Breakfast · Oats, chia & porridge

Chia pudding

Name: Chia pudding
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients: 5 tbsp chia seeds; 1 1/4 cups 2% milk; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 tbsp maple syrup; 8 berries strawberries, sliced; 1/2 cup blueberries; 2 tbsp pistachios, chopped

Chia seeds left in milk overnight until they swell into something between a pudding and a tapioca. One of the few breakfasts where the fullness is mechanical rather than nutritional — soluble fibre gels to many times its own volume in the stomach.

Time: 5 min (5 prep + 0 cook)
Servings: 2
Per serving: 330 kcal
Protein: 12 g

Both directions are legitimate — the score measures fullness per calorie, not virtue. Every version is the same dish, rebalanced.

Ingredients

5 tbsp chia seeds45 g
1 1/4 cups 2% milk300 g
1 tsp vanilla extract4 g
1 tbsp maple syrup20 g

In the morning

8 berries strawberries, sliced120 g
1/2 cup blueberries80 g
2 tbsp pistachios, chopped20 g

Every ingredient links to its food page — same data, same score, same formula.

Steps

Whisk the chia, milk, vanilla and maple syrup together in a jar. Whisk, don't stir — chia clumps the moment it's left alone.
Wait 10 minutes and whisk again. This second pass is what separates a smooth pudding from a jar with a lump at the bottom.
Lid on, fridge, overnight or at least 4 hours.
Top with the berries and pistachios in the morning. Loosen with a splash of milk if it set firmer than you like; it keeps 4 days.

How much chia is too much?

Chia takes up a lot of water, so go easy if you are not used to it — start with half the seeds and build up. Drink normally alongside it; the gel needs the liquid it is holding.

Why this score

solidly filling

No single route carries this one — a moderate amount of protein, volume and fiber.

Three routes to fullness — one is enough

14% of kcal

79% water

32 g/Mcal

What pulls it down

How scores work

Computed on the finished dish, not an average of the parts: 661 kcal goes into the pot, 589 g of ingredients comes out as ~589 g of food → 112 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water, and energy density is the score's biggest lever — so we show the math. Full formula here.

Per

Calories: 112
Protein: (14%); 4 g
Fat: (41%); 5 g
Carbohydrates: (45%); 12 g
of which sugar: 7 g
Fiber: 4 g
Sodium: 20 mg

Percentages are the share of calories from each macronutrient.

Computed from the ingredients' USDA data — nothing typed by hand. Every number is traceable, every score recomputable.

More breakfast

Photo: AI-generated. Nutrition and score are computed from the ingredients with the published formula — this recipe hasn't been kitchen-tested by us yet.