A classic Chocolate Pie made with a buttery, flaky crust, real chocolate pudding, and fresh whipped cream. This recipe is entirely homemade and takes only 30 minutes to prep before chilling. This recipe includes a how-to video–keep scrolling to watch!
Classic Chocolate Pie–No Box Mix Necessary!
A true classic, chocolate pie is often overshadowed by more well-known pies, like pumpkin pie and key lime pie. It’s decadent and rich, essentially thickened chocolate pudding over pie crust, and it’s a refreshing alternative to other chocolate desserts. In fact, it’s my personal favorite pie on the blog!
My version of this chocolate pie recipe requires absolutely no box mixes or pre-made ingredients. You’re going to make everything from scratch, from the (super easy!) pie crust to the filling, and when it’s done chilling, I suggest you serve it with a dollop of homemade whipped cream.
I initially shared this chocolate pudding pie recipe a few years ago and it’s been one of my most popular recipes ever since, for good reason. I thought it was about due for a refresh with new photos and a video tutorial (in the recipe card!). Try it out for yourself this pie season and let me know what you think!
What You Need
Today’s ingredients are pretty standard, but let’s go over a few of them.
- Sugar. Granulated sugar not only serves as a sweetener, but it also melts as the pudding filling cooks and helps ultimately thicken the pie and contributes to its silky smooth texture.
- Cornstarch. Many recipes call for flour to thicken their chocolate pie, but I prefer to use cornstarch, which results in a smoother mouthfeel and better consistency overall.
- Eggs. You’ll need five egg yolks for this recipe. If you’d rather not toss out your egg whites, save them to make my meringues, Oreo cake, or put them towards an angel food cake!
- Milk & Heavy Cream. A blend of whole milk and richer, thicker cream results is another contributor to a silky smooth yet sturdy pie. Stick with whole milk and heavy cream, double cream, or heavy whipping cream for this recipe. My original chocolate pie recipe called for slightly less cream and slightly more milk, but I’ve adjusted these amounts slightly for a sturdier, more slice-able pie.
- Chocolate. I prefer to use a 60% cacao dark chocolate baking bar. Semisweet chocolate will also work, but the pie won’t have quite the depth of chocolate flavor. I do not recommend unsweetened chocolate, which will make your chocolate pie too bitter. Many people have asked me if they can use cocoa powder instead of a chocolate bar. I haven’t tried this myself, but I know it would take several other tweaks to work. I suggest you stick with the recipe as written for best results!
- Butter. Use unsalted butter since we add salt in ourselves. The butter is added at the end along with the chocolate and adds the final finishing touch, glossy consistency and smooth texture.
- Vanilla. If you have a batch of your own homemade vanilla extract, now is a great time to use it!
SAM’S TIP: Do yourself a favor and have all of your ingredients prepped and ready to go before you move over to the stovetop, because things move pretty quickly after cooking. I recommend you chop your chocolate and butter, measure your vanilla, and place your strainer in your heatproof bowl before you even turn on the stove.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Chocolate Pie
- Whisk together dry ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Keep in mind a cheap, thin saucepan can cause your ingredients to cook unevenly and leave you with a runny chocolate pie filling!
- Combine egg yolks, milk, and cream separately and slowly pour into your dry ingredients until you have a smooth, lump-free mixture.
- Whisk frequently while mixture cooks and slowly thickens. Do yourself a favor and have patience and do not crank up the heat!
- Immediately stir in chocolate, butter, and vanilla until you have a smooth, glossy chocolate mixture.
SAM’S TIP: Do not crank up your heat to speed up the cooking process! The sugar needs to melt slowly so that the pie sets properly, and cooking it too fast will end up cooking your eggs (similar to what can happen to pastry cream). Have patience! How long this process takes depends on your particular stove and pan.
- Pour through a fine mesh strainer into a heat-proof bowl. This will catch any lumps or any teeny tiny bits of egg that might have cooked (if you didn’t get all of the egg white proteins when you divided your whites and yolks, you will catch them here!)and will ensure your chocolate pie is smooth! While you could skip the bowl and pour the filling directly into your pie crust, I find it’s much easier to rest the strainer on the bowl and just do it this way, despite the extra dirty dish!
- Pour chocolate filling into prepared crust and cover with clear wrap, which will keep a skin from forming (and keep any odors from your fridge from getting to your pie!
All that’s left to do now is wait! The pie will need to chill in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, making this a great dessert for preparing a day in advance.
