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Home » Recipes » Desserts » Instant & Smooth Chocolate Chia Pudding

Instant & Smooth Chocolate Chia Pudding

By Taesha Butler June 13, 2016 (Updated August 9, 2021) 46 Comments

Servings6
Prep Time5 mins
Total Time5 mins
Jump to Recipe
5 from 5 votes

This Chocolate Chia Pudding is quick, easy and amazingly delicious. Made in your blender, this healthy dessert is also smooth and requires no baking! Vegan + Paleo

Overhead on the delicious Instant Chocolate Chia Pudding served in seven glass jars with a spoon right in-between them.

Chocolate chia pudding

I’ve made a lot of chia puddings in my day…..but *this* one is my favorite. Instant, made in two minutes (for real), smooth, loaded with protieny goodness chocolate chia pudding.

I know like a mama, a food blogger shouldn’t play favorites among her recipes….but I can’t help myself. Some recipes are special and this one absolutely is.

Instant Chocolate Chia Pudding looking super inviting with one spoon dipped inside the central jar covered with chocolate chunks

Chia pudding “fish eyes”

Chia pudding is known for being an amazing way to get Omega-3 and protein loaded chia seeds into one’s diet in an easy and tasty way. However, so so so many people simply can’t handle its tapioca texture and the sight of the black “fish eye” seeds (as one child put it to me). I get it. Absolutely.

Closeup of the delicious chocolate chia pudding served in a jar with plenty of other jars blurred around it and a metal spoon inside a brownish metal tray

Also….challenge accepted. The challenge to make a smooth chocolate chia pudding that masked the chia seeds for those “selective eaters”. TNNers, I totally did it.

All of the ingredients necessary for this recipe ready in portions on a wooden table.

My little trick

I found that by mixing the chia pudding in the blender for a few minutes, it not only gave the pudding a lovely smooth texture, but it also made it instantly thicken. No waiting around for the chia seeds to gel. No making it the night before or waiting 2-4 hours to enjoy your chia pudding.

You can decide in the moment that you want some chia pudding and literally be eating it in two minutes. Mixing chia pudding in my blender is now one of my new favorite kitchen shortcuts.

I traded in the black “fish eye” chia seeds for white chia seeds in the pudding, making them a little less detectable to those who don’t care for the visual appearance of of chia seeds (like my daughter).

Yeah, white chia seeds are totally a thing. I know! I was shocked too! Here is the kind I use.

So, this chocolate chia pudding is all sort of magical. Fast, healthy, smooth, and (most importantly) chocolate.

Other dessert recipes you are going to adore

  • Coconut Chia Pudding (Paleo & vegan)
  • Egg-Free Chocolate Butternut Squash Muffins
  • Healthy Chocolate Muffins (with butternut squash)
  • Chocolate Chip Paleo Pumpkin Muffins

Loving this chocolate chia pudding and hungry for more?

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Beautiful light falling on the jars of the delicious pudding made with chocolate and chia
Print Recipe
5 from 5 votes

Instant & Smooth Chocolate Chia Pudding

This Chocolate Chia Pudding is quick, easy and amazingly delicious. Made in your blender, this healthy dessert is also smooth and requires no baking! Vegan + Paleo
Prep Time5 mins
Total Time5 mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chia pudding with chocolate, chocolate chia pudding recipe, instant chia pudding recipe
Servings: 6
Calories: 276kcal
Author: Taesha Butler

Ingredients 

  • 2 cup full fat coconut milk or almond milk
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup or honey or to taste
  • 1/2 cup chia seeds
  • 1/3 cup cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder

Instructions 

  • Combine all ingredients in a blender.
  • Blend on high speed for 2 minutes or until pudding is desired thickness. You may need to scrape down the sides of your blender once or twice to make sure all ingredients are well blended into the pudding. Taste for sweetness and add extra maple syrup/honey if desired.
  • Portion out into 6 small containers. Either enjoy immediately (it will be slightly warm from the blending process) or chill in fridge until you are ready to enjoy it (and you will!)
  • Will last in fridge 5-6 days.

Notes

  • I traded in the black “fish eye” chia seeds for white chia seeds in the pudding, making them a little less detectable to those who don’t care for the visual appearance of of chia seeds (like my daughter).

Nutrition

Calories: 276kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Sodium: 15mg | Potassium: 336mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 129mg | Iron: 4mg

The nutritional information is provided as an estimate only and may vary based on the product type, servings and other factors. If you are following a diet, please consult with a professional nutritionist or your doctor. Stay healthy!

