11 Pudding Brands, Ranked Worst To Best
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For many Americans, pudding is a nostalgic dessert or after-school snack. Although, what we call pudding doesn't align with the rest of the world. Closer to what the British (who technically brought the term to the United States) would call a custard, American pudding is a creamy, chilled custard dessert often flavored with chocolate or tapioca. And more often than not you associate the warm memories of that cold dessert with a brand name on the package.
Regardless of whether the pudding came from an instant Jell-O pudding mix that your mother whipped up or straight from a Snack Pack, if you eat pudding you have your go-to names and old favorites.
Because there are more competing pudding brands than you might think — it's not just Jell-O and Swiss Miss – we took the leading 11 and compared them based on a number of factors. When it comes to price, nutrition, and taste, these are 11 pudding brands ranked worst to best.
11. Dove
The chocolatiers at Dove have decided to take a dip into the world of pudding — but here, they're at the bottom of this ranking. There was admittedly a lot of hype when the major chocolate brand announced it was experimenting with selling pudding mixes in 2020. However, these didn't quite make a splash. And Dove hasn't yet expanded beyond its initial four flavor offerings.
In these products, Dove leaned into indulgence, both in terms of flavors and nutritional content. Bourbon Vanilla Dark Chocolate, which contains as much as 320 milligrams sodium and 19 grams carbs — according to Dove parent company Jel Sert – is the perfect storm of indulgence meets unhealthy.
As it turns out, elevated flavors don't really sell pudding mixes either. Hence why both the aforementioned mix and the Dove Peanut Butter Chocolate are both out of stock at Walmart while sitting at a 2.9 star average rating. If you're a Dove devotee, however, we can at least recommend sticking with the original Milk or Dark chocolate.
10. Hershey's
Hershey's is another name brand that has been taking up a great deal of space on store shelves for decades. And when it comes to chocolate (and chocolate adjacent) puddings, Hershey's has some of the most creative and indulgent offerings you'll see. But that doesn't mean they are necessarily the best on the block.
Hershey's confinement to chocolate hasn't stopped the brand from putting out sweet and indulgent flavors like Cookies and Cream and S'mores. Putting these spin-offs aside for a second, the base chocolate pudding is very high in sugar — and in other concerning categories it's a bit unhealthy. According to SureKeto, a Hershey's pudding is very high in carbs (at 20 grams of net cards for every 100-gram serving) compared to other store bought desserts.
You might get a nice hit of chocolate out of a Hershey's pudding cup, but frankly it's one of the least healthy pudding brands considering the 180 milligrams of sodium and 15 milligrams cholesterol per serving (via FoodandFamily). It's not even the most chocolate-y!
9. Great Value
For those Americans in the regions that don't have a Walmart, Great Value might not sound familiar. But anyone who has shopped there knows Great Value as the reliable Walmart house brand. Sometimes it actually is what it says on the label. For the price and easy availability online and in stores, these pudding cups and mixes deliver — while certainly not being the best pudding brand.
At $.83 for a 3.4 ounce package, the price of Great Value on Walmart.com beats out the sale price of the same flavor Jell-O pudding, which comes in at a discounted $1.32 per pack. In terms of flavor, the Great Value pudding cups pack a nostalgic punch. In a hip2save taste test comparing Walmart to name brand items, Great Value won out over Snack Pack and wound up being less expensive per pack. These pudding cups only come in Chocolate and Vanilla, but Great Value sells more non-traditional flavors in its mixes like Pistachio and Banana Cream, which adds more variety than some smaller brands.
8. Simply Delish
Simply Delish doesn't claim to be for everyone, but if you are looking for a truly healthy and tasty pudding snack, this brand delivers on something no one else has. This sugar free pudding brand prides itself on being Keto friendly and each instant pudding mix contains only 20 calories per serving — that's 80 calories per box, according to Simply Delish. The plant-based pudding uses soy and almond milk to make for a vegan dessert.
While not exactly the same as a fatty, calorie dense pudding from its competitors, Simply Delish tastes good enough to leave its customer base satisfied with each of its flavors.
The current Simply Delish pudding flavors on offer are vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, banana, and butterscotch, which is a solid lineup for the still young and up-and-coming brand. It's not the cheapest option here, but at least you are paying for quality.
7. My T Fine
Stylized as My*T*Fine, this pudding brand is one of the OG's when it comes to pudding and pie filling mix. In fact, according the South Florida Reporter, My T Fine started selling the first packaged pudding mix in the country in 1918. And since then, My T Fine hasn't changed much and currently only offers three flavors of pudding mix — chocolate, vanilla, and lemon.
At only 80 calories per serving and no fat, My T Fine surprisingly winds up being one of the healthier pudding mix options on store shelves as well (via Stop and Shop). When it comes to quality for price, this brand is a reliable choice when you want to whip up a boxed pudding.
While it has a lot going for it, this brand ultimately drops the ball as a pudding brand when it comes down to variety. With no sugar-free puddings on store shelves and only a few flavors to choose from, My T Fine gets outclassed by its competitors in this respect.
6. Royal Pudding
Royal Pudding is a brand that focuses exclusively on powdered pudding and flavored gelatin mixes. A longtime Jell-O competitor, Royal first shipped baking powder as its first product in 1863 but eventually moved into powdered gelatin products such as puddings. Today, it sells multiple varieties of pudding — these include butterscotch, chocolate, vanilla, and flan. Unfortunately, attempts to branch out beyond those core flavors, in this case banana cream, have garnered mixed Amazon customer reviews.
