A simple raw bread recipe, loaded with nutrients from the chia seed
I read somewhere that the word “chia” is the ancient Mayan word for “strength”, which means that this is strength bread and any sandwiches made from it are strength sandwiches
There’s a reason chia has become so popular in the last few years (aside from the strength thing). It’s loaded with Omega 3 fatty acids, calcium, manganese, magnesium and phosphorus.
All this and the fact that calorie for calorie, they are the most nutrient dense food for several of these important nutrients.
This is also a great recipe if you’re looking to make good use of the almond pulp leftover from almond milk. Personally, I made the almond pulp for this recipe, so I had almond ‘left over’. That will quickly be dispatched making this Turmeric Tea, swapping out the hot water for almond milk.
Chia Seed Bread
Nutrition (For one serving)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 courgette medium size, peeled, roughly chopped
- 1 cup water
- 1 onion medium
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup chia flour ground chia seeds
- 1 1/2 cup almond flour or 2 cups almond pulp from almond milk
- 3 tbsp psyllium powder
Instructions
- Blend the olive oil, peeled courgette, water, onion, nutritional yeast, lemon juice and salt in a highspeed blender.
- Grind the chia flour, almond flour/pulp and psyllium powder in a food processor for a few seconds, then pour in the blended mixture from step one, grinding until a batter is formed.
- Spread the batter on 2 nonstick dehydrator sheets about ½ cm (⅕ of an inch) thick.
- Dehydrate for around 4 hours at 105 degrees F.
- Remove the nonstick sheet and cut the bread into 8 individual slices (4 per tray) and return to the dehydrator, just on the mesh sheets this time, for another 8 hours, or until you’re happy with the texture.
can i use carrots instead of the courgette?
Yep, that should work out.
What would you recommend in place of the Almond meal/flour which I am allergic to?
Coconut would work.
In anticipation of the nut cheeses course I have successfully made crispy crackers using this recipe and just spreading the mixture very thin before hydration.
Nice tip, thanks, Robert!
Whoops obviously I meant dehydration!!
I have just made this bread and apart from the fact the onion flavour is a bit too strong it is great, Note to self – a little less onion next time.
Glad you liked it and will try it again, Robert 🙂
Hi James!
I am wondering what is the function of the olive oil in this recipe, is it to give more flexibility like flour wrap?
I’ve tried without and it breaks!
Yes that’s because without an oil, when you’re dehydrating this it will get too dry.
Once you grind that chia up, it’s oxidizing rapidly. Omega 3 oils are extremely heat, air, and light sensitive.
Might be better to keep them whole. They supposedly digest well whole. The seed shell is thin enough, they say.
Thanks, Jeff. From a culinary perspective, grinding them holds the bread together, although I haven’t actually tried to use whole seeds for this.
is the lemon juice added with the courgette?
Hey Jenny, yes it is. I’ve amended the instructions, thanks for that.
Sounds marvelous, & am making this bread for next week. Thank you, Russell.
can I use the oven I don’t have a dehydrator
I have heard of people doing that. I made a video with some pointers here.
I put this in the dehydrator a couple of hours ago!! Remembered after I’d spread it out that I forgot to add salt to the recipe… So I sprinted some ontop ?? also misread the temperature and had it on 150f for the first hour… ? This is my first attempt at raw bread so I’m glad I got passed the fear and actually did it! Thanks Raw Chef
That’s awesome! 🙂
Hi Russel, I don’t know if you got my reply yesterday. Just wanted to say that the bread came out great, i’d dehydrate it for another hour as I took it out about 45 minutes too early, i’d also not use the oil. I’d love to have more lessons with you if you’re available in any way – I live in Cyprus which is an island in the Mediterranean but I’d love to learn from you. Thanks again!
Hey Mia, glad you loved it!
If you take a look at the courses page we have a really good selection of online courses to get stuck into 🙂
Hi Russell:
Love all your flat-bread recipes ! This particular Chia flat-bread, would it OK to use coconut flour as this is what I have in my pantry at the moment.? Thanks.
Yes, that should work out fine.
