Orange chia pudding is a light, healthy breakfast, dessert, or snack that’s easy to make and fun to eat. It’s mildly citrus and mildly sweet. We use fresh tree oranges to add fiber and flavor, and coconut milk for a creamy, vegan alternative to dairy milk. If you are a fan of creamsicles, orange sherbet, or old ice cream truck pushups, you’ll love this recipe light and creamy vegan orange chia pudding!
One of the things I love about this recipe is that it’s so fast and easy to blend and stir up. When we are on a chia pudding kick, we like making it once a week and enjoying it mixed into our morning oatmeal bowls or to snack on with fruit. We like to mix a batch in the evening, refrigerate it overnight, and wake up to perfect consistency chia pudding.
For a Persian taste twist, add a light sprinkling of ground cardamom, a common spice in Persian baked goods and desserts. A splash of orange blossom water would also boost the flavor profile of this recipe and give it even more Persian flair.
The formula for a perfect, thick, custard-like chia pudding is simple; 1/4 cup chia seeds for every 1 cup of liquid/milk. This ratio produces a thick and creamy pudding experience. For a thinner pudding, see the recipe notes below for instructions on how to adjust the amount of chia seeds per liquid/milk.
There are two main types of chia – black chia seeds and white chia seeds. Black chia seeds are the most commonly found at supermarkets and grocery stores. If you can find white chia seeds they would be really nice in this light citrus chia combination.
Chia fun facts:
- come from a flowering plant in the mint family
- when it is mixed with a liquid it gelatinizes and swells up to about 10 times its original size!
- after about 4 hours, the liquid chia combo results in chewy tapioca or boba type custard or pudding!
For the liquid portion of this pudding, we use coconut milk. It makes for a creamy pudding and we like the flavor. Almond milk can easily be substituted.
Ingredients:
- chia seeds – black or white
- coconut milk
- fresh oranges
- vanilla
We are blessed by abundant citrus trees. This season our orange tree is bursting with fruit.
Health benefits of oranges:
- immune-boosting vitamin C
- healthy dietary fiber
- bright happy color!
We literally prop up our orange tree to keep the heavy branches from reaching the ground. Any citrus would be delicious in this pudding. Lemon or grapefruit would also light and breakfast. For the spice, we enjoy vanilla with this combination. Vanilla bean paste is an easy way to get strong, vanilla bursts of flavor without fussing with cutting and scraping whole vanilla beans.
Occasionally and for Persian flair we add a small pinch of cardamom in the place of vanilla. A splash of orange blossom water gives a stronger orange taste if you are an orange lover.
If you have extra coconut milk, try Perisan Rice Pudding, cooked in coconut milk.
Enjoy vegan orange chia pudding with a thick slice of aromatic Orange Cardamom Olive Oil Tea Cake and your favorite mug of tea.
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