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Have you ever wondered how to make chocolate pie at home? Let’s learn how to make an easy no-bake chocolate pie with chocolate Jell-o pudding to thicken.
Easy Chocolate Pie Recipe
Today we want to talk about classic chocolate pie. You can make chocolate pie at home totally from scratch (we’ll tackle that recipe soon enough), but today we’re starting out simple for all of our friends who want to make their first chocolate pie or who just want a quick and easy no-bake pie recipe.
For the base of this pie, I used my mom’s magic pie crust because it turns out perfectly flaky every time and it isn’t hard to work with. It’s especially great for beginner pie crust makers! The recipe I’ve linked to makes two pie crusts, so I recommend freezing the leftover pie dough wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and inside of a zip-top bag. When you take it out of the freezer, just let it rest in the fridge to become workable.
For the no-bake chocolate pie filling, we used instant Jell-O pudding. And to prevent this Jell-O pudding pie from tasting like straight up boxed pudding mix, we also added in some sweetened condensed milk and cream cheese. Both of these ingredients help to thicken the chocolate pie filling, so you don’t have to worry about something not setting up right in the fridge.
To top this easy chocolate pie, we made a stabilized whipped cream using unflavored gelatin. I like making stabilized whipped cream because I can decorate this Jell-O chocolate pudding pie a whole day ahead and it stays beautiful.
This Jell-O pudding pie really is such a cinch to make and it’s a beautiful pie that guests will never guess you took shortcuts with. We hope you love it!
No-Bake Chocolate Pie Ingredients
This Jell-O chocolate pudding pie requires a little extra time to assemble, but the ingredients list is simple. Here’s what you’ll need to make this homemade chocolate pie:
- Pie crust
- Whole milk
- Chocolate milk
- Cream cheese
- Sweetened condensed milk
- Cool Whip
- Chocolate bar
- Unflavored gelatin
- Cold water
- Heavy cream
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
How to Make Chocolate Pie
This easy chocolate pie recipe takes just over half an hour to prep. Here’s the basic rundown of how to make this delicious no-bake dessert:
- Roll out and blind bake the pie crust (see our lemon meringue pie post for details on blind baking). Once baked, set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pudding and milk.
- In another bowl, beat together the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk.
- Stir the pudding into the cream cheese mixture, then fold in the whipped cream.
- Spoon the filling into the cooled crust and chill for at least an hour before serving.
- Once the chocolate pie has fully set, make the stabilized whipped cream and pipe it onto the pie.
- Garnish the chocolate pudding pie with chocolate shavings, slice, and serve.
How to Store No-Bake Chocolate Pie
Freshly made chocolate pie will keep for about 3 to 4 days in the fridge. To store the pie, refrigerate it covered loosely with aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Note that chocolate pie left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours should be discarded.
Can I Prep This Pie in Advance?
Yes, because this easy chocolate pie recipe uses stabilized whipped cream you can prep and decorate the entire pie a day before you plan on serving it. Just be extra careful when covering the pie with plastic wrap as you don’t want to ruin your beautiful decorations!
Can You Freeze No-Bake Chocolate Pie?
Jell-O pudding pie does not freeze well, so you’ll want to enjoy it within 3 to 4 days of making it.
Tips for Making the Best Chocolate Pie
To make this an entirely no-bake pie recipe, you’re welcome to make a graham cracker crust instead of a regular pie crust (you can also buy pre-made graham cracker crusts at the store). Chocolate graham crackers or even vanilla wafers would make a great crust too!
Also note that you need to use instant pudding for this Jell-O pudding pie recipe. If you buy the type of pudding that needs to be cooked on the stove, your chocolate pie won’t set up right.
And finally, a few notes on the stabilized whipped cream. If you’ve been searching for how to make stabilized whipped cream using gelatin, you’ll find a lot of different recipes out there. Unfortunately, a lot of the stabilized whipped creams turn out lumpy, gross, or don’t stiffen up. There are many reasons for this, but the biggest is that the user let the gelatin sit for too long or let it warm up in the microwave for too long. Follow the directions in the recipe card below exactly as I’ve written them, and make sure you very slowly drizzle the gelatin in when it’s time.
More No-Bake Pie Recipes:
- No-Bake Oreo Pie with Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust
- No-Bake Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust
- No-Bake Lemon Cream Pie
- No-Bake Snickers Caramel Apple Pie
- No-Bake Banana Cream Pie
Easy No-Bake Chocolate Pie
Ingredients
- 1 [Pie Crust], blind baked (see note)
- 2 Package Chocolate Fudge Pudding, 3.4oz packages, instant
- 1 Cup Whole Milk
- 1 Cup Chocolate Milk
- 8 Ounces Cream Cheese, softened
- 14 Ounce Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 4½ Cups Cool Whip or Fresh Whipped Cream
- 1 Chocolate Bar, for garnish
For the stabilized whipped cream
- 4 teaspoons Cold Water
- 1 teaspoon Unflavored Gelatin, found by the jell-o
- 1 Cup Heavy Cream
- 3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar, less if you prefer it less sweet
- 1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
For the pie crust:
- Prepare the crust as directed.1 [Pie Crust]
- Place one disc in plastic wrap and in a freezer bag and store in the freezer for another time.
- Roll out the second dough in the 9" pie plate, crimp the edges and dock, or in other words, poke with a fork all over the inside and bake for 15-20 minutes.
