon Chia Seed Pudding

You Will Need:

• 2 tablespoon chia seeds
• ½ cup nondairy milk (I used unsweetened almond)
• ¼ cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• Juice of ½ to 1 whole lemon (to taste)
• 1 pitted medjool date (or other sweetener of choice)

Add the lemon juice, blueberries, date, and nondairy milk to the blender and blend till smooth. Add chia seeds and blended mixture to a jar or container, mix well, and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Mango Chili Lime Chia Seed Pudding

You Will Need:

• 2 tablespoon chia seeds
• ½ cup nondairy milk (I used unsweetened almond)
• ¼ cup fresh or frozen mango chunks
• ⅛ teaspoon (or to taste) chipotle powder (can also use chili powder or Tajin seasoning
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 pitted medjool date (or other sweetener of choice)

Add the lime juice, mango, spice, date, and nondairy milk to the blender and blend till smooth. Add the chia seeds and blended mixture to a jar or container, mix well, and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Pina Colada Chia Seed Pudding

You Will Need:

• 2 tablespoon chia seeds
• ½ cup coconut milk (from a can or carton, but the canned will taste more coconuty)
• ¼ cup fresh or frozen pineapple chunks
• ¼ teaspoon coconut extract (optional, but really adds a nice little boost of coconut)
• Juice of ½ a lime
• 1 pitted medjool date (or other sweetener of choice)

Add the lime juice, coconut extract, pineapple chunks, date, and coconut milk to the blender and blend till smooth. Add the chia seeds and blended mixture to a jar or container, mix well, and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Chia Seed Pudding

You Will Need:

• 2 tablespoon chia seeds
• ½ cup nondairy milk (I used unsweetened almond)
• 1 tablespoon cacao or cocoa powder
• ½ tablespoon creamy peanut butter or powered peanut butter (for lower fat option)
• ½ of a banana
• 1 pitted medjool date (or other sweetener of choice)

Add the cacao / cocoa powder, peanut butter / powdered peanut butter, banana, date, and nondairy milk to the blender and blend till smooth. Add the chia seeds and blended mixture to a jar or container, mix well, and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Pumpkin Pie Chia Seed Pudding

You Will Need:

• 2 tablespoon chia seeds
• ½ cup nondairy milk
• ½ cup canned pumpkin
• ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (to taste)
• ⅛ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pitted medjool date (or other sweetener of choice)

Add the pumpkin, extract, spice, date, and nondairy milk to the blender and blend till smooth. Add the chia seeds and blended mixture to a jar or container, mix well, and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Pudding

You Will Need

• 2 tablespoon chia seeds
• ½ cup nondairy milk (I used unsweetened almond)
• ¼ cup fresh or frozen strawberries
• 1 tablespoon cacao powder or cocoa powder
• 1 pitted medjool date (or other sweetener of choice)

Add the nondairy milk, strawberries, cacao or cocoa powder, and date to the blender and blend till smooth. Add chia seeds and blended mixture to a jar or container, mix well, and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

There are so many different flavors and combinations you could try, the possibilities are endless! I also really like this Kiwi and Coconut Milk Chia Pudding idea, and I'm going to have to try it soon!

As always, let me know if you make one of these 5 Vegan and Gluten-free Chia Seed Puddings and please tag #Zardyplants and mention me @Zardyplants so I can see your beautiful recreations! If you tag me on IG, I will share your post in my stories :)

<3 Liz

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