Pistachio Pudding Pie is an easy, no-bake dessert. Make it from scratch with this recipe made with Cool Whip, a graham cracker crust, and instant Jell-O pudding.
Why This Recipe is the Best
While this green dessert is most popular in the summertime, it can be found year-round! This green pie is also popular for a St. Patrick's Day dessert, Thanksgiving, or a Christmas/ Grinch dessert.
While this one is made without pineapple, check out our variations with chocolate (grasshopper), coconut, or pineapple. It's so quick and easy to make and is great to take to any summer get-together.
For easy no-bake pies, try our Easy Banana Cream Pie, Chocolate Cream Pie, Mango Pie, or Fruity Pebbles Cheesecake.
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Key Ingredients
Below is a list of ingredients needed for this recipe. Follow our tips on each ingredient for best results.
- Milk- I used 2% milk. You can also use whole milk; however, skim milk is not recommended for this recipe.
- Pistachio pudding mix- We recommend Jell-O brand pudding. I recipe tested a few different pudding brands, and none of them set up as well as the Jell-O brand.
- Butter- I used salted, for that yummy salty-sweet. The pistachio filling is plenty sweet and nicely complemented by the salted butter.
- Graham Crackers - These can be any brand! I haven't found any difference between brands when it comes to a graham cracker crust. We also don't add sugar to our graham cracker crust as we find the pie overall too sweet with it.
- Cool Whip- You can use off-brand for the Cool Whip. The most important thing is to make sure it's completely thawed so that there aren't any lumps.
- Toppings- It's optional, but we love topping the pie with pistachio bits and toffee bits. The added crunch and flavor are so good.
How to Make Pistachio Pie
Use these process shots to help get the results you want. The pictures can help with texture and be a visual guide for the best results.
- Crush graham crackers. Melt butter and pour it on top of crushed graham crackers. Mix and press into a 9" pie plate.
- Whisk cold milk (any fat content will work here, skim- whole) and pistachio pudding together in a bowl. Whisk for 2 minutes. Add Cool Whip.
- Fold to combine. Do this by hand with a spatula. Pour pudding mixture into the graham cracker crust and spread smoothly.
- Place in Graham cracker crust. Chill for 2-24 hours before serving. Top with whipped cream (either homemade or canned) and pistachio bits or toffee bits, if desired.
Hint: Fold the Cool Whip into the pudding gently. This will help keep the filling light and fluffy.
Top tip
Work quickly with the cold milk! Don't get the milk out of the refrigerator until ready for use. Keeping the milk cold will help everything set up nicely and more quickly.
Recipe
The Best Pistachio Pie
Ingredients
For the graham cracker crust:
- 1 sleeve graham crackers
- ⅓ cup butter melted
- 3 Tablespoons sugar
Pudding mixture:
- 2 3.3 ounce package pistachio pudding mix instant
- 2 ⅔ cups cold milk
For the Filling:
- 4 ounces Cool Whip thawed
Topping:
- whipped cream homemade or canned
- pistachio bits optional
- toffee bits optional
Instructions
- Thaw Cool Whip in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight.
- Melt butter and mix with crushed graham crackers and sugar. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9" pie tin. To set the crust, bake in a 350*F oven for 3 ½ minutes (optional).
- In a bowl whisk together pudding mixture and COLD milk. Whisk for 2 minutes.
- Using a spatula, combine the Cool Whip with the pudding mixture using a folding motion, until well combined. Pistachio pudding has little bits of pistachio in it, so there will be tiny chunks of pistachio. See photos above for a visual.
- Pour into graham cracker crust and smooth out. Chill for 2-24 hours. Can be served immediately, but the filling will be extremely soft and pudding-like.
- Decorate with whipped cream and pistachio bits and/ or toffee bits if desired.
Video
Notes
- This recipe is for a typical 9" pie tin. If you have a deeper dish pie plate, double the recipe.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. It won't go bad for a few more days after that, but the pudding will start to weep into the crust making it mushy and less delicious.
- Freeze! This can be made ahead and frozen. Freeze right after making. Freeze for up to 1 month. Whole milk is recommended for this, as the less fat in milk, the more likely there will be little ice shards in the pie.
- Thaw for at least 1 hour at room temperature before serving.
- Make sure your Cool Whip is completely thawed before folding it into the pudding for best results.
- Make sure to use a folding motion and to not stir in the Cool Whip. Stirring it will deflate it, folding will ensure it stays fluffy.
Nutrition
Substitutions and Variations
We love switching things up when we're in the kitchen. Try any of these variations for something a little different.
- Cream Cheese - cream cheese can be substituted for the Cool Whip. Beat the cream cheese with 2 Tablespoons of milk and ½ cup sugar. Stir into the pudding.
