The richest, creamiest vanilla chia pudding ever. So rich and creamy that I'm prepared to call it French vanilla chia pudding. Decadent enough for dessert, but healthy enough to eat for breakfast.

This pudding, it's not really French. It was born in my kitchen in southeastern Pennsylvania, but I'm calling it French vanilla chia pudding. I was always a chocolate kind of girl, but when I was a kid I was fond of French vanilla ice cream. I looked around online a bit to figure out what's the key to making something French vanilla, and it turns out the answer is eggs. Total surprise to me, because I couldn't stand eggs.
I don't recall my ice cream ever tasting eggy, just rich, creamy and delicious. So that's what I went for when I made this pudding, and you know what my secret vegan ingredient was? Tahini. Tahini is my secret ingredient for everything lately, so I guess it's not so secret anymore.
Anyhow, this was the best vanilla chia pudding ever, in my humble opinion. I could've eaten in plain, straight from the jar, but I opted to throw in some roasted strawberries because they're awesome. Feel free to top or layer with your favorite chia pudding accompaniments.
French Vanilla Chia Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 cup unflavored soy or almond milk
- ¼ cup chia seeds
- 2 tbsp. tahini
- 2-3 tbsp. maple syrup, to taste
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- pinch salt
Instructions
-
Place all ingredients in a mason jar (or other sealable container) and stir until well blended. Cover and optionally give it a good shake.
-
Refrigerate overnight.
-
Serve with your favorite toppings
Recipe Notes
I served my pudding with a sprinkling of cinnamon and roasted strawberries.
You're free to call it French if you want but why call it vanilla? There doesn't seem to be a drop of vanilla flavoring in the recipe. I'm going to make it, of course, but will add a bit of vanilla extract.
The ingredients include 2 tsp. vanilla extract - check again ;)
Did you use vanilla of any kind? Beans or extract? I use unsweetened, unflavored homemade but milk for recipes like these, so wonder. Thanks!
I wonder what a cup is when using pounds and ounces - love the look of this but my cups here in UK are all different sizes.
I fancy making this for my dairy free daughter when she visits this summer
Looks good, but where's the vanilla?
It's in there now. Thank you for catching that!!
This was delicious. Can't wait to have it again. Guess I will have to make it.
I love tahini too :)
Sso glad I made this and it turned out creamy and delicious. I skipped the sugar, added fresh strawberries, pumpkin seeds and a dollop of almond butter as toppings. Really an excellent recipe, thank you for sharing.