Chia seeds are a miraculous little ingredient.

For one, they make great house pets. And second, they make even better pudding.

If you haven’t jumped on the chia seed train yet, let me take a moment and try and convince you. Chia seeds are one of the most amazing foods that you can add into your diet. Not only are they packed with fiber, but they’re rich in antioxidants, protein and healthy fats. Plus, I’m tempting you with vanilla pudding so that can’t hurt, right?

Chia seeds, and chia pudding for that matter, seem to have taken the health community by storm. They’re everywhere and in EV-ER-Y-THING! When I hopped on Pinterest and typed in “chia” there were so many recipes it was incredible – and totally awesome at the same time. Hooray for the chia revolution!

But I digress. Let’s get back to the heart of today’s post. This super duper, crazy delicious vanilla chia pudding. 

This isn’t any old chia pudding though. This is the SQ twist on a chia pudding. Because rather than just chia, nut milk and some sweetener, I added in…QUINOA. ← ding, ding, DING!

As I was thinking about this recipe, I realized that by adding quinoa I was not only getting more protein into the dish, but I was also moving it more from dessert land into the dessert-for-breakfast realm, which yes, I am completely okay with.

Okay so chia pudding for breakfast…that got the wheels turning again.

One of the things that I know many of you struggle with is getting adequate amounts of protein into your breakfasts. Sure, you can opt for plant-based protein powders (and I do from time to time) or make eggs, but those aren’t always the best options. That’s why quinoa and chia seeds are both great additions to any healthy breakfast – they really amp up the protein content of your meal. 

After calculating the nutrition for my quinoa + chia pudding, I realized that the protein count wasn’t as high as I wanted it to be. Basically, my goal here was to create a meal that had equal (or more) protein in it than your typical scoop of protein powder. My magic number that I was going for was 18 grams. (not really sure why)

With my initial test I was hovering just around 11 grams. Good, but not great. And then it hit me: HEMP HEARTS!

Another one of my latest obsession (aside from chia seeds) has been my discovery of hemp hearts. They are amazing – they don’t have much flavor, add a little crunch to things like salads and smoothie bowls AND they are seriously packed with protein. I put them pretty on everything.

By adding just two tablespoons of hemp hearts to this pudding, I was able to up the protein content to around 18 grams. Granted, this may fluctuate depending on the type of milk you use, but I was content.

And my belly was content too. This pudding is bomb and mega good for you too. We’re talking crazy amounts of fiber, protein AND good for you fats. Yep, it pretty much turned into the most epic breakfast/dessert ever.

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If you make this recipe, make sure to snap a pic and share it on Instagram using #SIMPLYQUINOA – I want to see your own quinoa creations!

This post was shared on: Gluten Free Fridays

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