- Deluxe - add ½ cup crushed pineapple (drained and patted dry) to the pudding mixture and top with maraschino cherries
- Grasshopper Pistachio Pie - Use crushed Grasshopper cookies instead of graham crackers for the crust and add ⅛ teaspoon peppermint extract when making the pudding for a fun chocolate-mint variation.
- Coconut- mix in ½ cup shredded coconut when combining the pudding mix and the pudding mixture. Sprinkle with more shredded coconut on top.
- Frozen Pistachio Pie - Freeze! This can be made ahead and frozen. After making, quickly decorate and then freeze right away. Freeze for up to 1 month. If making the pie to freeze, we highly recommend using whole milk. The higher fat milk used, the less likely you are to get little ice shards in the pie. To serve: thaw at room temperature for 1-2 hours until the desired texture is achieved.
Helpful Hints
In a hurry? Use a store-bought graham cracker crust and use that instead!
Make sure the Cool Whip is all the way thawed before use, or you'll end up with little lumps of Cool Whip. We recommend thawing in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight. One of the times I was testing this recipe, my Cool Whip was not thawed all the way, and I ended up overmixing to get the frozen lumps out.
Wait to decorate until serving. If using whipped cream, it will melt into the pie by the time you are ready to serve if you decorate before chilling. To keep it beautiful, decorate as close to serving time as possible.
Storing Pistachio Pie
Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. It won't go bad for another few days, but the pudding will start to weep into the crust, making it soggy, and it won't be as delicious.
Kali A says
The best pistachio pie I’ve found!
Nicole says
Yummm we really enjoyed this pistachio cream pie recipe. The graham cracker crust cream cheese mixture mixed in complimented the Jell-o pistachio pudding so nicely! We love a good no bake dessert for summer. Next time I might make a double batch and put it in one pie pan to make it fuller.
JC says
Made this when I needed to make a last minute dessert to take to a BBQ. It was perfect. Super super easy to make! Delicious pistachio pie. We liked the cream cheese in it. Can't wait to try it with the cherries and pineapple next time.
Cam says
This pistachio pie is one of my favorite recipes to make in the summer because it comes together in no time! I brought it to a family BBQ last weekend and everyone enjoyed it so much!
Kasia says
Delicious! I doubled the filling recipe for my 9in Pyrex pie plate, and it was just full- which is how I like my pies! We don’t like things too sweet, so I put 2tbs sugar instead of 6tbs into the cream cheese and it was PERFECT! Definitely going to make this again 🙂
Kasia says
NB I made this gluten free by using Pamela’s GF graham crackers and it was awesome. 1 box of grahams and 1stick of butter (melted) made the perfect sized crust.
Nicole says
We're so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the GF option
Pam says
The flavor was good. The consistency wasn’t right. Chilled over 24 hours and still like pudding. I will keep searching
Pam says
Had this in refrigerator for over 24 hours then cut. Still very loose.. why??
Nicole says
Hi Pam, I'm sorry this didn't work out for you. In my recipe I used Jell-o brand pudding and Philadelphia brand cream cheese. I'm curious if you used a budget brand cream cheese or pudding? I have made cream and pudding pies before with budget pudding mixes that have not set up. Budget cream cheese can also be watery. I'd love to hear from you so that I can inform my readers, it is very important to me to provide quality recipes and instructions. Also, this is a pudding pie and will be similar in texture to like a banana cream pie. I'm sorry if that is the case and I just wasn't clear on it.
Kate says
I see cream cheese in the recipe ingredient photos but it is not mentioned in the recipe itself...how much is needed?
Andrea says
For this recipe we used a mixture of pudding mix and cool whip. You can use a cream cheese variation instead though by substituting the cool whip. You'll want to beat the cream cheese with 2 Tablespoons of milk and ½ cup sugar. Then stir that into the pudding. We hope you like it!
Marilyn Naylor says
It is suggested that I could substitute cream cheese for Cool Whip in the pistachio pie recipe. How much cream cheese do you use?
Andrea says
For our other cream cheese based pies, we use 8 ounces of softened cream cheese. We've also made this pistachio pie with 8 ounces and it tastes great. I'd also recommend adding 1/3 cup powdered sugar so that it's sweet enough. The cool whip gives it a lighter texture where the cream cheese will have a tangier taste and thicker consistency.
Jimmy Roach says
Very good recipe
Barbara Nicosia says
48 years ago when my son was 11 years old he was bored during Christmas vacation. He liked to putter in the kitchen and saw the pudding mix. He decided to try making the pie with a crust I had on hand.To make it red and green for Christmas he crushed up a candy cane and mixed it in and then garnished with more crushed candy. The combination of pistachio and peppermint is delicious and this has. been a staple Christmas dinner dessert in our family ever since. I now add a quarter tsp. of peppermint flavoring to the mix and serve with whipped cream.