Dark Chocolate Chia Pudding Recipe (Dairy-Free)

68 Responses

1. YOU DID NOT JUST POST A CHIA SEED RECIPE!

   Mmmmmm I have been on a huge chia seed pudding KICK lately and have been loving them for breakfast on my early mornings! They are wonderful and so versatile! Today I did cocoa and cherry! Yum! Yesterday’s was really good, too, banana and cinnamon with ginger juice! So unique, but so good!

   Thanks for the recipe 🙂 xoxo

   1. HAHA! I did 🙂 The banana/cinnamon/ginger juice sounds so intriguing!

      1. So I’m interested to know if this would still work with ground chia seeds, in order to get more ‘umpf’ from the nutrients. Have you tried using ground instead of whole, if so how did it turn out?

         1. I’ve never tried it with ground chia but if you do, come back and let us know how it worked!

         2. I just made these with ground seeds, everything the same except I added a tbsp of honey (kids will eat it then) and its worked perfectly. Delicious. Thanks for the idea. Awesome recipes on your site!

            1. Yay! Glad the kiddos liked it 🙂

   2. I would love those recipes, Meg!

   3. Hi !!
      Sounds and looks delicious !
      Does anyone know the calorie and carb content for 1 serving ?

      1. Hi Jax,

         You can use MyFitnessPal to calculate it. I don’t provide calorie or macro counts.

2. This sounds deliciouse! I have made a vanila version of it based on Le Pain Quotidien Cookbook receipe – loved it! This version takes it to the next level – great idea, congratulation!

   Margarita

   1. Oooooooh I like the sound of the vanilla one!

3. have you tried freezing one? (as a single person, I freeze leftovers to avoid the “dessert every single day til it’s gone” phenomenon. :/ )

   1. Hi Staci…I haven’t tried freezing it yet but I think you could halve the recipe quite successfully!

4. Is there anyway to make this without coconut? I’m allergic to coconut and tree nuts, but I would love to try something like this.

   1. Hmmmm I’m stumped! I was going to say extra-creamy almond milk but then I read you’re allergic to tree nuts. If you’re down with full-fat dairy, you could try heavy cream but I know not everyone can eat that.

   2. I would try sunflower (seed) milk or hemp milk if you are not allergic. They are conveniently found in boxes now. Pacific brand perhaps. The sunflower seed can render a bit of a “peanutty” flavor which I believe would be lovely here. And hemp milk too has a bit of a nutty flavor. Less interesting I think would be soy milk. Perhaps up the chia seed a bit too since each of these milks are thinner than coconut milk.

      1. Good ideas Sharon! I would have to say no to soy but the others may be good options. Much appreciated!

      2. those are good tips! I’ve seen hemp milk before, but not sunflower seed, I use a lot of sunbutter so I bet it would be good. Maybe a fancier grocery store would carry it.

         Thanks!

         1. You can also easily make your own seed milks, and that way they don’t contain anything like carageenan, guar gums, etc. that the commercial ones use to be shelf-stable (not to mention sneaky hidden sugars or “natural” flavors). Just blend hemp seeds or sunflower seeds with water, and to make it sweet, add some dates and vanilla and blend thoroughly; then just strain through cheesecloth to get rid of any extra bits. It’s really tasty, but it will separate and look kinda gross after it sits. Just stir it up and it’s good to go!

            1. Agree! Super easy and really tasty.

5. How long will this keep in the fridge after making it? Thanks!

   1. Hi J…if you keep it in a covered container, at least 3 days. It tends to get very thick as the chia seeds continue to absorb moisture so sometimes I add just a bit more coconut milk.

6. Can this be made with ground chia seeds? I just got a bag and haven’t done anything with it yet and am looking for tasty recipes. This pudding sounds delicious!

   1. Hi there! It should work just fine with ground chia seeds, though I would probably cut back by 1 tablespoon or so, since they aren’t whole.

7. I’m hosting a Paleo potluck, I want to make this. How many does this serve?

   1. Hi Krystal! I made 4 very small servings from one batch.

8. This might have already been answered, but is it better to use full fat coconut milk or light coconut milk? Not counting calories or anything, just wanted to know which would be best for that pudding like consistency. Making this for a friend’s birthday treat tomorrow, should be a real crowd pleaser! 😀

   1. Full fat from the can 🙂

9. WOW!!! I just made this and it blew my mind. Thank you for the great recipe.

10. Just pinned this to our Pinterest board, and am looking forward to trying this recipe tomorrow.

    Thanks!

11. I made this the other night. Delish. I’m trying to make better choices about my food. Can’t go wrong with dark chocolate pudding!

12. Hi,

    This sounds and looks absolutely amazing! I have a question regarding the Chia content in this pudding. How much chia would you say is safe to eat in a day? Thanks so much!

    1. Hard to say but small amounts should be fine.

    2. Most of the chia pudding recipes I’ve seen should be split into 3-4 servings at least, otherwise they become a LOT of calories all in one place.

13. This is so easy and really delicious. I was wondering, if I want to sweeten it further, can I leave out the 2oz chocolate bar, add more cocoa powder and sweeten it to my liking? Thanks for the great recipe!

    1. You probably could with no problems. Sometimes I find the cocoa powder doesn’t have as deep a chocolate flavor but it should come together okay.

14. Hi
    Sorry this is a dumb question but still.. Do you add the chia seeds raw or cook them with water first and then add them?

