Chocolate Avocado Pudding is an easy dessert made with ripe avocados! It’s so creamy & delicious, you’d never guess it’s dairy-free.
Why You’ll Love It
It’s easy to make. Just add a handful of ingredients to a blender, and blend until it’s smooth and creamy. It’s ready to eat in just minutes!
It’s delicious. Even if you’re not a huge avocado fan, this pudding tastes like a rich chocolate dessert. Since you can taste the mixture as you go, it’s easy to adjust the ratio of cocoa powder and sweetness to your liking.
It’s nourishing. Avocados are often considered a “superfood” because they are loaded with fiber and healthy fats. When you pair them with cacao powder, which is rich in antioxidants, this chocolate pudding is a great source of vitamins and minerals.
It’s easy to customize. You can swap the sweetener in this recipe to use what you have on hand, or add any other add-ins you like! My personal favorite is adding frozen berries, like in my Cherry Chocolate Avocado Pudding variation, to help hide the avocado flavor even more. (Plus, you’ll get more nutrients in each bite!)
It’s dairy-free & gluten-free. If you are serving someone with allergies or special dietary needs, this avocado pudding is an easy vegan & Paleo chocolate dessert that tastes delicious.
Ingredients You’ll Need
The key to this recipe is using ripe avocados without dark spots in the flesh. The center should have a light green color, and the avocado should give slightly when you squeeze the outside.
For extra creaminess, you can use coconut milk, almond milk, oat milk, or any other non-dairy milk that you love, but I tend to use water to keep things easy. The avocado will add plenty of creaminess on its own!
If you keep raw cacao powder in your pantry, that works great in this recipe, but you can also use regular unsweetened cocoa powder, if you prefer.
How to Make the Best Chocolate Avocado Pudding
1. Blend.
In a high-speed blender or small food processor, combine the ripe avocado (without the pit or skin), cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and a pinch of sea salt. Add in 3 tablespoons of water or your favorite milk, then secure the lid and blend until smooth.
Stop and scrape down the sides of your machine, if needed. You may need to add another tablespoon or two of water, to help keep everything blending smoothly.
2. Adjust the flavor.
Once it has a creamy texture, taste the avocado pudding and make any adjustments. Since each avocado will have a slightly different flavor from the next one, you may need to add a little extra cacao powder for a richer chocolate flavor, or a little more sweetener to help boost the sweetness.
If you have a particularly strong-flavored avocado, you may want to add a handful of frozen raspberries or cherries, to help hide the avocado flavor even more. A tiny splash of almond extract (like an 1/8 teaspoon), or a spoonful of peanut butter (or other nut or seed butter) will also help.
3. Enjoy!
As soon as the pudding is done blending, you can eat it right away, or you can store it in an airtight container in the fridge to chill before serving. Top it with coconut whipped cream, chocolate shavings, or a few fresh raspberries, if you like!
Storage Tip: Avocado pudding may separate when stored in the fridge overnight. Simply stir it well until it looks creamy again before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, avocado pudding freezes well for up to 3 months. You can thaw it in the fridge overnight, then stir well if it separates, but you can also enjoy it as a popsicle! Check out my Avocado Fudgsicles if you’d like more guidance.
Yes, of course! You can use honey or coconut sugar instead, and just taste the mixture as you go to see how much you need. If you’re following a low-carb or keto diet, you can use liquid stevia or erythritol, to taste.
If you prefer a thicker consistency, replace the liquid in this recipe with canned coconut cream. It is liquid at room temperature, but thickens up when chilled. For more ideas, check out my aquafaba mousse or vegan chocolate mousse recipes.
Looking for more avocado recipes? Try Avocado Brownies, Chocolate Avocado Smoothie, or Avocado Ice Cream for more ideas!
Chocolate Avocado Pudding
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ripe avocado
- 2 tablespoons cacao or cocoa powder
- 2 to 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons water , or more as needed to blend
Instructions
- Scoop the avocado, without the peel or large seed, into a mini-food processor or narrow blender. Note: If your blender has a wide base, you may need to double the recipe to have a sufficient volume for blending. Add in the cacao powder, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, vanilla, salt, and water, and blend until smooth.
