Pistachio Pudding Shots

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Pistachio Pudding Shots are a year round boozy dessert featuring vodka and Baileys. Works great for a St. Patrick’s Day party or as a surprise for any adult celebration. Serve them up in your favorite shot glasses or make them easy to store and transport with small plastic cups with lids. Either way, these Jello shots are sure to be a hit.

Have you ever had pudding shots before? If not, I can tell you they are an easy no-bake dessert with the consistency of mousse. You don’t drink these shots but they are served up individually, just like a shot. If you enjoy a light dessert with alcohol in it, give these a try. Please note that you can taste the alcohol in this recipe.

If you love a boozy dessert, pudding shots are for you! While I did feature some fun St. Patrick’s Day Jello Shots for this recipe below, this recipe really does work for year round. If you stumbled up upon this recipe and are looking for a non-alcoholic version, replace the alcohol in this recipe with milk. You can also opt for other crowd pleasing no-bake desserts like this Oreo Fluff.

Pistachio Pudding Shots Ingredients

To make these pistachio pudding shots with vodka and Baileys, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Jell-O Pistachio Instant Pudding
• milk
• vodka
• Baileys or other Irish cream liqueur
• whipped topping, thawed
• additional whipped cream, sprinkles, chopped pistachios for garnish (optional)
• plastic cups with lids in 2 oz or 2.5 oz size (optional)

While this recipe calls for Baileys, you can also substitute other Irish cream liqueurs. I have not tested this with fresh whipped cream made with heavy whipping cream in place of whipped topping. Every pudding shot recipe I’ve seen uses whipped topping so if you try this substitute, let me know how it turns out!

How to Make Pudding Shots

To make these pudding shots, you’ll want to start out with a large bowl and add your pudding, vodka, Baileys and cold milk. Whisk for two minutes. 

Fold in thawed Cool Whip whipped topping into your pudding mixture.

Spoon into small plastic cups with lids or your favorite shot glasses. I used 2.5 oz plastic cups with lids which are marketed for regular Jello shots but 2 oz cups also works.  My traditional shot glasses featured here are 2.25 oz.

Gently tap plastic cup or shot glasses on hard surface. This step isn’t required but I like to even it all out and this is a simple way to do it. Top with lids or add cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least one hour before serving.

Before serving, top with whipped cream and other toppings if desired.

I think whipped cream is almost essential as garnish but if you use a product like Reddi-Whip, it will start to melt over time. To avoid this, you can instead add a dollop of whipped topping like Cool Whip, which is much more stable at room temperature.

How to Garnish Jello Pudding Shots

You can garnish your pudding shots with an assortment of toppings. I recommend waiting to add any toppings until shortly before serving. Here a few easy ideas:

• whipped cream
• whipped topping
• chopped nuts
• mini chocolate chips
• maraschino cherries (well drained and patted dry)
• sprinkles
• small candies such as mini m&ms
• small cookies or wafers split in half
• mint sprigs

How Long are Pudding Shots Good For?

You can keep these pudding shots covered in the refrigerator for several days , up to a week. I was still eating this batch 5 days in and noticed no difference in quality than when I first made them. However, if you garnish with whipped cream or sprinkles, they will melt over time so best to garnish right before serving.

4.63 from 8 votes

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Pistachio Pudding Shots

Pistachio pudding shots are perfect for year round and work great for a St. Patrick's Day dessert option. Serve them up in your favorite shot glasses or keep it simple with small plastic cups with lids. Boozy desserts are a fun way to celebrate any occasion with adults!

Course Dessert

Keyword baileys, boozy desserts, jello shots, no bake, no bake dessert, pistachio, pudding, pudding shots, St. Patrick's Day, vodka

Prep Time 10 minutes

Chill Time 1 hour

Servings 12

Author Emilie

Ingredients

• 1 pkg (3.4 oz) Jell-O Pistachio Instant Pudding
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vodka
• 1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur such as Bailey's
• 1 1/2 cups whipped topping (Cool Whip) thawed
• additional whipped cream sprinkles, chopped pistachios for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, whisk milk, pistachio pudding, Irish cream liqueur, vodka for two minutes. Fold in whipped topping.

2. Spoon the mixture into 2.25 oz shot glasses or disposable 2.5 oz plastic cups with lids.

3. Refrigerate until fully set, approximately 1 hour.

4. Garnish with whipped cream, sprinkles and/or chopped pistachios before serving.

Recipe Notes

Other garnish ideas include mini chocolate chips, maraschino cherries (rinsed and patted dry), mini cookies or wafers (cut in half), finely chopped candy

That is all there is to making pistachio pudding shots! If you make them, let me know what you think.

Looking for more St. Patrick’s Day boozy desserts?

Try these fun boozy St. Patrick’s Day desserts to celebrate any adult occasion! (Why limit it to March 17th only, am I right? *wink*)

• Bailey’s Brownies
• Guinness Chocolate Cake with Irish Buttercream
• Bailey’s Cupcakes
• Irish Raisin Bread Pudding with Bailey’s Sauce
• Boozy Shamrock Shake Cupcakes