Make Ahead Chocolate Breakfast Pudding

It’s no new thing to mix chia with milk and call it breakfast, but this chocolate chia pudding is better than you might think. Using Dutch process cocoa, creamy milk, and sweetening with honey make for a particularly tasty chia pudding that you’ll be happy to have on hand for a quick breakfast or snack.

You can have this made in just a couple of minutes and keep in containers in the refrigerator for a really easy, satisfying make-ahead breakfast. It’s good as is but best layered with some fresh or frozen berries. I recommend frozen raspberries and you can also try layering with plain or flavoured yogurt for a little variation.

This is adapted from my chocolate chia mousse, which is blended to remove the chia seed texture. If you want to have chia pudding but don’t love the actual seeds, try that recipe!

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Ingredients You’ll Need and Why

You need just a handful of ingredients for this pudding, and they’re all staples. These are my notes from recipe testing and you can find the full recipe card below.

• Milk: this can be any type of milk, but note that it will impact the taste and texture of the pudding. The creamier the milk, the creamier the pudding. Don’t use a watery milk or non-dairy alternative unless that’s what you’re going for. I like soya or cashew milk here. If you want a thicker, more substantial pudding, replace most of the milk with yogurt. See yogurt chia pudding.
• Chia seeds: black or white, it doesn’t matter. I haven’t tried this recipe with ground chia and know that the amount would need to change, so if you only have ground chia seeds, you’ll have to test the right quantity.
• Cocoa: use Dutch process for the best flavour. Any type of cocoa will work in a pinch but Dutched is smoothest and with the best chocolate taste. I also keep cocoa powder in a cool dry place to prevent it from spoiling.
• Honey: substitute maple syrup or another sweetener for a fully vegan alternative. Be sure to adjust the sweetener to taste, especially if you’re not using honey, which is sweeter than maple syrup and white sugar.
• Vanilla extract: a little vanilla boosts the chocolate flavour and makes the pudding taste sweeter. You can use vanilla paste or powder instead if preferred.

How to Make Chocolate Chia Pudding

If you’re using thick, creamed honey, mix it with the cocoa, vanilla, and just a splash of milk first. Creamed honey is tricky to whisk into larger quantities of milk but whisking with a little milk initially makes it much easier to incorporate into the pudding base.

Step 1: whisk the honey, milk, cocoa, and vanilla together in a bowl. The cocoa might want to float to the top of the mixture but it’ll fully incorporate once the chia seeds are added. Make sure to taste this mixture before adding the seeds.

Step 2: stir in the chia, whisking well to prevent any seed clumps. Since this recipe uses milk and not yogurt or canned coconut milk, it’s best to whisk once and then again after 15 minutes or so, to keep the chia seeds from sinking to the bottom.

Step 3: refrigerate for a few hours or overnight and your chocolate chia pudding is ready to serve. You can keep it in the larger bowl or container or prep smaller containers to have single servings ready to go.

Step 4: top or layer with anything you like and serve cold. I almost always use frozen berries because I find they keep better than fresh fruit. My preference is to add quite a bit of fruit to my chia pudding for some variation but it’s up to you.

Expert Tips for Perfect Pudding

• Use Dutch process: acidity regulated cocoa is smoother and has a deeper chocolate flavour than natural cocoa. I think chocolate chia pudding tastes better using Dutch process. If you prefer to use raw cacao or natural cocoa, though, feel free, but note that the pudding will have more bitter notes than one made with Dutched cocoa.
• Mix more than you think you need: cocoa is hydrophobic, which makes it difficult to mix into cold liquids. Mixing initially with the honey (see above) can also make this easier, but otherwise just really whisk and beat the cocoa into the milk until it combines. (It mixes easily into warm milk, but you don’t want to heat the milk up for chia pudding.)
• Taste before chilling: if you don’t like how the milk mixture tastes before adding the chia seeds, you won’t like the chia pudding either. It should taste like chocolate milk. If it’s not sweet enough for you, or doesn’t have enough chocolate flavour, and so on, you should adjust before mixing in the chia.
• Don’t skip the vanilla: a splash of vanilla extract adds sweetness and depth to the pudding. If you leave it out, it’ll taste flat. If you don’t have vanilla you can try other spices like cardamom and cinnamon, or something like orange zest.
• Keep your chia cold: store chia seeds in fridge or freezer to prevent them from going rancid. Fresh chia should have almost no scent at all. If the seeds smell unpleasant, they’re spoiled.

More Chia Seed Recipes

• Yogurt chia pudding – a high protein option, this is my personal favourite chia pudding. It’s more like müsli and the yogurt adds a lot of oomph.
• Coconut milk chia pudding – more like a dessert, the coconut milk is rich and has a more decadent feel, especially when layered with fresh or frozen fruit.
• Chocolate coconut overnight oats – shredded coconut brings in a little more sweetness, like a bounty bar in breakfast form.
• Chocolate raspberry vegan protein shake – no powders here! Seeds and nut butter add up to a whopping 21 grams of protein and 20 grams of fibre per serving.

If you make this Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding recipe or any other vegetarian breakfast recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.