Although I don’t really celebrate Cinco de Mayo, one of my lovely friends always throws a fantastic party for Cinco de Mayo which brings us all together to eat, laugh and generally be merry!
As such, her wonderful parties get me excited for Cinco de Mayo and this year, I thought it would be fun to create a healthy horchata recipe.
What is Horchata?
Horchata is a delicious and sweet rice milk drink. The first time I ever tried horchata was in Valencia, Spain. I bought it off of a local street vendor and it was the most delicious drink I had ever tried in my whole life! It took me years and years to find another one that even came close to how good the horchata in Valencia was. It was not until I moved to the US that I got to taste delicious horchata once again.
Interestingly enough, I read online that in Spain, it is traditional to make horchata from tiger nuts. However, in US and Mexico, horchata is commonly made from rice. My horchata pudding uses rice but I foresee attempts to make a Spanish style horchata in the future #staytuned
The Secret to Making Delicious Horchata Pudding
At first, I thought I could get away with using store bought rice milk to make a healthier horchata pudding. False, try again, Alice! Although it tasted alright, I realized that I had to go the homemade route, and make the rice milk myself.
Honestly, I should have started out by making homemade rick milk because it was so simple and easy to do. All it required was some rice, water, dates, a good blender and a nut milk bag (found them at Bed, Bath & Beyond of all places).
Recipe: Healthy Horchata Pudding
AuthorHonestly FitnessPlace the rice, dates and cinnamon stick in a container and add boiling water. Keep this in a dry and dark area overnight (approx. 8 hours).
The next day, throw away the cinnamon stick and blend the rest of the ingredients in a high speed blender. Add the vanilla extract to the blender as well. This step may take several minutes.
Now, get a large jar and place your nut milk bag in it. Empty the contents of the blender into the nut milk bag and let it drain out the liquid. You may have to strain it towards the end.
Now, add your chia or basil seeds and let soak for 3-4 hours.
Eat and enjoy!
Add 1tbsp honey if you want it sweeter
Garnish with ground cinnamon if you wish
Ingredients
Directions
Place the rice, dates and cinnamon stick in a container and add boiling water. Keep this in a dry and dark area overnight (approx. 8 hours).
The next day, throw away the cinnamon stick and blend the rest of the ingredients in a high speed blender. Add the vanilla extract to the blender as well. This step may take several minutes.
Now, get a large jar and place your nut milk bag in it. Empty the contents of the blender into the nut milk bag and let it drain out the liquid. You may have to strain it towards the end.
Now, add your chia or basil seeds and let soak for 3-4 hours.
Eat and enjoy!
Add 1tbsp honey if you want it sweeter
Garnish with ground cinnamon if you wish
What else pairs well with horchata pudding?
So easy right?! I cannot wait for you to try this healthy take on the classic (and sugar laden) horchata drink. I think an excellent meal for Cinco de Mayo (or any day), would be to make my easy and healthy shrimp tacos, whip up some cauliflower rice, and have my healthy horchata pudding for dessert.
If you make my healthy horchata pudding, I would love to hear how it went. It would mean the world to me if you could either rate my recipe, leave me a comment below, or visit my Instagram and message me. If you decide to recreate this pudding, I would love to see your photos. I’ll be able to see them if you tag my Instagram handle.
Honestly yours,
Alice
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4 Comments
I’ve never tried rice and chia together! Looks good!
It is really good! You drain the rice and date mixture in a nut milk bag and the rice milk is really delicious 🙂 Can’t wait for you to try it.
Alice x
Just found this recipe! What makes the top of the jar in your picture look blue? Is it the jar or the pudding inside?
I hope you liked it if you tried it! The blue actually comes from butterfly pea flowers. I soaked some flowers in the liquid mix to give it a fun and different color 🙂 I chat about that on my Instagram if you’d like to check it out.