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A family favorite for generations, this homemade chocolate pudding pie with a graham cracker crust is the perfect easy dessert recipe for any occasion! Garnish the simple Jello chocolate pudding pie with extra graham cracker crumbs, whipped cream, fresh berries, or chocolate shavings. It’s a cool, creamy, and rich treat that always wins rave reviews!
How to Make Chocolate Pudding Pie | 1-Minute Video
As you know by now, I love a recipe with a story or personal connection. This particular recipe comes from my mom’s best friend, “Miss Joyce,” as my boys call her. My mom insisted that “Miss Joyce” send me her tried-and-true family recipe for chocolate pudding pie, knowing that it would be a big hit in our house. I love an easy dessert recipe, and as Miss Joyce says, “it’s literally easy as pie!”
This is the same recipe that Joyce’s grandmother made for her, and which she has been making for her friends and family for as long as she can remember. Joyce assured me that this Jell-O Cook and Serve Chocolate Pudding Pie recipe is always a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, and now I know why!
Ingredients for Jello Chocolate Pudding Pie
This is just a quick overview of the simple ingredients that you’ll need for an easy chocolate pudding pie. As always, specific measurements and step-by-step cooking instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- Jello chocolate pudding mix: make sure that you purchase a large (5-ounce) box of the Cook & Serve variety (do not use instant chocolate pudding mix).
- Unsweetened Baker’s chocolate: this baking bar is unsweetened cacao, which is not the same as a regular chocolate candy bar. Find the unsweetened chocolate in the baking aisle at just about any grocery store.
- Milk: I use 2% milk because that’s what I typically keep on hand in the fridge, but whole milk is also a good option. Lower fat alternatives will not yield the same rich taste and texture.
- Graham cracker crust: purchase a store-bought crust, or make your own using the instructions in my recipe below. You’ll need graham crackers, sugar, and butter to prepare a homemade crust.
- Whipped cream or Cool Whip: an optional garnish. If making your own whipped cream, you’ll need a carton of heavy cream and these instructions. If using Cool whip, make sure to thaw the whipped topping in the fridge before adding it to the pie.
How to Make Chocolate Pie with Pudding
This easy chocolate pie comes together with just 5 ingredients (or a few more, if making your own graham cracker crust)! With help from a box of Jello chocolate pudding, you don’t have to worry about making the filling from scratch with eggs or egg yolks, cornstarch, or cocoa powder — and it sets up perfectly every time.
- Bake the graham cracker crust in a 375°F oven for 8-10 minutes, or just until it’s golden brown and firm. It’s so much easier than working with pastry! Allow the crust to cool completely before preparing the filling.
- For the easy chocolate pudding filling, simple whisk together dry pudding mix, milk, and unsweetened Baker’s chocolate in a saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil. The mixture should be perfectly smooth.
- Allow the filling to cool and thicken for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, and then pour it into the prepared crust.
- Sprinkle the top of the pie with reserved buttered graham cracker crumbs.
- Chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours (or overnight), until the pudding sets.
- Garnish the pie with whipped cream or Cool Whip, fresh berries, or chocolate shavings, then slice and serve!
What to Serve with Chocolate Pudding Pie
Serve this decadent chocolate pie with a dollop of whipped cream or Cool Whip whipped topping for a light, fluffy, and creamy contrast to the rich, dark chocolate.
You can add the whipped cream on each individual slice just before serving, or you can spread Cool Whip over the entire pie once the pudding has cooled. Additional garnishes include chocolate shavings (just use extra Baker’s chocolate and a vegetable peeler), sprinkles, miniature chocolate chips, and fresh berries.
Make Ahead
It’s best to assemble this pie in advance so that it has plenty of time to cool and firm up before slicing. The perfect make-ahead dessert! I like to prepare the pie the day before I plan to serve it.
Storage
The chocolate pudding pie must be refrigerated. Wrap the pie pan in plastic wrap or foil, or store individual slices in an airtight container. The pie will keep for up to 2 days.
Can you freeze chocolate pudding pie?
Yes! Allow the pie to cool completely. Wrap tightly and freeze for up to 1 month.
Recipe Variations
- For a shortcut, purchase a store-bought graham cracker crust.
- Use an Oreo cookie crust rather than a graham cracker crust. It will be extra-chocolatey!
- Try other pudding flavors to create variations on this recipe. For example, use white chocolate pudding mix to make a White Chocolate Pudding Pie, or an Oreo Pudding Pie by adding crushed Oreo cookies to the pudding or by using the Oreo pudding mix. A Strawberry White Chocolate Pudding Pie using sliced fresh strawberries would be delicious, and so would an Oreo White Chocolate Pudding Pie! The options are endless when you mix up the pudding flavor and the crust flavor.
