How to Make an Easy Chia Seed Pudding

It is commonly said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eating a balanced and nutritious breakfast can jumpstart your metabolism and keep you energized through the entire morning. But making can sometimes feel like a monumental chore. For anything that has to be cooked, you need to factor in waking up earlier in order to give yourself enough time to cook, eat, and clean. That’s why we’ve started turning toward chia seed pudding on our busier mornings.

We’ll preface this by saying that there are still some faster options if you are really stressed about time. However, most of the examples we can think of are different kinds of cereal. And don’t get us wrong, everyone at the Glover Cottage Grove loves a good bowl of cereal. But most cereals lack any nutritional value, adding empty calories that leave you just as hungry and tired as you were before eating. That being said, when we say this chia seed pudding takes more time, we’re talking barely a blip on the clock; a couple of extra minutes for heating and stirring.

Why Make Chia Seed Pudding?

Simplicity is one of the major factors for why we rely on this quick breakfast dish. Though we use chia seeds, you can use whatever toppings you want in your pudding. And with how easy it is to make, you could take our recipe and bulk-prepare it ahead of time so you can just pull it out of the fridge and minimize any of the morning hassle.

Along with this, the recipe as we make it is entirely natural. Despite its simple nature, our chia seed pudding keeps us energized and feeling full all morning.

The Benefits of Chia Seeds

Not only can chia seeds be used to grow funky plant statues, there are plenty of health benefits associated with chia seeds as well. Truthfully, you can use whatever you want in your pudding. We use chia seeds because they are almost always in our pantry. Along with this, we have found that chia seeds help create a wonderfully thick consistency in our pudding. All that being said, here are a few of the benefits you could experience by adding chia seeds to your pudding:

According to Healthline, chia seeds are power-packed with various nutrients. In fact, they say that 1 ounce can have nearly 6 grams of protein, 10 grams of fiber, and significant levels of multiple vitamins and minerals. Chia seeds are also full of antioxidants, and you know we love to hear about foods with antioxidants. The specific antioxidants found in chia seeds can help improve heart and gut health, lower blood pressure, and reduce the risk of cancer. The fiber can help with weight management, the minerals with lowering the risk of heart disease and strengthening bones, etc. Healthline even references that, though it has not been studied much in humans, the combination of materials in chia seeds can help your body control blood sugar more effectively, making them an easy option for those struggling with diabetes or pre-diabetes symptoms.

How to Adjust Chia Seed Pudding

Chia seed pudding is incredibly easy to adjust to fit your diet and tastes. Here are some of our favorite adjustments to this recipe:

• Using non-dairy milk such as coconut or almond milk instead
• Adding in fruit juice
• Topping with a scoop of yogurt
• Adding extracts such as vanilla or almond
• Adding matcha powder
• Adding cocoa powder
• Adding in a splash of coffee or espresso powder

Homemade Chia Seed Pudding

Yield: 3/4 Cup

Cook Time: 3 minutes

Additional Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Learn to make chia seed pudding in less than 10 minutes with only two ingredients!

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Ingredients

• ¾ cup milk
• 3 Tbsp chia seeds

Instructions

1. Place ½ cup of the milk into a pot and heat until it simmers.
2. While the milk warms up, place the chia seeds into a container. For personal servings, we like to use pint-sized canning jars.
3. Once the milk is simmering, pour it into the jar with the chia seeds and mix them together.
4. Then, let the mixture sit until it begins to congeal. In our experience, it should take less than five minutes to reach a good consistency.
5. Once the mixture has congealed, stir in the last ¼ of milk.
6. Now that the pudding is ready, feel free to add any sweeteners or toppings of your choice. We often like to add a few sliced fruits, our homemade granola, and a little bit of maple syrup.