Pumpkin Chia Pudding - paleo, vegan, & low carb

This Pumpkin Chia Pudding is healthy, so tasty, and a cinch to make. Enjoy pumpkin pie flavor all year long for breakfast, a snack, or even dessert and get great health benefits while you're at it!

This healthy pumpkin chia pudding works for almost any special diet and can be made into an extra special treat when topped with regular or coconut whipped cream.

If you're like me, finding healthy breakfast or healthy dessert recipes can be a bit tough. When I was younger, I would have dried cereal or cinnamon toast, for breakfast, but alas, those days are over now that we're eating whole foods that are gluten-free.

Before we get into this fabulous recipe for Pumpkin Chia Pudding, some other great options that you might enjoy are Breakfast Cookies, 3-Ingredient Shortbread Crisp, Homemade Protein Bars, Pumpkin Custard, Whipped Coconut Pudding, or even Fruit & Nut Cake Squares, but this vegan pudding is another favorite that I've been wanting to share with you all for awhile now -- and now's a great time that it's fall and time for all kinds of things pumpkin.

Of course, in my opinion, pumpkin should by no means be relegated to fall.  First of all, pumpkin is just the perfect flavor for so many dishes, but sweet and savory, but it's also incredibly healthy.

Health Benefits of this Chia Pudding

1 Cup of Cooked Pumpkin has:

• vitamin A
• vitamin C (20% of the RDA for a woman)
• potassium (more than a banana)
• 3 grams of fiber

So here's a pudding you can feel very good about serving to your family for breakfast, dessert, or really any meal.

And besides that, really, we've had this recipe in our repertoire for a long time.  We've made it a lot, and enjoyed it and I just hadn't gotten around to putting it on the blog until now.  So excited to share this with you and so hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

About Chia Pudding

If you've seen chia pudding recipes on the internet, you may have noticed that a lot of them are just "mix and serve" puddings, leaving the chia whole. This recipe has an extra step -- the blending.

Yes, the no blend kind is a tad easier, but personally, I have never cared for the chia pudding that has the chia in the form of little tapioca-like balls.

For some reason, tapioca and I have never really been close friends.  I think it's the "fish eye" thing.  But I think it's something I can overcome.

Regardless, when you blend chia, it lends loads of lovely "comfort food texture" to the pudding. Like in my Healthy Chocolate Pudding or Berry Mousse.  Creamy. Thick. Yum.

And very filling.  This pumpkin pudding will keep you satiated for a long time.

And of course, feel free to add some protein powder or collagen hydrolysate to it for more protein.

Ingredients

• coconut milk
• canned pumpkin
• vanilla extract
• chia seeds
• pumpkin pie spice
• stevia extract
• sweetener
• salt

Directions

Place all ingredients in a blender
Blend to desired smoothness.
Place in serving containers, topping with desired toppings, or alternating toppings with pudding for a parfait.
Store any remaining chia pumpkin pudding (if you have any left!) in the refrigerator.

Smooth or Lumpy?

You can blend this pudding (and any other chia pudding) as little or as much as you'd like. Blend just enough to combine the ingredients for a pudding with the texture of tapioca pudding or blend a lot to have a smooth pudding texture.

I used to love the blended version only, but I really love the textured version now too. They're both great!

Substitutions

• Coconut Milk: My Easiest Coconut Milk is a great make-your-own option. You can also substitute any dairy-free milk (like my Easiest Almond Milk) or a regular milk.
• Pumpkin Pie Spice: If you would like to make your own pumpkin pie spice, see Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice.
• Sweeteners: You can substitute any healthy sweetener for the xylitol or the stevia.

Serving Suggestions

As in the photos, topping this pumpkin chia pudding with regular or dairy-free whipped cream make a delicious parfait. You can sprinkle some Pumpkin Pie Spice or Cinnamon Sugar on top as well.

I think that my Pumpkin Snickerdoodles, Soft Pumpkin Cookies, Pumpkin Pecan Spice Cookies or even these Gingerbread Cookie Balls would taste great crumbled on top!

More Chia Pudding Recipes

If you love chia, you might want to try out these other fabulous chia pudding recipes:

Chocolate Chia Pudding
Pumpkin Chia Pudding
Berry Chia Pudding
Blueberry Chia Pudding

The above nutrition facts are estimates only. Please read my Nutrition Disclaimer here.

Fall or not, I hope you enjoy adding this to your healthy recipes repertoire.

Note: This post was originally written in October, 2015. The photos were reshot in May 2022. This is a previous image for reference.

Have you had chia pudding before and do you like it blended or smooth?

Photo Credit (bottom image): Naomi Huzovicova