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 and remove from the heat as soon as the pudding has thickened.
- 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!
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- pinch salt
- 4 ½ cups milk
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and cornstarch. Mix well. Add in cold milk, whisk until combined.
- Turn heat to medium, stirring constantly until mixture reaches a boil*.
- As soon as the pudding has thickened, remove from the 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!
My loved one has cancer and can’t eat solid food. This is his favorite food for which we are most grateful.
PS It’s also fantastic for those of us who are healthy.
It was not setting up well, and these are the tips that I got from the internet. I don’t know which one solved the problem, but I do these 3 things:
Have the milk at room temperature to start.
Mix the cornstarch with some of the cold milk.
Don’t stir once it gets to 205 degrees (boiling).
So happy to hear you both love this recipe, Aggie ❤️
I followed the recipe as written but my pudding never thickened. It tastes great, but mine is very liquidy.
Sorry to hear that this recipe didn’t turn out as expected, Meri!
This was really tasty and easy recipe! We already had all the ingredients on hand and my kids enjoyed making it. Also, great math and reading practice! We also made some vanilla whipped cream to top! Thanks for the great recipe!
So happy your family enjoyed it, Anjuli!
Any tips for storage?
It has to be stored in the fridge and will last 5-7 days. I like to store it in serving-sized plastic containers for ease. If you would like to freeze it, it makes great popsicles. But it changes texture when it defrosts, so I don’t recommend freezing it with the expectation to defrost and enjoy it as pudding.
Hi, as I was cooking this, it was very thick and even as I stirred it as it cooled it was very thick, but all of a sudden it turned liquidy again during the cooling process! It is currently in the fridge, but I just checked on it and it has not thickened up anymore. Is there still hope or how do you fix this? Again, it was very very thick while it was cooking!
It sounds like you may have overcooked it, Haley! You want to boil it long enough to thicken however, in a tip from another reader, overcooking starch can cause it to gelatinize and be unable to thicken properly. I hope this helps!
So I refrigerated some,OMG so smooth and not too sweet. Got a little experimental and put some in an ice cream container, sprinkled some crushed Oreos and left to freeze.
Also delicious
Any chance I could use creamy oat milk?
Other readers have tried this recipe with oat milk and have had great results, Howard!
Looks like a good recipe… at what point does the butter get added?
Hi Rob, butter is added in step 3 with the vanilla.
Absolutely perfect recipe! I didn’t change anything and it was delicious. Chocolatey, smooth and rich. Beautiful pudding. We loved it! I can’t go wrong when I’m your recipes and look forward to my daily Holly email. Thanks
So happy you enjoyed it, Susan!
This was very easy to make. Just required a little patience for the cooking and chilling process. I followed the recipe exactly. For those that thought it was too runny you didn’t cook it long enough. Someone commented on the amount of sugar. I was a little concerned when I put it in the pan. It did look like a lot. But there is 4 1/2 cups of milk going into this recipe. Once cooked and I tasted it I did not find that it was sweeter than any other chocolate pudding I’ve eaten. When I tried it when it was warm it was like eating melted chocolate. I’m trying some now after it has chilled overnight. The consistency is perfect. A soft and velvety mouth feel. It tastes decadent.
This would be perfect in adding to other desserts.
first off for everyonr complaining about this recipe, yall are ridiculous. this is an amazing recipe that fully encapsulates the basics of pudding production. i personally made this, substituting 1/4 cup milk with 1/4 mexicN style cream. added chocolate chips, and them used the rest of the mexican style cream with sugar and honey to make a frozen cream topping and then took reeses puff minis, crushrd them up and added some cocoa powder and dusted the top of the whipped topping and got rave reviews from my coworkers, of whom i made the pudding for. thank you so much for this simple yet effective cooking tool, im actually making a second batch today for the guys who werent able to try it yesterday.
way too much sugar for me, first time making it and was just going by the recipe
Hi what should the consistency be please? I halved the recipe to try it out and it’s still runny? Thanks
The consistency should be thick, it will thicken slightly in the fridge but should be fairly thick in the saucepan.
I wish this recipe also had metric units. I want to half the recipe, but not easy using cups and tablespoons, etc. Not trying to be critical. I’ve made your recipes many times with excellent results.
Hi Marshall, I am so glad you are enjoying our recipes! Unfortunately, I am unable to provide metric conversions for them. There are many conversion tools available online. I hope that helps.
Oh my goodness this chocolate pudding is luscious! Another awesome recipe from Holly! Thx so much!
So easy. ! I used Dutch processed cocoa and it was Devine!!! I did notice that my mixture never boiled. It instead went from warm liquid to super slurry I think I warmed to slowly. It burped once and I called it a boil and counted one minute from there and called it. I hope it sets up ok. Thanks !!!!
I hope it turned out delicious for you, Khia!
Wow! I just love chocolate pudding! I used to make it as a kid, but always used the mytifine (sp?) powder in the little box. I just followed your recipe and used raw jersey milk from our neighbor’s farm with organic fair-trade cocoa powder. It was the best!!! My husband is enjoying it even as much as I am! Thank you for this easy and delicious recipe. Chocolate pudding is my favorite comfort food!
So glad you are enjoying it, Joanne!
Easy to make
Such a velvety chocolate taste!!
The best chocolate pudding I ever ate!
Easy to make and so delicious!
Wow! This came together in a flash!! Taste tested by way of pan & spatula . This will be my go to from now on! So creamy, and luscious!!! Prepared it exactly as recipe instructs, and it produced a rich, creamy, chocolatey dream!! My guests after me serving this will definitely be asking for this recipe!!!