Dirty Chai Chia Pudding Parfaits

[This post is sponsored by my wonderful friends at Bob’s Red Mill! We’re using their Chai Protein Powder Nutritional Booster for these Dirty Chai Chia Pudding Parfaits.]

How’s that for a recipe title?!

Friends! How’s your week going? I’m excited it’s Thursday. Work is starting to slow down a bit, I’m getting back into the recipe testing groove, and I have a bottle of rosé chilling in the fridge for the weekend. Life is good, friends. Life is good.

This recipe was inspired by my time as a barista. We’d have…a lot of interesting orders come through each night.

But none confused me more than when someone ordered a dirty chai.

“…a what?” I said.

“A dirty chai. It’s just espresso, chai, and milk.”

Huh. Interesting, but okay! I made it, gave it to the orderee, and they were off on their way.

Years later, I was in a Whole Foods and I came across a box of dirty chai tea. Of course I bought it and finished the entire box in a week. It was a glorious, caffeine-driven week.

Although the dirty chai combo might sound a bit odd, it’s downright delicious. Pinky promise.

Especially when introduced to chia pudding! I love chia pudding. Love love love it. I had it for lunch all the time during my internships in college, and the texture reminds me of tapioca pudding (which I also love).

But today, we’re doctoring it up in the best way possible. And in three layers!

Layer One! The granola.

Use your favorite granola here, but I used this recipe. I highly suggest using that recipe because it is awesome and chunky and perfect. But use whichever you’d like! You’ll need a few tablespoons per serving.

Layer Two! The dirty chai chia pudding.

I LOVE this. It came together in no time, and after a nice long snooze in the fridge overnight, I was greeted with the thickest, tastiest chia pudding ever.

The chai flavor comes from Bob’s Red Mill Chai Protein Powder Nutritional Booster. Guys. This stuff. SO good. I’m not a huge protein powder person tbh. But the flavor of this powder is on-point. Plus it’s naturally vegan, full of probiotics, and packed with lots of good stuff. Yes yes yes. Give me all the chai.

The “dirty” flavor comes from…coffee! I technically used espresso powder + water for mine, but I’m not going to make you go out and buy some espresso powder if you don’t have any in your house. That would be silly; regular (room temp) coffee will do just the trick!

Layer Three! The whipped topping.

YAAS. I love coconut whip so so much. It’s so thick and rich and satisfying, and it’s the PERFECT topper to this chia pudding parfait. I sweeten it with a kiss of maple syrup, and that’s literally all you need.

Pro tip: I know some coconut milks have been giving people trouble when they try to make coconut whip. I used Trader Joe’s Coconut Cream, and it worked perfectly.

This is the definition of “feel good food” to me. It keeps me full for hours (a must during the summer months), and it makes me feel absolutely awesome.

We have everything here: healthy fats, protein, lots of fiber…you couldn’t ask for a better snack and / or breakfast!