This vegan chocolate pudding is SO delicious and so easy you’ll want to make it all the time. It’s also a perfect make-ahead dessert option.
This vegan chocolate pudding is better than any box-mix version you’ve ever tasted, and almost as easy!
It’s rich and creamy and insanely delicious, especially when you top it with some vegan dark chocolate shavings and some vegan whipped cream.
And if you love this, you’ll also love our vegan chocolate avocado mousse so check that out too. And for a vanilla version of this recipe, check out our vegan vanilla pudding.
How To Make Chocolate Pudding
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Add sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch and salt to a saucepan and mix them together.
- Then add soy milk (or other non-dairy milk) and whisk it in.
- Keep whisking while it heats and bring it to the boil. Let it boil for a minute or so until it thickens.
- Then remove it from the heat (or switch off the heat) and stir in vegan butter and vanilla extract.
- Transfer to small glasses or ramekins and smooth down. Refrigerate to set.
Serving Suggestions
Serve topped with dark chocolate shavings and a dollop of homemade vegan whipped cream or store-bought vegan whipped topping.
Success Tips
Medium Heat: You don’t want to burn your pudding, so medium heat is fine.
Whisk Constantly: This stops it from sticking/burning and also creates the smooth texture you need for this pudding.
Let it boil until it thickens: It has to be thickened before you remove it from the heat. It usually only takes about a minute (but one full minute) from the time it reaches a boil to thicken up noticeably.
Move quickly: It thickens up pretty fast once it reaches a boil. You won’t need to wonder if it’s thickened, you’ll know it is. Nonetheless let it boil for the full minute. At that point remove from the heat and add in your vegan butter/vanilla extract and whisk those in. Have your glasses ready so you can transfer the pudding to them.
Cover the glasses: The pudding will form a skin on top, which isn’t a problem in my view, but if you want to avoid this, then you can cover it with plastic wrap. Place the plastic wrap right on top of the pudding, so that it is touching the top of it, and then when it’s set, you can just peel it off and you won’t have any skin on top.
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
Cornstarch: The cornstarch is for thickening. I don’t know that there is any suitable substitute for this, but if you wanted to experiment, arrowroot flour or tapioca flour may be options to try.
Soy Milk: We used soy milk which works great, but I’m pretty sure any non-dairy milk option would likely work.
Vegan Butter: You can also use coconut oil in the same quantity if you prefer, rather than using vegan butter. Or you can use homemade vegan butter.
Make Ahead, Storing and Freezing
Make ahead: This pudding is perfect to make up ahead of time because it needs to set in the fridge anyway. So you can make it up the day before if you need a great dessert the next day.
Storing: It also keeps up to a week in the fridge and there is no noticeable decline in taste AT ALL. So it’s a great option for meal planning.
Freezing: It’s not entirely ideal for freezing because of the cornstarch, so it’s best to just eat it all within a week.
More Vegan Chocolate Recipes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients
- ¾ cup White Granulated Sugar (150g)
- ⅓ cup Cocoa Powder (28g) Unsweetened
- 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 2 ¼ cups Soy Milk (540ml) or other non-dairy milk
- 2 Tablespoons Vegan Butter (30g)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
For Serving (Optional):
- Vegan Chocolate Shavings
- Vegan Whipped Cream
Instructions
- Add the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch and salt to a saucepan and mix them together.
- Then add soy milk (or other non-dairy milk) and whisk it in.
- Heat to medium heat, keep whisking while it heats and bring it to the boil. Let it boil for a full minute to thicken.
- Then remove it from the heat and stir in vegan butter and vanilla extract.
- Transfer to small glasses or ramekins and smooth down.
- Refrigerate to set. Serve topped with vegan chocolate shavings and vegan whipped cream
Notes
- The pudding gets noticeably thicker when it boils, it usually needs a full minute of boiling, but you won’t miss it getting thick, it’s very noticeable.
- This pudding does tend to form a skin on top when it sets in the fridge. I don’t find this a problem but if you want to avoid this, you can top it with plastic wrap so that the plastic wrap is directly on top of the pudding. Then just remove the plastic wrap before serving and there will be no skin on top.
- Leftovers keep very well in the fridge for up to a week.
- Nutritional information is for the pudding only and excludes vegan whipped cream or chocolate shavings.
thank u very much for sharing the recipe. it was very easy to make & it tasted really good! even non vegan family members liked it!
That’s great Heidi! Thanks so much for sharing and for your awesome review!
This is crazy good! It turned out so amazing, thank you for the recipe!
Awesome Jenny! Thanks for the amazing review!
So easy and delicious! I made this for my 8 year old grandson topped with coconut whipped cream. Didn’t tell him it was vegan, he said it was very good! Next I’ll try your vanilla pudding recipe with banana as pie filling. Thanks!
Wonderful! Thanks for the great review Molly!
Could I use Spelt flour instead of cornstarch?
No, I don’t think that would work as well.
You cant use any other flour cause it’s the cornstarch that creates the pudding. Otherwise you wont have any pudding at all.
Chocolate pudding is my favorite snack. I recommend to try it, very dense and intense.
I was craving chocolate pudding for a while now and stores didn’t have any vegan ones available so I decided to try this recipe and wow!!! It’s sooooo good!!! Thank you for all the great recipes!!
Yay! Thanks so much Karen!
I don’t tend to use white sugar since I’m not certain if the one I get here is vegan or not. Can I use raw cane sugar instead? Would the quantity be the same?
Yes you can, and the quantity would be the same.
What less processed sugars can you use instead of cane sugar? Coconut sugar? Maple syrup?
Thank you
You could use coconut sugar.
Really wanted some chocolate!!!!! This tastes so great. I made mine with unsweetened original almond milk.
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing Teresa!
Do you have to use the vegan butter?
You can use coconut oil instead.