Sometimes I want something sweet and creamy but I don’t really want to bake or buy a bunch of ingredients just to make dessert.

This time I had fresh milk, a packet of Knox unflavored gelatin and vanilla flavor sitting at home so I decided to make a very simple homemade milk pudding.

Honestly, you don’t need much.

If you’re looking for an easy milk pudding recipe with gelatin that is easy to make with ingredients you can find at the grocery store, this is a really easy one to try.

Ingredients:

How to:

1. Bloom the gelatin

• Take approximately 60 mL or ¼ cup of cold milk from your 500 mL.
• Pour it into a small bowl and sprinkle one packet of unflavored gelatin evenly over the milk.
• Leave it alone for around 5–10 minutes.
• You'll notice the gelatin absorbing the liquid and becoming thicker.

Don't skip this part! Blooming the gelatin helps it dissolve properly later and prevents unpleasant gelatin lumps in your pudding.

2. Heat the remaining milk

• Pour the remaining milk into a saucepan.
• Add 5–6 tablespoons of sugar.
• Heat everything over low to medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar has completely dissolved.

You want the milk to become hot and steamy, but don't let it come to a full boil.

3. Add the gelatin

• Turn off the heat.
• Add your bloomed gelatin to the warm milk and stir continuously until it has completely dissolved.
• You shouldn't see any obvious gelatin pieces remaining.

4. Add the vanilla

• Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla flavor and stir.
• At this point, your kitchen already starts smelling like dessert. 😂

5. Pour and refrigerate

• Pour the mixture into small cups, ramekins, glasses or one larger container.
• Allow it to cool slightly before placing it in the refrigerator.
• Refrigerate for approximately 4–6 hours, or preferably overnight, until completely set.

And that's it! You now have a simple homemade milk pudding.

Disclaimer: Nutrition values are estimates and may vary depending on the brand of milk, gelatin, vanilla flavoring, and amount of sugar used.

Recipe Notes 📣

• For 500 mL of milk, one standard 7-gram packet of Knox unflavored gelatin gives you a nice pudding consistency.
• If you're planning to use an entire 1-liter carton of milk, I wouldn't use only one packet.
• If you're using sweetened condensed milk, however, reduce or completely remove the additional sugar. Otherwise, your pudding can become very sweet.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Milk Pudding Topping Ideas
  1. The plain vanilla version is already good on its own, but this is also one of those desserts you can easily customize.
  2. You can try adding fresh strawberries or mangoes, crushed Oreos or biscuits, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, cocoa powder, toasted coconut, or even a little coffee mixture if you want a coffee-flavored version.
  3. I'd add the toppings after the pudding has set, especially when using fresh fruit.

• Why Didn't My Milk Pudding Set?
  1. If you've already waited several hours and your milk pudding is still completely liquid, there are a few possible reasons.
  2. The most common is simply too much milk for the amount of gelatin used.
  3. The gelatin also needs enough time in the refrigerator. Give it at least four hours before deciding that something went wrong.
  4. Another possibility is that the gelatin wasn't properly bloomed or dissolved.

• For the most consistent result, remember this ratio:
  500 mL milk = approximately 7 g unflavored gelatin

• Can I Make Milk Pudding Without an Oven? Yes!
  That's actually one of my favorite things about this recipe. There's no baking involved. You only need to heat the milk enough to dissolve the sugar and gelatin before refrigerating it.
  
  That makes this an easy dessert to prepare even if you don't have an oven at home.

• How Long Does Homemade Milk Pudding Last?
  1. Keep your milk pudding covered and refrigerated. For the best texture and freshness, I'd recommend eating it within approximately 2–3 days.
  2. Don't leave a milk-based pudding sitting at room temperature for extended periods.

This is probably one of the easiest desserts I made when I wanted something creamy without doing too much work.

Fresh milk + gelatin + vanilla can in fact be made into a surprisingly satisfying little dessert.

You can also use this basic milk pudding recipe as a base and then play around with different flavors and toppings after.

The next experiment on my list is chocolate milk pudding. 👀 

If you want an easy no-bake dessert using milk and gelatin, be sure to try this one.

Just a disclaimer - this isn’t originally mine; this came from other sources, people and so on.