Protein Pudding

As someone with a wicked sweet tooth, a big part of my low carb journey has been figuring out healthy dessert recipes.

When those desserts can also be high protein recipes? Bonus!

I’ve been making delicious pudding out of chia seeds for years now. It - and overnight oats - were our breakfast options of choice, when living in an RV while making an international move.

These days, we’ve been seeing chia puddings as more of a healthy snack or dessert, than a breakfast - we try to get a serving in every evening.

A while back, I decided to see how it would work as a high protein pudding recipe - and it was a big hit!

Like instant pudding mix, this protein pudding recipe works up in just a couple of minutes - much faster that most traditional pudding recipes.

Unlike instant mix, though, this uses healthy ingredients and is totally suitable for a workout snack!

Depending on your choice of protein powder, it also avoids the added sugars in instant pudding, and can pack a ton of protein - we tend to get 22-26 grams of protein per serving, with our choices of powders!

Definitely a great way to work some extra protein into your day!

Also, this protein pudding recipe is the base for all kinds of different protein pudding recipes - your only limit is the variety of protein powders you have access to!

Use a tasty chocolate protein powder to make a simple chocolate protein pudding. Use one with a low carb count for an easy keto chocolate pudding.

Birthday Cake, Lemon Meringue, Egg Nog, Churro, Gingerbread Cookie - with the wild variety of protein powder flavours out there, you’ll always be finding new ways to enjoy this dessert!

Let’s get to it...

Ingredients

This recipe uses only a few simple ingredients, but I do have a few notes and comments for you!

Chia Seeds

Chia Seeds are what take your protein powder from being a protein shake, to a PUDDING.

They’re tiny little seeds that are little powerhouses of nutrition, offering essential amino acids, minerals, fiber, and even a bit of protein.

As pictured, I used regular chia seeds. If you’d prefer not to have little black dots throughout, you can use White Chia Seeds instead.

Protein Powder

You can use a good vanilla protein powder to make a basic vanilla protein pudding... but there are so many different flavors of protein powder out there, why not have some fun with it?

The big key is to use a protein powder you LIKE.

We tend to use Revolution Nutrition's protein powders, as we find they have the best flavor.

As pictured, I use Revolution Nutrition’s Isolate Splash Smoothie flavours often. Great taste, mix up smooth, and have no refined sugar. Score!

They also have some other great flavours, so we make mint chocolate protein pudding from their Chocolate Mint Ice Cream flavour, and a creamy chocolate pudding from their Chocolate Cake flavour.

I do tend to stick to their “Smoothie” and “High Whey” product lines for making these puddings.

I don’t like the texture that their cocktails line give - I think they might have some citric acid in them, and it causes some weird foaming in the pudding. (They taste great, though!)

That said, you can use whatever type of protein powder you like - milk protein isolate / casein protein, vegan protein powder, etc.

Use that vanilla whey protein powder if you like a really basic flavor, or go wild with it.

Milk

I try to avoid cow’s milk where I can, so I tend to use dairy free milk for making my protein shakes - and these high protein desserts.

Specifically, I default to Unsweetened Almond Milk, as that’s what I tend to have on hand - it’s a good, neutral flavour for anything I use it in.

I find that the natural flavors of a lot of the plant based milk options work really well for any kind of sweet recipe, though, so Oat milk, Cashew Milk, Flax Milk, Coconut Milk, and Macadamia Milk are all great options.

That said, you could also use cold water - it’ll just have a bit less rich of a mouthfeel, IMHO.

Variations

Depending on which of the protein powder flavors you choose, you can always add stuff to customize your protein pudding.

If you’d like to punch up the flavour when using chocolate protein powder, you can add a tablespoon or two of cocoa powder to achieve a deep chocolate flavor.

Adding a little Pure Vanilla Extract (or cherry, almond, or mint extract!) is another way to dress up your chocolate protein pudding recipe ... or use them with other protein powders, and you’ll have endless different flavor variations!

Then, there’s the matter of garnishing your protein pudding.

Depending on your dietary needs and restrictions, a swirl of whipped cream or a dollop of Cool Whip - maybe with a sprinkle of cacao powder on top - is a fun way to finish it off.

I love topping mine with fresh berries, but sometimes I’ll use a few sugar free chocolate chips when I’m in the mood for it.

Do whatever you like!

How to Make Keto Protein Pudding

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here’s a visual walk through.

Measure protein powder and almond milk into a shaker bottle, mini food processor, or blender jar for a stick blender.

Note: You could use a whisk or electric hand mixer and a mixing bowl, if you prefer!

Shake or blitz until well combined and smooth.

Chill for at least 2 hours. Check it for texture - if it’s too thick for your tastes, add a little more milk until it’s the right texture for you.

Garnish as desired, and serve.

Leftovers

If you’re not serving it right away, cover each serving cup with plastic wrap, and it will keep for 3 days in the fridge.

Alternately, don’t divide it out into the cups, and just store the whole batch in an airtight container. Give it a stir and dole it out just before serving.

More Chia Pudding Recipes

Looking for some more tasty ways to get extra fiber into your diet? I've got you covered!

Banana Chia Pudding
Blueberry Chia Pudding
Pumpkin Chia Pudding
Spiced Apple Chia Pudding

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