- Taste the pudding and add more maple syrup if needed. (Or anything other extra flavorings you like, such as frozen raspberries or cherries.) You can serve this right away, or put it in an airtight container in the fridge to chill.
- Leftovers can be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 48 hours. The pudding can sometimes separate when chilled, but stirring it should restore the texture.
Video
Notes
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- Fruit-Sweetened Option: Replace the maple syrup with 2 to 4 pitted dates and add a little extra water for blending. If you don’t have a high speed blender, start by blending the dates with water first, then add in the rest of the pudding ingredients. You may need to use up to 4 soft Medjool dates depending on their size and sweetness.
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- Hide the Avocado Flavor: If you have a particularly potent-tasting avocado, try adding 1/2 cup of frozen fruit to the mix. I love using frozen cherries or raspberries. You can also add extra cacao or maple syrup to mask the flavor even more.
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- Need a Sugar-Free Pudding? You can use any other sweetener that you like. (I used to use stevia in this, before I stopped using it.) Honey can also work, but it won’t be a vegan dessert in that case.
Nutrition
If you try this avocado chocolate pudding recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like it!
I LOVE all the info you included in this post! I honestly didn’t know much of that info about fruits!
I have a wicked sweet tooth. My all time favorite treat is Lindt’s sea salt chocolate, but supercharge me cookies or yogurt can usually tame it too!
I have yet to try a Supercharge Me cookie, and I’ve had the recipe for months! Thanks for reminding me of those. 😉
I love anything sweet with sea-salt… YUM.
THat pudding sounds wonderful! I’ll have to give it a try!
Yes I love sweet foods — usually I’ll have fruit, or some dates with PB to help those cravings.
I am totally going to make this pudding tonight — looks delicious!
Hope you enjoy the pudding!! (I’m addicted…)
I love dates stuffed with pecans, too– it tastes like pecan pie!!
I feel exactly the same way about sweets (especially chocolate)!! This pudding looks delicious! I tried making an avocado + chocolate pudding once and failed MISERABLY…so I’ll definitely have to try again with your recipe 🙂
Adding the frozen fruit to the avocado makes ALL the difference!
I had tried many other versions before a “lightbulb” went off in my head to add the frozen fruit! It makes it cold, sweet and creamy!! The cherry-chocolate version has everyone fooled– my dad didn’t believe there was even avocado in it!
Hi there, thanks for stopping by my site! 🙂 This pudding sounds lovely, I actually make something very similar with equal parts of avocado and banana blending with chocolate. So rich and delicious!
I am definitely more of salty eater than a sweet eater. Honestly if it was social acceptable to a salt lick I would. But on the occasion that I do crave something sweet…I want a warm batch of chocolate chip cookies.
I’m an avocado fiend! I bet i’d love this! =)
After many well-intentions and spoiled avocados, I have finally made this decadent dessert. The texture is perfect, with a rich chocolatey taste (no avocado taste). As I have a huge sweet tooth, I am always on the hunt and making healthy desserts. This one has been added to my list. Anything dark chocolate+nut butter usually satisfies my craving though 🙂
Wow – this is AMAZING. I didn’t have stevia, so I used a bit of honey instead, but it is absolutely decadent. If I didn’t know there where blueberries in it, I never would have believed it after tasting it. This is just as rich as old fashion chocolate pudding made with cornstarch, but some much better for you!
I must be missing something… I see comments about the blueberries or frozen fruit but it’s not listed in the ingredients. We tried this tonight and none of us cared for it. Now we can’t get the taste out of our mouths. Love chocolate and love avocado, but this didn’t do it for us, although the texture was perfect. We could taste the avocado, big time, unlike some others.
Sorry to hear that! Sometimes you can get a very potent-flavored avocado and then it’s hard to hide the flavor. You can try adding frozen cherries to hide the flavor even more, and I like to add a 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract in that case which makes the flavor even better.
I loved this! I was a bit skeptical at first because I’ve never used avocados fo a dessert. However, it was delicious. Thank you!
I have figured the calorie count on this recipe with a couple of different web sites and they come up with at least 100 cal higher then listed per serving. could you recalculate? this is very good but people trying to watch their wt may be surprised at the calories.
