My Cinnamon-Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding recipe was inspired by one of my favorite diner desserts: cinnamon rice pudding! It has a texture similar to tapioca pudding, and just 2g net carbs per serving, making it a delicious keto dessert.
Have you tried chia seeds yet? I first had them sprinkled on a salad a couple years ago…they are delicious with a subtle nutty flavor, and they’re really versatile. Chia seeds work well in smoothies, oatmeal, and some baked goods recipes. For the past year or so, I’ve been seeing chia seed pudding all over the place and I decided it was finally time to try it for myself.
I’m glad I finally gave chia seed pudding a try! If you’re not familiar with chia seed pudding, it’s delicious and incredibly easy to make (even easier than chocolate avocado pudding!). Try not to be put off by the texture; to give you an idea, it’s pretty similar to tapioca pudding, which I really enjoy.
How do You Make Chia Seed Pudding?
When chia seeds are mixed with liquid they form a pudding-like gel, so your two basic ingredients are chia seeds and liquid (usually milk; you can use any kind of milk you like). For every 1 cup of milk, I add 3 tablespoons of chia seeds; this makes two servings and can easily be adjusted up to any number of servings you like (or down, if you just want to make 1 serving). I know, 1/2 cup of pudding might not seem like a very big serving, but it is incredibly filling!
Chia Seed Pudding Flavor Ideas
Once you have the basic chia seed/liquid formula, you can add anything you like, such as sweetener, flavoring, and other mix-ins. I like to use stevia as my sweetener for this to keep it sugar free, low carb, and keto, but I also love it with maple syrup. As far as flavorings go, the sky really is the limit. Here are a few ideas: vanilla extract (or have fun playing with any extract you like), cocoa powder, peanut butter, cake batter (maybe add a dash of butter extract, vanilla extract, and sprinkles on top), or cinnamon. For mix-ins, try things like fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, shredded coconut, or even a sprinkling of chocolate chips.
What Does This Cinnamon-Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding Taste Like?
I like to take treats like this and come up with flavors based on classic desserts. This chia seed pudding is based on the flavors in a classic diner-style rice pudding: cinnamon and vanilla. It would also be great with a small handful of raisins mixed in, topped with a sprinkling of chopped walnuts. Really, you won’t know you’re eating something healthy.
Ingredients in This Cinnamon-Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding:
- Plain unsweetened almond milk
- Chia seeds
- Stevia/erythrtiol blend
- Pure vanilla extract
- Ground cinnamon
- Salt
Can You Use Regular Milk for Chia Seed Pudding?
Yes, you can use any kind of milk you like to make chia seed pudding.
Can You Make Chia Pudding with Water?
You can also make chia pudding with water, but the texture will be less creamy and it won’t have as rich a flavor.
How Do You Make Vegan Chia Seed Pudding?
Chia seeds are vegan, so chia seed pudding is an easy recipe to keep vegan. Make sure to choose a vegan source of sweetener and milk to keep your pudding vegan! A few vegan sweetener options are maple syrup, stevia, or agave nectar. As far as vegan milk goes, I prefer this recipe with almond milk, but you could use any seed or nut-based milk that you like the flavor of.
Is Chia Seed Pudding Good For You?
Chia seed pudding itself is inherently pretty healthy, but of course this depends on what you add to it! My recipe for Cinnamon-Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding has the following nutrition information per serving:
- 111kcals
- 8g total carbohydrates
- 6g fiber
- 2g net carbs
- 3g protein
Are Chia Seeds Healthy?
Chia seeds have a lot of health benefits. They were used in Mayan and Aztec cultures to boost energy!
Chia seeds are considered a superfood; a few of the health benefits of chia seeds include:
- Great source of antioxidants, which fight free radicals
- Good source of protein
- Low in carbs and high in fiber
- Rich in omega-3 fatty acids
Read more about the health benefits of chia seeds on HealthLine and Medical News Today.
Do Chia Seeds Help You Lose Weight?
Chia seeds are a good source of fiber, which can help you feel full longer and lead to reduced cravings. Additionally, chia seeds have a decent amount of protein, which can also lead to satiety and reduced food intake. As always, weight loss is about burning more calories than you take in. Be sure to check with your health care professional if you want to use chia seeds as a tool for weight loss!
Is Chia Pudding Keto?
With just 2g net carbs per serving, my chia pudding is low carb and keto! It’s the perfect way to satisfy a sweet tooth when you want to stay in ketosis. And bonus, it’s healthy enough for breakfast.
