High Protein Chia Pudding: Grams, kcal and kJ

High protein chia pudding needs more than chia. 30 g of chia seeds with 200 g of 2% milk makes 11.8 g of protein and 247 kcal (1,033 kJ). Add 32 g of whey protein powder and the same bowl reaches 36.8 g for 360 kcal (1,506 kJ). Greek yogurt gets you to 22.1 g with no powder at all.

How much protein is in plain chia pudding?

The milk contributes more of it than the seeds do. The USDA record for dry chia gives 17.0 g of protein and 490 kcal per 100 g. So 30 g has 5.1 g and 147 kcal. The 2% milk record has 3.35 g and 50 kcal per 100 g, so 200 g is 6.7 g and 100 kcal.

On its own it is a seed pudding with modest protein. Almost 60% of its calories come from the seeds: 147 of 247 kcal. I weigh the chia. A tablespoon is a loose measure for a small seed.

The 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans put protein at 1.2–1.6 g per kg of body weight a day. At 70 kg that comes to 84–112 g. My own bar for a breakfast is 25 g or more, a bit under a third of the low end. The 25 g is my number, not the guidelines’, and plain chia pudding falls well short of it.

To get your own daily number from your weight, use the protein calculator, which runs on the same 1.2–1.6 g per kg range. How much protein you should eat a day explains where that range comes from.

How do I make high protein chia pudding?

Stir in a protein food. Pick one that packs a lot of protein into few calories, because the base already carries 247 kcal. I worked out four builds on the same base of 30 g chia and 200 g of 2% milk and added up the USDA records myself. Kilojoules are the rounded kcal times 4.184.

Build (added to the base)	Protein	Energy	Protein per 100 kcal
Base only	11.8 g	247 kcal / 1,033 kJ	4.8 g
+ 100 g nonfat Greek yogurt	22.1 g	308 kcal / 1,289 kJ	7.2 g
+ 100 g lowfat cottage cheese, blended smooth	22.8 g	331 kcal / 1,385 kJ	6.9 g
+ 32 g whey protein powder	36.8 g	360 kcal / 1,506 kJ	10.2 g

Two builds clear my 25 g bar easily: the whey build and the yogurt-plus-whey mix below. Yogurt and cottage cheese stop a few grams short of it. They suit a kitchen without powder, and each adds under 100 kcal to the base.

The mix I make most often is 30 g chia, 150 g of 2% milk, 100 g of Greek yogurt and 16 g of whey. It comes to 32.9 g of protein and 339 kcal (1,418 kJ). Halving the powder keeps the pudding from tasting chalky. I’ve never noticed the yogurt.

Toppings add calories and almost no protein, which surprised me the first time I weighed them. 80 g of raspberries is 41 kcal and 0.8 g. 16 g of peanut butter is 94 kcal and 3.8 g. Pick toppings for flavor and expect nothing from them in protein. For dessert, the five recipes in high protein desserts start from yogurt, cottage cheese, silken tofu or milk with whey.

Which milk works in chia pudding?

For protein, cow’s milk or soy milk. Almond milk drops the protein by half. Here is the same 30 g of chia with 200 g of each milk, sorted by protein.

Milk (200 g)	Protein	Energy
Soy, unsweetened	12.2 g	224 kcal / 937 kJ
Skim	12.0 g	215 kcal / 900 kJ
2%	11.8 g	247 kcal / 1,033 kJ
Whole	11.7 g	267 kcal / 1,117 kJ
Almond, unsweetened	6.2 g	176 kcal / 736 kJ

Cow’s milk and soy sit within 0.5 g of each other. Almond milk saves calories but costs you 5.6 g of protein, so make up the gap with yogurt or powder if you use it. The soy record is a generic unsweetened, shelf-stable one, so your carton may differ. Read its panel.

What does an Australian label show?

Energy in kilojoules, with protein per serving and per 100 g. Food Standards Australia New Zealand says the panel gives energy in kilojoules, or in kilojoules and kilocalories, in a standard format per serving and per 100 g (page updated October 2025). The USDA records here are US foods, so a local product can differ. If your tub or carton has a panel, trust the panel.

This matters most for protein powder. The USDA whey record uses a 32 g portion, and its protein is 78.1 g per 100 g. Your tub may use a different scoop weight and a different protein share. Take the protein per 100 g from the panel and multiply by the grams you put in. Don’t count scoops.

What should I make this week?

Start with the yogurt build. It has no powder and gives 22.1 g of protein in one bowl, and you can add whey later. Weigh the chia, milk and yogurt into a jar, stir, and leave it in the fridge. I make mine at night and eat it the next morning. On mornings when a jar in the fridge isn’t what I want, high protein cereal and high protein bagels give the grams per bowl and per bagel.

The whey build is a lot of protein in one sitting. With kidney disease, during pregnancy or under 18, ask your doctor what amount suits you before you try it.

Once you land on a mix you like, Calsa can store the bowl as your own recipe, with a source behind each ingredient’s numbers.