Unbelievably delicious homemade pistachio pudding made with real nuts and no artificial flavor additives. It will take about 24 hours to let pistachio milk sit in the refrigerator and then a about 20 minutes to prepare the pudding. After it is chilled for a couple of hours, you are ready to enjoy this pistachio pudding. The taste is worth every minute put into it!
PISTACHIO PUDDING
I can’t tell you how long I’ve been wanting to make my own pistachio pudding that didn’t involve a box mix. Finally…I figured it out! I’m so happy it worked because it was a total shot in a dark but it worked and it was fabulous!
I was flipping through a Cuisine at Home magazine and they were talking about puddings. They mentioned flavoring milk before cooking the pudding. I was a little skeptical because I wasn’t sure that pistachio nuts would actually flavor the milk enough where you would be able to take pistachios in the pudding. I decided to give it a shot anyway, can’t hurt.
So I prepped milk and nuts to soak overnight, put them in the fridge and….forgot! Yeap, I forgot the next day but I remembered the following day. I tasted the milk….and BINGO! It tasted like pistachios so much that I couldn’t wait to make the pudding. I used my trustee pudding recipe with this flavored milk and it turned out so, so good!
I’ve added some crushed pistachio nuts to the pudding as well, but if you have funny feelings about textures, you can omit adding the nuts. You’ll like it either day!
SOME MORE RECIPES TO TRY:
Homemade Coconut Pudding from Self Proclaimed Foodie
Tapioca Pudding from Simply Recipes
Pumpkin Pie Pudding from Baked By Rachel
Vanilla Custard Sauce from A Family Feast
If you made any of my recipes and shared them on Instagram, make sure to tag me @willcookforsmiles and #willcookforsmiles so I can see all the things you tried!
Connect with Will Cook For Smiles!
Be sure to click below and follow me on my social media, so you never miss a recipe.
Don’t forget to sign up for email, so you won’t miss any new recipes.
Homemade Pistachio Pudding
Ingredients
Pistachio Milk:
- 1 1/2 cups of whole milk
- 1/2 cup pistachios dry roasted and unsalted
Pudding:
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp corn starch
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups pistachio milk from above strain the nuts and just use the milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix In:
- 1/4 cup chopped pistachios unsalted (optional but recommended)
Instructions
Prepare Pistachio Milk (24 hours ahead):
- Shell pistachios and add them to milk in a jar with a lid. Close and put in the refrigerator Keep it there for about 24 hours.
- You will use the milk but the nuts will be soggy so it won't taste good in pudding. You can discard the soaked nuts or add it to pancakes.
Cooking Pistachio Pudding:
- In a medium sauce pot, over medium heat, heat up milk, heavy cream and vanilla extract to 160 degrees. Stir well.
- Combine sugar, salt, flour and cornstarch in a medium mixing bowl, stir until all incorporated and set aside.
- In a large metal mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks.
- Very slowly, while constantly stirring, pour ½ cup of milk mixture into the eggs.
- Pour in another ½ cup of milk mixture, very slowly, keep whisking.
- Slowly, whisk in dry ingredients.
- Pour mixture from the mixing bowl back into the sauce pot, stirring constantly (I suggest using a silicone coveted whisk so you don't damage the pot).
- Cook over medium heat, slow-stirring constantly, until mixture is thick. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
Let The Pudding Set:
- Mix in chopped pistachios, if using.
- Transfer into a container with an air-tight lid and refrigerate until completely cold. (You can also use a bowl and plastic wrap.)
Notes
Nutrition
Catherine says
I can’t wait to make this pudding, I love anything pistachio, thanks for a great pudding recipe ! Over the weekend I will make this !
lyuba says
Thank you so much! I really hope you will like it, Catherine!
June @ How to Philosophize with Cake says
I have wanted to try pistachio pudding as well! It sounds delicious–if the boxed kind is good, homemade must be even better! Love it 🙂
lyuba says
So true! I hope you will give it a try! Thank you 🙂
Debbie says
Like the others, I am wondering what to do with the nuts in the milk. I did not see where you clarified that in the recipe. Thanks
lyuba says
Hi Debbie! I’m sorry that I didn’t mention it above but you can discard the nuts. Nuts become a bit soft and soggy so the texture of soaked nuts is not very good in the pudding. You can actually use the nuts in like pancakes or homemade waffles it you want. (It’s fixed now 🙂 )
Angie says
I LOVE pistachio. Can’t wait to try.
Question – do you strain out the pistachios that have been soaking in the milk before warming it? Or do you leave them in?
lyuba says
Yes! Oh gosh, I will go clarify that. Thank you 🙂
Deborah Early says
Hi ~
I am in the process of cooking, right now!
