How to Make Dairy Free Raspberry Chia Pudding
If you’re looking for another versatile and delicious treat to add to your dairy-free repertoire, this Raspberry Chia Pudding recipe is a winner!
Let’s explore what makes it so great – and then get to the recipe!
A Wholesome Treat for Any Time of Day!
Let's let you in on a secret.
We’ve called it a pudding, but you can eat it whenever you wish!
Whether you want to make this the night before for a convenient breakfast, take it to work as a snack, or serve it as a delightful dessert you whipped up and put in the refrigerator while dinner was cooking, the choice is yours.
You could even make a batch at the start of the week, so you have it ready whenever you wish! It's also an excellent option for ensuring your children go to school having eaten something healthy or as a nutritious snack when they get home if dinner isn't for a few hours.
A Nutritional Powerhouse
The star ingredient of this recipe – chia seeds – are a nutritional powerhouse that provide a range of benefits for your body.
- Their high fiber content means you'll feel fuller for longer than if you ate a sugary snack or something with low nutritional value, and they'll also make digestion smoother.
- The significant volume of omega-3 fatty acids makes chia seeds heart-healthy while also potentially lowering your blood pressure.
- They're packed with calcium, so they may contribute towards improved bone health, as well as protein – and help you answer that question when people who aren't plant-based ask you where you get your calcium and protein from if you don't consume dairy milk or meat!
- They also contain several antioxidants, including quercetin, which can further reduce your risk of heart disease as well as several other conditions. Antioxidants in chia seeds also protect their sensitive fats and help them maintain their nutritional integrity for longer and can also help neutralize free radicals in your body.
And on top of the chia seeds - or should that be mixed up with them? - you have our Unsweetened Hazelnut Milk. Crafted with our patented HydroRelease™ method that maintains the nutritional value of the nuts, our Hazelnut Milk is rich in essential nutrients like iron, potassium, and vitamin E – plus calcium and protein to add to what you’re already getting from the chia seeds!
Colossal Flavors from Simple Ingredients
The true magic of this recipe lies in its simplicity and the natural sweetness of the raspberries, not to mention the unique texture created by combining all these ingredients.
In the recipe below, we use our Unsweetened Hazelnut Milk, which gives you a subtle nutty flavor that pairs beautifully with the sharpness of your raspberries. And the addition of a touch of maple syrup and vanilla enhances the all-natural flavors without overwhelming your taste buds.
And this recipe isn’t just versatile in terms of when you eat it, either.
If you prefer a slightly different background flavor profile, try another one of our Plant Milks instead! Any of them will work in this recipe, but here are our suggestions for alternatives to try:
- Our Unsweetened Cashew Milk is perfect if you’re looking for something buttery and creamy, and is the closest thing to a dairy-free milk that acts like the dairy version.
- Go for our Unsweetened Oat Milk to bring the flavor focus on the raspberries and add even more fiber.
- Try our Unsweetened Coconut Cashew Milk if you want to add another subtle flavor and make your Raspberry Chia Pudding taste even more refreshing and summery.
Recipe created by Jess Hoffman aka @choosingchia
Serves: 1-2
Breakfast or dessert, this raspberry chia pudding is the perfect anytime treat. It's easy to make, dairy-free, gluten-free and super creamy. It's also a tasty way to fuel up - chia seeds have a number of health benefits since they're packed with fiber, healthy fats, calcium, and antioxidants.
INGREDIENTS:
- • ¾ cup Elmhurst Unsweetened Hazelnut Milk
- • 1 cup Raspberries
- • 1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
- • ½ tsp Vanilla
- • 5 Tbsp Chia Seeds
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Add everything except the chia seeds to a blender and blend until well combined
- In a bowl or container, combine the chia seeds and raspberry mixture
- Cover and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour to set, or overnight
Enjoy as is or top with fresh berries & your favorite dairy-free yogurt!
And It’s Easy to Customize Yourself!
You should always consider a recipe as a starting point, which is why so many of our recipes are deliberately adaptable and leave plenty of room for improvisation.
And our Raspberry Chia Pudding is no different!
Consider:
- Adding a scoop of your favorite plant-based protein powder before blending. Not only will this deliver a protein boost, but it's also ideal if you want a thicker consistency without adding more chia seeds. You may need to play around with your volumes of protein powder, chia seeds, and your chosen Plant Milk to get it exactly how you want! In any case, if you feel your Raspberry Chia Seed Pudding is too thick when it comes out of the refrigerator, it's easy to add a splash of your milk to loosen it up.
- Swapping the raspberries for blueberries, strawberries, or even trying a mix of berries. We recommend always sticking to berries – or, at a push, cranberry seeds – as they’ll combine beautifully with your chia seeds mixture, but feel free to experiment with any fruit you can cut up into small pieces!
- Trying different toppings. We suggest fresh berries and dairy-free yogurt above, but nuts and seeds or a scoop of your favorite healthy coconut cream will work well. If you're serving this to the kids, vegan chocolate pieces are also a winner, and you can easily have a selection of toppings ready on the breakfast table.
Incorporating some of these customizations as well as your own will help keep your diet exciting and nutritious and enable the entire family to find the version of this recipe that they love most.
