26 Delicious Pudding Recipes To Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth

As much as we love cake, cookies, and brownies, sometimes we crave a more spoonable dessert. Enter pudding. It's a pretty broad category of dishes, and its versatility means you can make with a variety of ingredients. If you like sweets, then there's probably a pudding out there that you'll love. Plus, pudding is typically super-easy to prepare, making it perfect for those times when you need a set-it-and-forget-it dessert that still looks (and tastes) impressive.

We've collected this list of some of our best pudding recipes to appeal to your sweet tooth. Whether you lean more toward the chocolate or fruity ends of the spectrum, this list has you covered. From bread to rice and everything in between, you'll get to experiment with lots of different ingredients in these recipes, and they might make you realize how good pudding can taste. So, grab your apron and get stirring.

Few dishes are as warm and comforting as this rich bread pudding. We love pulling it out when it starts to get cold in the fall, since curling up with a serving of this stuff feels cozy. Adding a smattering of raisins adds a lovely, aged fruit flavor to the mix, and the cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger only contribute to that sweet flavor profile. This recipe calls for whole wheat bread, but you can use any loaf you have on hand.

Recipe: Rich Bread Pudding

When you're looking for a dish that's light and fruity while still delivering that decadent pudding creaminess, look no further than this berry pudding. It's made with real, fresh fruit, but the freeze-dried fruit makes for a colorful topping for the dessert. Classic Nilla Wafers cookies make the dessert feel a bit more substantial. The prep comes together relatively quickly since you don't even have to bake it — just make sure to give it enough time to chill.

Recipe: No-Bake Berry Berry Tasty Pudding

Whether you're trying to come up with a dessert to serve to your kids or you're looking for a chocolatey dessert for adults, dirt pudding is the way to go. Its layers of rich chocolate pudding and crushed Oreos make for a texturally interesting dessert that'll have you going back for spoonful after spoonful. Although this recipe doesn't specifically call for gummy worms, you can always add them on top of the pudding to make the dish feel a bit more colorful and exciting.

Recipe: Easy Dirt Pudding

Dubai chocolate is seemingly everywhere these days, so it only makes sense to translate those flavors to a pudding recipe. Chia seeds form the base of this pudding — when they spend enough time in liquid, they expand and become gelatinous, creating an interesting texture that sets it apart from smoother custards. Pistachio and dark chocolate offer that sweet and nutty flavor for which Dubai chocolate is known, and dried kataifi noodles provide the crunch.

Recipe: Dubai Chocolate-Style Pistachio Chia Pudding

Rice is one of our favorite pudding bases because it seems to add a lot of body to a pudding dish, making it even more filling. And this baked version of the dessert is especially tasty once it develops a crunchy, golden brown top. Top yours with fresh berries to give this otherwise pretty intense dessert some of the mild fruitiness and juiciness it needs. You can keep the leftovers in the fridge for up to four days, and simply reheat the extras in the microwave.

Recipe: Baked Rice Pudding

This affordable, filling, and delicious Irish bread and butter pudding is begging to be on your next winter holiday menu. We love that it requires such humble ingredients — a loaf of bread, some eggs, sugar, heavy cream, butter, milk, cinnamon, and raisins (specifically sultanas, if you can find them) are all you need to create a deeply decadent dessert dish. It's sweet but not too sweet, and it provides a nice alternative to other heavier, more chocolate-forward desserts.

Recipe: Irish Bread and Butter Pudding

There are plenty of bread pudding recipes out there, but not enough of them call for plantains. This ingredient adds a lot of weight to the dish, making it denser, richer, and even more filling than traditional bread pudding, a dessert already known for its richness. Basically, you make this dessert like any other bread pudding, but fry the plantain pieces before layering with the bread and soaking in the custard.

