Chocolate Pudding is a classic favorite dessert! This easy, kid friendly treat is a cinch to prepare and a great make-ahead option!
My family loves fruit desserts like Rhubarb Crisp and Strawberry Pie but sometimes I just need my chocolate fix! Light, creamy, rich, and chocolatey, this easy chocolate pudding recipe goes perfectly with fruit or on its own!
How to Make Chocolate Pudding
This chocolate pudding recipe takes no time at all on the stovetop, and then a quick chill while you’re eating dinner and voila! Homemade chocolate pudding can be made in advance and stored in the fridge until you’re ready to enjoy it.
To make homemade chocolate pudding:
- Combine dry ingredients (sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch). Whisk in milk.
- Bring to a low boil for 1 minute.
- Cool the chocolate pudding completely.
Tips for Making Pudding
- Use medium heat and sugar and milk can scorch or burn at a higher temperature.
- Whisk constantly while it comes to a boil.
- To keep the pudding from having a skin, place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding while it cools.
How Long Does Homemade Chocolate Pudding Last
Homemade chocolate pudding has to be stored in the fridge. I like to store it in serving-sized plastic containers for ease. It will last 5-7 days.
This recipe makes a pretty good amount so it’s perfect for packing in lunches. Grab some single-serving plastic containers and you have delicious chocolate pudding to send with your kids (or yourself) for the whole week.
Chocolate pudding can change texture when frozen because of the corn starch so it’s not great to defrost but it does make great drip-free pudding pops!
More Chocolate Love
- Caramel Chocolate Trifle – always impresses
- Best Ever Chocolate Cake – decadent!
- Chocolate Macaroons (No Bake) – so easy
- Easy Triple Chocolate Cookies – kid approved
- Easy Chocolate Truffles – a holiday favorite!
- Oreo Dirt Cups – fun snack or dessert
Did you enjoy this Chocolate Pudding? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Homemade Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cup sugar
- ⅔ cup cocoa
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- pinch salt
- 4 ½ cups milk
- 3-4 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- In a saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and cornstarch. Mix well. Add in cold milk, whisk until combined.
- Increase heat to medium, stirring constantly until mixture reaches a boil.
- Allow mixture to boil for 1 minute while stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.
- Allow mixture to cool completely, stirring occasionally to avoid a skin forming on the pudding.
- Serve chilled or warm.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
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Even More Chocolate Desserts You’ll Love
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Chocolate Ganache Frosting – Just 2 ingredients.
- Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies – Popular recipe!
I’ve made this several times now, as is and half recipe and it comes out perfect every single time! Perfect!
it was extremely liquidy and did not thicken, however it was a delicious drink! my sister and my sister called it “not pudding pudding” :) if anything (other than the thickening issue) it was extremely chocolatey. don’t get me wrong, i love chocolate, but it was SUPER DUPER chocolatey. even an expert chocolate eater like me almost couldn’t handle it! :P
Amazing! very exquisite will definitely do this again!
Super easy and delicious
This is really an excellent recipe. I had several 6 oz Keebler graham cracker Ready Crusts (the large pie crusts) on hand, and this recipe filled 2 of them exactly. It was perfect!
This tastes just like the cooked pudding I remember from my youth. And I learned something since I never knew there was butter in pudding!!
Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it, Wynn!
I’ve been using this recipe for a while now and me and my family love it every time! Because my mother can’t have dairy I use alternatives instead which include, oat milk, and dairy free butter. This recipe is awesome and I will continue to use it for future chocolate puddings!
It’s a basic pudding recipe. It’s good, but not the best.
I made the chocolate pudding and it is great whole lot better than box pudding! Will be trying other recipes from you! Thank you!!!
Perfect recipe! I made it exactly as written and it was perfect! I was craving chocolate pudding and had never made it myself, so I tried this recipe. It was easy, but the only thing is that you really have to have patience while stirring on the stovetop. It does take a while for the pudding to thicken and come to a boil. Don’t give up! It will be worth it when it finally thickens! Yum!!
I chose to use this recipe as a guide for making a chocolate pudding and made some tweaks here and there on the measurements on the sugar/cocoa ratio to suit according to our european tastes. The result was wonderful! Like a gourmet chocolate pudding like you would find at a good restaurant, we also crushed up some plain biscuits and made a choclatey pudding with great texture and will be making again and again. Thanks for posting this recipe!
I used non dairy coconut milk and it turned out so good! Yuumm
Question can I use hot cocoa mix to replace the cocoa powder if that’s all I have?
Hi Sapphire, we have never tried substituting the cocoa powder for a hot cocoa mix so I am not sure if the pudding will set up properly. But I would love to hear how it turns out for you!
It came out Too good ..thanx for the recipe.. so creamy n yumm..
Made this today and it was very smooth and yummy! Perfect amount of chocolate. Remember to keep stirring!
The worst. Tasted burnt. Nothing like pudding threw the whole thing out. Waste of ingredients. Thanks for wasting my money.
I’m sorry this recipe didn’t work out B! Sugar, and milk can scorch or burn at a higher temperature, so you want to make sure to cook it at medium heat.
The flavor is nice (I don’t find it too sweet or tpo chocolatey) but mine didn’t thicken. Well, it did a bit but got watery.
So I cooked it again the next day and added more corn starch/water. It worked!
Followed recipe exactly . Used skim milk and simple truth cocoa powder. Came out really tasty . Took about 10 minutes whisking to boil and thicken .
Just came across these and wanna give them a try… Love yummies
Absolutely scrumptious anc decadent recipe. I’ve made it twice now, and while the pudding was delicious both times, the first time I ended up with some dry powdery areas around the edges of the pot. The second time I mixed in the milk with an immersion blender before heating, and then stirred with a soft silicone spatula while heating, making sure to scrape the bottom and inside edges of the pot. Once the pudding started to thicken I switched to a whisk. The result was smooth and perfectly uniform. BTW, I used Hershey’s special dark cocoa powder. Note that this recipe is both very sweet and very chocolatey. If that’s not what you’re looking for, perhaps you should try a different recipe.
I made this recipe exactly as is, delicious! Follow the instructions and take the time to whisk it as mentioned. The pudding will come together in velvet creaminess and be well worth the time and attention.