Breakfast Chia Bowl

The chia seed breakfast bowl is based on my recipe for oat milk chia pudding but with mango, banana, and granola.  No cooking is required for this quick and easy, dairy-free breakfast.  The base recipe is easy to make, vegan, gluten-free, and works great for meal prep.  

I chose to keep the flavor combination simple with easy-to-find ingredients.  Mainly using thawed frozen mango, banana slices, and granola.  Feel free to change up the fruit to customize the chia seed breakfast bowl. Substitute the mango for kiwi or add passion fruit. 

For more breakfast ideas, try dairy-free overnight oats, flaxseed pudding, wheat berry breakfast bowl, or banana steel-cut oats. For more chia pudding recipes, try blueberry lemon chia seed pudding, cherry chia pudding, or chia seed pudding with strawberries.

Recipe features

• Works great to make ahead of time for meal prep!
• Vegan, oil-free, and gluten-free!
• Enjoy it for breakfast, snack, or dessert!
• Easy to make!
• Easily customizable!

Ingredient notes

Only a few ingredients are needed to make this chia breakfast bowl, but please see the recipe card below for exact measurements.

Chia seeds - White or black whole chia seeds can be used.  Use fresh chia seeds, old seeds may not plump up as well.  After trying several brands, some brands thicken slightly better than others.  If your chia pudding is too thin, add a few more chia seeds and let them gel and thicken.

For another dairy-free chia pudding recipe with tropical flavors, try a chia pineapple pudding.

Dairy-free milk - Any non-dairy milk should work fine.  Some brands vary in degrees of sweetness and creaminess.  So keep that in mind with the brand you chose.  Try oat, cashew, soy, or almond milk.  

Maple syrup - Pure maple syrup is used to sweeten the chia pudding, but agave syrup can also be used.  The recipe calls for 2 teaspoons, but adjust the amount to suit your preference for sweetness and how sweet your milk is.

Mango - The diced mango can be substituted with any fruit you like.  It’s been a personal favorite of mine.  Combining creamy mango with creamy chia pudding made with oat milk is delicious.  To make this chia bowl even easier, use thawed frozen mango.  It’s already ripe, diced, and it can be found year-round.  For more breakfast recipes using frozen mango try mango oatmeal or overnight oats with mango.

Banana - If you’re not a banana fan, try strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, kiwi, or pineapple.   

Granola - I opt for my homemade oil-free granola or store-bought vanilla granola if I run out.  Use your favorite recipe or brand to add a little crunch to the chia pudding bowl.  To keep the recipe gluten-free use a gluten-free granola.

Instead of granola try shredded coconut, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, chopped walnuts, or chopped pecans.  

Tips

• The recipe for the base of the chia breakfast bowl is for one serving, but the recipe can be easily doubled or tripled.
• I use a ratio of 1 tablespoon of whole chia seeds to ¼ cup dairy-free milk.  For breakfast, I prefer 3 tablespoons and ¾ cup of non-dairy milk.  If this is too thin for you, then you may need to adjust the ratio to your preference.  For a snack size, decrease the chia seeds to 2 tablespoons and use ½ cup of dairy-free milk.
• After mixing the chia seed pudding, let the seeds soak for 10 minutes then give them a good stir.  Chia seeds start to gel once they are mixed with liquid and can start to form clumps.  Letting them soak up the liquid and then whisking again will help separate some of these clumps.  Give it a really good stir to break the clumps up. This usually works for me, but if you stirred them well and you still have clumps, next time let them gel for 10 minutes and stir, then give them another 30 minutes and stir again.

How to make a chia bowl

The chia pudding bowl is easy to make for meal prep.  The recipe is for one serving, but multiple can be made at one time.  For multiple servings, prep individual jars with individual servings.   

Whisk everything together in a container that has a lid. Wait 10 minutes and give the pudding a good stir.  Stir until there are no clumps.

Cover and refrigerate to thicken for at least 3 hours, but overnight is best.  The mango can be added when preparing after stirring or right before enjoying it.  If you’re using frozen mango it can be thawed in the refrigerator overnight or pop it in the microwave to thaw.  If you use the microwave, let it cool before topping the chia pudding.

The consistency shouldn’t be too runny or too thick, it should be able to drip off a spoon but not be soupy.  If you’ve tried overnight oats, the texture of chia pudding is softer than overnight oats.

Once it has thickened, stir again. Use the container the chia pudding was in if it's large enough or pour the pudding into a bowl and top with diced mango (if you haven’t done so), sliced banana, and granola.

Topping ideas and variations

Enjoy the chia pudding bowl with mango, banana, and granola, or change up the toppings.  Here are a few suggestions.  For more flavor options check out my post for chia pudding with oat milk.

Fresh berries - Instead of mangoes, try fresh berries.  They’re a great way to add flavor and sweeten the chia pudding naturally.  Try raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, or strawberries.

Other fresh fruit - Substitute the banana or mango for other fruit.  Try kiwis, apples, passion fruit, pineapple, dragon fruit, peaches, or thawed frozen pitted cherries.

Dried fruit - Sprinkle raisins or dried cranberries on top of diced apple (instead of mango) and sliced bananas.

Chocolate chips - Try a sprinkle of vegan chocolate chips on top of thawed frozen pitted cherries (instead of mango) and a banana. 

Nuts and seeds - Add a crunch with chopped walnuts, pecans, or almonds.  Sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds can also be added.

Shredded coconut- Sprinkle on for texture.

Storage

The chia pudding breakfast bowl will last for about 5 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  Wait to add the banana and granola until you are ready to enjoy it.  The banana will turn brown and the granola will soften if you add them too far in advance.  The mango can be added after stirring the pudding when preparing or right before enjoying it. 

For a grab-and-go portion, make your chia pudding, top it with diced mango, and store it in a jar with a lid.  In the morning, add sliced banana and sprinkle granola on top.  

Frequently asked questions

Related recipes

• Blueberry cheesecake overnight oats
• Applesauce overnight oats
• Raspberry overnight oats
• Chocolate raspberry overnight oats
• Mango oatmeal

I hope you enjoy the breakfast chia bowl recipe.  If you did, please feel free to rate it and leave a comment.