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
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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!
Hi so I found ur recipe and all the comments are amazing. So I have no problem with how it will turn out taste wise. However, I follows recipes exactly how they are written and I got stuck on one part. It says to take it off heat when it starts to thicken after it boils. Do I take it off after it thickens to regular pudding consistency or do I take it off right as it starts to thicken? Like will it thicken as it cools down or should I have kept it on the heat longer? Still tastes good tho!
The mixture will thicken to almost a pudding consistency and then it will thicken a little bit further as it cools.
I only had 2 cups of whole milk, so I subbed the rest with canned coconut milk that I had in my pantry, I otherwise followed the recipe, and it is delicious. Thank you so much for posting this recipe!
I just made this pudding it is easy to make and verry good.
Great recipe, does take a bit of time to heat the milk correctly, but aren’t we spoiled these days! Appreciate the time in sharing the recipe, not quite sure why the grumpy comments, our whole family was happy :).
Really yummy however I would definitely recommend putting less sugar!! Tastes like childhood!
I used 1 cup of stevia in lieu of the sugar. It turned out great. Thank you!
Since there were a few reviews that said it was to sweet I didn’t put the full amount needed and I think it would have been just fine if I did. we used it for dessert cups so with cookies I’m sure I won’t even notice and my two year old isn’t complaining (she’s loving licking the spoon). Will for sure use this recipe again 1st time making pudding Half batch made
Made this today because my hubby was craving chocolate pudding and I didn’t feel like going into town. I keep a well stocked pantry so I had all the ingredients. it was super easy and fast to make. I will never buy pudding or pudding mix again! love it!
Can I make this in the microwave, stirring every minute?
Thanks,
Peter
Toronto
I haven’t tried this in the microwave so I can’t say for sure how it would work.
This was my grandmother’s exact same recipe. She lived through all the tragic periods of the 20th-century and I suspect this recipe, like so many of her others, were simple and inexpensive because they were from when most Americans were poor (which they were until after WWII) and the Great Depression. Her chocolate pudding was one of my favorite foods when I was growing up. Now I am a grandmother and I made it with my own little granddaughter just a few days ago. I am happy to see it here.
this is the most misleading recipe I’ve ever seen. I think the rating is definitely tempered with. which no wonder the person who wrote the recipe is the website owner.
It doesn’t take 15 minutes to make this. How on earth do you expect a recipe with a 4 1/2 cups of milk on medium heat be brought to a boil in 15 minutes?
Hi Marla, The recipe does list 10 minutes cooking time, 10 minutes prep time, and 20 minutes cooling time. The total time was displaying incorrectly and has been updated (we’re human, mistakes can happen from time to time). Thanks for pointing it out.
To answer your query, I am the owner of the site and the author of this recipe—we do not “temper” with reviews from those who have made the recipes. Please keep in mind that appliances can vary so cooking times can also vary slightly. Enjoy the recipe, Holly.
It only took 6 minutes for mine! I just have a normal gas stove. I’m sure it depends on a lot of factors though.
This pudding is delicious. I had some frozen Fairlife milk from a recent hurricane and was trying to decide what to do with it since despite its ultra-filtration, it’s not the same mouth feel after being frozen. The recipe seemed an easy to make choice and it was.
I used a combination of stevia and erythritol instead of sugar which I added after the butter and vanilla and it still worked out fine, just less overall volume. It started to thicken just before it started bubbling then I immediately removed it from the heat as per instructions. I had no problem with it thickening to a sumptuous pudding. I can also see how freezing it as someone else did would make excellent popsicles.
I now have a delicious chocolate dessert with a nice amount of protein. Thanks!
Too little cornstarch and too much sugar! I did a half recipe (increasing the cornstarch) and still it was too sweet. Never gain.
It tasted just like Mom made when I was young. Thank You
That makes me so happy to hear! Thanks for trying our recipe, Kathy.
The taste is good but it does not seem to thicken
Hi Ella, it is important to remove the pudding from the heat as soon as it begins to boil and thicken. If left to continue boiling the starch will start to break down and it will not properly thicken, resulting in watery pudding.
I make this almost weekly except it doesn’t seem to thicken consistently and will get thin. I take it off right at bubbling so not sure what the issue is.
it took 45 minutes for the mixture to start thickening but overall pretty good
I made the recipe as-is. It thickened up but not as thick as store bought pudding after chilling . Found it a touch too sweet as a pudding but perfect for popsicles. Hubby and I really liked it as popsicles so I’m going to make another batch. A healthier version of Fudgsicles in that there’s no weird chemicals and preservatives. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
That’s a great idea, Kim! Making these into popsicles would be great.
REALLY delicious and easy!
Such an easy recipe! Never buying jello again!!
Sift dry ingredients before adding milk. Even though we used a whisk, we had some small lumps of cornstarch.
I absolutely agree about sifting the dry ingredients first. I thought to do it even though not in the recipe and glad I did. It made the mixing and stirring with the milk so much easier. Also, the better the quality of cocoa the better the pudding – Droste is my “go to”. Yum!
Great, easy recipe. A bit too sweet for me. I’ll reduce the sugar 1/3 cup next time. Thank you.