If you play around with the sweeteners and/or liquid, make sure you use low carb options to keep this pudding keto.
More Low Carb Recipes Using Chia Seeds:
- Strawberry Chia Seed Iced Green Tea
- Low Carb Homemade Granola Recipe (Cinnamon Toast Crunch Copycat)
- Lemon Chia Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling
- My Favorite Noatmeal (Aka Low Carb Oatmeal)
- Low Carb Cheesecake Brownies
Cinnamon-Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding
My Cinnamon-Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding recipe was inspired by one of my favorite diner desserts: cinnamon rice pudding! It has a texture similar to tapioca pudding, and just 2g net carbs per serving, making it a delicious keto dessert.
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain unsweetened almond milk or any kind of milk you like
- 3 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 g packet stevia/erythritol blend
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 small pinch salt
Instructions
-
Stir together all ingredients in a small bowl.
-
Refrigerate until it reaches your desired thickness, stirring occasionally. (I usually chill mine about 2 hours, or overnight.)
-
Eat or store covered in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Recipe Notes
Net Carbs: 2g per serving
Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links to products I believe in, which means that even though it doesn’t cost you anything extra, I will receive a small amount of money from the sale of these items. Thank you for helping to support An Edible Mosaic!
I’m Faith Gorsky, the writer, cook, and photographer behind An Edible Mosaic. My goal is to inspire you to get in the kitchen and try something new! Feel free to 
Rosa says
August 8, 2012 at 5:43 amA delicious looking pudding! I really have to find those seeds…
Cheers,
Rosa
April says
August 9, 2012 at 12:29 pmI have been buying chia seeds for years at my local heath food store but I thought I would pass along my joy to find them recently at my local Trader Joes. The price is good, $4.99 for a 5.3 oz bag.
FYI, my little ones love this pudding with agave.
Rosa says
August 9, 2012 at 2:39 pmThanks for the info!
Cheers,
Rosa
coco says
August 8, 2012 at 5:53 amI have a bag of chia seed sitting around for quite a while, I really need to make this, looks great and simple to make! ;)
Erica says
August 8, 2012 at 6:04 amI still haven’t tried chias! I’ve heard such good things. The pudding sounds yummy. Love that its easily adjustable.
Joanne says
August 8, 2012 at 7:12 amI actually have a pack of chia seeds in my cabinet that I’ve barely broken into. This is just the snack idea I need to get me out of my chia rut!
Sharanya says
August 8, 2012 at 7:19 amawesome recipe looks delectable too :)
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Cheers,
Sharanya
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Hannah says
August 8, 2012 at 7:40 amChia seeds are so wonderful, they’ve become an irreplaceable part of my daily diet and kitchen pantry! Chia pudding is definitely the tastiest way to eat them straight, but once ground, they’re also an excellent binder in baked goods. I must say, I’m impressed that you managed to make such an inherently ugly dish look so delicious in this photo!
Girlnapurpledress says
August 8, 2012 at 5:17 pmThis resembles so much like an Indian sweet pudding I know but not sure if they are the same thing. Looks really easy to make too! Great suggestion for diversifying the diet.
Jeanette says
August 8, 2012 at 5:33 pmChia seed pudding is so fun isn’t it! I made some last summer with coconut milk for my son and he loved it. It does remind me of tapioca pudding. Love all your flavor suggestions.
Heidi @ Food Doodles says
August 8, 2012 at 7:39 pmYummy! I can’t get enough of chia seed pudding :) I especially love it with fruit!
Alyssa (Everyday Maven) says
August 8, 2012 at 10:49 pmThis sounds delicious Faith. I make a Chia seed pudding but not with these flavors. I am going to make this next!
Priti says
August 8, 2012 at 11:21 pmwow this is so easy n looks yum …gud one
Veronica says
August 9, 2012 at 1:54 amI’ve been wanting to try this for a while too! Thanks for giving me the basics–I’ll probably do it this way with cinnamon first-sounds so good! You know what’s cool? I got a bottle of kombucha that was raspberry-chia seed with white chia seeds so they looked more ike they could be raspberry seeds and not as suspicious as black ones would be. Since they get jelly-like in liquid, like you mentioned, they were suspended in the kombucha and when you drank, you kinda had to chew too. It was weird and cool and tasty all at the same time. And I know you can make your own kombucha…so maybe a project for Faith? It toally seems like something you’d do! Oh, here’s the one I’m talking about: http://www.synergydrinks.com/enlightened/synergy_enlightened_raspberryChia.aspx
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
August 9, 2012 at 2:24 amA delicious pudding! Love chia seeds.
angela@spinachtiger says
August 9, 2012 at 7:58 amI’ve been meaning to get more acquainted with chia seeds. I love the nutritional aspect and this looks like a good way to start.
