Chia is everywhere. It's touted to be a 'superfood' but what it really is, is a super easy low-carb chia breakfast - 4 ways.
It is the richest source of plant omega 3, complete source of protein, fibre, antioxidants, and nutrients such as calcium, potassium and iron. Chia apparently gave the Aztec's strength, endurance and health.
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What are chia seeds?
Chia seeds are the edible seeds of Salvia hispanica, a flowering plant in southern Mexico, or of the related Salvia columbariae of the southwestern United States and Mexico. Chia seeds are very small (only 2 millimetres in diameter). Chia seeds are sold as white chia or black chia.
How to use chia seeds?
What I love about chia seeds is their neutral flavour and their ability to absorb 12 times their weight in water, setting to a gel consistency. This means you can make grain-free, wheat-free and gluten-free dishes pretty easily without adding flour to thicken them.
Porridge, puddings, and especially low carb chia breakfasts. You can even use the Berry Coconut Chia Fresca and a sugar-free chia jam!
Or use as a tasty topping to paleo pancakes. Children love chia breakfasts as they have the texture of pudding. Who doesn't want chocolate for breakfast?
Which milks are keto?
You can add chia seeds to your choice of liquid, such as coconut cream, coconut milk, milk, nut milk, water then add your own variety of flavourings, fruits and spices. Add some berries to make it even healthier and packed with nutrients and antioxidants.
Low-carb chia breakfasts will keep your children fuller for longer and help them concentrate with all those healthy Omega 3's. As a rule, I generally use the ratio of Chia seeds to liquid 1:9 which equates to roughly 2 cups (or about 450ml) liquid to ¼ cup (30g) chia seeds.
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How much liquid do chia seeds need?
You can go as high as 1:6 if you really want the chia seeds to set pretty firmly, such as a 'jam'. The ability of the chia seeds to gel firmly also depends on the liquid you use.
If coconut cream is used, this sets firm in the fridge anyway, so expect a more solid low-carb chia breakfast than liquid. To make the low-carb chia breakfasts, just throw everything together in a bowl the night before to allow the chia seeds to swell and absorb the flavours.
By morning, your breakfast is ready. Easy as.
Top tip!!! To be uber-trendy, pack them in a Mason Jar and tote them to work on the ferry or train.
📖 Recipe
Low-Carb Chia Breakfasts - 4 ways
Please rate this recipe
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Ingredients
Mocha Chia
- 150 ml (¾ cup) strong coffee
- 150 ml (¾ cup) coconut cream
- 1 tablespoon tahini or another nut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon granulated sweetener, of choice or more, to your taste
- 40 g (¼ cup) chia seeds
- ground cinnamon to taste
Cinnamon Coconut Chia
- 300 ml (1 ¼ cups) coconut cream
- 125 ml (½ cup) water
- 40 g (¼ cup) chia seeds
- 4 tablespoon almond meal/flour
- 2 tablespoon desiccated/shredded coconut unsweetened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon granulated sweetener of choice or sweetener of choice
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Berry Coconut Chia
- 300 ml (1 ¼ cups) coconut cream
- 125 ml (½ cup) water
- 40 g (¼ cup) chia seeds
- 50 g (½ cup) berries
- 2 tablespoon granulated sweetener, of choice or more to your taste
Chocolate Coconut Chia
- 300 ml (1 ¼ cups) coconut cream
- 125 ml (½ cup) water
- 40 g (¼ cup) chia seeds
- 2 tablespoon cocoa powder (unsweetened)
- pinch ( ) salt
- 2 tablespoon granulated sweetener, of choice or more to your taste
- ground cinnamon to taste
Instructions
Mocha Chia
- Put all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix and refrigerate overnight.
Cinnamon Coconut Chia
- Put all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix and refrigerate overnight.
Berry Coconut Chia
- Break up the berrys with a fork, then mix all the ingredients together until nice and pink.
- Refrigerate overnight until set.
Chocolate Coconut Chia
- Put all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix and refrigerate overnight.
Notes
- Mocha Chia Breakfast - 1.4g net carbs, 27.1g fat, 5.9g protein
- Cinnamon Coconut Chia - 5.8g net carbs, 55.9g fat, 10.2 g protein
- Berry Coconut Chia - 5.3g net carbs, 40.9g fat, 6.5g protein
- Chocolate Coconut Chia - 5.3g net carbs, 42.3g fat, 8.3g protein
Approximate nutrition information is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. For the most accurate nutritional data, use the actual ingredients and brands you used in your preferred nutrition calculator.
More breakfast recipes you may like:
- 23 easy keto breakfast ideas that will keep you full
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Susan
Just curious about the protein levels in these chia puddings, and whether or not to add more protein. As an older person (mid 70s) I know I need more protein than younger people, plus I tend to do better with more protein - I stay full longer. Your thoughts?
Libby Jenkinson
Yes, there's certainly less protein in chia breakfasts when compared to a traditional breakfast such as eggs, bacon, chaffles or other animal sources of protein. Protein is required to keep us full and for all the functions that require amino acids. Most people fear protein because of the potential for gluconeogenesis but this is misguided and protein should be encouraged. So by all means, add more protein. This recipe is very popular with my vegetarian and vegan readers who want to stay away from animal protein or ultra-processed protein powder. Further reading: What does 30g protein look like.
Susan
Thanks, Libby! I understand that one can have too much protein, but I’m not afraid of it. So I made the coconut-cinnamon version for this morning’s breakfast, with added protein powder. It has kept me full all morning. The texture was very different from what I’m used to with chia puddings, probably due to using almond flour, but it did not require extra mixing sessions to get the chia well distributed. I may try adding almond flour to another chia pudding recipe I like to make it easier. I’m hoping to find a better brand of coconut cream than the only one I could find when I last shopped for groceries. I did top top it with hemp seeds and frozen blueberries, which was a good call. I’m looking forward to trying some of the other versions now.
