How to make Lemon Chia Seed Pudding

This easy Lemon Chia Seed Pudding recipe is for lovers of all things creamy, sweet and lemony. It makes a lovely dessert at the end of a meal, a healthy snack or if you like, it makes a good prepare-ahead breakfast.

I love chia seed puddings for their versatility in combining well with other wonderful flavours. I love the way they make really creamy puddings that feel a little indulgent but aren’t. Lemon Chia Puddings made this way have a lot of flavour, and are both satisfying and nutritious. Check out this article on Healthline if you want to know about the nutritional content of chia seeds.

Why you want Lemon Chia Pudding

I love how easily this recipe can fit into a busy life. Chia puddings can be prepared ahead of time so that there’s something delicious in the fridge when you need something good to eat.

• you can make them the night before or meal-prep them a few days ahead. Make them in a suitable container or jar and they can happily be part of a packed lunch or a ‘grab and go’ breakfast. They’re really flexible like that.
• they’re very quick and easy to make and can look fantastic in a pretty bowl with a few selected toppings
• they feel like a bit of a foodie indulgence but contain a lot of great nutrition locked away in the chia seeds, the almond milk (or your preferred type of milk) and any toppings that you may add when you serve them up.

This creamy lemon dessert is also gluten-free and refined sugar-free as it uses maple syrup as a sweetener. It is also dairy-free if you use a suitable milk substitute. This recipe has been made using oat milk, soya-based Greek yogurt and almond milk so be confident about using your favourite type of milk in this recipe.

Ingredients in Lemon Chia Seed Pudding

Happily, the ingredients needed for this zesty, lemon pudding are fairly ordinary and easy to get hold of. You will need…

• maple syrup – adds sweetness and enhances the other flavours helping them to sing just a little.
• almond milk – I love almond milk in this pudding but feel free to substitute your favourite. Oat milk and soya milk both work well in this. They both add lovely flavour and lots of useful vitamins and minerals. This is especially true if you use fortified milk.
• vanilla extract – another flavour enhancer and a real favourite in our house. Don’t substitute vanilla essence for the extract as that won’t be as nice.
• turmeric – this is added to give a yellow colour to the pudding. Turmeric has an impressive list of health benefits such as being a strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant so any small amount is probably a good thing. Check out its health properties here on BBC Good Food.
• chia seeds – wondrous little seeds of amazing goodness. These give a pleasing thickness to the breakfast pots once they’ve had a while to rest. They also add really useful omega-3 fatty acids, fibre, iron and calcium. You can find white or black chia seeds. The black ones are the ones that are most easily found in supermarkets. I’ve used white ones for these photographs as those are the ones I currently have in the cupboard.
• Greek yogurt – adds a slightly different texture to the pudding which contrasts with the texture of the chia part of the pudding and a little acidity. I like to add this separately but it can be mixed into the pudding as you make it.
• optional toppings – there are so many to choose from. I’ve topped this with yogurt and a teaspoon of lemon curd but see the suggestions below about other delicious toppings.

How to make Lemon Chia pudding

It is entirely up to you whether you make the following recipe in one bowl and divide it out into two portions or make individual portions from the beginning.

I like to make a two-portion amount and then divide it into two cups or jars.

Gather up your ingredients and a bowl to mix everything in. Measure the almond milk, ground turmeric, vanilla extract, the juice of a lemon and the chia seeds into the mixing bowl and stir. If you want to add the yoghurt at this stage then now is the time to do it. I prefer adding the yoghurt just before I eat it… that way it’s another creamy layer that contrasts with the sweet lemon flavours of the chia pudding.

Let it stand a minute or two and stir again. This makes sure that the chia seeds are completely mixed in. They have an annoying habit of clumping up, although if they do, it’s not the end of the world. It will just take a bit of thorough stirring to get everything mixed in again.

That’s really all there is to it. Just portion it out into two jars or bowls and leave it in the refrigerator until at least one hour has passed. It will thicken up really nicely if it can be left in the fridge overnight.

Add your favourite toppings just before serving.

Meal-Prep Ideas for making Chia Seed pudding

These ideas apply to any chia pudding you may make, these are a few pointers to help.

So, if you want to create enough chia puddings to see you through the week ahead. What do you need to know? Well, one very important point is to ensure that your ingredients are all within their ‘use-by’ dates. You don’t want to be using milk that will have turned sour by the next day and you’ve made 4 days’ worth of puddings from it already. Extremely frustrating so that’s one to remember.

Work out much of each ingredient you need. Use the ‘scaling option’ on the recipe below to do this for you.

If you’re making large amounts, I find it simpler to make them in one large bowl and then portion out the mixture into the required number of jars or pots. I like re-cycling jam jars for this, they come with handy lids too which means less cling film is required. All good.

You do know that these make a wonderful snack or a great breakfast too, don’t you?

Storage

Make your lemon chia seed pudding at least 15 minutes before eating but it is far better if you can leave it for a couple of hours in the fridge to really soak up those flavours. Better still, leave it in the fridge overnight, and then this lemony dessert becomes particularly creamy and luscious.

Puddings will store happily in a covered container in the fridge, for up to 3 days.

Can you freeze chia puddings?

Yes – you definitely can. Just pop the mixed pudding in a freezer-safe container and pop it into the freezer until you are ready to eat it.

To defrost, leave out of the freezer overnight to thaw. Give it a quick stir before eating and add any delicious toppings.

Ideas for Toppings…

Everything is better with your favourite toppings. One of the lovely things about any chia pudding and this lemon chia pudding made with almond milk in particular, is that you can really go to town on the toppings. Add toppings just before eating so that they do not go soggy.

Here are a few of my ideas.

• a teaspoon of lemon curd
• a little chopped crystallised (candied) ginger
• a few toasted flaked almonds
• some toasted flaked coconut
• fresh berries, such as; blueberries, strawberries or raspberries
• how about some homemade granola
• a few seeds such as sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds

Make it Vegan

This Lemon Chia Seed Pudding is suitable for Vegans and those following a plant-based diet if you use suitable milk equivalents.

• Use suitable vegan-friendly milk, such as almond milk, oat milk or soy milk.
• Use a vegan-friendly Greek yoghurt. Again these are fairly easy to find but always check the label to make sure. Coconut-flavoured greek yoghurt is really nice with this lemony Chia pudding.
• Select suitable toppings, for example, use berries, seeds or nuts. Lemon curd is available in vegan versions but isn’t always easy to track down.

Other Recipes you may like

• Peanut Butter Chia Pudding
• Vanilla Chia Pudding
• Fruit Compote (really good with Chia puddings)
• Strawberry Chia Pudding
• How to make Chocolate Bliss Balls

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