Our Favorite Pudding Recipes (2024)

We love creamy dreamy pudding, from a rich and silky chocolate pudding to a spiced and textured saffron rice pudding. Explore more satisfying desserts, including classics like Rich and Creamy Butterscotch Pudding and inventive twists like this sweet and tangy Goat Cheese Pudding. These pudding recipes are spoon-licking good.

01of 18

Dark Chocolate Pudding with Candied Ginger

"For me, ginger should be everywhere," says chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. "It's as good in marinades and vinaigrettes as it is in dessert."

Get the Recipe

02of 18

Rich and Creamy Butterscotch Pudding

Butterscotch pudding is traditionally made with butter and a little Scotch (the alcohol burns off during cooking). Pastry chef Lisa Sewall makes a supercreamy version that is a bit of a cheat — she uses butterscotch chips to simplify the recipe. The result is so flavorful, even purists won't complain.

Get the Recipe

03of 18

Double-Chocolate Pudding

This recipe from the late, great cookbook author Richard Sax has everything one could ask for in a chocolate pudding — an intense flavor and a silky texture that's still firm enough to stand a spoon in. For the best possible pudding, use top-quality cocoa powder and chocolate.

Get the Recipe

04of 18

Chia-Seed Pudding

As chia seeds soak in almond milk, they create a tapioca-like pudding We love topping it with sliced fruit and toasted nuts.

Get the Recipe

05of 18

Goat Cheese Puddings

For this pudding, molecular gastronomist and pastry chef Dana Cree blends tangy goat cheese and lemon juice with a rich vanilla bean base to create a dessert that's packed with complex flavors.

Get the Recipe

06of 18

Rice Pudding with Poached Rhubarb

This vanilla-flecked rice pudding is exceptionally easy and exceptionally delicious, thanks to the tangy rhubarb. Chef Krista Desjarlais gently poaches the stalks in red wine, sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Perfect on the pudding, the rhubarb would be equally good with Greek yogurt.

Get the Recipe

07of 18

Creamy Caramel Pudding

This delicious pudding gets its rich flavor from a simple homemade caramel. Top it with a crunchy nut brittle for an extra treat.

Get the Recipe

08of 18

Rich Baked Chocolate Puddings

Baking in a water bath gives this deep, dark chocolate pudding a smooth and creamy texture. Traditional ramekins are an easy choice, but it's also fun to bake and serve in small glass jars.

Get the Recipe

09of 18

Hasty Pudding

With its delightful contrasts of warm spicy pudding and cold vanilla ice cream, this version of an American classic is the ultimate comfort dessert. Homey as it is, though, it looks elegant when served in stemmed bowls. While Indian pudding is frequently stodgy, our version is soft and light and altogether tempting.

Creamy Butterscotch Pudding with Toffee

Whipped cream and toffee crumbles make the perfect garnish for this rich dessert.

Get the Recipe

11of 18

Banana Pudding with Vanilla Wafer Crumble

David Guas, a New Orleans native, remembers this comforting dessert from his childhood. It's a spectacularly creamy banana pudding topped with a crumble made from vanilla wafer cookies.

Get the Recipe

12of 18

Chocolate Puddings with Miso Caramel

Miso-enriched caramel intensifies the deep, chocolaty flavor of these silky puddings from pastry chef Clarice Lam. Be sure to bring the leftover caramel to the table; its savory, bitter, and sweet flavor will have guests reaching for more.

Get the Recipe

13of 18

Sholeh Zard (Saffron Rice Pudding)

This sweet Persian rice pudding called sholeh zard is made with three distinct ingredients: saffron, cardamom, and rosewater. It's delicate in flavor but so deeply aromatic that it's hard to stop eating it.

Get the Recipe

14of 18

Almond Rice Pudding with Sweet Cherry Sauce and Caramel Cream

This creamy and fluffy rice pudding is good enough on its own, but it's even better with two great sauces: a fruity and tangy sweet cherry sauce, as well as a creamy caramel sauce.

Get the Recipe

15of 18

Mayan Chocolate Pudding

This simple chocolate pot de crème is spiced with cinnamon and allspice. A touch of ground habanero chiles that were dried over an open fire gives it a slightly smoky flavor.

Get the Recipe

16of 18

Popcorn Pudding

Jonathon Sawyer and his family love chocolate-covered pretzels. That gave Sawyer the idea to create this luscious dessert that brilliantly combines the flavor of salted popcorn with a sweet, creamy pudding.

Get the Recipe

17of 18

Ravo

This creamy semolina pudding, traditional to Parsi cuisine, gets its velvety texture from gentle, constant stirring and a careful eye on the heat; it should bubble when cooking over high heat but not come to a full boil. Sweetened condensed milk — writer Sabrina Medora's grandmother's riff — and a simple whole milk–and–egg mixture thicken the pudding and add a creamy, sweet flavor.

Get the Recipe

18of 18

Milk-Chocolate Pots de Crème

Pot de crème ("pot of cream") is a traditional French custard typically served in a pot-shaped cup. This milk-chocolate version from pastry chef Frank Urso is supersilky and dense.

Get the Recipe