Coconut Milk Chia Pudding

This coconut milk chia pudding is a wonderful dessert that’s rich in omega-3s. This recipe is a healthy alternative to high sugar processed desserts. It uses pure maple syrup (or stevia) as a natural sweetener instead of sugar.

I discovered chia seeds several years ago when I first started getting into health and nutrition. Now I see them all over the place in health food stores. You can buy chia kombucha and chia desserts at most health food stores and even Costco. These little seeds are packed with nutrients and minerals and are a dream come true for anyone following a whole foods diet.

There are a variety of chia seed pudding flavors and I plan on sharing them with you in the future. For today, I’m going to start with my favorite basic chia seed pudding recipe. It’s easy to make and you can customize it to suit your dietary needs.

Coconut Milk Chia Pudding Ingredients

To get started you’ll need to gather your ingredients.

Coconut Milk: I used homemade coconut milk, which is lighter than full fat canned coconut milk. Store-bought coconut milk beverage (in the carton) will work great in this recipe if you get a good-quality coconut milk brand. Canned full fat coconut milk can be used in this recipe. Just be aware that the pudding will be much thicker. (Same with coconut cream.)

Chia Seeds: You can use black or white chia seeds in this recipe. I like to use white chia seeds since they’re almost translucent. My kids don’t ask about the black things in their pudding when I use white chia seeds!

Sweetener: I used swerve sweetener but you may substitute pure maple syrup, honey, or date paste instead if you prefer. Add a small amount of sweetener at a time and adjust according to your taste.

Vanilla extract: I prefer to make my vanilla extract at home, but storebought is fine too.

Topping: Honestly, you can use just about anything. Cinnamon, shredded coconut, fresh fruit (think raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, kiwi) – the sky’s the limit.

How To Make Coconut Milk Chia Pudding

Quick note on time: You need to let the chia seeds soak the coconut milk mixture for at least 1 hour. I usually make this in the evening and let them soak overnight. Just cover the bowl with a lid or beeswax paper to prevent the top of the pudding from drying out.

The steps are super simple:

1. Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Cover the bowl with a lid or beeswax paper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. The chia seeds will soak up the coconut milk mixture and will thicken.
4. Stir the pudding well before serving and top with cinnamon, shredded coconut, or fresh fruit.

Nutrition info is based on using full-fat canned coconut milk, swerve sweetener, and white chia seeds. I used cronometer.com to calculate calories and macros (listed below on the recipe card).

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This recipe was originally published October 8th, 2018 and was updated with new photos on January 15th, 2021.