OH MY GOSH, THIS IS DELICIOUS. My 2.5 year old son and I just made it together, and I could seriously eat it all! We tripled the recipe because we had 3 avocados to use up, and I’m glad we made so much! Thank you so much for this recipe. I’ve been trying to have him help me cook more, and recipes like this are perfect for him!
I need to try this! Looks amazing. Would it freeze well if I made in bigger batch?
Awesome recipe. Just made these because we had some ripe avocados. Doubled the recipe and used 4 tbsps of maple syrup and 5 tbsps of water. I will say the avocados we used were very flavorful and we couldn’t taste the avocado. Definitely will make again!
This puddings divine! I did use a little more maple syrup as suggested. And I found that you need to really whirl the food processor on high for a minute or two to smooth avocado chunks. Not a problem though. Also doubled recipe, b/c I just knew two servings wouldn’t be enough!
I just made this (almost) exactly as written (I used almond milk instead of water) and it is FANTASTIC!!! It’s so light and fluffy, definitely doesn’t taste like avocado! I urge everyone to try this. I think with a little bit of peppermint extract it would make a wonderful mint chocolate mousse!
I just made this and added frozen raspberries. It was easy to put together – I even eye-balled the amonts – and delicious. Two thumbs up from me and my daughter.
I wanted to like this so badly. But it was horrid. I could taste the chocolate flavor but it was overpowered by the avocado and it just did NOT work.
There are keto maple syrups, they sell.one at whole foods it uses monk fruit and is a very low carb. I swap it for all maple syrups recipes.its called Lakanto.
So creamy and chocolately. Don’t realize you are eating avocado.
Can this be frozen for an “icecream” type treat?
Yes, I bet it could! Avocado freezes well, just like bananas do!
This is so freaking delicious. The texture is exactly the same as chocolate pudding. I will make it again definitely!
So simple and delicious!
This was amazing, easy, and delicious! I wanted something chocolate but not cookies or candy. THIS IS DELICIOUS! Thanks for the recipe. I’m going to try adding different flavors, but this is perfect as is!
Thank you for an easy dairy free dessert! I didn’t have cherries, but I threw in some frozen blueberries and it worked great.
Whoops, sorry, I was looking at this recipe and the one with cherries at the same time! Still awesome.
Delicious! I used frozen blueberries and a shake of cinnamon. Tastes divine!
I LOVED this! I used one medjool date and a bit of milk to make it fluffy. So good! Thank you!
This is the best recipe for chocolate avocado pudding! I tried it and everyone in the family loved it. I double down water and maple syrup. Thanks
I don’t often share recipes but this is a must for any dairy-free diet people out there. It was by far the simplest, best vegan version of chocolate pudding. I made it with a cheap mini food processor and a very overdue avocado and it was just the perfect balance of texture and sweetness. I made it in 2minutes and it fully satisfied my chocolate craving. I highly recommend, esp. when you have a sad avocado (brown bits and all). Once the cacao powder gets in, it’s all the same brown!
This is absolutely my NEW favorite cheat dessert! I also love that it is so filling. Thank you you!
My hubby and I love this recipe! I add in frozen cherries and 1/8 tsp of almond extract for a chocolate cherry almond flavor that is fantastic! Thank you for such a great recipe!
WOWZA! This pudding is amazing. Great for when you want a sweet after dinner treat. Super easy and you would never know the base is avacado!
This is so good! I’ve made a several times but this time added a drop of food grade coffee essential oil for a rich mocha flavor!
I love this recipe… Smooth, rich, and delicious.
Have you ever made it with frozen avocado?
Just made this and I am officially addicted! So creamy and the taste is phenomenal. Can’t wait to try with raspberries or strawberries
I wanted to know how many cups of avocado you use? Avocado’s come in so many different sizes and if I use one from my yard, they are 4 times as big as a regular haas.
How much (in cups) is one serving size?
This was so delicious, thank you!! I used regular milk instead of water and it turned out great I also tripled the recipe.
This is amazing!! Very rich, I didn’t use any water just maple and vanilla syrups with some unrefined sugar. We made a rice crispy/choc base, then a layer of this mousse then done whipped oat cream and a sprinkle of crunchy unrefined sugar on top… amazing!! Even the non vegans loved it! Haha!