Don’t see where you went back and clarified this question.
Do you strain and use the nuts?
My nuts have been soaking for 2 days, I’m not sure how to proceed.
I will wing it and see.
Thanks
lyuba says
Hi there ! I’m sorry I didn’t notice the question earlier. You can discard the nuts. Nuts become a bit soft and soggy so the texture is not very good in the pudding. You can actually use the nuts in like pancakes or homemade waffles it you want.
Sue says
Could this be used as a filling for cupcakes? It sounds so wonderful.
lyuba says
Hi Sue,
Yes, you can use it as filling in a cupcake. Not topping, of course, but filling. Just chill it first and it is thick enough.
Thank you!
Priya says
Guaranteed way to flavour the milk is to toast the nuts lightly, add to the milk and gently warm. DO NOT BOIL. Cool and use. Instant. I made it with Hazlenut and used a chocolate sauce… mmmm Nutella pudding!
lyuba says
Thank you so much for letting me know, Priya! I will definitely try your tips and I can’t wait to make a hazelnut pudding for my mom. She is a huge fan of hazelnuts.
fee says
hi there would love to try this recipe out, a quick question did you use all purpose flour or plain flour please?
lyuba says
Hi There!
I hope you will try it! I use all purpose flour.
Bijal says
Hey any suggestions if I don’t want to use eggs ??what replacements I can do ?
lyuba says
Hi there! To me honest, it’s very hard to substitute egg proteins in custards and puddings but there are some vegan options you may be to able to work out. Here is a good article on substituting eggs because I’m not very familiar with vegan substitutes: https://www.mydarlingvegan.com/replacing-eggs/
Jason says
The flour in the pudding is a real bust. I really liked the milk flavored with the pistachios but the pudding has an uncooked cake batter vibe with the flour. I suggest flavoring the milk per this recipe and finding a good vanilla pudding recipe to make with the flavored milk ad add toasted nuts.
Jay says
Agreed
Jay says
Hi. Professional baker and cook here. Not sure what happened with your ratios but I wish you could reimburse me for the cost of pistachios bc this was glue
Derek says
If you’re a professional baker, I would assume you then know that every time you try a new dish, it’s is a risk. Maybe the recipe is off, sure, or maybe you’re just not following conventional techniques for cooking. I found this recipe to be great, and credit my cooking skills for that, not the recipe… it’s just a blueprint after all. As a professional contractor I wouldn’t expect an architect to reimburse my costs for wood studs if I put them together with hot glue. But I assume from your tone this comment is wasted anyway. If you don’t like the recipe, that’s fine, but you don’t have to be rude about it. My family thought it was delish
Anamika says
I have made this several times and always a big hit….Thank you for the recipe
LyubaB says
Thank you,Anaminka!
Margaret Witten says
🥰
Kelsey Brown says
The flour in the recipe was not a good idea as it left a terrible aftertaste as well as getting chunky once warmed
Steph says
Yes. Tasted like cake batter.
BETTY Cox says
Can you make this as a pue?
LyubaB says
Hi, Betty! Do you mean a pie? You could put it in a pre made graham cracker crust and serve it that way.
Dryst says
Made this recipe without the flour or heavy cream and instead added just 1 tbs of butter. Also used Lakanto Monkfruit sweetener instead of traditional sugar. Texture came out perfect! Also used salted roasted pistachios so left the 1/8 tsp of salt out. (Costco sells a big bag of shelled pistachios for a good deal but they are salted. ) I separated it into 2 batches at the end, one with chopped nuts one without. The one without nuts had more of a vanilla pudding flavor which was a little disappointing. The recipe calls for 24 hours to soak the nuts in the milk but wondering if it was supposed to be 48 hours to soak? I used the sogging soaking nuts in the second batch, used my magic bullet to chop them finely, just 1 tbs of the chopped nuts definitely gives it more pistachio flavor. However, neither batch came out looking nearly as green as the picture which was disappointing, (was really hoping for a lovely green color for a holiday dessert without having to use dye. Instead, both batches turned out a kind of creamy brown. Thinking about trying this recipe again but soaking the nuts longer (48 hours) and using less vanilla extract to avoid browning and overpowering the pistachio flavor. I still love the idea of using pistachio milk instead of having to use a food processor although other recipes using a food processor would probably be faster and easier if you have a processor on hand already.
April says
I made this twice. The first time, I followed the recipe and got something more like pâte à choux than pudding. Just tried it again this weekend without the 1/2 cup flour and it worked perfectly.
I recommend making it without the flour.