Krista says
August 9, 2012 at 10:22 amThis post makes me want to bust out my much neglected bag of chia seeds!!!
kellie@foodtoglow says
August 9, 2012 at 1:53 pmChia seeds are a little less common over here in old Blighty, and pretty expensive BUT this simple recipe has convinced me to splash the cash. They sound similar in their rehydrated texture to soaked flaxseeds, but I imagine they are much tastier. You certainly don’t see people raving about flaxseed puddings! I am looking forward to trying some of your flavour combos – this cinnamon vanilla one and the peanut butter cup sound scrummy :D
Jenn and Seth says
August 9, 2012 at 2:12 pmi have yet to try chia seeds, you are definitely inspiring me to get some! that pudding looks delicious!
Kim F says
August 9, 2012 at 7:45 pmI just made this. I couldn’t wait for it to thicken so I blended half the recipe in the blender along with a frozen banana. Yum. I love the warmth the cinnamon adds.
Faith says
August 9, 2012 at 7:56 pmKim, I’m so glad you liked it! Sounds delicious with frozen banana…mmm… :)
Asiya @ Chocolate and Chillies says
August 9, 2012 at 11:18 pmI just bought some chia seeds and started making smoothies with them. WIll have to give your pudding a try!
Averie @ Averie Cooks says
August 9, 2012 at 11:19 pmI love chia seed pudding and yours is absolutely gorgeous. Stunning photography, Faith!
grace says
August 10, 2012 at 8:55 ami haven’t tried chia seeds yet, but dang! that bowl of pudding looks amazing, almost like the coat of an exotic animal if you look at it right. cool post, faith. :)
Kelly says
August 11, 2012 at 2:38 pmFound this via Pinterest – mine is thickening in the fridge right now! The chocolate peanut butter pudding sounds amazing too – how much of each ingredient did you add for that?
Faith says
August 11, 2012 at 4:00 pmKelly, I’m so glad you’re trying the pudding, I hope you enjoy it! For the chocolate peanut butter cup, I didn’t really measure anything so I don’t have exact measurements, but I used about 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter and 1/2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (omit the cinnamon from the recipe above, but keep everything else the same). You can adjust the amount of peanut butter, cocoa powder, and sweetener to suit your preferences though. If you try it, let me know how you like it! :)
Nancy-SpicieFoodie says
August 12, 2012 at 10:25 amHi Faith,
I have yet to give Chia a try. Every time I think of it I remember the Chia Pets:) Your pudding looks delicious and if it is similar to tapioca then I know I’ll love it. Love the color tone in your photos. Thanks for sharing!
Evelyne@cheapethniceatz says
August 13, 2012 at 12:49 pmI have some at home and I try to sprinkle them on food. Tried a pudding before and did not like it. But maybe this way, I should give it a shot.
heather says
August 18, 2012 at 12:26 pmMy kiddos and i love chia seeds. This sounds delicious.. Cant wait to make it. Thanks.
Sarah says
September 4, 2012 at 11:14 pmThis is so lovely! I tried it without cinnamon and it’s like eating a subtle vanilla custard, but with texture of course.
It’s such a funny phenomena how most of our male partners just aren’t in to chia seeds, especially in this format. My boyfriend was so grossed out by the idea, which is odd because he loves tapioca pearls and all that. Meh, more for me then!
Veronica says
October 17, 2012 at 3:30 amI like your new feature that shows thumbnails of the bottom of each posts, suggesting other posts we might like. That’s what caused me to stumble across this again and wonder why in the world I still hadn’t made it. So I got off my butt and stirred it together to sit overnight so I can enjoy it tomorrow. I tasted it already and love the flavor so I know it’s gonna be good once thickened. Thanks for your fabulous recipes!
Diane says
October 22, 2012 at 3:46 pmTried this but it did not thicken to pudding consistency; it’s a liquid with a bunch of tapiocal-like seeds throughout. (still delicious though). What could be the reason for this? Is it possible I measured out too few chia seeds?
Faith says
October 22, 2012 at 3:53 pmDiane, Yes, that is the most likely cause, or it might be that the pudding needed to set longer. Hope this helps!