- Allow to cool while you prepare the filling.
For the filling:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the pudding and milk.2 Package Chocolate Fudge Pudding, 1 Cup Whole Milk, 1 Cup Chocolate Milk
- Set aside to thicken.
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.8 Ounces Cream Cheese
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the sweetened condensed milk.14 Ounce Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
- Beat until smooth and scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
- Stir the pudding into the cream cheese mixture and fold in half of the whipped cream and then the remaining whipped cream.4½ Cups Cool Whip or Fresh Whipped Cream
- Fill the pie crust.
- Place in the fridge to chill for 1 hour before serving.
- Pipe the whipped cream and using a peeler, shave chocolate all over the top.1 Chocolate Bar
For the whipped cream:
- Place cold water in small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it.4 teaspoons Cold Water, 1 teaspoon Unflavored Gelatin
- Let the gelatin sit for 5 minutes without stirring.
- Once the gelatin is set, place bowl in microwave and heat until gelatin turns to liquid, about 10 seconds.
- Meanwhile, quickly place heavy cream in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or in a mixing bowl and use a handheld mixer.1 Cup Heavy Cream
- Beat the cream until it starts to thicken, about 1 minute, add the powdered sugar and vanilla and then with the mixer on high, very slowly in a small steady stream, drizzle in the gelatin.3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar, 1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Continue beating the cream until stiff peaks form.
- Pipe the whipped cream around the edges.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I used two big boxes of pudding (3.4 oz each, like the recipe says) and the 2 cups of milk. It set up super duper fast and turned into this ganache looking mess. So I had to add some more milk and whisk it to death to get it to a manageable consistency. Also, this made a TON of filling. 10 inch pie crust + at least 2 cups extra so use the biggest bowl you have for mixing it all together. Tastes amazing though. 🙂
The 3.4 oz boxes are the smaller boxes. Could that have been the issue? The big boxes are 5.1 oz. So glad it still tasted delicious!
So I would need four containers of Cool Whip?
I usually buy one of the big containers and then one small one. That makes enough to measure out 4.5 cups for this recipe.
Is there supposed to be two separate kinds of milk, (1 c.)whole milk & (1 c.) chocolate milk? Thanks!
Yes, the chocolate milk gives an extra boost of flavor. You could use all milk or all chocolate milk but we like the combination.
Is the milk for making the pudding then? Thanks!
Yes, exactly! 1 cup of milk for each box of pudding.
This is a great no bake chocolate pie! Very rich and chocolatey without being too much and no where near as much work or as finicky as scratch made. I just grabbed a shortbread pie crust from the store though and it was way too much filling. We ended up with 6 individual desert cups full off pie filling with a graham cracker bottom in addition to the pie. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
Oh! I’ve not seen a store bought shortbread crust but that’s such a great tip for anyone in a hurry. Thanks!
Can I just use regular whipped cream as the topping or does it have yo be stabilized?
Regular whipped cream will work great. It just won’t hold any shape, but the taste will be the same.
Why can’t I print your recipes? Is it because of the ads? What can I do?
Hi Shelby, just click the little printer in the top right corner of the recipe or the words print. 🙂
Hello, on the whipped cream I see no instructions on when to put in the sugar or vanilla. Am I missing something? TY
Hi Pat, it’s right after you beat for about a minute. 🙂
Do you use all 4 1/2 c. of whipped cream in the pie filling? Your recipe says fold i. Half and then the rest. So do you make another batch of whipped cream for the top?
Yes, all 4 1/2 cups of the whipped cream goes into the pie filling. Heavy whipping cream typically doubles in volume when you whip it, so you will need a little over 2 cups of heavy whipping cream to make the whipped cream for the filling. The stabilized whipped cream is a separate recipe that requires a cup of heavy cream. I hope this helps! Thanks for the question!
All of your recipes are fantastic!!! Love this site!! Keep up the great work 🙂
Thank you Deb!
Pumpkin spice pudding mix in a chocolate pie with no chocolate in it, what am I missing. It doesn’t even say it’s instant pudding until you read further.
If I’m making chocolate pie I want the real deal, cooked from scratch. If I’m making a instant pudding, cream cheese pie then I will get a graham cracker crust. Might as well save time with a store bought crust if I’m using a box of instant pudding. Might save time and yes I have used plenty of instant pudding recipes to cut corners at times but never as good.
Hi sue, I wrote a pumpkin and a chocolate pie post on the same day. It was merely a simple mistake which has been corrected. This pie is fantastic which the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk. We highly recommend trying it with the actual pie crust as the silky filling pairs so well with the flaky crust, but graham cracker crust is never a bad thing. I do hope you’ll give it a try. Have a good day. 🙂
I’m confused by this recipe. It is a chocolate pie, but I don’t see any chocolate in the base filling for the pie. The only chocolate is the bar for garnish, although the photos show an obvious chocolate pie. Am I missing something?
I think it’s an oversight and you would use chocolate pudding for the pie filling instead of the pumpkin spice pudding. It looks like the same recipe for the pumpkin pudding pie with the gingersnap crust.
Sorry about that! I wrote two posts for pie in one day and merely had the pumpkin still on my brain. It has been corrected! 🙂
I love chocolate pie but my work has been made easier by posting a recipe which does not require baking…This kind of pie is just for me…It looks simply superb though it didn’t require baking…Love your recipes…
Thank you so much!!