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
A hit for the whole family!!! I used cocoa powder and it was delish. Thank you!!!
I can’t have coconut milk, so I substituted flax milk, but followed the rest of your recipe. I used organic sugar because I was concerned with adding more liquid and making it too runny. It turned out great! It’s nice and thick and I’m so excited for dessert!
This is delicious!! Thanks, Katie! Works fabulous with arrowroot powder. I added a chopped 100% cacao Guittard bar. Fabulous!! No body would guess it’s healthy!
I just made this today! I kept in mind to make this rich chocolate pudding months before, but I waited until summer, due to the rigorous work public high school offers to its students. The pudding took me about 10 minutes to make, and I usually take my time in the kitchen. It was one of many successful desserts that I have made from your website. I absolutely love your recipes, Katie, and am so thankful to have you share them with us. Believe me, almost 90% of desserts I make are from your website! Your recipes are ever so simple and healthy, and does not require over-the-top or expensive ingredients. Thank you again♡
Hi Katie! I am NEW to your site, but I am thrilled I found you!!! My life NEEDS chocolate in it and your healthy recipes are amazing! I just got my blood sugar #’s below that of a diabetic and I couldn’t be happier! I did it all with diet changes and over time! So I am totally on board with your awesome cooking style! I also will share your site with my daughter who has been a Vegan since she was 18 and needs some new ideas in her life! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I mean that from the bottom of my healthy heart! <3
That’s so awesome about the lower numbers, and thank you so much from both of us for sharing the site too, and for such kind words!
Jason (media relations)
Wow!!! Love this pudding! I am a 68 year old chocoholic and made the chocolate pudding in 10 minutes and I used brown sugar and almond milk but it’s perfect!!! Also made your breakfast cookies and chocolate chip cookies¡ Thanks you are amazing!!
How long does this last in the fridge for? Also wanted to send this as a snack for my son for lunch? Do you think it needs an ice pack or is room temp ok?
3-4 days. I think it should be fine!
Jason
How would you change this to have the same fluffy consistency and be vanilla pudding instead? I worry about taking out the cocoa powder. Any thoughts?
Wanted to use coconut milk but didn’t want to open enough cans to get the 20oz of required liquid…just want to use one can total. I mathematically adjusted the recipe to use one can coconut milk total and it worked like a charm…here’s what to do
One can full,fat coconut milk
3Tbsp Dutch cocoa powder
3.5 Tbsp maple syrup
Pinch salt
3Tbsp tapioca flour (it’s what I had)
1/2tsp vanilla.
Dump about 3/4 cam of coconut milk in pan (reserve the rest, in the can, to mix with tapioca), add cocoa, maple syrup and salt. Warm ingredients, while warming mix tapioca into reserved liquid then add to warmed mixtures. Cook as directed in original recipe. Add vanilla at end.
This recipe is a keeper!
I used unsweetened regular almond milk, regular unsweetened cocoa powder, coconut sugar, stevia sweetened chocolate chips, and everything else was per the recipe. It turned out AMAZING!
The only thing I’d change is adding a little more coconut sugar next time as it wasn’t sweet enough for me.
I am making this so much more often. I like how it’s rich and doesn’t use a lot of ingredients. It’s inexpensive and includes ingredients I always have lying around. I don’t need to eat a lot of it since it’s so rich (I like that). It pairs perfectly with homemade whipped cream. It’s not too high in calories or carbs either.
WE made the pudding with one vanilla bean, pulverized and it was great. Then we ran out of milk and used a can of organic coconut cream. The taste was great but the oil kept separating the pudding. We then found a can of coconut milk and it worked well also, but with a bit of the oil still making it to the top. After we make a quart of pecan milk tomorrow, we’ll give that a try. Thanks for the recipe.
This was so good! Thanks for sharing this recipe! I used normal milk and I was out of vanilla extract and I used the maple syrup. It was so good! I haven’t found many recipes that use maple syrup that really get the science of it and how it’s different than using granulated sugar. While I enjoy granulated sugar, it is my goal to stay away from it so I was delighted to find this recipe.
You literally saved my sanity with this revipe, thank you soooo much!!! My doctor has me an incredibly restricted diet but I can have everything that this recipe calls for!!
This pudding is delicious! Took me five minutes from start to finish and I doubled the batch. Now I have a giant bowl of gloriously rich chocolate pudding waiting for some whipped coconut cream and crushed pretzels. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Oh wow I love your crushed pretzels idea!
This pudding is delicious! I doubled it and made pudding pops with some of the mix. Delicious, not overtly coconutty tasting, and rich. I used Hershey’s cocoa powder and it worked perfectly. Topped it with coconut whipped cream and crushed pretzels. Yum! Getting ready to make a second batch right now!
Oh man that looks so delicious!
It looks lije you’re basically melting chocolate and adding milk and cornstarch to change the texture. How is this healthy?