Rich, chocolatey, and ultra creamy, this delicious healthy chocolate pudding recipe is surprisingly easy to make at home!
A classic chocolate pudding recipe with no tofu, no banana, and no avocado!
Not that there is anything wrong with avocado, but sometimes you just want traditional homemade chocolate pudding without any surprise ingredients.
As much as I love recipes where you can’t taste the hidden vegetable, such as in the famous Sweet Potato Brownies, my everyday meals are usually much more simple.
This thick and healthy chocolate pudding can be soy free, sugar free, egg free, gluten free, nut free, and dairy free.
Also be sure to try these Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Creamy vegan chocolate pudding
In sixth grade, I went through a chocolate pudding phase, where I’d make a package of Jell-O chocolate pudding, add an obscene amount of Cool Whip to the top, and savor it slowly with a small spoon as I watched the Dallas Stars games.
(Hockey was another of my sixth-grade obsessions. I am a girl of many obsessions!)
Today’s recipe is a homemade version of that packaged chocolate pudding. And like most homemade recipes, it is so much better than anything that comes in a box.
This healthy chocolate pudding is super creamy, chocolatey, and absolutely fantastic!
If you want to avoid the hydrogenated oils, artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup, and hard-to-pronounce ingredients found in store bought Cool Whip, try topping the dairy free chocolate pudding with Coconut Whipped Cream or Coconut Ice Cream.
Healthy chocolate pudding ingredients
Here is what you need: milk, cocoa, sweetener, salt, cornstarch, and vanilla extract.
A few readers have substituted arrowroot for cornstarch and say it works if you use less arrowroot. I have not personally tried this substitution.
For healthy chocolate pudding with no cornstarch, try my Vegan Chocolate Mousse or this sugar free and paleo Keto Chocolate Mousse.
Feel free to test out different milks in this recipe to find your favorite taste and texture. If you use canned coconut milk, it is super thick and velvety like chocolate mousse.
I also love making the dairy free pudding with almond milk or cashew milk.
You can also change up the flavor if you wish, by adding a few drops of pure peppermint extract, maple extract, or even coconut extract along with the vanilla.
Still craving chocolate? Make your own Chocolate Truffles
How to make the healthy dessert
Start by heating two cups of milk in a small pot with the salt, cocoa powder, and sweetener of choice.
Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch and the remaining half cup of milk in a small bowl until the cornstarch is completely dissolved.
When the mixture in the saucepan is warm, whisk in the milk with cornstarch and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir constantly with a whisk or spoon for two minutes.
Lower the heat to a simmer for an additional minute, then turn off the heat and add the pure vanilla extract. If using the optional chocolate, stir it until completely melted.
Transfer the chocolate pudding to the refrigerator to thicken. It gets thicker and thicker the longer it sits and will be ready to eat after a few hours or overnight.
*If you do want a recipe with avocado, make this Avocado Chocolate Mousse.
Watch the healthy chocolate pudding video above
Healthy Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk of choice OR canned coconut milk
- heaping 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup dutch cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup sweetener (sugar, pure maple syrup, erythritol, or honey)
- 1/2 cup milk of choice + 3 tbsp cornstarch
- optional 3 oz chocolate chips or broken-up bar
- 3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Healthy Chocolate Pudding Recipe: Heat the 2 cups milk of choice in a saucepan with the salt, cocoa powder, and sweetener. Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch and 1/2 cup milk in a small bowl until dissolved. When the 2 cups milk are warm, add the cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir constantly for 2 minutes. Lower to a simmer for an additional minute, then turn off the heat. Once the heat is off, stir in the vanilla and broken-up chocolate pieces until the chocolate melts. Transfer the pudding to the refrigerator to thicken. It gets thicker the longer it sits and will be ready to consume after a few hours or overnight. *Note: I’ve not tried arrowroot and have only tried this recipe with Dutch cocoa powder so can’t vouch for the taste if regular unsweetened cocoa powder is used in its place. But you are always free to experiment!View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Healthy Desserts
Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
This is a new family favorite! I made it twice, once with arrowroot powder and once with cornstarch. The only difference was texture. The arrowroot batch was slightly gummy and the cornstarch batch was thicker. I preferred the cornstarch but my mom preferred the arrowroot so I think either one is just fine! My dad, who is a harsh critic, raved about this and wants me to try it in a pie crust.
Thank you so much for making it! 🙂
I used to make pudding all the time years ago. But in recent years no matter how thick the pudding is when cooking it, it turns to water when cooled. I use 2% or whole organic milk which is ultra pasteurized. Does anyone else have this problem? What type of milk do you all use? Thanks!
