Protein Pudding

Protein chia pudding is a great way to add variety into your normal protein intake! This pudding has a rich chocolate flavor and can be customized to include all of your favorite ingredients. In addition to having high protein content, this pudding is loaded with healthy nutrients!

Reasons You’ll Love This

• This chia pudding is healthy! It’s packed with nutrient dense chia seeds which provide healthy fats and omega 3’s.
• Protein pudding is easy to make! This can be prepped in under 5 minutes.
• This tastes like a dessert in a jar- if you love chocolate, you’ll love this treat!

Ingredients for Protein Pudding

• Chia Seeds: Chia seeds absorb the liquid they are mixed with, allowing them to expand in size and create a pudding like consistency.
• Chocolate Almond Milk: the chocolate flavored almond milk helps add extra chocolate flavor to the pudding. Chocolate soy milk can also be substituted.
• Protein Powder: use your favorite protein powder. Chocolate flavored protein powder is recommended to add to the chocolate flavor of this pudding.

Let's Make Some Protein Chia Pudding

Combine almond milk, chia seeds and protein powder in a large jar or cup. Use a cup that has a lid (such as a blender bottle or mason jar). The jar should be able to hold 12 ounces or more of fluid, allowing the chia seeds to fully expand.

Mix the chia seed mixture well until combined.

Place a lid on the container of the chia pudding and refrigerate for a least 4 hours. This gives the chia seeds time to expand and absorb the liquids they are mixed with.

Remove from refrigerator and stir until all ingredients are combined. The pudding should be thick and have a pudding texture. Garnish with desired toppings. Enjoy!

Increase the Protein Content

Here's a few ways to add even more protein to this chia seed protein pudding.

• Add 2 tablespoon peanut butter as a garnish or into the pudding before refrigerating (adds ~7 grams protein)
• Mix in 2 tablespoon PB2 Powder (adds ~6 grams protein)
• Add an extra scoop of chocolate or vanilla flavored protein powder (adds 10-20 grams protein depending on brand of protein).

Variations to the Protein Pudding

This protein pudding has a rich chocolate flavor. Another flavor option is to make this a vanilla protein pudding. Simply use vanilla flavored almond milk in place of the chocolate almond milk. Also, use vanilla flavored protein powder instead of chocolate flavored protein powder.

Optional Garnishes

The chia pudding tastes great plain, but can also be garnished with any desired toppings. Here's some of my favorites:

• Chocolate Chips
• Crushed walnuts
• Coconut
• Banana's
• Peanut Butter
• Cocoa Powder

Leftovers

Store leftover chia pudding in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Use a container that has a lid, for easy storage. I like to use mason jars or protein shaker bottles. For best quality, eat the pudding within 2 days.

Nutritional Information

This protein pudding is an excellent way to add extra protein into your meals. Many protein powders have different amounts of protein in them, so the amount of protein in this recipe will vary based on the brand of protein used.

When using this recipe, I chose to use the Biochem chocolate whey protein powder (it's simply what I had on hand at home). Based on the ingredients I used, the protein pudding contains 170 calories and 15 grams of protein.

What Are Chia Seeds?

Chia seeds are a small seed that contains many different nutrients. When mixed with liquid, they absorb the liquid and expand in size. This is why they create a pudding or jello-like texture when mixed with liquid.

Chia seeds can be used in many ways other than making them into a pudding. They can be used in cooking, by adding them to energy balls or casseroles.

They also make a great addition to baked goods (add them to your able crisp topping). Chia seeds can also be sprinkled over yogurt, on top of cereal or added to smoothies.

Chia seeds contain many nutrients! A serving of Chia seeds (2 tablespoons) provides 11 grams of fiber. For comparison, this is almost double the fiber content of beans, which are commonly known as a high fiber food. (½ cup of canned black beans contains 5 grams of fiber). This article goes into more details on the nutrition content of Chia seeds.

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