Do you ever feel like you are in a meal rut? Six out of seven days a week I start my day with a 6:00 am workout, immediately followed by a protein shake and a more substantial breakfast meal about two hours later. Tired of my usual steel-cut oats or tofu scramble, I’ve been looking for something different to eat for breakfast. I have known about chia pudding for a while, but its not something I ever though would be filling enough for breakfast. I was definitely wrong!
Let’s talk about chia seeds for a moment. Chia seeds have a variety of health benefits including all of the Omegas (3, 6 and 9), an impressive amount of fiber in addition to protein. Two tablespoons of these little guys include 6 grams of fiber which will help keep you satiated.
Now that its June, we are officially in cherry season here in the northeast. I’m usually strawberry obsessed but I picked up a bag of bright, beautiful cherries at the market the other day and wow – it made me wonder why I don’t eat enough cherries? For this recipe I developed a cherry compote which is basically cherries that I heated with a little water, lemon juice and a teaspoon of date sugar. I’m going to totally admit I cheated a bit here. I started pitting my cherries without a cherry pitter and realized it was only going to take me an hour but I was going to stain everything around me. My shortcut was to use frozen cherries and save the fresh cherries for the topping.
I combined with my favorite Kite Hill Almond Milk Unsweetened Greek Yogurt (vanilla or plain) and a tablespoon of Purely Elizabeth Maple Almond Butter Granola (which is not only one of the lower sugar/lower fat varieties on the market but I swear is the most amazing tasting granola on the market!)
Here’s a tip – make a batch of the chia pudding at the beginning of the week and the cherry compote. This all comes together in about 10 minutes. You can either make the parfaits in advance or spoon everything together quickly in the morning. Either way you will have a quick, delicious, healthy plant-based breakfast to start your day!
PrintCherry Chia Seed Pudding and Yogurt Parfait
A delicious parfait made with chia seeds, plant-based yogurt and a healthy cherry compote which is perfect for a health breakfast, snack or dessert!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 parfaits 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Cherry compote:
- 1 cup frozen cherries
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon water
- Optional: 1 teaspoon date sugar (or coconut sugar)
Chia seed pudding:
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 cup plant-based milk of choice (I use unsweetened almond milk)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
For parfait:
- Unsweetened plant-based yogurt such as Kite Hill Unsweetened Greek Yogurt
- Low-sugar/low-fat granola such as Purely Elizabeth Maple Almond Budget Granola
Instructions
Cherry compote:
- Heat cherries, lemon juice, water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Once the mixture comes to a simmer, lower heat and break-up cherries with a wooden spoon until you have a desired texture. This should take about 10 minutes.
Chia pudding:
- Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.
- Let sit for at least 1 hour or overnight.
Partfait:
- Layer 2 tablespoons of cherry compote, 1/4 cup of chia seed pudding, 2 tablespoons a plant-based yogurt of your choice (almond or coconut) and top with fresh cherries and 2 tablespoons of granola.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Partfait
- Calories: 275
- Fat: 12 g
- Carbohydrates: 32 g
- Fiber: 10 g
- Protein: 10 g