Tips for the Best Chocolate Pudding Pie Recipe
- Make sure that you use a 5 ounce box of the Cook and Serve pudding. This is the larger box sold. The small boxes are only 3.4 ounces.
- Do NOT use instant pudding mix for this recipe. You want the “Cook and Serve” version.
- Make the graham cracker pie crust in your food processor. Simply pulse the graham crackers into crumbs, then add the sugar. Pulse to mix in the sugar, and then stream in the butter. Pulse just until the mixture resembles wet sand. If using unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt to balance the sweetness in the crust.
- Bring the pudding mixture to a boil (you should see bubbles) before removing it from the heat.
- Don’t forget the garnish! Make this chocolate pudding pie with graham cracker crust and cool whip (or whipped cream) for a special treat! You can serve a dollop of whipped cream on each slice, or you can spread Cool Whip over the top of the entire pie before slicing and serving. Other good garnishes include chocolate shavings, fresh berries, miniature chocolate chips, and sprinkles.
- Use a vegetable peeler and the extra Baker’s chocolate bar to make chocolate curls for garnishing your pie.
More Pie Recipes to Try
- Mom’s Easy Apple Pie
- Peanut Butter Pie
- Dutch Apple Pie
- Old-Fashioned Lemon Buttermilk Pie
- Ice Cream Pie
- Mom’s Easy Apple Pie
- Key Lime Pie
- Chocolate Chess Pie
- Easy Pecan Pie
- Pumpkin Chiffon Pie
- Old-Fashioned Damson Plum Pie
Chocolate Pudding Pie
Ingredients
- 1 (5 ounce) package Jell-O Cook & Serve Chocolate Pudding & Pie Filling (do not use instant pudding mix)
- 1 ounce unsweetened Baker’s Chocolate
- 3 cups milk (I use 2%, but whole milk will also work well)
- 1 prepared graham cracker crust (a store-bought crust is perfectly fine, but a homemade crust is easy and extra special!)
- Optional garnish: whipped cream or Cool Whip
For a homemade Graham Cracker Crust:
- 12 full-size graham crackers, crushed or processed into fine crumbs
- ¼ cup sugar
- 6 tablespoons salted butter, melted
Instructions
For a Homemade Graham Cracker Crust:
- If you’re making your crust from scratch, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter in a large bowl. Toss until all of the crumbs are evenly coated in butter (you can also mix the ingredients in a food processor). Set aside about 1-2 tablespoons of crumbs to garnish the top of your pie, if desired.
- Press crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of a deep-dish 9-inch pie dish and bake at 375°F for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Allow pie crust to cool completely before filling.
For the Pie Filling:
- Whisk together dry chocolate pudding mix, milk, and Baker’s Chocolate in a medium saucepan.
- Bring to a full boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. Make sure that all of the chocolate is completely melted and incorporated into the pudding. The mixture should be completely smooth.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat. The filling will thicken as it cools, so wait about 5 minutes, whisking regularly so that the filling stays nice and smooth.
- After about 5 minutes, the filling should start to thicken. Pour the filling into the prepared crust. Sprinkle with reserved graham cracker crumbs, if desired.
- Refrigerate the pie for at least 3 hours (or overnight), until the filling is set. Slice and serve with whipped cream or Cool Whip on top.
Video
Notes
- Make sure that you use a 5 ounce box of the Cook and Serve pudding. This is the larger box sold. The small boxes are only 3.4 ounces.
- Do NOT use instant pudding mix for this recipe. You want the “Cook and Serve” version.
- Make the graham cracker pie crust in your food processor. Simply pulse the graham crackers into crumbs, then add the sugar. Pulse to mix in the sugar, and then stream in the butter. Pulse just until the mixture resembles wet sand. If using unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt to balance the sweetness in the crust.
- Bring the pudding mixture to a boil (you should see bubbles) before removing it from the heat.
- Don’t forget the garnish! Make this chocolate pudding pie with graham cracker crust and cool whip (or whipped cream) for a special treat! You can serve a dollop of whipped cream on each slice, or you can spread Cool Whip over the top of the entire pie before slicing and serving. Other good garnishes include chocolate shavings, fresh berries, miniature chocolate chips, and sprinkles.
- Use a vegetable peeler and the extra Baker’s chocolate bar to make chocolate curls for garnishing your pie.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in July, 2014. The photos were updated in July, 2022.
