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
I just made this chocolate pudding and I am in heaven!!! It has been in my fridge for only 1/2 hour and I could not resist a taste. It is incredibly creamy and delicious! I made it with unsweetened cocoa since that is all I had in the pantry so I simply added 6 packets of Stevia to the 1/4 cup of regular sugar and it is perfectly sweetened for me. Thank you so much Katie for this amazingly wonderful dessert recipe!!! I will be making this over and over again!!
Thank YOU for making it! 🙂
I love coconut milk! This looks so rich and delicious. I cannot wait to try it. 🙂
Hi Katie
Just a question in general.
In a week I’ll be volunteering at a summer school and teach kids about healthy food. Now, since kids just love desserts I want to bake something with them that is healthy and easy. What would you suggest that is easily made and is healthy enough?
Thanks in advance 🙂
I’m not Katie, but I really like the Fudge Babies on this site.
Thanks! I’ll use it!
Do you think this would freeze well for “ice cream”? I am excited to try this and love that he has no fruit or vegetable ingredients, i do love a big bowl of nana ice cream or a green smoothie, but you are right, sometimes a girl just needs a “normal” recipe.
Thank you! Needed to say that, made the Healthy Chocolate Pudding-using coconut milk for a dessert for a dinner party- served in individual funky cups topped with fresh raspberries. It was a great hit! We had a couple of people with dairy issues and they were thrilled. If I had been more on deck I would have taken pictures, that only came as an after thought as everyone exclaimed how cute they looked. Thank you again for a great recipe. I’ve been following your blog for a long time. I’ve always have great results with your recipes. Have a Great Day!
I just made this with Silk unsweetened almondmilk and it is SO GOOD!
We love this recipe at our house! We have made it twice now and it’s especially tasty with fresh strawberries and homemade whipped cream on top. Thanks for all your recipes Katie 🙂
I’m SO glad that others posted their calorie count on this, because it made me double check the calories that MyFitnessPal recorded when I entered the recipe–holy cow, it tried telling me that one 1/2 cup serving was over 200 calories with the chocolate chips!
So I checked, and it’s 144 now, thank goodness!
It didn’t add the correct calories for several of the ingredients for some reason.
And without the chocolate chips, it will be 64 calories per 1/2 cup!
I used So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage (2 1/2 cups as directed in the recipe),
1/4 cup Blonde Coconut Palm Sugar,
1/4 cup Hersey’s Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
3 Tb Rapunzel Cornstarch
1 dropper full Vanilla liquid Stevia
salt
and 3.5 oz Enjoy Life chocolate chips
It did thicken up quickly, and tasted delicious!!
I’m nervous, however, about making this with no chocolate chips, but I’d like a lower cal version, so I will try it sometime and see how it compares.
I think if I do that, I may up the coconut palm sugar just slightly, as I’m not sure it would be sweet enough for me without the chocolate chips.
Thanks so much, Katie!!
In am so addicted to you and your blog that I find myself stalking this website daily ha ha
AH YUM!!!
This is a lot like this cacao PB pudding recipe I made last week.