A Vegan Chocolate Pudding without Cornstarch
A vegan chocolate pudding made without any starch, flour, or eggs, this recipe uses an old-fashioned, tried and true method to make a cooked pudding that has an excellent creamy texture and rich taste. You need six ingredients: coconut milk, cocoa, dark chocolate, maple syrup, vanilla, and a pinch of salt.
This has been my go-to chocolate pudding recipe for a decade now, because it has the best texture without needing to use starch or worrying about scrambled eggs. I’m not a big pudding person (we were not allowed to have pudding cups as children) but this is a delicious dessert that’s not too sweet.
Now you might think this recipe looks like it won’t work – where’s the thickener? – but it’s an old method that relies on actually cooking down the ingredients to thicken. The result is a rich, deeply flavourful pudding made with minimal ingredients and just a bit of patience. It’s pictured with frozen berries, which I usually use so that they thaw in the refrigerator before serving.
I first published this recipe in 2016. It has been updated with new step-by-step photos, improvements to the recipe, and more helpful information.
Ingredients You’ll Need and Why
The ingredients are minimal, but in order for the pudding to work properly, you need to make sure to use the right ones. These are my notes from testing over the years and you can see the written recipe in the full recipe card below.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Coconut milk: it is imperative to use a high-fat canned coconut milk for this recipe. Buy coconut cream if that’s available to you (canned, not the creamed coconut that comes in a tetra-pack). It needs to be at least 60% coconut solids and preferably higher or the pudding won’t set when chilled.
- Cocoa: the darker the cocoa powder, the darker the pudding will be. Use a cocoa powder you like the taste of and it doesn’t matter if it’s natural or Dutch process. Make sure you’re not using hot cocoa drink mix, which isn’t pure cocoa (check the ingredients if needed).
- Chocolate: choose dark chocolate that’s a minimum of 60% cocoa solids. Any less and the pudding will be less likely to set. Choose a very dark chocolate if you prefer a less sweet dessert.
- Maple syrup: I have not tested this recipe with sugar or honey. I think honey could be subbed for the syrup but as it’s sweeter you’d want to use a little less.
- Add-ins: a tablespoon of espresso can be added for a deeper chocolate flavour. Try mixing in other spices like cinnamon and hot pepper (for a Mexican chocolate pudding), cardamom, a hint of black pepper, and so on.
How to Make Vegan Chocolate Pudding
It’s an easy recipe, really, but needs a bit of cooking time and quite a bit of stirring. Prepare to be at the stove for about 15 minutes.
Step 1: add all of the ingredients but the chocolate to a saucepan and heat to melt the coconut milk. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil, stirring constantly to prevent boiling over. Don’t leave the stove at this point, it can quickly get out of hand!
Step 2: reduce the heat to simmer, stirring occasionally. The pudding will reduce during this time but you need to make sure it’s constantly simmering or it’ll take much longer to reduce.
Step 3: after about 10 minutes, the pudding will have reduced by about one third. Remove from the heat and whisk in the chopped dark chocolate so that it melts.
Step 4: cool the pudding to room temperature, then pour into dishes and set. It will still be runny when warm and at room temperature, but will set fully as it chills in the refrigerator. To serve as pictured, top with coconut whipped cream and a few berries.
Expert Tips for the Best Chocolate Pudding
- Don’t skip the chocolate: it is only a small amount of chocolate added to the mix, but it does make a difference, and the pudding won’t set properly without it. Don’t omit the added chocolate. I haven’t tested with dark chocolate chips but they should be fine.
- Wait before mixing: the cocoa won’t mix into the coconut milk until the cream has melted down, and then it can be whisked in. Cocoa doesn’t like to mix into water but will blend with just a bit of heat.
- Bring it to a boil: the pudding must come to a boil, not just a simmer, before reducing the heat. If it doesn’t boil, it won’t thicken.
- Stir frequently: you don’t need to stir constantly like you would for an egg custard, but every couple of minutes is a good idea. The milk can stick and burn to the bottom of the pot.
- Chill completely: this recipe needs at minimum four hours to set fully. If you are certain it cooked for long enough, and it’s not setting, give it some more time to cool. If it still hasn’t set (after chilling overnight, for example) then something went wrong with ingredients or execution.
- Use the right ingredients: if you try to use light coconut milk, or a chocolate that isn’t dark enough, your pudding probably won’t set.
More Vegan Chocolate Desserts
There are a lot of delicious desserts you can make with simple ingredients like coconut milk and cocoa or chocolate. These are some of my favourites.
- If you want to use these same ingredients to make different desserts, try my vegan truffles, a no-cook version of this pudding with vegan chocolate mousse, and fibre-rich chocolate chia mousse.
- For something a little different but still filled with chocolate, make this dreamy chocolate hazelnut tart or two-ingredient chocolate orange mousse.
- The pudding isn’t baked, but still needs cooking – sometimes I need something with less hands-on time needed, and that’s when I make no-bake chocolate coconut balls.
If you make this Vegan Chocolate Pudding recipe or any other dairy-free chocolate recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.
Vegan Chocolate Pudding
Description
Ingredients
- 400 ml (13.5 oz.) full-fat canned coconut milk at least 60% coconut solids
- 30 grams (⅓ cup) cocoa powder
- 80 grams (⅓ cup) maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 30 grams (1 oz) dark chocolate at least 60% cocoa solids, finely chopped
Instructions
- Add the coconut milk, cocoa, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt to a small saucepan and whisk to combine. Don't worry if it doesn't mix together, it can be whisked once the coconut cream melts.400 ml (13.5 oz.) full-fat canned coconut milk, 30 grams (⅓ cup) cocoa powder, 80 grams (⅓ cup) maple syrup, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly to prevent boiling over. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently, until reduced by about one-third.
- Add dark chocolate. Whisk until the chocolate has melted. Set aside to cool, uncovered or covered with a tea towel, to room temperature. If a skin appears to form on the top, simply whisk it back in – it's not a skin like on a normal pudding and can be reincorporated.30 grams (1 oz) dark chocolate
- Once cooled, pour into four small bowls and refrigerate for at least four hours, or until fully cooled and set. The pudding will be fairly soft but about the consistency of whipped cream (less fluffy) when fully set.
- Serve with whipped cream or yogurt, and berries or other fruit.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
Thank you for this recipe; my family enjoyed it, even the one who doesn’t normally like my homemade pudding.
However, the first time I made it I followed the directions as written, and the result was rather liquid, despite cooking it nearly 10 minutes longer because it didn’t seem to be thick enough after the first 10 minutes.
I would suggest that the direction be changed to bringing the pudding to a rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop when stirred) instead of a low boil; then specify reducing the heat to medium-low (rather than just say simmer) for 10-15 minutes.
This pudding is completely dreamy and rich. I absolutely love chocolate pudding. When I was making vegan ganache, it was the closest thing to an eggy mousse I could remember eating. It was amazing. I’ll have to give this a go.. as it’s a bit lighter on the chocolate, using mostly cocoa instead. Coconut milk is magic! Thank you for this Alexandra! xo