If it rich and has chocolate I’m in love! Looks amazing!
Hi, Mallory! I couldn’t agree more. 🙂
Great looking pie! Thanks for sharing it on the Linky 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Lisa!
That looks totally indulgent. I want some 🙂
Kaz — Yes! Indulgent and amazingly delicious!
This is my kind of recipe, especially when the first two ingredients are CHOCOLATE! Love it!! Found it over at Freedom Fridays with all my bloggy friends linky party:)
Thanks for visiting, Adrian! You’re right…if the first two ingredients are chocolate, it can’t be bad! Have a great weekend. 🙂
I’ve tried this with regular pie crust and I think graham cracker crust would be much tastier! This looks amazing, thanks for sharing!
~Meaghan from DIYfaerie
Yes, Meaghan! The graham cracker crust is just so buttery and good! Try it. 🙂
Love love love rich chocolate pie, this sounds like the perfect way to end a day. Great recipe Blair. Pinned!
Thanks, Krista! I hope that you get to try it. It’s so simple and delicious!
This looks so good! Thank you for linking up at Tickle My Tastebuds last week. I am featuring you tomorrow on my blog and would love if you would stop by with some more delicious recipes to share!
Julia @ Mini Van Dreams
Hi, Julia! Thank you so much for the feature! Of course I will be back tomorrow. 🙂
Thanks for sharing this decadent pie with us at Best of the Weekend – I’ll be featuring it on my blog Friday!
This looks so much better than your average chocolate pudding pie! Thank you so much for linking up at Tasty Tuesday! Your recipe has been pinned to the Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board! Please join us again this week!
Thanks for stopping by, Stephanie!
Ooh, I love generational recipes 🙂 Especially chocolate ones! Thanks for sharing, and your post was the “most viewed” and is featured in tonight’s What’d You Do This Weekend! Pinned!
Thanks SO MUCH, Ashley!!
going to make this for a church function, looks so good!
Awesome! Thanks, Mikki! I hope that you love it!
if i wanted meringue on top, would i bake the pie first then bake it again the the meringue? or could i do it all in one go?
Hi, Ashley! I’ve never made it with meringue, but I would think that you could bake the pie first, add the meringue, and then pop it back in the oven for a few minutes to let the meringue brown. Meringue only needs about 10-12 minutes in the oven, so it would probably work best added at the end. 🙂
Hi Blair:
Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful family with us, the wonderful recipes and photos. All of your time, energy and hard work in presenting your weeekly Our Week in Meals is greatly appreciated. I think all of your followers have fallen in love with your town and state just by your narratives.
Wishing you and your family the very best in the New Year and happy holidays.
Jo Ann
Jo Ann! Thank you!!! I appreciate your kind words SO much. You totally made my day. Thanks for reading along with us! xoxo
Hi Blair, This pie brings me back to my childhood. My mother used to make a butterscotch pudding and layer bananas on the crust before adding the pudding.She did this with the chocolate as well. You should give it a try, Delicious!
Oooooh! That sounds delicious, Lisa!!
Is 3 c milk accurate. That is one cup more than the jello pudding package calls for. I’m worried that it might be too runny.
Hi, Sonny! It sounds like you’re looking at a small box of the Jell-O pudding. As I mentioned in the instructions above, you want to make sure that you have the larger size box (the 5 ounce package). This larger size box calls for 3 cups of milk, so that is the correct amount. 🙂
Hello, thanks for the recipe, it was delicious.
I didn’t get a chance to take pictures, be cause the pie didn’t last long and I wasn’t fast enough.
I will make it again, this time adding Tapioca pudding to the chocolate.
Will make sure this time I take pictures before, it gets to the dining room table, ????.
Regards,
Adri
That’s awesome!!! Definitely snap some photos next time! 🙂
Question instead of the chocolate pudding mixture could I use a peanut butter and chocolate pudding made from a different recipe and then put that into the pie crust and then add the cool whip on top?
Sure! That sounds like a delicious twist on the original. 🙂
Awesome thanks can’t wait to see how my dad likes this seeing as my mom dislikes peanut butter and chocolate unless it’s whit chocolate.
Also I can share the chocolate peanut butter pudding recipe with ya if you want.
Yes, that would be great if you could post it in a comment for other readers to try, too. Thanks again! 🙂
I might have forgotten to say it so I’ll say it now, but It’s no problem I love learning new recipes, sharing recipes, and also combining recipes. I just love cooking in general but more so making snacks, sweets, treats, and desserts.
That French Toast sounds amazing, Randall! Thanks so much for sharing both recipes.
