Homemade Chocolate Pudding
Updated Dec 24, 2025
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Chocolate pudding is the gentle giant of comfort food desserts. There’s something so comforting about that rich, creamy texture and deep chocolate flavor. My homemade version combines cocoa powder and semisweet chocolate for a pudding that’s thick enough to hold its shape but silky smooth with every spoonful. It’s super easy to make, very rich, so perfect with a hefty dollop or two of whipped cream, and guaranteed to cheer up any day.
No matter the season, chocolate pudding is one of those desserts that just feels like a warm hug in a bowl. I love how the cocoa powder and melted chocolate come together to create a thick, rich, velvety texture — you can stand a spoon up in this when it’s chilled!
It’s a really straightforward recipe, easy to whip up with common pantry ingredients. The only caveat is that you must serve this with whipped cream to balance the rich chocolatiness of the pudding.
Then all that’s left to do is scrape, scrape, scrape the corners of the pudding bowl until you could practically put it back in the cabinet without needing to wash it.
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Rich Thick Chocolate Pudding
This gluten-free pudding calls for a combination of cocoa powder and semisweet chocolate, and it is this combo of chocolates that makes this pudding so rich and so chocolatey that it’s in a class by itself. Again, this is ideally served with lots of whipped cream (have I mentioned that? I might just mention it again). A bit of cornstarch helps make this pudding thick enough to stand up tall on a spoon!
Ingredients
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Cornstarch
- Sugar
- Cream – Use either light or heavy cream.
- Egg yolks
- Whole milk
- Semisweet chocolate
- Unsalted butter
- Vanilla extract – All of your desserts and baked goods deserve pure vanilla extract. While cheaper, keep the imitation stuff out of your kitchen!
- Sweetened whipped cream
Kitchen Smarts
Be sure to bring the cream, eggs, milk, and butter to room temp before you begin.
How to Make Chocolate Pudding
- Mix the ingredients: Combine the cocoa powder, cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Slowly whisk in the cream, then the egg yolks until well blended, then the milk. Bring the mix to a brisk simmer, whisking almost constantly and making sure to keep scraping the sides and bottom of the saucepan. Let the mixture simmer until it starts to thicken, 1 to 2 minutes, then add the chocolate and stir until it melts.
- Finish: Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook, whisking frequently, until the pudding is fairly thick, about 2 minutes (it will thicken much more upon cooling). Whisk in the butter and vanilla until the butter has melted.
- Remove from heat: Transfer the pudding into a big serving bowl or a bunch of individual serving dishes, press some plastic wrap directly on top of the pudding, and refrigerate until chilled — about 2 hours or more for a bigger bowl, at least one hour for smaller servings. If you like your pudding warm, let it sit at room temp for about 20 to 30 minutes and don’t bother to refrigerate.
- Serve with lots of whipped cream!
Variations
You can add a couple of teaspoons of the following liqueurs to the chocolate pudding along with the vanilla (and you can leave out the vanilla if you don’t have it). But skip this if you’re serving it to kids! Nope, save this for the grown-ups.):
- Cointreau or another orange liqueur
- Frangelico or another nut liqueur
- Godiva or another chocolate or coffee liqueur
- Bailey’s or Carolan’s or another Irish cream liqueur
What To Serve With Chocolate Pudding
Whipped cream! You do not have to make homemade whipped cream, but I highly recommend it. But if you’re pressed for time, there is nothing wrong with those cans of sweetened whipped cream in the supermarket. It’s actually real whipped cream and totally ok in a pinch.
Oh, and perhaps you want to check out this Butterscotch Pudding. I think the perfect end to a party would be the two types of pudding served in little cups or jars for people to sample.
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Homemade Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ⅔ cup sugar
- Pinch kosher salt
- 1 cup light or heavy cream (at room temperature)
- 3 large egg yolks (at room temperature)
- 2 cups whole milk (at room temperature)
- 4 ounces semisweet chocolate
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Copious amounts of Sweetened Whipped Cream (for serving)
Instructions
- Combine the cocoa powder, cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Slowly whisk in the cream, then whisk in the egg yolks until well blended, then whisk in the milk. Let the mixture come to a brisk simmer, whisking almost constantly and making sure to keep scraping the sides and bottom of the saucepan. Let the mixture simmer until it starts to thicken, 1 to 2 minutes, then add the chocolate and stir until it melts.
- Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook, whisking frequently, until the pudding is fairly thick, about 2 minutes (it will thicken much more upon cooling). Whisk in the butter and vanilla until the butter has melted.
- You can strain the pudding through a fine mesh strainer if you’re determined to rid the pudding of any lumps or bumps. If you don’t have the time or inclination to dirty up one more utensil, then just transfer the pudding into a big serving bowl or a bunch of individual serving dishes, press some plastic wrap directly on top of the pudding, and refrigerate until chilled — about 2 hours or more for a bigger bowl, at least one hour for smaller servings. Unless you like your pudding warm, in which case just let it sit at room temp for about 20 to 30 minutes and don’t bother to refrigerate.
Notes
- Cointreau or another orange liqueur
- Frangelico or another nut liqueur
- Godiva or another chocolate or even coffee liqueur
- Bailey’s or Carolan’s or another Irish Cream liqueur
My family LOVES this pudding!!!!
Sometimes I add cayenne and cinnamon, sometimes I put more dark than semi chocolate, even used almond milk.
I love that it doesn’t take terribly long to make.
When do you add the liqueur and do you omit the vanilla if in place of that?
along with the vanilla, and you can keep the vanilla as well, or leave it out!