Hi Russell , I have tried using almond pulp/flour as well as coconut flour for raw breads and find them very difficult to digest. Any othe suggestions? I’m thinking about grinding dehydrated sprouted buckwheat …
Yes, you could certainly use buckwheat flour.
Hi, thanks for the great recipe Russell. Is there a sub for the Olive oil to decrease fat content?
You could just leave it out. The only thing I’d sub for would be avocado, but then you’re getting another fat.
Thanks for this recipe; sounds & looks yummy. Chia is definitely my best friend these days. as I’m trying to lose weight. Mostly due to something about pulling toxins out of the liver via the digestive system?
I’ve not heard of that, but I’m excited to hear about another benefit! 🙂
Thank you ever so much for your recipes. I will no longer be using nutritional yeast though and have opted to use a little chickpea miso combined with coconut aminos to give the same flavor. I stopped using the nutritional yeast because of all the natural MSG in it AND because they add in folic acid (synthetic) and use cyanocobalamin instead of the methylcobalaSomin (B12-more readily absorbed) thought some of your readers might be interested in this substitution.
Hey Mary, thanks for the substitution idea. I use an organic nutritional yeast here in the Uk that doesn’t have those added. Do you know if it’s a particular brand where those are added?
Hi Russell. Thank you so much for the recipe. Which brand of nutritional yeast do you use?
I use Marigold here in the UK.
What might be substituted for the nutritional yeast, Russell? Thanks! 🙂
You could just leave that out.
Thank you very much for making so many wonderful recipes available for free. This is a true blessing for those of us who are retired and on very limited incomes, but doing our best to remain healthy and active and continuing to learn! You tick all the boxes and get stars in your crown for all the good work you do in educating people to the benefits and joy of raw food.
Hi Russell.
when the slices of bread are regurned to the dehydrator for a further 8 hours, is it still the same temperature?
It is, yes
I love your cracker recipes! Thank you for this new chia seed one. Have you tried making this recipe without the olive oil or do you think it would work without the oil? I am trying to remove nutrient poor, calorie dense foods from my diet, like oils and replacing them with whole foods like nuts, seeds and avocados. Thank you Russel.
I think it would work out, yes. You could also use 1/2 an avo too instead.
Great question, I was wondering the same thing. Will try avocado
Yum! Loving that I can use my almond pulp in a recipe! Thank you!
Hi Russell,
Im not good with chia seeds or flaxseeds. Is there another nut that can replace the chia to have with the almond meal like cashews or another type of nut?
The chia is there as a binder, so there’s not really anything that would do the same thing, but you may well find that cashews and a little extra psyllium will do the trick.
Thank you for this recipe. My eyes cannot see the recipe because the type color is too light. Even in this field I can barely see it.
Hey Carolyn, thanks for your feedback. No one else has mentioned it, so I’m wondering if it’s a brightness thing on your screen? Not sure what you were referring to when you said, “even in this field”?
Hi Russell. I agree with Carolyn. Although it the grey colour of the print looks good, I find it difficult to read as well 🙁
Hey Christine, thanks so much for letting me know, I’ll get my developers to look at it and see what we can do.
Thanks Russell for your consideration. So, as I said, beside the lovely photo of the Chia Sandwich the recipe that’s printed isn’t clearly visible. I can read everything else just fine. Yes, I can turn up the brightness, but then the light hurts my eyes; and even then the print is still too light, though I can read it better.
What I meant by “even in this field” is that in this comment box the lettering is faint also.
You are such an inspiration. You should be proud of your work. I wish you the best.
Hey Crolyn, thanks so much for your comments. Someone else mentioned after you too, so I’m having my developer take a look at changing the colour of the text.
Yum! Thanks, will be definitely trying this. If I can find that powder!
sounds great- another great bread to make. 🙂
Looks fantastic, Russell – can’t wait to try it!
Thank you for your recipies!!!
Please, in my country we don’t have psyllium husk.
What can I use instead of it?
Thanks again!
You can use a little Irish moss, but you’re likely not to have that either, so I think you’ll be OK if you just leave it out.
hi i would love to join your face book live now, how do I?
If you Like my Facebook Page here, you will see us advertise it and when I go live.