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 have made your recipe for healthy chocolate pudding more than several times. I’m using soy milk and brown rice syrup as the sweetener. Once the mixture reaches the boiling point and is thick, I continue cooking and stirring for approx another minute, then pour the pudding into ramekins. At that point, it is the thick consistency of pudding. However, the longer they cool and are refrigerated, the thinner the pudding gets. Each ramekin forms a skin on top; however, the pudding ends up being the consistency of thick chocolate milk. I’m afraid if I continue boiling the mixture longer than a minute or so, the arrowroot will break down. What do you suggest? Thank you! Donna
same happens to me . I use almond milk
This is my new favorite chocolate pudding recipe. It is soooooooo thick and so creamy. Best pudding ever, vegan or not!
I am currently making this pudding and it has only been in the fridge for one hour and it is starting to separate. I used canned coconut milk and normal unsweetened cocoa powder, but other than that I tried to follow the recipe exactly. Is it supposed to separate? Any help would be much appreciated.
Hi! I just made a batch. 😀 Tastes great even before it set up.
I have a question. How did you come up with 70 calories for your serving total? If I divide the total ingredients by 3 ( skim milk, stevia, no chocolate chips) I still get approx 130 calories per serving. I’m not the best at math, so I could be off. Id love to get it that low. Help?:)
Skim milk has almost double the calories of most unsweetened plant based milks such as almond or cashew.
I would give this recipe more stars if that was an option.
This is SO SO SO yum!!
And super easy too; I’ve done may versions, and it’s just such a flexible recipe to use!
Love your work Katie <3
not sure what happened to the pudding. It was nice and thick while in the pan but is now watery and runny in the fridge ?? it never set .
You just need to cook it longer that means. I made it with Almond Breeze almond milk and it set fine.
Great recipe! I made it with almond milk and ate the entire recipe all by myself in two days. Definitely bookmarking to make again and again! Thank you Katie!!! 🙂
Thanks Katie!! I’m allergic to avocado and banana, and so many healthy recipes have these (and eggs!), so I can’t wait to make this!
Katie, could you please tell me whether this recipe can be doubled or tripled and, if so, how do you cook it as far as the minutes go….or would it be the same amounts of cooking time?
I would like to know this also. I tried doubling it because I have a big family, but the texture didn’t turn out right.
I just ordered your cookbook… Excited to use it. Was wondering… Does it include any info about yourself?