This post contains affiliate links, though all opinions are my own. When you purchase anything using my links, it costs you absolutely nothing extra, but it does kicks The Natural Nurturer a little financial love to keep doing what we do. Thank you for your continued support, both with your dollars and your interest.

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Filed Under: Desserts, Gluten-Free, No Cook, Vegan, Vegetarian

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    Comments

  1. Renee

    June 13, 2016 at 5:30 pm

    Gah! Why didn’t I ever think to blend them first?! Great idea! We’ll be making it this week!

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      June 21, 2016 at 4:10 am

      Thanks! I hope your crew loves it as much as mine does!

      Reply
  2. Michele Spring

    June 16, 2016 at 2:34 am

    PERFECT for the kiddo’s snacks. Every morning I freak out before leaving for work, but THIS will be on the rotation for sure. You rock lady! 🙂

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      June 21, 2016 at 4:09 am

      Aw! What a great compliment! Thank you, Michele!

      Reply
  3. Carri

    June 16, 2016 at 2:55 pm

    Can I use the dark chia seeds if I don’t have white

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      June 21, 2016 at 4:08 am

      Yes! I just made it that way yesterday!

      Reply
  4. Shanequa Wade

    June 22, 2016 at 3:18 pm

    Could I use raw milk?

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      June 25, 2016 at 8:14 pm

      Hmmmm….never tried it but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work!

      Reply
  5. Brittany Wight

    July 11, 2016 at 6:36 pm

    Yesss! I love regular ol’ coconut milk chia pudding. I’ve added rosewater before as well. Now on to chocolate! This looks so delicious.

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      July 29, 2016 at 7:50 pm

      Oooohhh I love the idea of rosewater

      Reply
  6. Lara

    July 11, 2016 at 10:03 pm

    Yum! We love this dessert. It’s so simple and so good that we sometimes have it for breakfast!

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      July 29, 2016 at 7:50 pm

      I love desserts that are healthy enough for breakfast!

      Reply
  7. Ruth

    August 5, 2016 at 10:29 am

    Wow this sounds amazing! I can’t find white chia seeds, would it be ok to use black ones at all?

    Reply
  8. Julie

    February 17, 2017 at 1:56 am

    Hmm, my ninja wouldn’t break down the chia seeds so you could still feel them. What kind of blender did you guys use?

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      February 20, 2017 at 5:10 pm

      Really? So interesting! I use a Vitamix, but originally made this recipe with a simple, no-bells-or-whistles Kitchen Aid blender.

      Reply
  9. Rebekah

    March 8, 2017 at 8:27 pm

    My boys love this, but they prefer to call it "coconut chocolate mud" because it doesn’t quite have the same texture as pudding.

    Reply
  10. Courtney

    July 2, 2017 at 10:48 pm

    My blender wouldn’t break down the chia seeds either. But luckily I was at the grocery store and found ground chia seeds- who knew!

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      July 10, 2017 at 3:49 am

      Ohhhhh! Good to know!

      Reply
  11. Tori

    August 21, 2017 at 3:40 pm

    i have used a coffee bean blender to grind chia seeds and flax seeds and it works great!! they aren’t that expensive and you just might find one at a thrift shop! i will be making this recipe soon 🙂

    Reply
  12. Lori Rheiner

    September 24, 2017 at 4:43 pm

    Could Chocolate Protein Powder be used as a substitute for the cacao?

    Reply
  13. L76

    November 15, 2017 at 1:44 pm

    This sounds amazing! Is the coconut milk in the recipe the kind you get in a can for cooking, or is it the kind you get in a carton as a milk substitute?

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      November 20, 2017 at 8:57 pm

      I always used canned, but the kind from a carton could also work!

      Reply
  14. Julie Priddy

    February 9, 2018 at 5:07 am

    Is it the same quantity of coconut milk ie: 2 1/2 cups?

    Reply
  15. Jacque

    February 25, 2018 at 1:42 am

    Has anyone tried freezing this in batches? How does it do once thawed?

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      March 12, 2018 at 3:41 am

      Oh I’d be curious to hear if anyone has tried this! I’d be concerned about it separating during the thawing process.

      Reply
      • Liberty

        July 13, 2018 at 2:55 am

        I made this and froze the leftovers in silicon ice pop molds. It didn’t separate, and the taste reminded me of the fudgecicles I used to eat as a kid. Only better, with more texture, and not as sickly sweet. Loved it!

        Reply
  16. Jennifer

    April 27, 2018 at 8:03 am

    This is the best chia seed pudding I have tried! I halved the recipe and it was great. I like the texture of chia seeds and my blender does not blend them. Absolutely perfect. Many thanks!

