Chai Latte Protein Quinoa Porridge

This chai latte quinoa protein porridge is the perfect cozy breakfast to start your day right. Inspired by the warm, spiced flavours of a classic chai latte, this nourishing bowl is more than just delicious—it's packed with protein, healthy fats, and fibre to help support balanced blood sugar and steady energy. Whether you're managing insulin resistance, PCOS, or just looking for a more satisfying morning routine, this recipe delivers comfort and nutrition in every bite.

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• Why you'll love this recipe
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Storage
• Related
• Chai Latte Protein Quinoa Porridge

Why you'll love this recipe

• It’s a great way to start your day with 30 g of protein and 10 g of fibre.
• It is balanced with healthy fats, fibre and protein, which will keep you full for hours and help balance your blood sugar. 
• It’s gluten-free and dairy-free, making it anti-inflammatory for most people. 
• It's full of antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids.
• It takes under 15 minutes to make and it is super easy. 
• It can be made ahead and stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.
• It’s a warm and comforting breakfast!

Ingredients you'll need

• Full-fat coconut milk. I use the kind in the can because I know for sure that the only ingredient in it is coconut milk. 
• Ceylon cinnamon
• Ground ginger
• Ground cardamom
• Star anise
• Pure maple syrup 
• Chia seeds
• Unflavored plant-based protein powder or collagen peptides
• Quinoa
• Blueberries, or berries of your choice

See recipe card for quantities.

Equipment you’ll need

• Instant pot or electric pressure cooker (optional)
• Small saucepan
• Large spoon

Instructions

Cook the Quinoa. I like to cook my quinoa in the pressure cooker, but feel free to follow the package for cooking directions in a pot. Don't forget to rinse the quinoa before you cook it, so remove the bitter taste.

Quinoa can taste bitter due to a natural coating of saponins on its outer layer. Saponins are plant compounds that protect quinoa from pests and birds, but they have a soapy, bitter flavor that can make quinoa unpleasant to eat if not removed. Just place it in a fine mesh strainer and run water over it for about a minute. To cook the quinoa in the pressure cooker, combine the quinoa with an equal amount of water. Pressure cook for 1 minute with a 10 minute natural release. 

Healthy Tip: Quinoa can be a little bit hard to digest. Try soaking the quinoa in water for about 24 hours prior to cooking it. I typically soak my quinoa and make a large batch for the week to store in the fridge. 

Flavour the milk. Now you will infuse the milk with the warm and delicious chai spices. In a medium saucepan whisk together the coconut milk, water, cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cardamom, star anise to a simmer over medium heat. Turn the heat off and let the spices sit in the milk for about 5 minutes so the flavours soak in. If you were making a chai tea latte, you would follow the same instructions, except you would add a tea bag to the pot. 

Combine everything together. Once the milk is done steeping, remove the star anise from the pot. Add the pure maple syrup, chia seeds and 2 scoops of unflavoured protein powder and stir together. Add in the cooked quinoa and mix thoroughly. It will seem like there’s too much liquid at first, but the chia seeds will soak it up and it will thicken. 

Top it off. Serve immediately with the berries and chopped walnuts on top. 

Healthy Tip: Walnuts and chia seeds are high in Omega-3 fatty acids, which have anti-inflammatory properties and are great for helping manage insulin.

Substitutions

Substitutes for coconut milk. I specifically chose coconut milk in this recipe for it's healthy fat content.You can choose to use any of your favourite plant-based milks in this recipe, however, note that the fat content will not be the same. A great creamy alternative would be cashew milk.

Substitute for walnuts. You can substitute any other nuts or seeds on top of this recipe. Try almonds, pumpkin seeds or pecans.

Substitute for blueberries. You can substitute any berries you have into this recipe like strawberries, raspberries or blackberries.

Substitute for quinoa. If you don't love quinoa, but looking for a gluten-free option try millet. It's a seed, just like quinoa and cooks up really quickly. Note, however, that it is not as high in protein as quinoa is.

Storage

You can cook this quinoa porridge recipe in a larger batch and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days. I like to store it in separate glass containers that I can just pop in the microwave and add toppings on a busy morning. You may have to add a bit more milk when you reheat it if it's really thick.

Related

Looking for other high protein breakfast recipes like this? Try these:

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