Frequently Asked Questions
This can happen for several reasons: if the cooking process was rushed, if the filling wasn’t carefully watched and stirred frequently, the filling was overcooked, the stovetop heat was too high, or if the pie isn’t given enough time to chill. Any ingredient substitutions could also result in a runny chocolate pie. To prevent this, make sure you go slow, stir often, keep a watchful eye, and always chill for at least six hours before serving.
Yes! This pie needs to be refrigerated before and after serving. It will last for about a week in the fridge. I recommend covering tightly to keep the pie from absorbing any odors from other foods in your refrigerator.
While I typically serve this pie in a traditional pie crust, it would also be great on my graham cracker crust or my Oreo crust! Simply prepare the crust and let it sit while you make the filling, then follow the recipe as instructed. If you like a crispier crust, you can always bake the crust it and let it cool before filling.
Note that if you are using a store-bought crust, the filling may not all fit in and you may have some filling left over. Just enjoy it with a spoon!
Enjoy!
More Recipes You Might Like
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Chocolate Pie
Ingredients
- 1 prepared (baked) 9" pie crust click the link for my homemade recipe, see note 1
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 5 Tablespoons (40 g) cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 5 large egg yolks² (see note 2 for recipes that you can make with your leftover egg whites)
- 2 cups (473 ml) whole milk
- 1 cup (236 ml) heavy cream
- 6 oz (170 g) dark chocolate bar³ finely chopped
- 4 Tablespoons (56.5 g) unsalted butter cut into pieces
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 batch homemade whipped cream for topping. Optional but recommended. click the link for my recipe
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch and salt.1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar, 5 Tablespoons (40 g) cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon salt
- In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together egg yolks, milk, and heavy cream until well-combined and egg yolks are well broken up.5 large egg yolks², 2 cups (473 ml) whole milk, 1 cup (236 ml) heavy cream
- While whisking the dry ingredients, drizzle the egg yolk mixture into the dry ingredients until completely combined.
- Transfer saucepan to stovetop over medium heat and whisk frequently until ingredients begin to thicken⁴ (see note 4, this will take several minutes, do not crank up the heat or your filling may not thicken properly).
- Once mixture has thickened (it should have a pudding-like consistency) whisk constantly, remove from heat and immediately add chopped chocolate, butter, and vanilla extract. Stir until chocolate and butter are completely melted and mixture is smooth.6 oz (170 g) dark chocolate bar³, 4 Tablespoons (56.5 g) unsalted butter, 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pour pie filling through a fine mesh strainer into a medium-sized heatproof bowl.
- Pour filling over prepared pie crust and place a piece of clear wrap or parchment paper directly against the surface of the chocolate to prevent a skin from forming on the surface of the pie as it cools. Allow to chill in the refrigerator at least 6 hours or overnight before slicing and serving.1 prepared (baked) 9" pie crust
- Top with whipped cream just before serving. I like to use an Ateco 848 or Wilton 2D tip to decorate the pie slices in the photo, but a big mound of whipped cream right on top of the pie works just as well!1 batch homemade whipped cream
Notes
¹Pie crust
This recipe was written to be made with my prepared (blind-baked) homemade pie crust in a 9 or 9.5″ pie plate. You may instead make this recipe using my graham cracker crust or Oreo crust or use a store-bought crust but keep in mind they are often smaller and may not fit all of the filling. You can pour the excess into mini tart shells or just enjoy as a pudding.²Recommendations for leftover egg whites
If you don’t want to waste your egg whites, store them in a clean, completely dry and grease-free container and use them to make meringue cookies, white cake, or coconut macaroons!³Chocolate
A 60 or 70% cacao bar works great and is my preference, I often use Ghirardelli which is available right next to the cocoa powder in the baking section. While chocolate chips will work in a pinch, I really recommend using a quality chocolate bar that you enjoy the taste of. Semisweet chocolate will yield a pie that’s sweeter and not as richly chocolate. I don’t recommend using unsweetened chocolate, which could make the pie too bitter. This recipe has not been tested using cocoa powder instead of chocolate.⁴Thickening the pie filling
It’s important that you have patience for this step, slowly thickening over medium heat is key to allow the sugars to melt properly and the filling to thicken properly. The filling should be clearly thickened before moving on to the next step and should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon or spatula. I demonstrate this above in the post and in my video.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Littleme
Hi! I’m from Pakistan and I want to make this tomorrow. I need to know something. I plan on replacing dark chocolate with Cadbury dairy milk (as I don’t have access to good dark chocolate). Since dairy milk is already sweet, should I just add half a cup of sugar? What are my options? How can I make it using dairy milk?
