Chocolate Pudding
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Why settle for store-bought chocolate pudding when homemade is so easy to make?
If you’ve never had homemade chocolate pudding, you’re in for a real treat. It’s silky-smooth and intensely chocolatey—a world apart from the instant or store-bought varieties. While kids always love chocolate pudding, its nostalgic appeal makes it a fun and crowd-pleasing dessert for grown-ups too. Despite the ease and convenience of ready-made mixes, making chocolate pudding from scratch is surprisingly simple. The only challenge is waiting for it to set up in the fridge—you’ll need to allow at least 5 hours—but the wait is well worth it!
“Something this chocolatey and decadent shouldn’t be so easy to make. This recipe is so easy and so delicious!”
What You’ll Need To Make Chocolate Pudding
- Sugar: Sweetens the pudding, balancing the cocoa’s bitterness and enhancing its flavor.
- Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder: Provides the rich chocolate flavor that defines chocolate pudding.
- Cornstarch: Acts as a thickening agent, giving the pudding its smooth and creamy consistency.
- Whole Milk: Forms the base of the pudding, and contributes to its creamy texture and richness.
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate: Adds depth to the pudding, intensifying the chocolate flavor. Be sure to use good quality chocolate, such as Ghirardelli)
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the overall flavor profile of the pudding with its aromatic notes.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Combine the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt in a heavy medium saucepan.
Whisk to combine.
Add half of the milk and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the remaining milk.
Continue whisking over medium heat until the pudding thickens and comes to boil, about 8 minutes. Continue to boil 1 minute longer, whisking constantly.
Off the heat, add the chopped chocolate and vanilla.
Whisk until the chocolate melts and the pudding is smooth. Pour the pudding into a medium bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly over the pudding to prevent a film from forming at the top.
Cool in the refrigerator until set, 5 to 6 hours. Before serving, whisk the chilled pudding until smooth.
Spoon the pudding evenly into 4 dessert bowls.
Top with a dollop of whipped cream, if desired, and serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
I’d recommend sticking with solid chocolate here; chocolate chips are made with stabilizers to help them retain their shape when heated, so they’re not the best option for pudding.
Sure! It keeps nicely in the fridge for up to 3 days.
I don’t recommend it as the pudding isn’t firm enough to hold up when sliced. This chocolate cream pie recipe may meet your needs – it’s delish!
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Chocolate Pudding
Why settle for store-bought chocolate pudding when homemade is so easy to make?
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ¼ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder, such as Hershey's
- 2½ tablespoons cornstarch
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2½ cups whole milk
- 1½ ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (best quality, such as Ghirardelli)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Homemade whipped cream, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Whisk the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt in a heavy medium saucepan. Add half of the milk and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the remaining milk. Continue whisking over medium heat until the pudding thickens and comes to boil, about 8 minutes. Continue to boil 1 minute longer, whisking constantly.
- Remove the pudding from the heat. Add the chopped chocolate and vanilla; whisk until the chocolate melts and the pudding is smooth. Pour the pudding into a medium bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly over the pudding to prevent a film from forming at the top. Cool in the refrigerator until set, 5 to 6 hours. Whisk the chilled pudding until smooth, and then spoon it evenly into 4 dessert bowls. Top each pudding with a dollop of whipped cream, if desired, and serve.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 310
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 55 g
- Sugar: 47 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Sodium: 142 mg
- Cholesterol: 15 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Comments
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I made this for my kids, and they loved it! (As did their parents!) 😉 How far in advance can I make a pudding like this for company? Can I make it the day or night before, and refrigerate the individual puddings overnight? (To serve the following evening?)
Thank you for yet another delectable dish! ☺️
Glad it was a hit! I think you can get away with making this up to about 24 hours in advance. 🙂
I made this over the weekend with my chocoholic teenage son, who happens to be taking chemistry. It turned out delicious with the added bonus of a chemistry lab for him! Very fun and equally yummy
This pudding was fabulous! Thank you Jenn for your amazing recipes and constant help for the home cook.
Something this chocolatey and decadent shouldn’t be so easy to make. This recipe is so easy and so delicious! I always have the ingredients so I can whip this up for unexpected company. It is absurdly good. My husband’s favorite!!
Can you freeze them?
Hi Susan, with all the milk they contain, I don’t think they’d be a great candidate for freezing – sorry!
Could I do a white chocolate version of this by omitting the cocoa and stirring in white chocolate at the end?
I wouldn’t recommend it, Karen, as I think it would necessitate other adjustments to the recipe. I’d suggest just looking for a white chocolate pudding recipe to use here.
Easy and delicious! A HUGE hit with the kids.
So delicious and easy. Didn’t add any toppings, and stirred in a tablespoon of butter once taken off the heat. It was so creamy without being overly rich. Thank you Jenn for another amazing recipe !
Hi Jenn, I used your recipe to make chocolate pudding tonight. Loved the flavor, but the consistency was a bit grainy. How can I get a smoother consistency?
– Lori
Hmmmm…. if it was grainy, it could be that the sugar cocoa mixture wasn’t cooked long enough to get the sugar to fully dissolve. You used the word grainy, but if it was lumpy, that would be caused by not enough whisking of the mixture. Hope that helps at least a bit!
Hello Jenn,
Is there anyway I could use Dutch processed cocoa powder to make this?
Thank you !
Malak
That’s fine, Malak – won’t make a big difference here. Enjoy and please lmk how it turns out!