Keto Chia Pudding
Keto chia pudding written in grams, because a tablespoon of chia runs anywhere from 10 to 12 grams and that swing is why no two chia recipes agree on texture or carbs. Whisked twice and set in a wide shallow container so the seeds stay suspended. 2.9g net carbs.
Equipment
- Digital kitchen scale the one recipe where it genuinely matters
- Balloon whisk
- Four wide shallow containers not tall jars
Ingredients
- 80 g chia seeds about 1/2 cup - weigh these if you can
- 3 cups unsweetened almond milk 720 ml, plain not vanilla-sweetened
- 1/4 cup heavy cream 60 ml, optional but it is what makes it taste like pudding
- 2-3 tbsp powdered allulose or monk fruit sweetener to taste; avoid glycerin-bulked syrups
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch fine sea salt makes it taste sweeter, not saltier
Instructions
- Liquid first, seeds last: in a large bowl whisk the almond milk, cream, sweetener, vanilla and salt until the sweetener dissolves. Then add the chia seeds and whisk a good 30 seconds. Adding seeds to a finished liquid, rather than sprinkling sweetener onto seeds already swimming, is half the anti-clumping battle.
- Wait 5 minutes, then whisk again: leave the bowl on the counter 5 minutes, then whisk hard for another minute, scraping the bottom and corners. The outer seeds gel first and glue their neighbours into dry lumps; this breaks them up while the gel is still loose enough to move. This is the step that decides whether the pudding is smooth.
- Divide, cover, chill: divide between four wide shallow containers rather than tall jars - seeds sink until the gel can suspend them, and in a deep jar they have far further to fall. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, ideally overnight; the seeds keep taking up water for a couple of hours after it already looks finished.
- Stir, then top: give each one a stir before eating and add toppings at the last moment. Berries bleed and nuts soften if they sit on a wet pudding overnight.
Notes
Why grams: a tablespoon of chia weighs 10-12 g depending on how the seeds settle and how you scoop, a swing of about 20% on the main ingredient. That is why published chia puddings disagree on both texture and carb count.
Thicker or thinner: add 10 g more chia for a firmer, sliceable set, or another 1/2 cup almond milk for a drinkable one. Adjust the seeds, not the chilling time - more hours will not fix a ratio.
Variations: chocolate - 2 tbsp cocoa powder plus an extra tbsp sweetener. Coconut - swap 1 cup almond milk for canned full-fat coconut milk. Lemon - the zest of one lemon, not the juice, since acid works against the set.
Lumpy anyway? Blend it for 30 seconds. This is a legitimate rescue and some recipes blend by default. Do not run it a full minute with cream in the mix - the friction warms it enough to start breaking the cream.
Two safety notes: never eat chia seeds dry or before the pudding has set, as they absorb many times their weight in water and there is a published case of them swelling in the oesophagus. If you are new to this much fibre, start with half a portion.
Storage: 5 days refrigerated. Expect a thin layer of water on top by day three or four - a chia gel slowly squeezes water back out as it sits. Nothing has gone wrong; stir it back in. Freezes up to a month, slightly grainier on thawing.