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
It’s really good! However a jump to recipe option would be great. I tend to avoid sites that don’t use it. I don’t want to scroll through the entire story each time I come back.
Yum! I made this, it’s very good! I used cows milk, 2%. I used Hershey’s cocoa, and twice as much sweetener because I used Allulose. Thank you for the recipe! I’m on THM, a beginner and it helped my sweet tooth today!
Made this today for the first time and it is delicious! Thick and creamy. I used 1/2 golden monk fruit sweetener and 1/2 maple syrup to save some calories and it was right on! Way better than instant boxed version!
Just put the mixture of cooked ingredients in the fridge. NOT knocking veganism (tried it faithfully for 9 months) so I was happy to see a recipe in a google search where I could could use whole milk. I am a BIG carob fan so I substituted carob for the chocolate. It a pudding I will be tasting later tonight then otherwise according to your ingredients. Thank you!
Thank you for making it!
YUMMMMM! I am NOT a dessert person and NOT a chocolate lover. I made this for my aunt who needs to put on some weight. Of course, I had to try it. LOVE IT!!!
Thank you so much for trying it 🙂
Best chocolate pudding ever! Very rich and velvety smooth. I added Ghirardelli 60% cocoa chocolate chips. More calories, but sooooo good!
I made the coconut whipped cream to go with. I refrigerated the coconut milk the night before, which made it very firm and clumpy. Hard to mix, although I only used a fork because I’m camping and don’t have a mixer. I’m letting it sit on the counter, hoping that it will soften. Flavor is good!
This pudding was so delicious. I didn’t add the chocolate chips at the end, I figured it was rich enough. Best sugar free pudding I’ve ever make
Thank you for trying it!
I’m making this for the second time – super delicious! The first time I covered it with plastic wrap…I don’t like using this and NEVER on something warm. This time, I was trying not to cover it as it cooled, but it started to develop the dreaded “skin” on top. How do you cover it for the fridge? Just a lid? Or does something have to be sitting directly on top of the warm pudding?
Thank you so much for trying it! We are really weird and actually like the skin. But you can definitely just put a lid on the pot to cover, no need for plastic 🙂
I can’t have chocolate or milk. I used almond milk I replaced powdered cocoa for 6 oz. Powdered peanut butter, I upped sugar to half cup, and used 2/3 cup carob chips. This recipe was a blessing! With the changes for my diet it tasted like peanut butter chocolate pudding! Heaven!! Thank you very much for this wonderful recipe!
This is my first time rating a recipe I followed online. I’ve followed some amazing recipes, but I had to leave a review because of how good this recipe was. 100% will continue using. Already planning to make it again for dinner party dessert.
This means so much to us. Thank you! 🙂