Vanilla Berry Chia Seed Pudding

Vanilla Berry Chia Seed Pudding takes 5 minutes to make and features layers of creamy vanilla chia seed pudding, frozen whipped berries and is topped with crunchy grain-free granola and berries for a protein, fiber and omega-3 rich breakfast!

Have you guys tried chia seed pudding yet? I made it for the first time in the fall and got addicted! It is so, so easy to make and I love the texture. It is kind of hard to describe but I would say that it has a similar texture to overnight oats. I started making chia seed pudding for busy school mornings and make it frequently for the kids and I. Adalyn really enjoys it and even at around 6 months old, Oliver could eat it. I love knowing that the kids and I are getting omega-3 fatty acids, protein and fiber first thing in the morning to start our day.

One of our favorite flavors are peanut butter and jelly with peanut butter powder, berries and topped with drizzled peanut butter. Blueberry vanilla is another favorite and so is strawberry. It takes about 2 minutes of prep the night before to make. Then, you just throw it in the fridge and breakfast is ready to go first thing in the morning. Add your favorite toppings and you have a no-cook, filling, tasty breakfast ready to eat. You can make chia seed pudding for meal prep and store in the fridge all week and just grab and go in the morning!

After making chia seed pudding time after time, I realized that I had no recipes for it on the blog which is just crazy! It was about time to share one of my very favorite breakfasts with all of you. It was hard to decide on a flavor since there are so many good ones but I figured that you can't go wrong with vanilla berry. Feel free to use fresh berries if you have them on hand but for this recipe, I used a frozen mixed berry mix. I always make a base of vanilla chia pudding and often add other flavors in there as well.

I decided not to mix the chia seeds in with the berries but to make layers so it would look ultra pretty! All you need is chia seeds, milk of choice (cow's, almond, coconut, soy milk, etc will all work), vanilla extract and a bit of maple syrup or honey to sweeten it up for the chia seed pudding. When you put the liquid in, it may seem like there is too much but I promise you, it will thicken right up and soak up all of that liquid! For the berry layer, just blend mixed berries in the food processor or blender until smooth.

To keep going with the vanilla berry flavor, I used Kitchfix Grain-Free Vanilla Berry Granola to top off this chia seed pudding for a little extra crunch. It uses a mixture of nuts and seeds along with pure vanilla, freeze dried raspberries and strawberries. It is gluten-free, dairy, soy and grain free. Oh yeah, and it tastes great! It comes in 5 different flavors including a lemon berry chia flavor. This gives the chia seed pudding the perfect crunch along with protein and fiber.

The grain-free granola contains almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, cashews, walnuts and hemp hearts. So much goodness in one bag! This granola is so tasty that you won't even miss the grains. They use honey and maple syrup for sweeteners and the nuts and seeds are slow-roasted in coconut oil.

Yield: Serves 4 Author: Amanda Hernandez