Aldi offers plenty of healthy food options, and within the last few years,the store has caught on to some of the trends in the health food movement like chia seeds.
Aside from growing Chia Pets, many of us aren’t sure what to do with these tiny seeds that pack a hearty dose of fiber. Thankfully, the recipes section on Aldi’s website offers a few ideas. This recipe for Blueberry Chia Pudding is found in their On the Go Breakfast category.
Blueberry Chia Pudding is not much of a looker (see photo below), but it’s certainly a healthy breakfast option.
The Recipe:
Ingredients –
3 tablespoons Southern Grove Chia Seeds
1 cup Friendly Farms Sweetened Original Almond Milk
1/4 teaspoon Stonemill Essentials Ground Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Stonemill Essentials Pure Vanilla
1/8 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon SimplyNature Organic Wildflower Honey
1/8 cup Southern Grove Chopped Walnuts, toasted
1/4 cup blueberries
Directions –
- In a medium bowl combine chia seeds, almond milk, cinnamon, vanilla, lemon zest and honey. Stir until combined. Let sit 10 minutes and stir again. Repeat 2 more times.
- Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Top with walnuts and blueberries.
Chef’s Thoughts
This pudding was easy to make. The most complicated part was setting the kitchen timer so I could stir it several times every 10 minutes. I made our pudding the evening before so it could sit in the fridge overnight. In the morning, just before serving, I mixed in the blueberries, and I added chopped pecans instead of walnuts because those are what I had in my pantry.
I omitted the lemon zest because I always feel like the work of zesting a lemon is a a hassle, and I’m not always sure what to do with the rest of the lemon after I’ve used part of its peel.
When shopping for ingredients to make this pudding, make sure you buy sweetened almond milk at Aldi. I bought vanilla almond milk thinking it would be sweet because it has vanilla in it, and after I got home, I realized it was not sweetened, so I had to return to pick up the sweetened original almond milk. As an alternative, you could use unsweetened almond milk or experiment with regular cow’s milk and add sugar to taste.
The finished blueberry chia pudding has an interesting texture. The chia seeds swell a little as they soak in the almond milk mixture, creating a gel-like substance. The seeds in the finished pudding remind me of tapioca, but not quite.
The pudding tasted okay, but my elementary school-aged daughter said it didn’t have much flavor. My preschooler tried a few spoonfuls but didn’t finish her pudding. It doesn’t taste bad, but it’s not exactly a hit in the breakfast department. Perhaps we should try making it again with the lemon zest to see if that makes a difference.
The Verdict:
Blueberry Chia Pudding has a mild taste, and because of that, it won’t make it into my regular breakfast recipe rotation. It’s healthy, though, so if you don’t mind a slightly bland breakfast and are more concerned about your daily fiber intake, this might be for you.