    1. I add them raw 🙂

15. Soooo good! Loved this version of chia pudding, my favorite so far- thanks!

    1. SWEET! Thank you so much for letting me know 🙂

16. OMG I have never tried Chia seeds before this and I didnt know what to expect, but YUM! I love the texture!

    1. Yay!! I love this! Thanks for taking a chance 🙂

17. We made chia pudding recently and it was a big hit! Tastes just like tapioca pudding. We tried making our own chocolate version but it didn’t work, so thanks for providing a recipe! Making this today!

    1. What did you use for chocolate: powder or melted bar?

18. What are the nutrition stats, Please? Or where can I find them on your page. Will be trying this as soon as I get to the store! Looks wonderful.

    1. Hi Judy…I currently do not provide nutrition stats. You can use something like FitDay to type in the ingredients.

       Steph

19. I used rice milk, cacao powder & dark choc chips.. omg.. this is delicious and so easy to make.

    1. Sounds like a great combo!

20. This is fantastic! Made two 8 oz portions and eat one for a few days. Very rich!
    Thank you!!

21. My nine year old daughter made this pudding for our Christmas dinner dessert and we all loved it. The non-paleo-ish among us added a little maple syrup to theirs, but I was in my glory, enjoying the pudding as is, over fresh blackberries, topped with coconut cream. Next time, I think we’ll try adding 1 Tb espresso powder in place of the cocoa powder to make a mocha pudding. I’m sure it will be delicious! Thank you for the great, simple recipe.

    1. Awesome! 🙂

       1. Thanks! Have a great time with it. Yum!

22. I’ve made this twice now, once with full fat coconut milk and once with Trader Joes lower fat one (mostly because it’s cheaper) and both were excellent. I don’t need the extra calories but my kids do, so I’m glad both are good. I used about a tsp of maple syrup as well (mostly because I cannot seem to find my vanilla extract anywhere) and to make it a tiny bit more appealing to the kids. I decided against raw honey as it is quite acidic and can taste too sour with chocolate (same reason I don’t like adding it to my coffee). I also add a dash of sea salt to balance the coconut milk and chocolate. It’s just a lot of minor tweaking, but it is SO GOOD and absolutely fills that late night craving for a little something sweet and/or rich as dinner starts wearing off (and the kids are FINALLY in bed!). I would wholly recommend.

23. I made your recipe today (first time making chia pudding) and am left a bit disappointed as I don’t think it’s a success. My chia seeds haven’t plumped up at all, they are still in seed form and it just seems as though the coconut milk solidified in the refrigerator, as it’s all really thick…almost like butter texture. It looks nothing like pudding. I really don’t know where I went wrong with the recipe.

    1. You can always add a little more coconut milk to thin it down. It’ll keep absorbing liquid the longer it sits so keep that in mind.

24. If you skip the chocolate bar and just add more cocoa powder and some sweetener to taste, you don’t even need to heat it., making it even more stupid simple. Just put everything into a big jar and shake until mixed (I recommend adding the Chia last since they will form into a giant ball of grossness if you wait too long after adding them to start the shaking).

    If you like it smooth, you can stick it in the blender instead of shaking it and process for a minute or two. If it gets too thick in the fridge, just add a bit more coconut milk or water and shake again. If you like a little more texture, adding some shredded coconut or some raw cacoa nibs is lovely. The cacao nibs should be added right as it’s being served since they will get soggy and lose texture if you leave them in with the pudding.

    I can usually get away with leaving this for even up to a week in the fridge. There’s really nothing that goes bad in there.

    1. Hi Kerri,

       All great suggestions to simplify the process. I really like the depth the melted dark chocolate gives as I find most cocoa powders are sort of lacking on flavor but this is certainly a recipe you can customize any way you like 🙂

25. I made it as instructed. My only addition: 2 tablespoons maple syrup. Heating it and whisking the chia seeds in gave it such a lovely unctuous texture. Didn’t have time to pour it into the bowls. it was devoured from the pot. Thank-you

    1. Sounds like a perfect addition to me! 🙂

26. Wowza! My mum made this recipe tonight and I wondered if the recipe was meant to read “teaspoons” instead of “tablespoons” for the proportion of chia seeds?
    The consistency was similar to peanut butter…..multiplied by 10000!
    My dad has an iron gut and literally eats everything without much comment but said he wanted to be sick.
    Flavour was on point, sickeningly delicious….literally!

    1. Hi there…no, tablespoons is correct. The mixture will be thick.

27. I’ve never really worked with canned coconut milk only the carton. Do you chill the can and take the fat out? Plus I have coconut cream in a can. Will that work?

    1. No need to chill the can. You’re using the whole thing. Coconut cream just has a higher amount of fat. It will work fine.

28. When do you add the vanilla and sea salt? It appears part of the instructions are missing since one sentence is at least missing some words.

    1. Oops I transferred the recipe over and missed those. It’s updated now. Generally speaking, you want to add vanilla at the end of any cooking time so all the alcohol doesn’t evaporate 😉

29. I made this pudding Monday night and it is soooo delicious. I enjoyed it yesterday at work while other’s were eating birthday cake (this treat was far tastier in my opinion!) I used 1/2 pint canning jars to split the pudding into then capped the jars to make portable. The win is my 5-year old son loved the pudding too! Thank you for sharing the recipe.

    1. Marice, Thanks for trying the recipe. I’m glad that you enjoyed it!

30. This is delicious! The one I knew was a little different but next time I’ll try it this way.