Sam
Hi! by dairy milk do you mean milk chocolate? I haven’t tried this with reducing the sugar, but I’d probably cut the sugar by 1/2 cup (so just use 1 cup).
Linda
My husband and I just love this pie, nice and chocolate without being overpoweringly sweet!
Sam
I’m so glad to hear it was a hit, Linda! thank you for commenting 🙂
Michelle chrisman
I love chocolate pie in my life so happy love my pie my favorite chocolate pie I bake it one for teen club
Sam
I am so glad you enjoy it Michelle! 🙂
Pearl
Hello there! I want to make this recipe, it looks so delicious compared to the other chocolate pies I’ve seen! The thing is, all I have right now are semi-sweet chocolate chips. Can I use them?
Sam
Hi, Pearl. Yes that would be fine, you would want to use about a heaping cup of chips. 🙂
Camdy
Can I add the whipped cream to the top 3 days before the pie is served?
Sam
I probably wouldn’t, I’d wait until just before serving before adding. My whipped cream is pretty stable but I’d still recommend waiting, even if you make the cream in advance I’d probably wait to add it to the top of the pie.
Joanie
i am giving this pie as a gift. I made the pie this afternoon late. I thought I would make the whipped cream tomorrow morning. Than put it on the pie right before I leave. Will this stay good for a couple of days when I drop it off ?? Thank you I am really excited. I gsve always used regular sugar and it just turned to liquid in a day😳
Sam
Hi Joanie! This pie should be good for a few days, but make sure to keep it in the refrigerator. 🙂
Alma
Could I replace the chocolate with cocoa powder instead? That’s all I have at hand at this time.
Sam
I haven’t tried it this way so unfortunately I can’t say for sure, I’m sorry!
Gwen
How many days ahead of Christmas can I make this pie. Haven’t tried it but love chocolate pie.
Sam
It should be good for several days in the refrigerator. 🙂
Candy
Is that with the whipped cream on it?
Sam
I’m not sure what you mean, I’d add the whipped cream just before serving.
Barb Heath
great pie–my daughter loves it!
Sam
So happy to hear this! Thank you for commenting, Barb! 🙂
Thea
Me and my friends this recipe and it was a success! Thanks!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it, Thea! ☺️
Alise Thompson
Hi, I stumbled across your recipe and I absolutely had to try it, with some tweaks here and there.
I made it with custard nog instead of milk, custard nog is similar to eggnog only with a more custard texture; and cuz the custard nog is already sweet I used unsweetened chocolate and also bit more chocolate then your recipe asked for; and so the end result came out much more smoother and richer than I expected and sweet but not so overly sweet. I also use cream of tartar in the first stage of making the pie, however since I didn’t make a comparison pie using the original recipe, I can’t really tell if there was any real difference between using the tartar or not (can you tell me if the cream of tartar really did do anything or if it was just my hopefull wishing that it added something to the pie). Still the end result was amazing and my family loved it as well.
I plan to make another one in a couple of days with some different tweaks here and there, I have a relative who is vegan, so I am curious how a vegan version of this pie will turn out.
Whitney Hinrichs
What kind of chocolate do you recommend for this pie? Thank you!
Sam
My preference is Ghiradelli 60% dark chocolate bars. ☺️
Becky
I don’t normally leave reviews but this pie had such RAVING reviews I had to stop back and let you know! Chocolate pie is my boyfriend’s favorite and I had never made one before. But it was so easy and so fast, I had no trouble. I used a giant 4.25 ounce bar of Hershey’s special dark and 1.75 ounces of semi sweet chocolate chips, only because that’s what I had on hand. Many said it was the best chocolate pie they had ever had! I’ll be putting this one in my keeper file, thank you!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it, Becky! ☺️
Tricia
If I only have unsweetened baking chocolate squares will that work? Should I add more sugar?
Sam
The pie will just not be as sweet as it should be. I don’t recommend adding more sugar as that will change the consistency of the pie.
Katey
I made this pie for my family on Thanksgiving. It was a crowd favorite. They were very impressed with the (from scratch) pudding. Thanks for sharing!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it, Katey! ☺️
Shelley
I just made this pie for Thanksgiving tomorrow and it turned out perfect!! Thank you
Sam
Yay! So happy to hear this! thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you, Shelley!