Easy Classic Vanilla Pudding Recipe

There is a timeless joy to a classic vanilla pudding. Between the velvety texture and the aroma of vanilla, it is no surprise that this dessert has stood the test of time. Whether served chilled with whipped cream and wafer cookies or warm with a slice of pound cake, vanilla pudding is always a delight. And given how easy it is to put together, using only a handful of pantry ingredients and requiring only a few minutes on the stove, the only surprise is that we aren't cooking up a batch every day.

Whether you are an expert confectioner or just beginning to cut your culinary teeth, vanilla pudding is a recipe that can and should be in your repertoire. Its true elegance lies in its simplicity. With just a bit of milk, some sugar, cornstarch, a dash of salt, a few pats of butter, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract, you can whip up a dessert sure to please the whole family. The result — a silky smooth confection redolent of that favorite culinary orchid — never misses and is the perfect way to cap off just about any meal.

You very well might already have everything you need for this recipe hiding in your kitchen. All it takes is milk, cornstarch, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and a little bit of butter to whip up a delicious vanilla pudding.

Pour 2 ½ cups milk into a saucepan and place on the stovetop over medium-low heat.

While the milk is warming, mix together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl.

Add the remaining ½ cup milk to the cornstarch mixture and whisk until the dry ingredients are well incorporated.

Gradually pour the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan of warm milk, whisking the whole time.

Cook the pudding, whisking constantly, until it reaches 175 F. (If you do not have a thermometer, cook until it visibly thickens and coats the back of a spoon.) Remove from heat.

Add the vanilla extract and butter, and stir until the butter melts.

Ladle the pudding into one large storage container or individual serving-size containers and place in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours, until chilled and set.

Serve chilled, garnished with whipped cream and/or vanilla wafer cookies, if desired.

Vanilla pudding makes a perfect vegan dessert. While traditional puddings are made with dairy milk, egg yolks, and often butter, none of these ingredients are necessary to create a silky, delicious pudding. In this recipe, we have eschewed the eggs, relying on cornstarch as the sole thickening agent. All you have to do in order to make this egg-free recipe vegan-friendly, then, is replace the butter with a vegan alternative and sub in your preferred plant-based milk.

There are lots of good vegan milk options out there, from almond and soy to coconut or even hemp milk, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. For the sake of this recipe, any of them will do. The cornstarch provides plenty of thickening power to turn whichever milk you choose into a luxurious vanilla pudding. The only area in which you may want to be careful is the sugar content. Some plant-based milks can have a lot of added sugar, so depending on which variety and brand you choose, you may wish to slightly reduce the quantity of sugar you add to your pudding.

Cornstarch is an inexpensive, tried and true thickener used in many desserts, but it is far from the only way to thicken a pudding. There are plenty of alternatives out there if you, for whatever reason, would prefer to avoid cornstarch in your vanilla pudding. While cornstarch is one of the most common, these days there are many starches available on the shelves of most supermarkets. In the baking aisle you can find alternatives ranging from good old-fashioned wheat flour to rice flour, potato starch, and even tapioca flour and arrowroot powder.

Bear in mind, however, that each of these alternative starches does have its own characteristics. Each alternative requires alternations to quantities and temperatures and will impart a slightly different flavor and texture to the dish. Arrowroot powder, for example, begins cooking at a lower temperature than cornstarch, so if you choose this alternative, cooking times and temperatures will need to be adjusted. Tapioca flour is a great alternative, but it is a very potent starch, which gives a gummy texture that some folks do not enjoy. Wheat flour is the most ubiquitous replacement for cornstarch, but you'll have to use more of it since it's not as thickening, and the mouthfeel of the pudding will be altered.