Strawberry Chia Pudding or Sauce (sugar-free, vegan)

I love this Strawberry Chia Pudding. It’s bright and vibrant in color, bursting with berry flavor, and of course, big on nutrition.

Local strawberries are in season and it’s the perfect time to make this strawberry sauce (or pudding). When those local berries hit the farmers’ markets and stores, we stock up. Of course, it’s a short season, it’s hard not to stock up!

But this strawberry recipe is also wonderful with store-bought berries that perhaps aren’t as bright and juicy as you’d like. This recipe uplifts those lowly berries and now they taste just as lively as local strawberries… or at least, pretty close!

I created this recipe when I scored a deal on store-bought organic berries. We had more than we could work through fresh, so I decided to freeze some – and transform the remaining berries with this recipe.

And then things got better!

I had placed an order with Wilderness Poets, and with dragonfruit powder in my pantry decided to add a couple of tablespoons.

What color!

You can use this dragonfruit powder in puddings, sauces, ice creams, oatmeal, cookies, frosting, and more! Try dipping my cocoa cookie dough balls in the powder (as below) – or add some to my vanilla frosting or Ninja vanilla ice cream. The possibilities!

Now, here’s the thing… the dragonfruit powder isn’t essential, but… because it’s a whole fruit in powder form, it adds natural sweetness to the pudding. Color, sweetness, and more nutritional perks. You don’t need much either, just a tablespoon or 1/2 tablespoon will do.

But even if you don’t use the dragonfruit powder, the color is still beautiful – with the strawberries alone.

Next, let’s talk about the chia. This isn’t a chia pudding per se, but does have some chia seed to help thicken the mixture. Please see the notes in the recipe. If you use less chia, this recipe serves more like a fresh strawberry sauce. With the added chia, it’s thicker like pudding.

Now, most chia puddings use a milk base. This one is pure fruit and fruit juice, to let the colors and flavors really shine through!

You can serve this pudding straight up or over ice cream, or layer it with non-dairy yogurts parfait-style as we’ve done here.👇 Some other serving ideas? Try topping on your oatmeal, pancakes, or waffles!

I hope you love this pudding. Stay tuned for my next post to transform fresh strawberry chia pudding into a frozen treat! x Dreena

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Ninja CREAMi strawberry sorbet

This Ninja CREAMi strawberry sorbet is full of vibrant flavor and color, and is dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan, oil-free, and low-fat.

Course Dessert, snacks

Keyword berries, chia, ice cream, strawberries

Servings 1 CREAMi pint

Ingredients

• 3 cups fresh sliced/roughly chopped strawberries
• 1 1/2 – 2 tbsp white chia seeds see NOTE
• 1/4 cup orange juice or 2 tbsp water and 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1/2 – 1 tbsp pure maple syrup optional, see note
• optional: 1/4 tsp vanilla bean powder
• pinch salt optional
• 1/2 tbsp dragonfruit powder optional but gorgeous! See note

Instructions

• For the strawberries, don't worry about how much to chop them. Just slice or cut in half to get a rough measure. This recipe is flexible! In a blender, add just 1 cup of the strawberries, chia seeds (see note, using 1 1/2- 2 tbsp), orange juice or water/maple syrup, and vanilla/salt/dragonfruit powder (if using). Puree until smooth. Add the remaining strawberries and pulse through to roughly chop (keeping some chunky consistency of the strawberries) Alternatively, you can dice by hand and stir into the pureed mixture. , but keeping some chunky consistency of the berries.

  Transfer the mixture to a Ninja CREAMi pint. Place in freezer and let set overnight. When fully frozen, remove and place in CREAMi spin vessel. Set function to "sorbet" and let spin at least twice. Check consistency. If it's still icy or not softer-set, spin again. Once smooth and spoonable, it's ready to serve!

Notes

Chia Note: I like this sorbet with 1 1/2 – 2 tbsp of chia.

Orange Juice Note: If you do not want to add a sweetener like maple syrup or date syrup, try 1/4 cup of fresh orange juice. Depending on the sweetness of the juice, and also the ripeness of the berries, you may still opt for a touch of maple syrup. Note that a frozen treat will taste less sweet than the room temperature recipe.

Dragonfruit Powder: I use Wilderness Poets dragonfruit powder. The color is enchanting! Also, it will add a touch of natural sweetness so you may not need/want the maple syrup.