This old fashioned dairy free Homemade Coconut Pudding made with coconut milk and cream is the perfect dessert because it is so creamy rich and delicious.
Why this recipe works:
If you love all things coconut like I do, you will absolutely love this easy to make homemade coconut milk pudding. It is a fantastic dessert recipe.
Growing up, I thought the only way to make pudding was to combine the powder from the box with milk, cook, and serve. I seriously didn't think you could make it from scratch.
Making pudding the old fashioned way is the same as making custard or making ice cream. Its basically mixing heated milk with eggs and sugar. For this pudding, I used coconut milk with some coconut cream in place of regular cow's milk. May all my dairy free and lactose intolerant friends rejoice!
Served warm or cold, you want to make this pudding!
Ingredients:
Granulated sugar, egg yolks, a can of coconut milk, a couple tablespoons of coconut cream, some flour and corn starch for thickening, a pinch of salt, a splash of coconut rum, and sweetened coconut flakes are all that you need!
How to make this coconut pudding recipe:
- Combine the sugar and egg yolks (photo 1). These will get mixed on high speed for several minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy (photo 2). Corn starch and flour gets added to this mixture to help thicken the pudding.
- Coconut milk and coconut cream are heated in a pot just until scalded (photo 3) then removed from heat.
- You will add a small amount of the scalded coconut milk to the egg mixture to temper the egg (photo 4) and will gradually add more hot coconut milk until it is all incorporated. Then you will return the mixture back to the pot (photo 5) and cook over low heat while stirring until it thickens. Stir in the coconut rum when it's finished.
- Pour the pudding into serving dishes (photo 6) and top with toasted coconut if desired. The toasted sweetened coconut flakes are totally optional but highly recommended, not just for the nutty taste, but for the added texture. YUM!!!
Cooking tips for best results:
- Good quality eggs with large, rich, orange yolks make all the difference in this coconut pudding recipe.
- It is very important that you beat the egg yolks and sugar until very light in color and fluffy. Don't cheat on this step.
- You can use a hand mixer or a stand mixer, but I do not recommend mixing my hand.
Other great pudding recipes:
- Homemade Vanilla Pudding
- Rice Pudding
- Classic Banana Pudding
- Strawberry Coconut Chia Pudding
- Coconut Ice Cream
- Coconut Pudding Poke Cake
- Homemade Chocolate Pudding
- Creamy Old Fashioned Rice Pudding
Full Recipe Instructions
Homemade Coconut Pudding
CLICK TO PLAY RECIPE VIDEO
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 14 ounce can lite coconut milk (I use Trader Joe's)
- 2 tablespoons coconut cream (again, Trader Joe's)
- 2 tablespoon flour
- 1 tablespoons cornstarch
- Pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon coconut rum (can substitute with vanilla if desired)
- ½ cup sweetened coconut flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Combine sugar and egg yolks in the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the whisk attachment to combine until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes on medium high speed, while stopping the mixer every coupld of minutes to scrape the bowl.
- While eggs and sugar and mixing, combine coconut milk and coconut cream in saucepan. Heat on low just until the liquid starts to scald and you see steam. Remove pan from heat.
- Add flour and cornstarch to egg mixture and whisk until well combined, stopping the mixer and scraping as needed.
- With the mixer running on low speed, add a small amount of the hot coconut milk to the egg mixture and combine well to temper the egg. Once it is well mixed, add a little more milk, mix, and repeat until all of the milk has been added. Transfer the entire mixture from the bowl back to the pot and heat on medium low heat, whisking frequently, until thickened, about 5-10 minutes. Stir in coconut rum.
- To toast your coconut, add it to a large pan and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown. Once the coconut starts to brown, stir more frequently to avoid burning.
- Serve pudding warm or cold. You can either mix the toasted coconut in with the pudding or you can serve it on top.
Notes
- Good quality eggs with large, rich, orange yolks make all the difference in this coconut pudding recipe.
- It is very important that you beat the egg yolks and sugar until very light in color and fluffy. Don't cheat on this step.
- You can use a hand mixer or a stand mixer, but I do not recommend mixing my hand.
NUTRITION INFORMATION
This recipe was originally published in July 2014 and has been updated with helpful information, ingredient and process photos, as well as recipe tips. Don't worry - the recipe hasn't changed!
Tern
Mmmmm good. I made it. Delicious!
