Instant Pudding Mix Is The Secret To Perfecting Homemade Ice Cream

Ice cream is a dessert that many of us adore. Although it's often served with desserts like brownies or cakes, ice cream makes a great headline act on its own, especially when it's homemade. Whether you like your ice cream in a cone, in a bowl, or straight out of the tub, it doesn't really matter. What might matter, though, is its consistency, and anything other than smooth and creamy might leave you feeling a little disappointed.

When making homemade ice cream, there are a few handy tips to follow. This includes adding a stabilizing ingredient to your mixture to avoid ending up with rock-hard ice cream. Thankfully, instant pudding mix is an ingredient you won't need to search far for. This pantry staple can elevate many desserts, and, as the name says, it will instantly give you a creamier and softer ice cream. The cornstarch in instant pudding mix will act as a stabilizer and thickener, leaving you with a perfect, custard-like texture. It will also flavor your ice cream, minimizing the other ingredients needed. 

When adding your pudding mix into your ice cream, make sure you're using an instant pudding, as Cook & Serve pudding mixes won't dissolve and will leave you with grainy ice cream. Replace any stabilizing ingredients in the recipe, such as cornstarch, with one box of instant pudding for every three cups of liquid (whether that's milk, heavy cream, or something else). Start simple with vanilla- or chocolate-flavored pudding. Whisk your pudding mix and liquids until smooth, and after churning the mix in your ice cream machine for 20 minutes, you can either eat it then for a soft serve consistency or freeze it for 2 hours for a scoop-able ice cream. If your ice cream recipe includes powdered sugar, consider minimizing or skipping that ingredient altogether — regular pudding mix contains sugar, and your ice cream may turn out overly sweet if you use both.

Using pudding mix in your ice cream not only gives it a velvety consistency but also allows you to customize your ice cream flavor with little effort. For instance, you could experiment with butterscotch or cheesecake pudding. If you know anyone who's watching their sugar levels, you can even surprise them with a low-sugar ice cream by using a sugar-free instant pudding mix.