Paul
Could you use milled chia seeds, apparently when milled they release more Omega 3 ?
Libby Jenkinson, MPS
Interesting, yes that would work. Being milled, however, may adjust how much liquid the chia seeds can absorb. My initial thoughts would be that milled seeds could potentially absorb more? So you may need to add more liquid (or less, this is my best guess) so the low-carb chia breakfasts are the right consistency. Please come back and let us know how it went.
JRichards
Not so easy for people like me, who cannot eat milk products, cheese, fat & oils, coconut, chocolate, or anything on the red to black colours scale.
Libby Jenkinson, MPS
Eggs?
Maryanne Barra
I had the chocolate coconut one! So easy to make! Tastes amazing! I only had cacao so it was a little strong and I had a lot of seeds sink to the bottom but it still tastes good!
Robin
Libby, can I sub in dairy cream for the coconut cream?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
That would be lovely but the fat: liquid ratios will differ so you may need to add additional chia seeds to ensure they thicken nicely.
Leonie Smith
Hi...I made the mistake of only using water with the chia seeds...any suggestions on how to i can make the flavour a whole lot better to use it up? Thnx
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Eeeek - you may just about to resurrect the chia by making sugar-free chia jam? Although as the chis seeds have already swollen, they may not take up any more liquids and hence flavours.
Rosemarie
I always add them to my yoghurt and coffee
Carol Hancock
Hi Libby from UK. Just had the Mocha Chia for breakfast. Should have carb counted it first. When I entered it into my carb counter it worked out at 27.8 total carbs, 19 net carbs for one serving. Enjoyed the taste (without cinnamon) but 1 gm carbs left for the day. Not sure how you came to 1.5gm net carbs.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Are you counting total or net carbs? Did you remember to deduct the fibre? 🙂
Judy the Baker
I was wondering how you got your figures, also, LibbyI
I made the cinnamon coconut chia. It was DELICIOUS! But I count total carbs. Since you don't have total carbs or fiber listed, I ran it through carb manager.
I got Total carbs of 19.7gr
Less fiber 10.0 gr
Net Carbs: 9.7gr. Your figures say 5.8gr. Why the difference?
And printed out a page of one serving. i didn't eat two servings.
I am hoping to try your other recipes. This is my first time at your website. But I wonder why your numbers are so different. I'd rather just plug your numbers into Carb Manager, with total carbs and fiber.
Thank you very much
Brian
I tried the cinnamon coconut this morning, I liked the taste but it is very stiff. Does the coconut cream cause that, I used Whole Foods brand, maybe there is a better choice? Or maybe it should be room temp?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Sometimes the fat content in coconut cream brands differs so just adjust the thickness of the chia breakfast to your liking. You may want to add additional coconut cream next time you make this recipe, or use a little fewer chia seeds.
Suzette
It said to use coconut milk… Are used canned coconut milk not canned coconut cream… Also can you show me all the calories carbs fats etc. all the nutritional information thank you so much...
kim
Hi, After you leave it refridgerate overnight, can you heat it up?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Yes, although when you heat coconut cream the resulting chia mixture may be not as thick. Coconut cream thickens when it is cool as the coconut oil solidifies.
Maya
Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 5 minutes
"Refrigerate overnight"
does not compute. I understand you must refrigterate chia overnight, but to say total time is 5 minutes is quite a stretch.
Jules
Just had the chocolate coconut pudding for breakfast for the first time. Loved it! I’m not keen on coconut but I couldn’t really taste it. I used a whole tin of coconut milk and didn’t add any water because the liquid was sufficient.
The only thing I would do differently is bring it out of the fridge and let it stand for a few minutes before eating, it was a little bit cold for my teeth!
I’ll certainly make it again. Gives “Angel Delight” a run for it’s money!
Annie
Does anyone know the calories for each of these? tks
Donna
Are the macros correct? When I calculate the Mocha Chia Breakfast it comes up as 5.5g Net Carbs using the same brands as you used.
Bonnie
can u put recpies in imperial as well as metric?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
YES! Below each recipe there are two large red buttons that you can swap between metric and cups. You can even dial up how many servings you would like and the ingredients are calculated for you too 🙂
Bonnie
thank you!
saheb
how about the calories, can u plz mention how many cal in each ? i am following the keto diet and it will be very helpful.
Annie
How many calories are in each of these, Does anyone have the answer to this? tks
Donna
I did each ingredient tp add up the calories on a calorie count app and the cinnamon comes in at 518 cal. For each serving?
I think we’ll have to do our own because no one seems to be answering that question??
Kari
Looking at your pictures of chia breakfasts I have to ask - where is this reddish color coming from?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
That will be the berry coconut chia. the recipe calls for 50g / 1/2 cup berries.
BusyMumaTortoiseRuna
Wow! Amazing!! I have had the Chocolate Coconut Chia for the last two mornings and so full and such great feeling! I was a little sceptical as I'm not a massive coconut lover, but this has amazing flavour and feels like I'm being naughty having this for breakfast! I might make it for a pudding too! It has incredible flavour and I'm actually finding time to eat it (with four kids 6 and under....I quite often forget to have breakfast!) Looking forward to being a healthier mummy!
Becky
I have a chia/flax seed blend. Would that work for these recipes? I tried the blend in a pudding and it was good! 🙂
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Not knowing the ratio of your chia:flax blend, I can't really say how thick they would turn out. But I am sure you could experiment and possibly add an extra tablespoon or two to ensure they thicken and set beautifully.
Deonie
Just made the mocha-I don't even know why I have tahini in the cupboard but anyway it's all in the fridge looking forward to eating it tomorrow when I get hungry..