Made the pudding today with non-ultra-pasteurized non-organic whole mail. It was perfectly thick when cooking and poured into glasses but sadly after it cooled in the refrigerator, it became like water. Any solutions??
Same!!!! I can’t fix it
Hello! I think this is super misleading! I think you should not advertise this as nut free! It is not nut free! I clicked on this because I have a tree nut allergy, I saw “nut free” so I clicked and then was immediately disappointed because I saw coconut milk. Coconuts are a tree nut and typically give people the same harsh reactions as other tree nuts. So maybe say “peanut free” instead? It looks great, but misleading. Thank you!
Hi Trisha, the coconut milk is not required 😉
Trisha,
I agree. My son has a nut allergy and many people do not think of coconut as a nut. They’ll offer him treats with coconut or coconut milk.
Samantha
I have had this question before, so I looked it up. According to the American College of Allergies, Asthma and Immunology, “Coconut is not a botanical nut; it is classified as a fruit, even though the Food and Drug Administration recognizes coconut as a tree nut. While allergic reactions to coconut have been documented, most people who are allergic to tree nuts can safely eat coconut.”
I think that is why so many recipes claim to be tree but free while still containing coconut.
That being said, it seems like you could use anything from actual dairy milk or even oat, rice, or soy milk in this recipe and it would still work. 😁
Trisha, it is not misleading. Coconut milk is an option for those who do not have a tree nut allergy. But you do have to keep a sharp eye out for ingredients when you have an allergy. For me I am always trying to make sure what I ingest does not contain sunflower oil. It has been difficult as of late since sunflower and safflower oil are the oils that has been replacing peanut, soy & vegetable oil somewhat. Unlike in the past it was rare, but today it’s the oil of choice for health unless of course not so much if you have an allergy or food sensitivity to it.
my boyfriend with very extreme anaphylactic nut allergies (peanut and tree nuts, plus many other foods) eats coconut daily, my friend with an anaphylactic tree nut allergy can also eat coconut safely. the connection is not as typical as you are claiming. as Beth said below, this is because coconut is not a botanical nut, and is therefore not an automatic allergy for those with tree nut allergies. it is a separate allergy, and there is nothing misleading about this title (which is all besides the fact that coconut milk is not a required ingredient at all, it was just one of many milk options listed…)
It says “milk of choice”
This pudding is amazing!! I used raw cacao powder (in an attempt to increase my iron intake) and I had some little 72% cocoa chocolates left over from Christmas that I weighed out and added as well. As soon as a batch is gone, I make another one! So good! Thanks for sharing this recipe
Made these twice now, really lovely texture and great chocolate taste. I have found they develop a “skin” on top but overcame that by inverting them on the serving dish (so top down) and served with fresh raspberries and vegan coconut yogurt – absolutely hits the mark and not an avocado in sight – thank you!
I pour my pudding into individual servings (portion control) and immediately cover it with plastic wrap making sure that the wrap is touching the pudding everywhere. this helps prevent that film from forming.
I always put a piece of plastic wrap against my puddings and jello never forms a skin. 🙂
I have made this 6 different times, and have always had an elasticity texture at the end. I’ve used coconut milk, regular milk, both tapioca, and arrowroot starch with each one. Tonight I used half the starch that I called for, and still have the elasticy thing as if I have used the whole amount. How do you get rid of the elastic you texture? It’s very good other than that really haha
I’m not sure why it added the “really haha”
I just made it and am so anxious to see how it turns out! I used arrowroot as the thickening agent. I did notice a film kept forming above the top no matter how consistently I kept storing while it was boiling. Is there a way to solve this?
You can avoid a skin on it by placing saran wrap DIRECTLY onto the pudding while it’s chilling. 🙂 not sure about the ” film ” problem though.
Just made this and tasted it every step of the way! I used whole dairy milk because I had too much of it in the fridge, regular old Hershey’s cocoa, arrowroot, coconut sugar, salt and vanilla as directed, and added a teaspoon of espresso powder to deepen the chocolate flavor. I agree that the arrowroot produces a slightly gummy texture, but for me it wasn’t a deal-breaker. I liked the subtle sweetness from the coconut sugar and am pleased with this recipe, as it’s a slightly better choice for my diabetic hubby than traditional pudding made with cane sugar.
I have just made this for the third time and I am addicted. It is fantastic. I used regular cocoa powder and made it once with almond milk and twice with light milk. I also used Monk fruit sweetener instead of sugar and it is amazing. I love the texture, so creamy! Thank for this great recipe.
Thank you so much for trying it!
How much monk fruit sweetener did you use? Thanks
Yum! I have made this before as written and it turned out great! This time I subbed corn starch with equal an amount of tapioca flour and it did not set at all, just in case anyone was wondering