Vanilla Chia Pudding

Name: Vanilla Chia Pudding
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 60 g chia seeds; 500 ml milk, oat milk or coconut milk; 2 tbsp maple syrup; 1 tsp vanilla extract; A pinch of salt; 200 g berries or mango, to serve; 2 tbsp toasted flaked almonds

Three ingredients and a whisk. The trick is whisking twice, ten minutes apart, or you get a jar of lumps.

🕐 5 min👥 4 servings🥗 Clean 🍰 Dessert ⚡ 15 Minute

Nutrition Info (per serving)

240
Calories: 8g
Protein: 12g
Fat: 24g
Carbs

Vitamin CThiamineNiacinFolateCalciumMagnesiumPhosphorusManganese

Ingredients

60 g chia seeds
500 ml milk, oat milk or coconut milk
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
200 g berries or mango, to serve
2 tbsp toasted flaked almonds

Instructions

1Whisk the milk, maple syrup, vanilla and salt together in a bowl or jar.
2Add the chia seeds and whisk hard for 30 seconds. The ratio to remember is 1 part chia to roughly 8 parts liquid by volume — more chia sets stiff, less stays runny.
3Leave it for 10 minutes, then whisk hard again. This second whisk is the entire technique: chia seeds form a gel around themselves within minutes and clump together permanently if they are left undisturbed. Breaking the clumps up once gives an even set.
4Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
5Check the texture in the morning. It should hold a spoon shape but still be soft. Loosen with a splash of milk if it has set too firm.
6Spoon into glasses, top with fruit and toasted almonds.

Chia pudding is three ingredients and no cooking, and it still goes wrong for most people the first time. The failure is always the same: a solid raft of clumped seeds at the top and thin milk underneath.

Whisk twice

Chia seeds are coated in soluble fibre that turns to gel on contact with liquid. That gel is sticky, and seeds that touch each other during the first few minutes bond into clumps that never separate again.

Whisking once at the start is not enough, because the gelling happens over the following ten minutes. Whisk again at the ten-minute mark, when the gel has begun to form but is still soft enough to break up, and the seeds stay suspended individually.

That second whisk is the difference between a smooth pudding and a jar of tapioca-like lumps.

The ratio

One part chia to eight parts liquid by volume is a good starting point — about 60 g of seeds to 500 ml of milk.

Six parts liquid gives something firm enough to slice. Ten gives a drinkable consistency closer to a smoothie. It is worth trying the middle first and adjusting from there.

Remember that it keeps thickening for a couple of hours after it looks set.

Salt and vanilla

The same argument as overnight oats. Chia itself tastes of almost nothing, and milk plus maple syrup alone is flatly sweet. A pinch of salt and real vanilla give it somewhere to go.

Vanilla extract rather than essence, if you can — essence is synthetic vanillin and tastes one-dimensional next to the real thing.

Which milk

Coconut milk gives the richest result and sets firmest. Oat milk is the best neutral plant option and slightly sweet on its own, so you can cut the maple syrup. Dairy milk works and adds protein. Almond milk is the thinnest and gives a looser pudding.

Nutrition

Around 240 calories a serving with 8 grams of protein and a very high fibre content — roughly 10 grams per serving, most of it soluble.

Chia seeds are unusual among plant foods for their omega-3 content, and they are a genuinely good source of calcium and magnesium. They also absorb many times their weight in water, which is worth knowing: eat them dry and in quantity and they will draw water in the wrong place.

It keeps for five days in the fridge and is arguably better on day two, once the texture has fully settled.

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