Recipe: Sweet Plantain Bread Pudding

There are times when vanilla pudding hits the spot, but sometimes, you might want a dessert that's more interesting than what plain vanilla has to offer. That's when it's time to make this chai-spiced version, which adds just the right amount of complexity to make you feel like you're eating something elevated. The maple pecans give you a delightful, sweet crunch to really bring the whole dessert together. It's an especially fun dish to make during the fall months.

Recipe: Vanilla Chai Spice Pudding with Maple Pecans

This tiramisu pudding would definitely be a delightful surprise for a Valentine's Day dinner, but you don't have to wait for the day of love to roll around to make it. You'll make a chocolate pudding, which forms the base of the dish, but the mascarpone's richness takes it to a whole new level. It doesn't have any ladyfingers as traditional tiramisu does, but that makes it a lighter, creamier version of the original.

Recipe: Valentine's Day Tiramisu Pudding

Both blueberry and lemon join forces to create this deliciously light and bright tapioca pudding. Its creamy texture makes for a decadent treat that you can enjoy for breakfast or dessert. Pair it with a chia seed blueberry jam to add even more flavor diversity to the mix, and it's clear why this is one of our all-time favorite pudding recipes. Top with some lemon zest to add even more zing to the dish.

Recipe: Blueberry-Lemon Tapioca Pudding

King cake is one of those New Orleans dishes you have to try whenever you visit. But if you can't make it to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, go ahead and try making this bread pudding inspired by the cake at home. Cinnamon and nutmeg play important roles here, creating a bold and warming flavor profile that pairs exceptionally well with the bread. Make sure to add some purple, gold, and green sanding sugars to the icing if you want it to look as colorful and celebratory as possible.

Recipe: Mardi Gras King Cake-Inspired Bread Pudding

If you're looking for a decadent dessert that's bound to impress your guests, look no further than this coffee purin. Made with eggs, it's quite rich, and adding coffee to the mix only adds to that flavor complexity. A beautiful caramel crust makes the dish delightfully sweet, although the bitterness from the coffee balances everything nicely. It's not the easiest dish to make, nor is it the fastest, but it's one that feels exceptionally elevated.

Recipe: Coffee Purin (Egg Custard Pudding)

We love cinnamon rolls, and we love bread pudding. But what if you could enjoy both of those desserts in one? That's exactly what you'll get when you try this recipe. The main difference between this dish and standard cinnamon rolls is that this is a sliceable dessert, not a roll. That creates a more interesting texture and really allows the icing to sink into all the nooks and crannies in the dessert.

Recipe: Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding

This British-style pudding makes figs taste richer and more intense than they ever could on their own. The dates play an important role in this recipe, as they create the rich stickiness that makes this a texturally interesting dessert, while the walnuts infuse the toffee sauce with a complex nuttiness that takes the dish to new heights. It comes together in just over an hour, making it a relatively easy option when you want to impress whoever's at your dinner table.

Recipe: Sticky Fig Pudding with Walnut Toffee Sauce

We love brownies all on their own, but when you're looking for a dessert that's more moist and spoonable than your typical one, then this brownie pudding should be right up your alley. You still get those fudgy brownie chunks, but they're mixed with a more gooey consistency. Adding vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup on top makes it an even more complete dish. Once you make your brownies this way, you'll never want to go back to a standard bake again.

Recipe: Brownie Pudding

We love a hybrid dessert, and that's what this recipe delivers. You get those light, fruity, banana pudding vibes, all layered in a tiramisu style that feels kind of fancy without being fussy. The banana tastes surprisingly good with the flavor of coffee and adds a density (plus plenty of nutrition) to the dish. Plus, it's a surprisingly easy dish to make, although it's not the quickest recipe on this list. Try it with a shot of espresso on the side for the perfect post-dinner pick-me-up.

Recipe: Banana Pudding Tiramisu

If you want to upgrade your standard rice pudding recipe, then combine the classic dish with an unexpected flavor profile. We love using orange and cardamom because they create a fruit-forward flavor that's also deliciously complex. Not only does the orange zest infuse your rice pudding with flavor, but it also delivers a bold pop of color that makes this otherwise bland-looking dish instantly appear more impressive. Your family, friends, and guests won't want to wait to dig in.