Diane
This is the best coconut pudding you have made. And, I am quoting my husband! And, he is not wrong at all. This recipe is really good and it's definitely a keeper. I don't buy those pudding boxes at the store instead I make all my pudding from scratch and I finally found a coconut pudding we both really like. And, I was so happy to find coconut cream at the store too! Thank you for sharing!
Cindy
Great recipe, I doubled it for 6 people and toasted 1 cup coconut and added it to the pudding. Divine
Sharon vanshaik
How can you thicken this to make a pie filling?
Krissy
you can mix in a tablespoon or so of cornstarch and that will thicken it up a lot!
Rhoda Edwards
Just reading the recipe made my mouth watered. A must do for me.
Claire
Sounds like a very tasty custard. Could one substitute the sugar with honey please?
Krissy
I would think you could, but I haven't tried it. If you do, I would recommend using less honey than sugar because it is sweeter. If you make it, will you let me know how it turned out?
Rajat Nagpal
I tried the recipe as it is. It turned out great. I made a few variations later which too turned out well. One replacing the coconut milk and cream with almond milk and almonds. The second addinbf nutmeg and cinnamon as a flavour and the third topping the same pudding with a banana and palm jaggery sauce.
Extremely versatile recipe. Thank you.
Rebecca
You should change the (dairy free) part of the title because the recipe includes eggs which are a dairy product. So this recipe isn’t vegan friendly.
Krissy
Hi Rebecca, That's actually not true. Dairy implies that it is derived from a milk product from a mammal. Eggs come from birds. Eggs are often thought of as dairy, but they are not. You are correct in that this recipe is not vegan friendly since eggs are an animal product, however it is indeed a dairy free recipe.
Valerie Jackson
Eggs are NOT dairy. Dairy comes from cow's milk.
Stephanie
This was a hit! Delicious thick and creamy, I used vanilla extract and could still taste the coconut flavor!
Jamie
The pudding was absolutely delicious! I used coconut extract in place of the coconut rum. I will be keeping this recipe and making mini eclairs with it. Thanks!
Jamie
Do you think this pudding would hold as the filling for a crepe cake? If it would then I'd have to leave it in the fridge and take out 15 minutes before serving?
Krissy
Hi Jamie, if you use a very thin layer in between crepes then yes - I think it would work. If you slather it on thick, you might risk having your crepes slide!
Morgan Rammell
Dad said "this would be great...without the flavor" we all thought it was a prank, it looked and tasted like cake batter. blegh. I didnt have the coconut cream though...
Krissy
Hi Morgan, Is it really fair to give this recipe only one star when you didn't use one of the main ingredients? Your comment has to do with the flavor, yet most of the flavor comes from the coconut cream? Poor star ratings hurt my blog and it makes no sense to rate unless you followed the recipe as written, don't you think?
Pamela
May I substitute coconut or vanilla extract for the flavored rum (as I do not wish to buy a bottle just to use a teaspoon of it). Or may I just omit the rum?
Krissy
Either works, but I would use an extract substitute instead of omitting just to get that extra flavor in!
Nimmi
Can we use something else instead of egg
Krissy
Egg acts as a thickener, so you can always omit and add extra cornstarch, if needed.
Nikki
I made this with my son tonight. I couldn't wait for it to cook. It was wonderful! Thank you for the recipe.
Jenny @ Low-Calorie Foods
This coconut pudding looks fantastic. Pinning to my board to try it later.
Smita
Can I substitute coconut milk with whole milk.
Krissy
You'll lose some of the coconut taste
Pamela Carlson
Delicious!!!!!
Blair
Is there something I can substitute for the coconut cream? Preferably non-dairy but I would appreciate any suggestion!
Krissy
coconut cream is non-dairy
Rajat Nagpal
You can use almond milk with rice flour to thicken and substitute coconut with almonds and coconut rum with amaretto!
Mary sam
The whole process in making tbe pudding sounds really easy ...would love to try it out...
Diane Hess
Question: I would love to make this recipe, but can't use flour. Should I substitute two additional tablespoons of cornstarch for the flour? Or any other recommendation? Thanks.
Krissy
Have you tried the Bob's Red Mill "flour" that's a 1:1 GF substitute? That *might* work.
Rajat Nagpal
You can use rice flour to thicken it.
Doth
How come its vegan ?
In the recipe you have eggs