Homemade Pistachio Pudding

It’s easy to make old-fashioned pistachio pudding from scratch with just five ingredients! It’s so creamy and rich – a delicious dessert when you’re craving something sweet. The pudding is made with pistachios steeped in milk along with some cornstarch, eggs, and sugar. It’s so simple and a great make-ahead dessert.

Ingredients

• Pistachios: I use unsalted pistachios for this recipe. I prefer to shell them myself, but you can use shelled pistachios. You’ll just pay a little more for them.
• 2% milk
• Granulated sugar
• Cornstarch
• Whisked egg yolks

How to Make It

☑️ Chop

The first thing you’ll need to do is chop the pistachios. A food processor fitted with a chopping blade makes this easy, but you can use a knife and chop them by hand.

Transfer the chopped nuts to a bowl and add the milk. Go ahead and set the mixture aside while you work on the next recipe step.

☑️ Combine

Whisk the cornstarch and sugar in a saucepan. Add the pistachio and milk mixture, stir and then add the egg yolks. I like to whisk them first in a small bowl so it’s easier to whisk them into the pudding mixture.

☑️ Cook

Turn the burner heat to medium. You want to slowly heat the mixture, whisking occasionally. Heating slowly ensures the mixture doesn’t boil. It will release steam after a few minutes, which is what you want. Adjust the heat, if needed, to keep it from boiling.

Whisk and heat the mixture for about 10 minutes or so. It will seem like nothing is happening and just about the time you think the pudding is not going to thicken, it will. Once it thickens, bubbles will form that barely break the surface. It’s at this point you can take the pan off the heat.

☑️ Strain

Place a fine mesh strainer over a large heat-proof bowl. Spoon the pudding into the strainer and, using a rubber spatula, press it through the strainer. It’s okay if some finely chopped nuts get into the pudding – they add a great texture.

☑️ Chill

Transfer the pudding to small bowls or cups. Cover them with plastic wrap so it’s touching the surface of the pudding. This will prevent a skin from forming as the pudding chills.

Chill the pudding for at least a few hours before serving.

Recipe Tips

The color of your pudding will vary based on the pistachios you use and how orange your egg yolks are. Mine usually turns out more yellow because the egg yolks I use are very orange.

Another thing that affects the color are the pistachios. When you shell them, you’ll notice they have a flaky brown skin. It won’t affect the pudding flavor, but will mute the green color. If you want to remove all of it, you’ll need to blanche the nuts to fully remove it.

If you want your pudding to look like the kind that is made from a box, you’ll need to add some green food coloring.

You can serve the pudding warm, but I find the flavor is better if you chill it first. You can make the pudding up to a day ahead if you like and keep it in the refrigerator. It will keep well for up to two days – after two days, the texture will change and it will not be as creamy and thick.

More Dessert Ideas

• Mocha Pudding Cake for Two
• Chocolate Creme Brulee
• Nutella Pudding
• Peanut Butter Pots de Creme

More Favorite Recipes

• Cookies and Cream Cookies
• Carrot Cake Cupcakes
• Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
• Individual Berry Crumbles

Happy cooking,

This pistachio pudding post was updated from the archives. It was first published in March 2017.