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.
Gommy
I made this for a casual lunch dessert following our church service. I was so pleased how it came out. I followed the directions with the exception of using an immersion blender to blend the egg yolks to the sugar and milk mixture. It worked beautifully and the filling was as smooth as silk. I felt it unnecessary to strain through a sieve. Reviews were 5*’s. Excellent recipe. I’ll be making this one again. 😋🤩
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Samantha Coleman
Could you use the freezer to speed up the firming process?
Sam
Hi Samantha! I wouldn’t recommend it here, patience is key. 🙂
kelly Willett
If I was going to use a frozen store bought crust, would I want to purchase the regular depth or deep dish size?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Kelly! Either crust will do. Enjoy! 🙂
Marlene Johanson
Looks amazing and I’m with you on the homemade whip cream.
Just a quick question could one fold the whipping cream (using cream of tartar in the cream) into the batter for extra hmph?
Of course after the filling has cooled.
Sam
Hi Marlene! I think you could. I don’t think you would need the cream of tartar here. I would personally leave it out. It will make the pie a little fluffier much like my chocolate icebox pie. 🙂
Missy
I can’t believe I just made a chocolate pie from scratch! It always seemed too intimidating but this recipe was easy to follow & has become our new family favorite. My family will never let me make the old Jello pudding pie again!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Missy! Homemade is always better than something from a box. 🙂
Shaunna
Good evening!
I have a whole lot of 2% milk on hand and wondering if I substitute that for the whole milk if it will make a big difference. I am not opposed to buying whole milk, but would prefer to use what I have on hand. Thank you!!
Sam
Hi Shaunna! You need the fat in the milk to help the pie thicken up. I would be concerned the pie wouldn’t thicken up enough but it may work. If you try it I’d love to know how it turns out. 🙂
Shaunna
I don’t think I’m willing to risk it! I’ll just go ahead and purchase whole milk. I’m making it for Father’s Day and want it to be perfect, and it sounds like this recipe is amazing and shouldn’t be altered. Thank you so much for the quick response!!
Sam
You definitely won’t regret it. I use whole milk in most of my recipes so if you have leftover I guess you can just make some more delicious treats. 😉
Jennifrr
I too only had 2% milk, used that and it turned out great. I have never made this before and will most likely just continue to use 2%. Recipe was great and so easy. My 8 year old has recently found a love for cooking and baking and this was easy enough for him to mostly do on his own. (With some guidance)
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Lee
I like chocolate pie very much yet my mother and sister-in-law LOVE chocolate pie. I decided to surprise them and make this chocolate pie to bring home to them over the weekend. They both said this was the best chocolate pie they ever tasted! I have to agree….it was delicious. This pie turned me into the “love chocolate pie” category. Follow it step-by-step and don’t add or subtract any ingredients. It will come out perfectly delicious.
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Lee! 🙂
Grace
What did you use for the chocolate drizzle shown in the picture?
Sam
Hi Grace! The easiest way for me to do it is to put it in a ziploc bag and snip one of the corners off. 🙂
grace
is it made with just melted chocolate? i’m going to try this later this week!
Sam
I actually used my chocolate sauce here, but melted chocolate would be fine. 🙂
Maria Clara
Can I use chocolate powder (mainly cocoa) instead of the actual chocolate?
Sam
Hi Maria! There would be too many other alterations that would need to be made if you used a cocoa powder. I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure what they would be. 🙂
Olivia
I only had 1 oz of chocolate chips so for the rest of chocolate I substituted 2 T cocoa powder (unsweetened) and 1 T butter in place of every missing 1 oz of sweetened chocolate. Added this with the other chocolate after removed from heat. Stirred until incorporated. The sieve finished incorporating any remaining powder. The finished our was I credible. Rich and chocolatey, but not overly sweet. Great recipe!
Sam
Thank you so much for sharing, Olivia! I am so glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Peggy Larman
Will the whipped cream ‘break down if I topped pie w/it the night before presenting?
Sam
Mine never has, but generally I recommend preparing the whipped cream the morning you intend to serve just to be safe.
Amy
I’ve made this a number of times – it never lasts long. It’s also my “thank you” gift to friends when they help me out. 😁
Sam
Lucky friends!! I’m so glad to hear it has been such a success for you, Amy! Thank you for commenting, I really appreciate it!
Jude
Hi, that pie is the best-looking chocolate pie I have ever seen. Can you substitute cocoa powder for the chocolate? Thank you
Sam
Hi Jude! I haven’t tried it. There are other adjustments that would need to be made if you were using cocoa powder and without having tried it I can’t say for sure what they would be. 🙁
Amber
Hi what’s the texture difference between this one and the icebox pie please? Is the other one more mousse-like?
Thanks
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Amber! They are very similar in flavor, however, this chocolate pie requires baking and is more custard-like in texture. The chocolate icebox pie does not require baking is more like a fluffy mousse. I hope that helps. 🙂
Rebecca Rogers
Hi! Do you know if it is completely necessary to use a sieve? And also would it taste good if I used a graham cracker crust?
Sam
Hi Rebecca! You could make a graham cracker crust if you wish (although I think the Oreo does very well here with the chocolate). The reason for the sieve is to catch any egg pieces that may have formed when heating the mixture. I really don’t recommend skipping this step. 🙂
Danielle
Do you know if the sugar be substituted with Splenda? I don’t want it to affect the consistency or anything. I’m so excited to make this!
Sam
Hi Danielle! Unfortunately I haven’t tried it here so I’m honestly not completely sure. Hopefully someone else that has tried it can chime in. If you try it out I’d love to know how it goes.
Lena
Mine took SO long to thicken is that normal? The instructions said it could take a few minutes it felt like I stood there for 45 minutes just whisking. Eventually it thickened to a pudding like consistency and is now cooling! The filling tasted yummy!
Sam
Hi Lena! I’m sorry that happened, but for this it is better for it to take too long than be done faster. You may have needed to turn up the heat just a little bit. I hope this helps. 🙂
Lee
Yes, just keep whisking. I also thought I was did something wrong with the filling recipe yet I never gave up and finally it started to thicken beautifully. Just when I thought this would never get thick, it did! Like magic. It does take a very long time. Sorry I did not time it. Next time I will.