Ingredient

Chia seeds

Chia seeds do one distinctive thing: dropped into liquid, they surround themselves with a transparent gel and the whole mixture thickens. That property is the reason for chia pudding, the reason for the "chia egg" in vegan baking, and the reason a spoonful in a glass of water turns into something you drink rather than swallow.

What the gel actually is

The outer layer of a chia seed is rich in soluble fibre — a mucilage that absorbs many times the seed's own weight in water and holds it in a gel. Put the seeds in liquid and within about twenty minutes each one is suspended in a transparent capsule, and the liquid around them has thickened.

It is the same class of substance that makes okra slippery and linseed water viscous, and it is why chia behaves like a setting agent without needing any heat.

That gives it two genuine culinary uses. It thickens cold liquids, which almost nothing else does without cooking. And it binds, which is why it stands in for egg in some baking.

How to use it

• Chia pudding. Roughly one part seeds to five or six parts liquid — milk, plant milk, coconut milk — plus something sweet and something aromatic. Stir, wait ten minutes, stir again to break up clumps, then refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.
• The second stir is the whole technique. Chia clumps as it starts to gel, and the clumps never break up later. Stir once when you mix it and again ten minutes in.
• A "chia egg" for binding in vegan baking — about a tablespoon of seeds to three of water, left to gel for ten minutes. It binds; it does not leaven or enrich, so it works in a flapjack or a burger and not in a sponge.
• Ground rather than whole, which gels faster and disappears into the texture. Ground chia in a smoothie thickens it without the pearls.
• Sprinkled dry over porridge, yoghurt or a salad, where it adds a mild crunch and no gel at all.
• In a jam, where chia sets a cooked fruit purée without pectin or long boiling. A genuinely useful trick for a quick fridge jam.
• In bread and crackers, whole, for texture.

What it is and is not

Chia is the seed of a Mexican plant in the sage family, eaten in Mesoamerica for a very long time, and reintroduced to the wider market in the last few decades with a great deal of marketing attached.

What is true about its composition: it is high in fibre, particularly soluble fibre; it contains protein; and it is a source of alpha-linolenic acid, a plant omega-3 fatty acid. Those are statements about what is in the seed.

What does not follow from any of them is a claim about what eating chia does to a person. A food containing a nutrient, that nutrient having a known function, and eating the food producing a health outcome are three different statements, and superfood marketing routinely presents the first as though it were the third. FoodHQ describes composition and how food behaves in a kitchen, and does not publish health outcomes.

It is a useful, mild, cheap seed with an unusual and genuinely handy physical property. That is a good enough reason to keep a bag.

If you want what chia gives, other things give it too

Similarity depends entirely on which property you are after.

For gelling and binding

Ground linseed (flaxseed) behaves almost identically and is usually cheaper. Basil seeds gel too, faster and more dramatically.

For soluble fibre

Oats, barley, linseed and pulses are all substantial sources and are cheaper by weight.

For plant omega-3 (ALA)

Linseed is the highest common source, followed by walnuts and rapeseed oil.

For thickening a cold liquid

Ground linseed, or a small amount of gelatine or agar if heat is available.

For crunch on top of something

Almost any small seed — sesame, poppy, sunflower, pumpkin.

The point

There is rarely a single substitute for an ingredient, because "similar" depends on which of its properties you were using.

Common questions