Calcium Rich Chia Yoghurt
This calcium rich chia yoghurt is a great recipe to make sure your kids get their calcium.
One of the big questions that you get asked about when you cut out dairy is where will you get your calcium? For new vegans, this can be a difficult question to answer because traditionally we are only taught that calcium comes from dairy. There are, in fact, a lot of vegan sources of calcium. Two of the best are chia seeds and soy milk, which are combined in this chia yoghurt.
One serve of this calcium rich chia yoghurt gives 300mg of calcium, which is the same as a glass of dairy milk, or a tub of dairy yoghurt. I used vitasoy calci plus soy milk for this recipe, which has 400mg of calcium per cup. Most of the So Good soy milks also have a similar amount of calcium. Other soy milks will work, although the calcium levels will be lower. Of course, if you are not concerned about calcium intake, then this recipe would work with a nut milk as well.
I love this yoghurt with a bowl of granola, or even with berries for dessert. I find blending the chia seeds gives a lovely smooth texture, that strongly resembles a thick dairy yoghurt. You could also mix in some fruit or nuts for a flavoured yoghurt. It would also work in small containers for school lunches if you can keep their lunchbox cool.
This yoghurt is great, because it is more nutritious than many of the non dairy yoghurts on the market, and it’s cheaper too! I also find coconut yoghurts hard to digest, so I try to steer clear of them.
It doesn’t matter whether you use black or white chia seeds, but I find that my kids are more willing to eat it when I use white chia seeds. I think it’s a bit too obvious that it’s not normal yoghurt when it has the black flecks through it. Ah the things we parents have to do to try to get our kids to eat well!
Update: After some testing, a friend has found that this recipe works really well with soy and oat milk, but unfortunately it doesn’t seem to set with almond milk. I assume it’s because almond milk has a lower protein and fat content than soy.
Chia Vanilla Yoghurt
Ingredients
- 2 cups Soy Milk
- 3 TBS Chia Seeds
- 3 TBS Maple Syrup
- 1 tspn Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to blender. Blend until smooth.
- Pour into dish and refrigerate until set (1 – 2 hours).
| Nutrient | Per Serve | Per 100g |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 722kJ (173cal) | 453kJ (108cal) |
| Protein | 6.25g | 3.93g |
| Carbohydrates | 20.11g | 12.62g |
| Fat | 6.77g | 4.25g |
| Iron | 1.45mg | 0.91mg |
| Zinc | 0.97mg | 0.61mg |
| Calcium | 235.61mg | 147.86mg |
| Fibre | 4.44g | 2.78g |
