Carob Chia Pudding

Chia Pudding

This is the part of the story where I tell you to make sweet, creamy pudding out of seeds, and you think to yourself, “She’s lost her rocker.”

Before you reach for that little “X” at the top right of your screen, I can explain.

Here’s how it goes:

Pudding – one of my favorite desserts – typically uses some sort of highly refined ingredient (like corn starch) to make it thick.  Not so healthy.

Enter: chia.  Chia has some super amazing qualities to it, one of which is its thickening ability. Just mix some chia with liquid, wait a few minutes, and it’s thick.

The happy part is that chia is a healthy, whole food – no modified whatchamastarch going on here. And, unlike most other thickeners, it’s very high in fiber (which is really helpful for weight loss).

Taste? Chia is very mild tasting, so you can incorporate it into just about any recipe and hardly notice.

8 Things You Should Know About Chia Seeds

1. The skinny chia

chia-skinny

Chia seeds are loaded with fiber which has been shown to help with weight loss and diabetes.

Fiber also feeds the good microbes in your gut thereby improving digestion.

2. They’re naturally gluten-free

chia-gluten-free

Chia seeds are naturally gluten free. If you are needing to avoid gluten, chia is a healthy option for you.

3. A chia mustache!

chia-milk-4

Chia offers more calcium than milk – about six times more!

4. I’m bananas for chia

chia-banana

Chia seeds have two times more potassium than bananas.

5. More omega-3 fats than fish. 

chia-fish-omega-3

Chia is an excellent source of omega-3 fats. In fact, these little seeds give you more omega-3s than fish!

And research shows that women who get their omega-3s from plant sources, like chia, have higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood than those who get their omega-3s from fish or other animal products. Why? Omega-3s are found in a more stable form, ALA, in vegetables, fruits, and beans.

In addition to beating out fish as a source of omega-3’s, chia seeds contain less cholesterol than fish (chia contains zero), and are not tainted with mercury and other environmental toxins as is fish.

6. Chia up. Cholesterol down.

chia-cholesterol

Speaking of cholesterol, research suggests that chia seeds may help increase HDL (good) cholesterol while reducing blood triglycerides.

7. Protein packed

chia-egg-protein

One ounce of chia seed delivers 4.4 grams protein.

8. Texture to order

chia-ground

If you’re not into the fun, frog-egg texture of whole chia seeds, you can grind them into a powder in a coffee grinder or a blender.

Carob Chia Pudding

Carob-Chia-1
Chia Pudding Recipe

Carob Chia Pudding

Both carob and chia are good sources of fiber and calcium.
Prep Time 7 minutes
Cook Time 3 minutes
Inactive Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 10 minutes
Course Dessert
YIELD 2 cups
All recipes on jenniferskitchen.com are property of jennifer’s kitchen and cannot be republished without written permission.

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Mix together almond milk and chia seed. Set aside.
  • In a saucepan, mix together coconut milk, sugar, and salt (and Teeccino if using) and cook over high heat until sugar is dissolved. (About 2 minutes.) Remove from heat.
  • Mix carob powder into chia and almond milk mixture. If your carob powder is clumpy, sift through a sieve first.
  • Add vanilla and mix well.
  • Add chia/carob mixture to coconut milk mixture in saucepan. Mix well.
  • Place in refrigerator to chill overnight.

Notes

If you want your pudding to be super smooth, place ingredients in blender after they have all been combined (step 5) and blend well. Place in frig to chill.I found it interesting that the smooth, blended pudding didn’t taste as sweet as the regular chia pudding. You may want a bit of extra sweetener if you blend it.
Yield: 2 cups (4 1/2-cup servings)

>> One quick request: if you like this recipe, please leave a rating and a comment. Ratings help more people find these healthy recipes!

Print Recipe

Want More?

For more healthy and delicious recipes like this one that will simplify your journey to a healthier and thinner you, check out my

Healthy Weight Loss Program!
Did you make this recipe?Mention @JennifersKitchn or tag #JennifersKitchn!

Health Benefits of Carob

Carob is a super healthy food! It’s a great source of antioxidants, fiber, B vitamins, and calcium. Check out my recipes using carob. And here are some of my favorites:

Is chocolate a healthy food?

Chocolate does provide some antioxidants, but it also contains many harmful (and potentially addictive) chemicals, including phenylethylamine, theophylline, theobromine, and caffeine.

These chemicals have been shown to stress the kidneys, the adrenals, and the liver.

They also contribute to lower bone density; cause a loss of vitamin B and vitamin C in the body; increase the risk of diabetes; aggravate PMS; cause migraines and mood swings; and contribute to weight gain.

If you want to prevent these health problems, avoid chocolate.  Carob is a much healthier option. Don’t have any carob on hand? Here’s where you can get the best carob.

You can read more about chocolate’s unhealthy effects in a post I wrote here.


You my also like:

Before you go . . .

Did you know that you can eat all this delicious food AND lose weight? You can!

No calorie counting. No portion sizes.

Join my online weight loss program today!

Please consider leaving a star rating and a comment. This helps others discover my recipes. Thank you! 🙂

7 Comments

  1. Thank you for the excellent information on chia seed. When I learned that chia was somewhat calorie dense I thought I wouldn’t be able to use it as much as I like but didn’t realize that it can actually have a weight loss effect. Also, It’s really good to know that it’s so high in calcium, something that’s important for me to get more of. The recipe looks amazing. I have all the ingredients so hope to make it soon.

  2. Hi, thanks for the carob chia recipe. I do wish that instead of (or in addition to) providing a link to Amazon for ingredient purchase, there would be a link bringing us to a a recipe for preparing that ingredient from scratch. For instance, I have carob nibs, which I’m thinking I could toast and then grind. I also have a Vitamix and I’m pretty certain I could make my own almond milk. By definition, I like blogs such as yours because I want to prepare plant-based recipes from scratch. Thanks for considering this.

    1. Thank you, Lee, for the suggestion. That’s a good idea, and I’ll certainly do that if I’m able.

      Also, I should mention, I created and tested this recipe with store-bought almond milk (to make it easier for busy people); and, since homemade almond milk turns out quite different than commercial almond milk, the results may not be the same if homemade is used.

      Thanks again! I hope you enjoy!

      Jennifer

      1. But please always either amazon or also still have the amazon link. I have found that to be very helpful.

        Thx Deb Giordano

      2. But please always either mention amazon or also still have the amazon link. I have found that to be very helpful.

        Thx Deb Giordano

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.