Rich, fudgy and dense, this Chocolate Pudding Cake recipe is a huge hit at family parties! Nobody needs to know it starts with a cake mix!
This cake recipe was originally published in April 2011. The photos were updated in September 2022, and the recipe notes were improved in March 2025.
Aimee’s Recipe Notes
- Taste & Texture- this cake is dense and fudgy, not a typical cake texture. Topped with creamy, light Cool Whip.
- Budget friendly- starts with a cakee mix, no eggs needed!
- Flavors- endless possibilities by swapping out the cake or the pudding flavors.
- Storage- Keep this cake refrigerated for best flavor
Sometimes when you’re craving a chocolate cake, you just want to whip up something easy.
My grandma always made us this banana pudding recipe or her jello cakes, so I thought why not take a similar approach with todays pudding cake recipe!
Topped with homemade cool whip or homemade whipped cream.
Just 5 Ingredients
Making a pudding cake is so easy. I’m often asked about the texture, and it’s similar to brownies. Rich and fudgy, and quite dense!
You only need a handful of ingredients to make today’s recipe:
- Chocolate Cake Mix
- Chocolate Pudding Mix
- Milk
- Cool Whip
- Chocolate Chips and Sprinkles are optional
How to make Chocolate Pudding Cake
- First, in a large mixing bowl, combine chocolate pudding mix with milk. Whisk until smooth.
- Add in chocolate cake mix and beat until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Pour cake batter into a greased 13×9 baking dish, and bake according to cake mix package directions.
- Remove from oven and cool completely.
- Top with Cool Whip (or homemade whipped cream) and sprinkles, refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Cake will be moist and dense…perfect!!
More Pudding Recipes
- If you love today’s chocolate version, then you’ve got to try this Lemon Pudding Cake recipe. Virtually the same, with a few swaps in ingredients!
- One of the easiest cakes to make! The pudding added to the top of the warm cake makes this so moist and delicious. Add some Cool Whip and toasted coconut and this Coconut Pudding Cake will be gone in no time!
- Chewy, moist, and packed with flavor. Thanks to the secret ingredient, these Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies are always a hit!
- If you have a pantry full of cake mixes, bake up a batch of easy Cake Mix cookies. Add holiday or colorful sprinkles to give them so fun and festive flair. Or give my delicious Chocolate pudding cupcakes a try next!
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Chocolate Pudding Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 box box chocolate cake mix
- 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips 12 ounce
- 1 box instant chocolate pudding mix 3.4 ounce
- 2 cups whole milk
- 16 ounce Cool Whip thawed
- sprinkles optional
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine chocolate pudding mix with milk. Whisk until smooth. Add in chocolate cake mix and beat until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Pour cake batter into a greased 13×9 baking dish, and bake according to cake mix package directions.
- Remove from oven and cool completely. Top with Cool Whip and sprinkles, refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
Notes
- Use homemade whipped cream instead of Cool Whip, if desired.
- Store leftover cake in refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Do I add any oil or eggs?
Nope!
Thank you so much Aimee for sharing this great easy cake recipe!
It was a huge hit with hubby and will definitely be added to my recipe book!
I am having a hard time understanding directions, you said 3 box chocolate cake mix, do you mean 3 different boxes, or one box mix, same with pudding, 3 boxes?
It’s two (small) boxes of chocolate pudding mix, 2 cups milk, and one box of chocolate cake mix.
I only see 1 box instant pudding and 1 cake mix 2 cup milk….????
So I thought this tasted really good. The only complaint is that there’s too much movement with the cool whip topping. I decided to freeze the whole thing instead and it’s like eating ice cream cake. So, so good!
Do you think this would work with gluten free cake mixes?
Could you do stacked round cakes with this recipe instead of 9×13 pan? Would they hold up?
No I don’t think so. It’s a very dense cake, thick and fudgy.
I did not a chocolate cake mix, so used a yellow cake with Banana pudding and caramel bits! Turned out great and next time chocolate for sure!
When you say to “ bake according to cake mix package directions” does that include adding eggs and oil or just follow the bake time?
Nope, just the temperature and time. This is a very dense fudgy cake with the pudding mix. No eggs and oil.
Recently made your rice pudding recipe, oh..my..gosh! It turned out perfect! I then jumped on to your dad’s bread pudding..woah! So then did a bit of a combo from your dads and yours and did a caramel apple bread pudding using his recipe, adding diced apples and sliced almonds with your caramel apple sauce…do try! I shared this little goldmine with family and friends and sadly was left with an empty pan..only sad because nobody got seconds lol. Thank you for this marvelous site and for sharing your recipes! I’m just going to keep trying them one by one!