Homemade Vanilla Pudding
When I was a kid, my mom had the big red Betty Crocker Cookbook with all the old vintage photos of food. I loved to page through the well-worn pages and look at all the strange jello mold desserts and salads with unrecognizable ingredients. The pictures were always amusing to me, but the recipes were anything but strange…they were downright delicious! Basic home-cooking.
My favorite recipe in that book has always been the homemade vanilla pudding! So easy to make, filled with healthy fats, and had the richest buttery flavor. I would eat the entire bowl full if they let me! What a great way to get your kids eating egg yolks, whole milk, and butter! I had to clean the recipe up a bit by getting rid of GMO cornstarch and GMO beet sugar, but the recipe still tastes the same. Enjoy!

Homemade Vanilla Pudding
So easy to make, filled with healthy fats, and has the richest buttery flavor.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar
- 2 Tbsp arrowroot powder
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 2 cups whole milk (we use fresh raw milk)
- 2 large pastured egg yolks
- 3 Tbsp grass-fed butter
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, add the sugar, arrowroot, and salt.
- Whisk dry ingredients together.
- Pour in milk while whisking continuously so the arrowroot powder does not clump.
- Over medium heat, whisk continuously until the liquid begins to thicken and comes to a boil (usually about 10 minutes).
- Continue to stir briskly for one more minute (this is important because if you don’t go the extra minute it will not be thick enough).
- Remove from heat and pour a small amount into a dish with the egg yolks, stir well to combine, and then add back into the pudding.
- Stir in butter and vanilla.
- Pour into serving dishes.
- Let sit for 10 minutes before serving, or cover and refrigerate. A skin may form on top of the pudding when refrigerated, this is normal and completely edible.
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Hi, my name is Kate.
I love food. Real food. We eat all of the things that nursing school taught me were bad for you: butter, eggs, bacon, and raw milk.
I am a Nurse, a Mom, and a Real Food loving blogger. Just trying to save the world.
Oh wow this looks delicious! I definitely want to try this out 🙂
Can’t wait to try this recipe! FYI, its a little difficult to navigate your site, I can’t figure out how to close the newsletter subscription window.
Thanks Jamie, are you using Explorer for your browser? That one always seems to have issues with my site. I just contacted the company who hosts that particular pop-up and I hope to have it resolved SOON. It really does make my site impossible to navigate. I am so sorry for the inconvenience!
I really liked this! We made it casein free by using a can of light coconut milk and ghee. There is something comforting about pudding….and the homemade can't even compare to the yucky store bought stuff! I am wondering how yours was so yellow though….coconut sugar is down, so is th end result!
I meant brown , darn autocorrect!
Tessa, we have the best farm fresh eggs on the planet with bright orange yolks! 🙂
I made this today and the flavors are amazing! Unfortunately, it didn’t firm up so I am crossing my fingers overnight in the fridge will do the trick! Even if it doesn’t, I have no problem taking a spoon to it still:)
Your ingredient list specifies pastured egg yolks. I’m curious as to the reason for this. I get my eggs from a friend that has her own chickens. I’m wondering if I can use the fresh eggs with the same results? Thanks for your amazing recipes!
Absolutely! I am sure your friend lets her chickens out to eat bugs and greens as chickens love to do. This makes them pastured. They health benefits are far more than the farmed eggs we buy in the store.
Where is the tapioca in this?
Here’s the recipe with the tapioca: https://realfoodrn.com/healthy-vanilla-coconut-tapioca-pudding-recipe/
Hey there. Pinterest just recommended your page and I am so glad 😊 I’m currently in elimination stage of some food issues and I haven’t been able to reintroduce eggs yet. Do you think unflavored gelatin could work as a good binder for this in place of the eggs?
Thanks so much. I love vanilla pudding and already had all the other ingredients.
Hello, so glad you found my blog! Welcome! I am not sure that gelatin would work, might turn it into more of a custard. You could try this egg replacement: https://realfoodrn.com/how-to-make-an-egg-substitute-with-chia-seeds/. Let me know how it turns out!
I’ve tried making this three times and it does not thicken or set. It stays runny…
Are you boiling it hot enough?
Should it be a rolling boil? I set a timer for 10 minutes plus an additional minute and set it over medium heat on my hottest burner, whisking continuously the entire time. I saw a few bubbles, but wasn’t sure how far to take it. It thickened slightly but thinned out after adding the remaining ingredients. I’m using it for a banana pudding in place of instant pudding mix so it should do fine regardless, but I’d appreciate any tips to get this right because I’ll definitely be making this again. Thanks for your help!
It really needs to be a nice boil to get it to thicken. I have had it only come to bubbling, but not aggressively bubbling and it did not set well.