    Reply
  17. N

    April 28, 2018 at 11:10 pm

    Really delicious! I used cashew milk and added cinnamon and almond extract.

    Reply
  18. Amy Y

    November 30, 2018 at 6:20 pm

    Maybe this will taste better when it has chilled, but it tastes like cocoa autumn leaves. I followed recipe exactly. I had to add more honey to help. Do all chia puddings taste like this?

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      November 30, 2018 at 6:40 pm

      Hi Amy!
      Yes, I would say chilling it might do the trick!
      Some chia seeds can be quite bitter, so adding sweeter to taste is always suggested!

      With that said, I feel like this is recipe people either love or simply don’t. It all depends on your tastebuds! Hopefully you end up enjoying it!

      Reply
  19. Stephanie Martin

    July 2, 2019 at 2:38 am

    Loving this recipe!!! Made a half batch over the weekend and topped with homemade whipped cream for desert. So perfect. Decadent. I’ve done non-blended with the tapioca texture and my girls likes it (they’d never had regular chocolate pudding so nothing to compare it to), but I still miss that jello chocolate pudding. This beats that for sure! So good I just made another half batch. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Taesha

      July 2, 2019 at 3:22 am

      I am so glad!!!

      Reply
  20. Denise

    March 25, 2020 at 9:35 pm

    I followed the recipe as written using ground chia seeds. The taste was very good, however it was very soupy and never thickened up. If I used whole chia seeds would that make a difference?

    Reply
    • Taesha

      March 25, 2020 at 11:38 pm

      Usually but using whole chia seeds and blending them, this thickens up nicely. I’m glad the flavor was on point (yay) but bummer to hear about the texture. Did you make any subs in the recipe? Regardless, stick in in the fridge and it should thicken up soon!

      Reply
  21. Donna

    May 7, 2020 at 2:07 am

    I am following a Keto diet and was wondering if you could substitute the honey/maples syrup for Swerve as the sweetener?

    Reply
    • Taesha

      May 7, 2020 at 4:22 pm

      I haven’t tried it with swerve but I can’t think of a reason it wouldn’t work! You might have to play with the amount of sweetener to get it to your taste preference

      Reply
  22. ปั้มไลค์

    July 7, 2020 at 10:30 pm

    5 stars
    Like!!

    Reply
  23. Suzanne

    August 5, 2020 at 7:15 pm

    This looks so good! What a great way to still get a satisfying treat while maintaining a healthy diet!

    Reply
  24. Vanessa

    August 5, 2020 at 7:16 pm

    Thanks for sharing! Can I freeze them? I wonder if they would turn out like fudgsicles?

    Reply
    • Taesha

      August 5, 2020 at 8:09 pm

      Oh I bet that would be delicious!

      Reply
  25. Broadway Betty

    August 20, 2020 at 10:37 pm

    Thank you for this recipe. I watch my grandchild who is more accustomed to eating a pudding pack than homemade pudding but after adjusting for sweetness , she really enjoyed this pudding. One more recipe in this hippie dippy grandma’s arsenal! I just do not keep standard American diet ingredients in my home and her parents are cool with my way of feeding her. Huge success! Btw, I used a heaping 1/3 cup of an erythritol/stevia blend and she thought it was perfect.

    Thx again for a perfect recipe!

    Reply
  26. Helena

    December 5, 2020 at 10:40 pm

    5 stars
    I’ve never tried chocolate Chia Pudding before. Super excited to give it a try though! 🙂

    Reply
  27. Stephanie

    December 10, 2020 at 3:09 am

    5 stars
    Love this recipe! My girls have dance through dinner time and during all the covid stuff when they actually were going into class, I didn’t want them snacking on anything they had to touch. This is perfect for filling reusable snack pouches! They love it! And it’s so easy! I use regular milk and it subs fine.

    Reply
    • Taesha

      December 10, 2020 at 5:02 pm

      I am so glad they enjoy it and it can help fuel their fun!

      Reply
  28. Emily

    February 1, 2021 at 12:53 am

    I have had great luck making this with an immersion blender. Love it!

    Reply
    • Taesha

      February 1, 2021 at 12:57 am

      Thats great to hear! Thanks for sharing, Emaily.

      Reply

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Hi! I'm Taesha! I help busy people fall in love with healthy eating with my simple, family-friendly, veggie-loaded recipes. I believe vegetables can and SHOULD be delicious. Here, let me show you how!

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