Creamy dreamy banana chia pudding is easy to make, only requires a few minutes of preparation and is perfect for those of you with dietary restrictions as it’s dairy-free and both vegan and paleo. Make it tonight for breakfast tomorrow!
Now that the weather is warming up, I’m sure some of you are looking for no-cook recipes to get you through the heat. Well, here’s one to add to your tool belt!
This banana bread chia pudding combines the classic comforting banana bread flavors with chia pudding for a mishmash of deliciousness.
If you’ve been around The Roasted Root for a while, you may remember my Banana Bread Overnight Oatmeal, which is one of the most well-visited recipes on this site.
Taking the concept of the banana bread overnight oatmeal and putting a chia spin on it, I figured you would find this grain-free version just as pleasing as the oat version.
Chia pudding is SO versatile – you can eat it for breakfast or snack, top it with anything your heart desires, AND it requires hardly any effort to prepare.
Plus, the prep time is minimal – about 8 to 10 minutes for this recipe.
The chia pudding does need to thicken at least 4 hours in the refrigerator (I allow mine to sit overnight and find it turns out best if it sits for a long period of time), but the advantage to that is you can prepare the recipe the night before and have it ready for you in the morning.
How to Make Banana Chia Pudding:
For this recipe, we make classic chia pudding, but add a couple mashed bananas, lots of cinnamon and some nutmeg to give it that classic banana bread flavor.
I like leaving the bananas fairly chunky so I simply mash them and stir them into the pudding after the pudding has chilled in the refrigerator overnight.
If you’re anti-chunk, you can blend the bananas with the almond milk so that you’re still getting the banana essence but end up with a creamier pudding.
I enjoy the banana bread chia pudding with a dollop of almond butter on top, along with unsweetened flaked coconut, sliced bananas, hemp seeds, and walnuts. You can go wild with topping options here!
There are plenty of ways you can change up this recipe to make it your own – here are some ideas:
Recipe Adaptations:
Use any non-dairy milk you’d like in place of almond milk. I like using full-fat coconut milk for a super decadent dessert.
- Replace the pure maple syrup with honey or coconut palm syrup.
- Add your favorite protein powder or collagen peptides.
- Add gluten-free rolled oats for a combination of overnight oats and chia seed pudding – if you do this, you’ll need to add more liquid to compensate for the oat absorption.
- Swap the almond butter with cashew butter or peanut butter.
If you’re looking for more no-cook breakfast inspiration, be sure to check out my Carrot Cake Overnight Oatmeal , Blackberry Smoothie Chia Seed Pudding Parfaits, Caramelized Pear Chia Seed Pudding, Strawberry Overnight Oats, Vanilla Chai Overnight Oats, and Bananas Foster Chia Seed Pudding. No shortage of overnighters over here!
One more thing and then I’ll let you hop to it! I have a new video up on How to Make Chia Seed Pudding if you’re like me and you like having the visual on how everything comes together.
Enjoy! xo
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If you make this recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, to taste
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 2/3 cup chia seeds
- 2 large ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
For serving:
- 1 large ripe banana, sliced
- almond butter
- flaked coconut
- hemp seeds
- walnuts, chopped
Instructions
- Add the first 7 ingredients (almond milk through sea salt) to a blender and blend until combined. Pour this mixture into a large jar. Add the chia seeds, seal the jar tightly, and shake well. Place jar in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. If you're able to stir the chia seed pudding periodically, it will turn out best when it's been stirred a few times throughout the sitting process.
- Add the mashed bananas to the jar with the chia pudding and stir well (note: if your jar isn't large enough, you can transfer everything to a mixing bowl). Taste the chia pudding for flavor and add more cinnamon and/or pure maple syrup to taste.
- Serve banana bread chia pudding with sliced bananas, walnuts, hemp seeds, and unsweetened flaked coconut.
Brittany Audra @ Audra's Appetite
Sunday 3rd of June 2018
This looks pretty perfect for breakfast meal prep! :)
Julia
Monday 4th of June 2018
Thank you, Brittany! xo