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Googling this question turned up many articles claiming that instant pudding can be made with water instead of milk.

I gave it a shot just to see how different it is and... it's just not true. I expected the pudding to be a bit thinner than normal, but to my surprise it's worse than that.

It seems that something in the milk may cause a chemical reaction, because instant pudding with water failed to thicken at all, and I used one quarter cup less water than the called for milk.

So... what is it about milk that causes the pudding to thicken where water fails? And is there a suitable substitute for milk in instant pudding?

I keep pudding in my long term food storage pantry since it has an extremely long shelf life, but would like to make it with as simple ingredients as possible. Water would have been ideal.

Aaron Cicali
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    You might want to post the ingredients list and the exact steps you took, because the starches used in instant pudding can set with water (at least from my reading of what's commonly used; the equivalents here are slightly different) – Chris H May 17 '22 at 05:40
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    Yeah - considering the info I'm seeing on the web, it seems like it should *generally* work but it's possible you're using a different brand or there's some other issue going on. – Catija May 17 '22 at 14:20
  • Not really an answer, but you could sidestep this problem by keeping powdered milk in your long term food storage pantry. – Brian May 18 '22 at 13:02
  • We do also have powdered milk. Just trying to get a handle on the pudding on its own. – Aaron Cicali May 18 '22 at 18:19

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Okay, so instant pudding can be made with water. Full disclosure - I asked my son to make the first batch, and it was incredibly thin. He may have added too much water.

Both chocolate and vanilla instant pudding worked with just water. I recommend halving the required water, and it definitely does not taste as good as milk pudding.

Aaron Cicali
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