Vegan Chocolate Pudding With Cinnamon and Chile

By Mark Bittman

Updated September 8, 2025

  • Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
10 minutes, plus chilling
Rating
5(2,139)
Comments
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This winner of a pudding, made with silken tofu, takes about as much time to make as hot chocolate. And in fact the combination of cinnamon, chile and chocolate recalls Mexican hot chocolate. Use the highest quality chocolate — semisweet or bittersweet, please — you can lay your hands on. After all, it's the flavor of the chocolate, not the flavor of the tofu, that will dominate. The texture is almost unbelievably good.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

  • ¾ cup sugar

  • 1 pound silken tofu

  • 8 ounces high-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, melted

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

  • ½ teaspoon chile powder, or more to taste

  • Chocolate shavings (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 to 6 servings)

53 grams carbs; 349 calories; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 15 grams fat; 3 grams fiber; 20 milligrams sodium; 9 grams protein; 47 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a small pot, combine sugar with ¾ cup water; bring to a boil and cook until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly.

  2. Step 2

    Put all ingredients except for chocolate shavings in a blender and purée until completely smooth, stopping machine to scrape down its sides if necessary. Divide among 4 to 6 ramekins and chill for at least 30 minutes. If you like, garnish with chocolate shavings before serving.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
2,139 user ratings
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Comments

Sarah

Just a note that this concept works beautifully with cocoa powder, too, if you're looking to make it lower in fat or if you have cocoa but not bar chocolate on hand. I'm an enormous fan of bitter and so use about 1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder and a few tablespoons of honey in lieu of the chocolate and sugar, though I use the full measure of sugar if I'm making it for someone else.

juleezee

Been making a variation on this theme for a number of years now. I use 2 aseptic packages of silken tofu, about 12 oz. of good bittersweet chocolate and 1-2 tsp vanilla. Mine has no simple syrup and no chili powder, rather a good tablespoon or two of good cognac or your favorite flavored liqueur. Haven't heard any complaints about it, ever.

Melissa

You can pour the pudding in a graham-cracker or other cookie crust and call it "pie".

Emil

Question: chili powder. Plain ground chili makes sense to me, but there's something called chili or chile powder that also has oregano, cumin, onion and garlic powder, salt, etc. it's meant to be used to make a chili stew with beans (and con carne if you're a carnivore.) Surely that's not what is meant, is it? What kind of chili powder should be used?

Helen T

I followed the recipe exactly, but the results were thinner than I had anticipated, and did not become more pudding like even with refrigeration. What did I do wrong? However, the flavor was wonderful.

HS

I'm surprised by all the positive reviews here. Maybe it's because I used inexpensive grocery store chocolate, but the flavors on this were just okay to me. This was my first time making a tofu-based dessert, and while the texture is nice enough, it made for a VERY filling pudding. Could easily have halved the recipe for the same number of servings. We'll stick with Ali Slagle's Oat Milk Chocolate Pudding in the future.

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