Autumn-Inspired Healthy Chia Pudding

Healthy Chia Pudding Breakfast for Fall

Easy Chia Pudding with Yogurt, Pear & Prunes

Infuse some sweet, seasonal comfort into your mornings with this healthy chia pudding breakfast – inspired by the flavors of fall! Super simple, highly nutritious, and totally tasty. I’ll show you how to make chia pudding with yogurt and prune puree for natural sweetness, and how you can customize the mix-ins to make this YOUR ultimate breakfast.

When it comes to overnight and meal prep breakfasts, overnight oats tend to get all of the glory, but overnight chia pudding is severely underrated. It’s incredibly easy to make, with just chia seeds and the milk of your choice as the base. Then, after sitting overnight in the fridge, those chia seeds absorb the liquid and plump up into a deliciously spoonable texture!

Personally, I like to make my chia pudding with yogurt as well for added creaminess and nutrition, particularly the boost of protein and calcium. Combined with the superfood chia seeds, this healthy chia pudding breakfast is an amazingly nourishing option for our bodies! It offers plenty of dietary fiber, protein, and anti-inflammatory omega-3s—with no added sugars.

Of course, you can use any sweetener you like, but I’ve used a homemade prune puree to give this healthy chia pudding recipe some natural sweetness and added fiber! It’s as easy as blending up prunes and water, and you can use the puree in all sorts of recipes and drinks. I’ll show you how I make it, how to make chia pudding, and how to jazz up the recipe for endless variety.

Healthy Chia Pudding Ingredients

2 Tbsp chia seeds
¼ cup milk of choice (optional: sub part of liquid for coffee!)
¼ cup yogurt
1 tsp – 1 Tbsp prune puree (see below), or honey/sweetener of choice

Mix-Ins & Flavorings

2-4 prunes, diced
2 Tbsp diced pear
pinch of salt
pinch of cinnamon
orange zest
1 Tbsp macadamia nuts, chopped (add when ready to eat)

How to Make Prune Puree

I absolutely love prunes—as a snack, in smoothies, chopped and sprinkled on salads, or even as a healthy baking substitute. Plus, they’re a great source of dietary fiber, they’re rich in essential minerals that support bone health, and they’re deliciously, naturally sweet! Since prunes are just dried plums, they contain natural fruit sugars that can sweeten up all sorts of recipes.

Yes, you’re welcome to use honey, maple syrup, or whatever you’d prefer in this healthy chia pudding recipe for sweetness. But, if you’re interested in a fruity alternative, I highly recommend pulling out your food processor and giving this tasty prune puree a try! All you’ll need are prunes and water—and my personal favorite is Sunsweet® Amaz!n Prunes.

Prune Puree Ingredients

1 package Sunsweet® Prunes
½ cup water

Blend that together in a food processor for 3-5 minutes, until it’s nice and smooth. And that’s literally it! Using an entire (8oz) package of prunes will give you a generous batch of prune puree, so I like to transfer mine into an airtight jar and store it in the fridge for about a week. Then, I’ve got a convenient, natural sweetener on hand that I can use in tons of different ways.

Of course, you can use it to sweeten this easy chia pudding or a bowl of oatmeal. I’ve also used it in healthy baked goods, like my fudgy vegan brownies. Or, simply add a dash into healthy smoothies and homemade coffee drinks!

Chia Pudding Breakfast Substitutions

The beauty of a chia pudding breakfast is it’s simple to throw together and versatile. As long as you’ve got the 2 base ingredients—chia seeds and some liquid—you’re got plenty of wiggle room to get creative. Change up your mix-ins, add on new toppings, you can even experiment with some coffee in addition to your favorite milk!

Overall, just keep your chia pudding ratio in mind as you try out new combinations. In general, you want a ratio of 2 Tbsp of chia seeds to ¼ cup-½ cup of milk or liquid. Personally, since I like to make my healthy chia pudding with yogurt and milk, I stay on the lower end of the ratio with just ¼ of milk. If you’re skipping the yogurt, you may want to use a bit more liquid.

• Milk/Liquid: Use any milk you like, dairy or non-dairy. Or, add some flavor by substituting part of the milk for coffee, or go all-in with chocolate milk!
• Yogurt: I like to add this for creaminess and a nutritional boost, but you can omit and add a bit more liquid to adjust your ratio. Feel free to use a non-dairy yogurt alternative if desired.
• Sweetener: The homemade prune puree is my personal choice, but a sticky sweetener like honey or maple syrup will also work in this recipe.
• Mix-Ins & Flavorings: Here’s where you can get creative! Jazz it up with any fresh or dried fruit that you like, try chopped nuts or pumpkin seeds as a topping, and use whichever seasonings suit your mood. (Pumpkin pie spice, anyone?)

How to Make Chia Pudding with Yogurt

Once you’ve figured out your desired ingredients and mix-ins, this chia pudding breakfast is super simple to toss together. First, grab your storage container of choice, like a mason jar or any airtight container with a lid that can hold about 8-10oz. Remember, this is going in the fridge for a few hours to overnight, so you want something that can be sealed and won’t spill.

Into your jar or container, add chia seeds, yogurt, milk of choice, and a bit of prune puree or sweetener. Then, add in your desired flavorings and mix-ins, which for me are diced prunes diced pear, a pinch of salt, some cinnamon, and a bit of orange zest. If you plan to use any crunchy toppings, like nuts, I recommend waiting to add those until the time of eating!

Give everything a stir, let it sit for 5-10 minutes, and then mix it again before storing it in the fridge. (I find that this helps everything to integrate better.) Let that chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight, and I the morning your healthy chia pudding is ready to eat! Perfect for taking on the go or for busy mornings at home.

For more bone-supporting meal ideas like this, watch my Easy Meals for Bone Health video!