Amber says
December 4, 2012 at 7:50 pmI made this today and it was so satisfying! I ended up scaling the recipe back a little because I only had 2 Tablespoons of seeds. After 3 hours it hadn’t sent up enough, but I REALLY wanted to eat it, so I mixed in one scoop of vanilla whey protein and a little bit of melted coconut oil. Hard to believe that something could taste so SINFUL and be so healthy! Thanks for the recipe!
Rhonda says
December 18, 2012 at 7:53 pmBefore I saw this recipe I used one that was published in my newspaper, very similar to this, but only used 1 1/2 Tablespoons of chia seed for 2 cups of milk. Definitely not enough! So the next time I tried 2 Tbsp. per cup. Very good, but still a little bit thin. Glad to see that it wasn’t just me, but the proportions really were wrong!
I loved this “pudding”! Very yummy and satisfying!
Kenda says
January 18, 2013 at 8:13 amEating this while typing! It’s MARVELOUS! Will definitely be eating this a lot! Thank you!
Jessica says
January 26, 2013 at 1:26 pmMade this twice this week- first attempt with cow’s milk (although delicious) did not congeal even after letting it sit overnight and adding an extra tablespoon of chia. Did some research and read one blog that suggested chia seeds absorb liquid differentially. This made me think that maybe the chia I have just doesn’t absorb that much liquid and that I’ll simply need to use much more- so I doubled up the next time. On my second attempt, however, I used freshly homemade (room temperature) almond milk and allowed all ingredients to set for about 45 min at room temperature. It began congealing immediately and I ended up adding much more almond milk, which the chia took on without an issue. So in ase anyones having issues with liquid absorption, it may be a matter of liquid type (cows milk vs a nut milk) or temperature (cold vs room temp). I think it says a lot though that the flavors made it worth a second shot- really – lovely recipe, reminds me of a much healthier version of arroz con leche.
Courtney says
February 10, 2013 at 9:24 pmMine has been in the fridge for over 12 hour and still hasnt thickened =( though it smells and tastes DELICIOUS!
Sarah @ SimplyScrumptiousBySarah says
March 8, 2013 at 8:19 pmThis is an amazing idea!! Instead of eating unhealthy carbs you get healthy fats! Love it!
Joyce says
March 25, 2013 at 10:59 pmI put the chia seeds and flax milk in a cup and went back to work. Several hours later, when I took a break, I went to the kitchen and it had thickened just fine. I added some vanilla, a packet of stevia, and sprinkled some cinnamon on it. Stirred it all up, tasted it, and wow! I love it! This would be a great breakfast or dessert for me. Comes at a great time since I’m trying to kick a sugar addiction! Thank you for sharing.
running sealey says
April 5, 2013 at 6:44 amMade this last night…so good. Thanks!
RenskeRia says
April 5, 2013 at 2:44 pmA yummie breakfast before you go on a run or yogaclass!
Heidi says
June 3, 2013 at 2:54 pmI just made this as the recipe states and used vanilla coconut milk as the liquid. I put it in the fridge for 2 hours, and it thickened just fine but was a little clumpy. So, I whisked it with a fork a little and it was perfect. Oh my goodness, this is SO GOOD. I was afraid I’d hate the texture, but it doesn’t bother me at all! Thanks! :D
Shannon says
June 14, 2013 at 4:32 pmjust came across this!! can’t wait to try chia seeds!!
spinach4breakfast says
September 15, 2013 at 5:33 pmThis was delish! I added some fresh blueberries :)
Ginny says
May 6, 2014 at 9:37 amI’ve made the Chia Pudding and have enjoyed eating it…reminds me of eating tapioca. Have added a little oatmeal and ate it for breakfast.
Heather says
July 8, 2014 at 5:37 pmLove this thank you
Norma says
August 12, 2014 at 3:33 pmI made some today, and guess what I’m in love!! So good, thanks for sharing.
Faith says
August 13, 2014 at 6:37 amNorma, I’m so glad you enjoyed it, thanks so much for letting me know! :)
Anne says
September 6, 2015 at 1:56 pmI made this and let it sit covered in the fridge. After 12 hours I was eager to enjoy a creamy thick pudding like your picture. Instead I was disappointed to find a milky soupy “beverage”. I followed the recipe as instructed…stirring it occasionally for the 1st hour (then I went to bed to allow it to thicken overnight). The only change I made was adding 4 drops of liquid stevia instead of powdered stevia. You get a pudding after only chilling for 2 hours? I can’t figure out what I did wrong.
Brenda says
February 11, 2016 at 7:41 pmOn a Keto diet…this sounds DELICIOUS! Can’t wait to try, thanks for posting!