A Chia Pudding Recipe for Spring

If you’ve ever thought about mixing a strawberry smoothie and chia pudding into one, you’d be right on with this strawberry chia pudding. The base is a yogurt strawberry smoothie (a lot like strawberry milk), then with chia seeds mixed in and chilled for a lightly sweet, very strawberry-forward chia pudding.

Keep in mind that since this is made with fruit blended in to the pudding, it doesn’t last quite as long as other chia pudding recipes. It doesn’t spoil, but the flavour won’t be as pleasant after three days, so it’s best to serve within three days after making it. In my experience it does keep a little longer with freeze-dried berries.

I tested this recipe with fresh, frozen, and freeze-dried strawberries, and each version turned out great. The amounts for all three are included in the recipe so you have some flexibility with how you make it.

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Ingredients You’ll Need and Why

Note that the amount of yogurt and milk is a little less than in other chia pudding recipes I’ve shared, and that’s because the strawberries add a lot of liquid. These are my notes from recipe testing and you can find the full recipe card below with complete measurements and instructions.

• Strawberries: fresh, frozen, or freeze-dried. If you’re using freeze-dried, though, increase the amount of liquid as outlined in the recipe card or the pudding will be too thick.
• Milk: any type of milk you like. I don’t recommend canned coconut milk but any that can be poured will be fine.
• Yogurt: a thicker yogurt will make for a chia pudding with a better texture, but you can use reduced fat yogurt if that’s your preference. I use plain soya yogurt for this. Other non-dairy yogurts like coconut will be a little sweeter.
• Chia seeds: any colour of chia, it doesn’t matter. I haven’t tried with ground chia seeds.
• Maple syrup: optional, depending on how sweet the berries are and how sweet you want the pudding to be. Substitute honey if preferred, but be sure to taste and adjust for sweetness. Dates can be used to sweeten if you want to use fruit but would still like a sweeter pudding.
• Salt: a tiny pinch of salt makes the pudding more balanced and enhances the other flavours more. You can leave it out if preferred.
• Vanilla extract: this boosts the strawberry flavour. Extract can be switched out for vanilla powder or paste.

How to Make Strawberry Chia Pudding

You can use a blender or immersion blender to make the strawberry base, but it should be smooth and fully blended before mixing in the chia seeds. These photos are for illustrative purposes, so that you can see what each step should look like.

Step 1: place all of the ingredients but the chia seeds in a blender or blending container. If you’re using an immersion blender that isn’t very powerful, you might need to partially or fully thaw the berries if they’re not breaking down.

Step 2: blend until very smooth. This will take a little longer using frozen and freeze-dried berries than it will with fresh strawberries. Taste at this point and add more sweetener if needed to suit your personal preference.

Step 3: transfer to a bowl and whisk in the chia seeds. This is thick enough that one mix will do the trick and there’s no need to whisk once and then again after a few minutes – but be sure to whisk the seeds in well to avoid clumps.

Step 4: refrigerate for at least two hours, until the seeds have absorbed the liquid and you have a thick pudding.

Expert Tips for the Perfect Chia Pudding

• Use good berries: out of season fresh strawberries and some bad-quality frozen berries won’t taste like much. If you’re not getting the strong strawberry flavour you’re after, that’s probably why. Strawberries are never worth buying out of season!
• Taste before adding the seeds: the best way to know if everything tastes the way you’d like is to try it first. It’s much easier to adjust before the chia seeds are added so that you can add more sweetener or even more berries if needed.
• Store chia somewhere cold: like any seeds, chia will go rancid if kept in a warm place. Keep them out of the sun and in a cool, dry place or in the refrigerator or freezer to keep them fresh. Chia seeds shouldn’t smell like anything.

More Chia Pudding Recipes

• Chocolate Chia Pudding – you could definitely make a combination of these two recipes for a chocolate strawberry chia pudding!
• Yogurt chia pudding – the strawberry chia pudding is adapted from this recipe, and it’s a great simple pudding that you can adjust with different fruits and add-ins.
• Coconut Milk Chia Pudding – a richer, creamier version, this is more like a dessert and has a nice light coconut flavour.
• Chocolate Chia Mousse – a blended version of chia pudding, it’s thick, creamy, and an excellent light dessert.

If you make this Strawberry 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.