This easy Vegan Chocolate Pudding is creamy, rich, and SO delicious, you’ll never believe it’s dairy free! You’ll want to make this simple dessert all the time!
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I absolutely love pudding! Chocolate pudding is my favorite, but I also love vanilla! I used to love buying those box mixes for a relatively cheap and easy dessert. But I have found that they don’t work so well with dairy free milk.
And homemade pudding tastes so much better than pudding from a box mix anyway! It’s also healthier.
This vegan chocolate pudding is so rich, creamy, velvety, and decadent, you’d never guess it was dairy free! It’s also gluten free, egg free, and can be refined sugar free, soy free and nut free! Perfect for any diet!
A lot of vegan puddings are made with hidden ingredients like tofu, avocado, pumpkin, or sweet potatoes. While hidden veggies have their place, I wanted this vegan chocolate pudding recipe to be as close to traditional pudding as possible.
Creamy vegan chocolate pudding is loaded with chocolate flavor, and is a perfect family dessert or addition to a lunch box. These little lidded cups are a perfect waste free alternative to pudding cups.
Top it with some vegan whipped cream and chocolate shavings and serve to family and friends. Even non-vegan ones will love it and will not be able to tell that it’s vegan. It’s the best vegan chocolate pudding!
Ingredients for this pudding recipe
Ingredient measurements and full instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
This pudding recipe is made from only 6 ingredients that are likely in your pantry!
- Cocoa Powder – for that rich, chocolaty flavor. Use unsweetened cocoa powder. Dutch process cocoa powder has a deeper flavor, but I just use regular cocoa powder. You could use cacao, but it will be more bitter. Offset the bitterness with more sweetener.
- Organic Granulated Sugar – for a refined sugar free pudding, use maple syrup, coconut sugar, or sweetener of your choice.
- Cornstarch – you can substitute with arrowroot powder if you are avoiding corn starch.
- Unsweetened Soy Milk – for a soy free version, you can use other non-dairy milk such as almond milk, coconut milk, or oat milk. You can test out different nondairy milks to see which flavor and texture you like best in this chocolate pudding.
- Salt – just a little. It’s not necessary, but it really rounds out the flavor.
- Vanilla extract – use real vanilla extract, not artificial. It adds a lovely flavor to the pudding. Vanilla paste is another option. You can substitute a quarter teaspoon of mint extract if you want a chocolate mint pudding.
How to make vegan chocolate pudding
In a medium sauce pan, combine the cocoa powder, sugar or sweetener, cornstarch (or arrowroot starch), and salt.
Slowly whisk in the nondairy milk. I find that if I start by stirring in about a third of a cup of milk to begin with, and then gradually stir in the rest of the milk, it will be easier to dissolve the dry ingredients than if you pour all of the milk in at once.
Another option for easily combining the non dairy milk with the dry ingredients is to mix them together in a blender.
Heat the pudding over medium heat. Stir constantly to keep it from scalding and forming lumps.
When the pudding comes to a boil, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
Divide the pudding into serving cups or bowls. It can be eaten warm or refrigerated. The pudding thickens more as it cools. To keep the pudding from developing a skin, place plastic wrap over it. The plastic wrap should be placed on top of the pudding so that it is touching the top of it.
Serving Suggestions
- If desired, top this dairy free chocolate pudding with vegan whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
- Top with fresh raspberries or strawberries.
- Pour into an oil free pie crust for chocolate cream pie.
- Add more depth of flavor by adding a bit of espresso powder.
- Top with sliced bananas or toasted almonds.
Frequently Asked Questions
This pudding can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week. This pudding has always been eaten within a couple of days in our house, so there’s never been a need to freeze it.
Most box pudding mixes are vegan, but the instant pudding mixes will not set with plant based milks. They need to be cooked on the stove, but they still do not set as well as with dairy milk.
For the thickest and creamiest dairy free pudding, coconut milk, almond milk, soy milk work the best. Thinner milks like oat milk or rice milk will produce thinner puddings. Test the recipe with different milks to determine which flavor and thickness you prefer.
More delicious oil free vegan desserts
- Vegan Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Mug Cake
- Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oil Free Vegan Donuts
- Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
- Vegan Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
- Blueberry Oat Bars
- Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream
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Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup organic sugar or maple syrup
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup corn starch
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups nondairy milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
Instructions
- Mix together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt in a medium sauce pan.
- Gradually add the nondairy milk, and stir to combine.
- Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the pudding comes to a boil.
- Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