Since it’s just a recipe for chocolate peanut butter pudding, I’m wondering if the pie will slice cleanly into slices (or will the pudding be too soft)? You want the filling to firm up enough so that you can slice it into individual servings. I don’t know for sure, since I haven’t tried that recipe, but it’s something to consider. 🙂
If I want it thick enough for that I just need to let the pudding chill uncovered for I think 3 hours maybe 3 1/2. I had on accident the first time making it (and not knowing the correct way to chill it) I had left it in the fridge uncovered for about 3 1/2 or 4 hours and it came out quite thickened to the point I had to use a spoon to scoop it out.
Okay, great. Sounds like it will probably work fine!
Okay so while I was looking for the recipe book with the chocolate and peanut butter pudding recipe I also found the recipe for Peanut butter french toast (its better than it might sound).
Here is the ingredients needed for the Pudding followed by the recipe.
1/4 C. Smooth Peanut Butter (I suggest using a bit more than this if you want it to have enough of the peanut butter taste)
2 C. Milk
1 pkg. Instant chocolate pudding
Step 1. Beat peanut butter and 1/4 cup milk until smooth.
Step 2. Slowly add remaining milk and blend well. (You don’t need to use an actual blender.)
Step 3. Add pudding mix and blend well.
Step 4. Pour into serving dish and chill. (I have found that waiting at least 2 hours is best.)
The ingredients and recipe for the Peanut Butter French Toast
1/2 C. Creamy Peanut Butter (You can use more if you wish.)
8 Slices Sandwich bread
2 Bananas Sliced evenly
4 lg. eggs lightly beaten
1/2 C. milk
2 T. butter or Margarine
Step 1. Spread peanut butter evenly over 4 bread slices.
Step 2. Arrange Banana Slices Evenly over peanut butter.
Step 3. Top with remaining bread slices; Set aside.
Step 4. In a small dish or bowl combine eggs and milk; mix well.
Step 5. Melt butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat
Step 6. Dip each sandwich into egg mixture; turning to coat both sides.
Step 7. Place in Hot Skillet. Cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until browned.
Serve Immediately. Makes 4 Servings.
Also I recommend starting with just 1 serving because if your having things like bacon, sausage, or eggs with it then one serving is enough.
I have other peanut butter themed recipes, as well as some others in my favorite cookbook if anyone wants more.
~Randall
I made this for my dad for Thanksgiving and followed all directions. Mine did not set. So disappointed. Will try one more time using some heavy cream and cooking longer. Fingers crossed.
What size baking dish should o be using ??? 9inch?
Hi, Randi! Yep! A standard pie dish is 9 inches in diameter. Enjoy!
I don’t have the extra chocolate to add will this setup ok? Any hints with cooking it? I tried this once and it set for a while but then flooded. Not sure what I did wrong.
Hi, Kim! I’ve only ever made the recipe as written, so I have no idea what will happen if you omit the chocolate. I wouldn’t recommend it. 🙂
Has anyone tried mixing cool whip into the chocolate pudding mixture before filling the pie crust?
Hi, Marissa! I haven’t tried that, but I bet it would work. 🙂
Hi!
Just curious if the 12 full size graham crackers refers to 12 full sheets of crackers or 3 sheets (with the 4 squares in each sheet)?
Thanks!
Nicole
Hi, Nicole! You’ll need 12 full sheets of crackers. 🙂
Can you use dairy-free milk such as unsweetened almond milk in the pudding mixture?
Hi, Sam! No, I don’t think so. On the box of pudding mix, it usually warns against using non-dairy milk alternatives because for some reason the pudding doesn’t set up as well without regular milk. I haven’t actually tested it myself, that’s just my best guess.
I tried it out with almond milk and it worked so well and was delicious! With almond milk it’s recommended to let it sit for the 5 minutes after you take it off of the heat instead of stirring
Oh, that’s great, Sam! Thanks for taking the time to let me know. So glad it worked for you! 🙂
Do you have to bake a store pre-made graham cracker crust too?
Hi, Laura! No, if you’re purchasing a pre-made graham cracker crust it does not need to be baked before you fill it. 🙂
And my wife and I just love the chocolate Jello pudding pie me oh my American Pie apple cherry blueberry banana I’m going to eat some American Pie
Thanks to the wonderful recipe that I’ve gotten from this site just love it
I’m so glad to hear that, Michael. Thank you, and happy Thanksgiving!
Love ur recipes
Thanks, Barbara!
My husband said it was the best pudding pie he ever had!!❤️
Wow! We’re honored. Thank you, Kathy!