Healthy Banana Chia Pudding

What’s A Banana Chia Seed Pudding?

A chia seed pudding is a 3-ingredient healthy vegan breakfast made of chia seeds, plant-based milk, and sweetener.

It’s a healthy alternative to oatmeal, flaxseed pudding, or overnight oats recipes for breakfast. Also, chia puddings are paleo, grain-free, and low in carbs.

This banana chia seed pudding is a flavored version of the classic chia pudding, adding fresh banana pieces and a few spices to flavor it.

How To Make Chia Pudding With Bananas

Below, I will give you all my tips and tricks to make the best banana chia pudding. If you want to see the recipe measurements, jump to the recipe below!

So, the key to making a delicious banana pudding is to choose a yellow, fresh banana.

Don’t use ripe bananas in chia pudding, or the pudding turns grey, and dark in color, and the banana flavor is too strong.

Choice Of Ingredients

So the ingredients you need to make this whole30 chia banana pudding are:

• Large banana – yellow, no- or very few black spots on the skin to avoid a dark pudding.
• Chia seeds – white or black chia seeds work well. I prefer the white chia seeds to keep the color of this banana chia pudding recipe light.
• Unsweetened almond milk – of course, any plant-based milk will work here, but I found the flavor of oat milk overpowering in chia pudding, so I often prefer almond milk.
• Maple syrup – this is optional, but if you have a sweet tooth, adding a touch of maple syrup brings out the sweeteners of the banana, and you will love the light maple flavor it also adds to the recipe.
• Vanilla extract – It’s optional as well, but any pudding is better with a hint of vanilla!

Combine The Ingredients

First, prepare a tall glass mason jar with a volume of about 2 cups (500ml) with a sealed lid.

Then, peel the banana and mash with a fork roughly. I like to keep banana chunks in my pudding for texture.

Pour the mashed banana into the jar and stir in almond milk, vanilla, and maple syrup.

If you want to make a banana peanut butter chia pudding, stir 2 tablespoons of drippy peanut butter in the jar.

Finally, add the chia seeds, give a good stir, close the jar’s lid, and shake for a few seconds.

Refrigerate

Finally, place the jar in the fridge and refrigerate for 20 minutes. After that time, open the jar and give a good stir to avoid the seeds from clumping together or gravitating to the bottom of your jar.

Close the lid, shake a few seconds again and place it back in the refrigerator overnight.

Creating Different Flavors

Chia puddings are perfect for meal prepping a week of healthy vegan breakfast.

They are also very versatile, meaning that you can add only 1 or 2 ingredients to this recipe to create amazing new flavors!

• Peanut butter banana chia pudding – stir in 2 tablespoons of peanut butter in the jar along with the banana, maple syrup, and vanilla. Then, add almond milk and chia seeds.
• Banana chocolate chia pudding – stir in 1 1/2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the jar, just before adding the chia seeds.
• Banana coconut pudding – use canned coconut milk instead of almond milk and add 2 tablespoons of unsweetened shredded coconut to the jar.

Serving Banana Chia Pudding

A chia seed pudding is even better served with lots of toppings.

Add toppings

Always add the toppings just before serving, not the day before. Below I listed my favorite vegan toppings that go very well with this banana chia seed pudding recipe.

• Nut butter – add a drizzle of your favorite nut butter on top of the pudding. Almond butter, cashew butter, or my favorite combo: peanut butter, banana, and chia!
• Fruits – sliced bananas, fresh or frozen raspberries, blueberries, or strawberries. All these fruits go well with this chia banana pudding with almond milk.
• Nuts – sprinkle roasted peanuts, sliced almonds, crushed pecans, or walnuts.
• Seeds – add plant-based proteins to your pudding by adding some hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, or sesame seeds.
• Coconut – toasted coconut flakes or shredded coconut marry very well with bananas.
• Chocolate – a drizzle of melted dark chocolate or chunks of 85% cocoa chocolate

Make layers!

An even better way to serve a chia pudding is to make layers of different food flavors and textures.

First, add a layer of banana chia pudding. Then, add a layer of fresh coconut yogurt and sliced banana. Repeat until you reach the top of the jar.

Finally, drizzle nut butter, add more banana slices, and crushed toasted nuts! Et voila, it is ready to eat!

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Chia Puddings Healthy?

Chia puddings are one of the healthiest breakfasts to start the day and are even more powerful on a vegan diet. In fact, chia seeds’ nutritional properties are complete.

Two tablespoons of chia seeds will bring you:

• 17% RDI in calcium.
• 10 grams of fiber – the daily recommendation is about 30 grams.
• 12% RDI iron.
• 23% RDI magnesium.
• 9 grams of fat – they are full-fat seeds but a good kind of fat, mostly polyunsaturated fat.

Plus, chia pudding is whole30-compliant, low-carb, and keto-friendly, if not made with banana, of course. It’s the perfect addition to any healthy meal plan to start the day with energy!

How Does Banana Pudding Taste?

This banana chia pudding is very similar to tapioca puddings in texture.

It is fresh, creamy, with slimy little pieces of chia seeds. It has a delicious maple banana flavor.