Chocolate Cream Pie is a dreamy no-bake dessert with just 5 simple ingredients. A creamy chocolate pudding is served on an Oreo cookie crust and topped with a layer of whipped cream topping and chocolate shavings.
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Easy Chocolate Cream Pie Recipe
This chocolate pudding pie is so easy to make and is always a hit. Every bite is full of chocolate flavor. Using a premade crust makes the process much faster.
All you have to do is make the creamy chocolate filling and top with whipped cream or Cool Whip and you’ll have an amazing classic chocolate cream pie.
This easy chocolate cream pie is great for a special occasion, Thanksgiving, or Christmas, but who says you have to wait for that? Use this easy pudding pie as a way to treat yourself any time you want. It’s one of our favorite chocolate desserts.
This recipe is a great way to create a fun dessert fast. Cream pies don’t have to be hard to make. Since I use a premade Oreo chocolate crust, and instant pudding, it’s a breeze to make and is a perfect last-minute dessert. The chocolate cookie crust gives it an extra chocolatey flavor.
In just 20 minutes of time, you’ll have a creamy and cool pudding dessert that serves up 8 slices of heavenly pie.
I tend to make pudding pies a lot during the warmer months of the year but I’ll never turn down the chance to make a pie like this! You can also make this for a picnic or a fun carry-in dessert to share with family and friends.
Chocolate Cream Pie Recipe Ingredients
- 1 premade Oreo pie crust
- 2, 3.4 ounce packages instant chocolate pudding mix (instant, NOT regular) – milk chocolate or dark chocolate
- 2 cups milk, whole milk, cold
- 8 ounces whipped topping (Cool Whip), thawed
- Chocolate shavings or chocolate curls
How to Make Chocolate Cream Pie with Pudding
- In a large mixing bowl combine the Instant pudding packets with the cold milk and whisk until thick. Use an electric mixer to make this step faster, about 2-3 minutes.
- Gently fold in one cup of whipped topping until combined.
- Pour the chocolate pudding filling into the pie crust. Spread over the bottom of the crust. Chill for 20 minutes.
- Top with the remainder of the whipped topping, smoothing cream over top of the pudding.
- Top with shaved chocolate.
Serve cold.
Cover with a piece of plastic wrap and store in refrigerator for a couple of days.
As you can see, making chocolate instant pudding pie is so simple and easy to do. It’s like a French silk pie and is the best chocolate cream pie recipe there is and is one of our favorite recipes.
Gather up the kids and create this fun pie together in the kitchen. It’s a chocolate lover’s dream!
Chocolate Pie with Instant Pudding Tips
Even though making an instant pudding pie is simple, keep in mind the tips below.
- Chill the pie the entire time. Don’t rush this. This is important for the pudding to thicken. If you rush it, the pudding will be runny when you try and cut into it and serve.
- Make certain that you’re using instant pudding. Regular pudding isn’t going to work for this recipe. Instant pudding mix is the key.
- Buy pre-made chocolate shavings available in most grocery or craft stores to save time making homemade chocolate shavings.
Instant Chocolate Pudding Pie Recipe Substitutions
- vanilla pudding – The biggest way to vary up this pie recipe is to vary up the type of pudding that you use. I love a good chocolate pie recipe but I also love a good vanilla pie, too! There are so many flavors of instant pudding mix that you can easily make a new flavor every week.
- graham cracker crust – if you’re not a fan of the Oreo crust, you can swap out a graham cracker crust
- traditional pie crust – you can even use a regular flour pie crust as the base of this pudding pie
- mini chocolate chips – use mini chocolate chips instead of chocolate shavings on top of the whipped cream layer
- chocolate syrup or caramel sauce – drizzle either, or both on top of the pie
- espresso powder – tap espresso powder or unsweetened cocoa powder on top of the whipped topping for an added chocolate flavor
- Oreo cookie crumbles – crush some Oreo cookies and sprinkle on top.
Easy Chocolate Cream Pudding Pie Toppings
I’m all about pie toppings. You can use whipped cream, chocolate shavings, hot fudge, and more. Try our homemade hot fudge sauce!
I’ve even set up a pie toppings bar before and let the kids go crazy! They loved being able to pick out their very own toppings to make their slice of pie their own.
How to store Chocolate Pie with Instant Pudding
How long will a chocolate cream pie last in the fridge?
A chocolate cream pie can last in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days when stored properly in an airtight container.
Can you freeze chocolate cream pudding pie?
I would assume that pudding this in the freeze would be okay to do but I don’t think that it would thaw with the same texture and consistency. Since this is such a fast pie to make, I recommend making it and enjoying it fresh.
More like this Chocolate Cream Pie with Pudding:
Instant Chocolate Pudding Pie FAQs
Make certain that you’re giving it adequate time to set up. If you rush the recipe, you might find that it’s not as creamy or as thick as you’d hoped for.
The main difference between a chocolate cream pie and a chocolate silk pie lies in their texture and ingredients. A chocolate cream pie has a creamy, pudding-like filling made with ingredients like milk, sugar, and cocoa powder, while a chocolate silk pie has a silkier, mousse-like texture with the addition of whipped cream or egg whites, resulting in a lighter and silkier filling.
Yes, your chocolate pie will naturally thicken as it cools. The cooling process causes the filling to set and firm up, giving it the desired creamy and sliceable texture.
To prevent a chocolate pie crust from getting soggy, you can try a few tricks. One is to blind-bake the crust before adding the filling. This involves partially baking the crust before adding the chocolate filling, which helps create a barrier between the crust and the filling, preventing it from becoming soggy. Additionally, you can brush the inside of the crust with melted chocolate or egg white to create a moisture-resistant layer.
It’s not recommended to leave a chocolate cream pie out overnight as it contains dairy-based ingredients, which can spoil at room temperature. To keep it safe, store it in the refrigerator and take it out when you’re ready to serve it.
Instant Chocolate Pudding Pie
Ingredients
- 1 premade Oreo pie crust
- 2 3.4 ounce boxes instant chocolate pudding mix
- 2 cups milk whole, cold
- 8 ounces whipped topping like Cool Whip, thawed
- chocolate shavings
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl combine both Instant pudding packets with the cold milk and whisk until thick. Use an electric mixer to make this step faster, about 2-3 minutes.
- Gently fold in one cup of whipped topping until combined.
- Pour pudding mixture into the pie crust. Spread over bottom of crust. Chill for 20 minutes.
- Top with remainder of the whipped topping, smoothing cream over top of pudding.
- Top with chocolate shavings.
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Dori says
Is it 1 or 2 boxes of 3.4oz instant pudding?
Lindsay says
The store only had pre made chocolate pudding (snack packs). Will this work or will the consistency be off?
Linda says
Your recipe calls to get 8 oz whipped topping…. Well you are they don’t sweat topping to the pudding I didn’t have enough whipped topping for the top!
Alicia says
One cup of whipped topping goes into the pie, the rest is for the top of the pie. You can add more to the top if you like, but the recipe only uses 8 total ounces.
Alicia says
No, this will not work correctly. I would try to find the instant pudding packets to mix with milk.
Alicia says
It is 2, 3.4 ounce boxes of instant pudding.