Recipe: Baked Rice Pudding with Orange and Cardamom

Eating a serving of chia seed pudding is a great way to start your day, but if you're tired of all the toppings you normally use, you have to try this peanut butter and jelly pudding. You already know that this classic flavor combo works well together, but you don't have to put it on bread for it to taste its best. The neutral flavor of rich, gelatinous chia seed pudding makes for the perfect accompaniment to the sweet and nutty notes.

Recipe: PB&J Chia Seed Pudding

If you're craving a peanut butter chia seed pudding but you don't particularly like fruit jelly, then you can always try making this dessert instead. It combines peanut butter (or another nut butter of your choice) with intense chocolatey notes. This recipe specifically calls for cocoa powder, since it provides a chocolate flavor without changing the pudding's creamy texture. You can also use dark chocolate in its place.

Recipe: Rich Chocolate Peanut Butter Chia Seed Pudding

Always ordering chai when you go to your favorite coffee shop? Then you've been waiting for this chai rice pudding for your whole life. The coconut gives it a lovely twist. It offers just the right level of fruitiness without overpowering the chai's complex flavors that shine when combined with the sticky, slightly chewy texture of the rice. Top it off with a star anise and a cinnamon stick to make it look just as good as it tastes.

Recipe: Coconut Chai Rice Pudding

Countless cultures feature some version of rice pudding in their cuisines, and kheer is an Indian take on the dessert. Instead of using plain white rice, though, you'll want to get your hands on some basmati rice, which gives it a different texture than American rice pudding. Cardamom is an especially important ingredient here, as are the saffron threads, which will give the kheer its beautiful gold color. Pistachios and raisins provide a more varied texture and make for a pretty topping.

Recipe: Creamy Kheer (Indian Rice Pudding)

Why overcomplicate a simple thing? As much as we love pudding recipes infused with interesting, unique, and unexpected flavors, sometimes, the simplest dishes are the most delicious. Eat this vanilla pudding by itself if you're looking for a simple, sweet dessert that everyone around the table will love, or you can use it as a neutral base for whatever toppings you want to add. Simple, fresh berries are a lovely addition.

Recipe: Simple Classic Vanilla Pudding

Not only is this pudding infused with nutty pistachio flavor, but it also has a bold green color that immediately makes it pop on the dessert table at a party. Blending pistachios with coconut milk gives you the pistachio-forward flavor you're going for, but it's spinach that creates that bold, bright color that makes this dessert shine. We like adding some whole pistachios and whipped cream on top for more textural variation, but you can enjoy the pudding on its own.

Recipe: Pistachio Pudding

If you're new to the pudding game, you need to learn how to make the classics, including chia pudding. Chia seeds make for an incredible pudding base because of their interesting, gelatinous texture and high fiber content per serving, making chia seed pudding an arguably healthier choice when you're still looking for something sweet. Although this recipe is topped with fruit and nuts, you can experiment with any other sweet toppings you want to add to the mix.

Recipe: Classic Chia Pudding

Sure, bananas taste good as a snack all on their own, but we think the fruit really shines in a creamy dessert like this banana pudding. This version is especially easy to make because you can just use a package of instant pudding mix as the base of the dish. Then add the bananas and the vanilla wafer cookies to create that iconic, dessert texture that offers both density and crunch. You don't have to add whipped cream at the end, but it's a nice touch.

Recipe: Classic Banana Pudding

Matcha is seemingly everywhere these days, but you definitely don't have to stop at a latte. If you love the flavor of matcha, try infusing it into a dessert, like this subtle matcha pudding. It only calls for seven ingredients, making it easy to pull off when you don't have a fully stocked pantry. The star of the show, though, might just be the sweet red bean paste. Not only does it provide a color contrast to the dessert, but its sweetness is a nice counterpart to the matcha.

Recipe: Matcha Pudding with Sweet Red Bean Paste