Can You Make Pudding with Almond Milk?

Have you ever tried swapping the milk in pudding for almond milk?

A lot of people want to do this, as many prefer the taste, are lactose intolerant, have gone vegan, or for other reasons.

However, you might find that it isn’t as simple as it seems.

You can make pudding with almond milk, but it’s a little trickier than just swapping the cow’s milk for almond milk. You need to slightly reduce the amount of almond milk that you are putting in, so that the pudding doesn’t turn out too runny.

Making pudding with almond milk can be tricky and many people have difficulty with it, so let’s find out more about how this works and the best way to do it.

Can You Make Almond Milk Pudding?

You can make almond milk with pudding, yes.

This is great news for anyone who doesn’t like to use dairy milk, and who has had problems making pudding with a plant based milk before.

However, unlike with most recipes, you cannot simply swap the dairy milk for almond milk—you will need to adjust the ratios.

If you just put the same amount of almond milk in as you would dairy milk, the recipe will fail and you’ll get very thin pudding.

You may also need to add a couple of other ingredients to encourage it to set properly, which we will cover shortly.

Almond milk pudding is a bit more work than regular pudding, but it can be done if you are determined!

The reason that a straight swap won’t work in pudding is that almond milk has a higher water content than dairy milk does.

That means it’s harder for the dry ingredients to absorb it and create a stable, thick mix.

If you simply add almond milk, you are essentially adding extra water, even if the volume of the liquid is the same.

It’s reasonably easy to solve this by either putting in less milk, adding a second dry ingredient, or a combination of these two methods.

If you do this, you should end up with creamy, delicious pudding to enjoy every time you make it!

Can You Make Instant Pudding With Almond Milk?

You can also make instant pudding with almond milk, but you will again need to adjust your approach slightly if this is to work.

If you try to simply use almond milk instead of dairy milk for your instant pudding, it will be too runny and not enjoyable.

Instead, you need to use 2 cups of almond milk for every box of instant pudding, and add a little cornstarch. 

The cornstarch will react with the liquid and make it thicker, absorbing some of the water from the almond milk

Will Boxed Pudding Set With Almond Milk?

If you have purchased boxed pudding, you might be wondering whether it will work with almond milk.

Almond milk is among the few plant based milks that can actually work with boxed pudding, so you’re in luck!

It also gives the pudding a creamy, faintly nutty flavor that many people enjoy. This will be more noticeable in mild-flavor puddings, such as vanilla.

A lot of people find that Jell-O Cook & Serve works particularly well with refrigerated almond milk (as opposed to shelf stable almond milk) so you may want to give this a try.

If you have accidentally added too much almond milk and made your pudding too liquid, try adding a bit more pudding powder from a new sachet.

This should help to absorb the additional liquid and make the pudding mix thicker.

You will need to stir it well. Some people choose to blend it instead to ensure that it gets fully combined and there are no clumps of powder left inside the mix.

How To Make Pudding With Almond Milk

So, let’s look at a simple method for making pudding with almond milk!

You will need:

• 3 tablespoons of cornstarch
• ¼ cup of white sugar
• 1.5 cups of almond milk
• ¼ cup of cocoa powder
• 0.5 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons of water

Method:

1. Take out a small bowl and add the cornstarch and the water. Whisk them together thoroughly until they are completely combined, with no lumps of cornstarch remaining.
2. Take out a saucepan and add the vanilla extract, almond milk, sugar, and cocoa powder.
3. Whisk the cornstarch and water mix into the other ingredients in the saucepan. Again, make sure that there are no lumps remaining, or you won’t get smooth pudding.
4. Place the saucepan over a low or medium heat and start stirring it. When the ingredients begin to simmer, turn the heat down and keep mixing for about 5 minutes. You should see the mixture inside the pan thickening. Don’t let it burn.
5. When the mixture is thick, lift the pan off the heat and turn off the cooker. Place the pan to cool.
6. When the pudding mixture has reached room temperature, place it in the fridge for an hour or two, allowing it to chill completely before serving.
7. Serve cold and enjoy.

If you have added too much almond milk and you cannot get the liquid to thicken, keep gently cooking it and sprinkle a little extra cornstarch into the pan.

This should help to absorb the excess moisture and encourage the pudding to thicken.

Be careful not to add too much, however, as it will alter the flavor if you put a lot of cornstarch in.

You can also make instant pudding with almond milk simply by combining 1 ¼ cups of almond milk with a 3.9 oz box of pudding and whisking thoroughly. Refrigerate and then serve cold and enjoy!

Conclusion

Making pudding with almond milk isn’t as simple as doing a straight swap with dairy milk, but it is still pretty straightforward.

Remember, you can always add a little more almond milk if it ends up too thick, or a touch more cornstarch or pudding mix if it ends up too thin.