The fact that the brand has endured in the wake of such a market giant as Jell-O is a testament to the strength and consistency of Royal Pudding's product. One primary advantage Royal has over many of its competitors is the fact that all of its puddings are fat free, even the ones that have sugar in them. This makes it a fairly healthy choice when it comes to instant pudding mixes. Overall, Royal is a reliable choice that has a decent selection of the flavors most customers would want.
5. Snack Pack
This one is a serious childhood favorite. As a brand, Snack Pack has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. As the name implies Snack Pack only comes in pudding cups, often found in small packages of four or six. This means there is an inherent disadvantage compared to brands like Jell-O and others who offer pudding mixes. Still, it's hard to top getting a 4 pack for less than $2 at Target.
Snack Pack might not be the highest quality pudding, but it makes up for this in sheer variety of special flavors and brand crossovers like Fruity Pebbles. It helps that there's only 90 calories per serving for the basic flavors like vanilla, chocolate and butterscotch (per Snack Pack). And so, these can be given to kids as snacks and still leave room for dinner. Although, on the more indulgent end these start to become more of a dessert equivalent. While it doesn't exceed 120 calories per cup, the Cinnabon Snack Pack pudding's do pack a whopping 20 grams of sugar per serving.
4. Swiss Miss
Swiss Miss might be more commonly associated with hot cocoa, but that doesn't mean its pudding should be ignored. In fact, the Swiss Miss pudding cups are darn tasty and come in a handful of compelling flavors. Our favorite is the Chocolate Vanilla Swirl, which gives a softer edge to a milky chocolate pudding.
If we take this specific flavor as an example, you'll see some higher than average numbers on the nutrition sheet. According to Swiss Miss, one Chocolate Vanilla Swirl cup contains 200 milligrams sodium, 21 grams total sugar (17 of which are added), and 26 grams carbs. While there are brands that exceed one of these numbers, Swiss Miss pudding is fairly high in sugar and calories across multiple categories. One thing to consider is the serving size of a Swiss Miss pudding is larger than average. A Swiss Miss cup is 4 ounces compared to Snack Pack and Jello's standard 3.25 ounce.
In terms of easy to eat and yummy pudding cups, Swiss Miss takes the cake ... or the pudding pie in this case. Not being able to make pudding pie due to this product not being sold in a powdered mix, however, is its biggest downfall.
3. Godiva
When it comes to upscale chocolate brands making pudding, Godiva swoops in as the winner! This premium Belgian chocolate pudding comes in a handful of varieties — all of them instant — allowing you to whip up a delicious pudding in just five minutes, according to Godiva. Lining up with the flavor profiles of Godiva's most popular truffles, the puddings offered are Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, and a White Chocolate Vanilla Bean.
That's not many options but here's the catch: Godiva's puddings are delicious and fat free. Customers on Amazon who have bought the Dark Chocolate pudding mix compare it favorably to Jell-O, saying "brands are equally tasty and easy to make." Another reviewer explains they wanted to compare Dove Dark chocolate pudding to Godiva pudding and said, "Wow, Godiva was a lot better."
The biggest downside is the sodium per serving. According to fitbit, a serving of Godiva pudding contains 320 milligrams of sodium. That's a lot of sodium! But it is on par when it comes to Dove and Jell-O in the same category. In terms of nutrition and taste, Godiva is right there with its best competitors!
2. Jell-O
There is the knee-jerk reaction to compare every pudding option directly to Jell-O that was hard to resist when ranking these brands. Ultimately, that impulse is what leads us to putting it on top. Not only is the Jell-O brand top of mind when it comes to pudding — and also widely available grocery stores — but it's as delicious as any of the competitors, while offering a price and variety that most cannot keep up with. From cook and serve to instant pudding to cups in the refrigerated section, Jell-O is the go-to brand for a reason: They can sell everything.
Jell-O offers so many pudding flavors, as well as sugar free varieties of those flavors, that its hard to compete. This also means it will be hard not to find something you'll like. Whether it's the sodium rich and sweet-tooth cleansing Oreo Cookies 'n Creme Instant pudding or the not-so guilty pleasure of a Creme Brulee Sugar Free Rice pudding cup, Jell-O probably has something tasty and novel waiting at your nearest supermarket (via KraftHeinz).
1. Kozy Shack
When it comes to quality and flavor, Kozy Shack is the winner in the pudding game! The Original Recipe Rice Pudding is a Kosher, gluten-free and vegan treat that is great for breakfast, dessert, or a snack for a great variety of diets. So much so that it has inspired the brand to also sell French Vanilla and Cinnamon Raisin rice puddings too. The Mercury News called the Kozy Shack Tapioca pudding cups "the best packaged pudding on store shelves." And then there is the unsung hero of the bunch — the chocolate pudding. You can buy this stuff in 22 ounce tubs at Safeway and other grocery stores — trust us, it's worth the 25 grams of carbs per serving.
In general, Kozy Shack's offerings are rich but low-fat and low-sugar because the brand doesn't focus on overly sweet flavors. Original Recipe Chocolate Pudding might be as naughty as it gets, but Kozy Shack also has the 90 calorie Simply Well line of its pudding cups.
All these flavors and new options are great. But Kozy Shack truly wins because it's faithful to its motto of using simple and non-artificial ingredients. This takes the brand above and beyond — and anyone who has ever claimed to like pudding can taste that difference in the Kozy Shack products.