Easy No Bake Pistachio Cream Pie: A Cool and Creamy Dessert

Easy No Bake Pistachio Cream Pie

Some desserts earn a permanent spot in my recipe box, and this Easy No Bake Pistachio Cream Pie is one of them. It is cool, creamy, and that soft pastel green makes everyone at the table smile before they even take a bite.

Best of all, there is no oven involved. You stir, you fold, you pour, and the refrigerator does the rest.

I first brought this pie to a neighborhood cookout, and I have been asked for the recipe at every gathering since. It uses a handful of everyday ingredients, takes about 5 minutes of hands on time, and needs at least 2 hours in the refrigerator to chill. It makes 10 servings, so it works beautifully for a crowd.

Pistachio cream pie is an easy no bake dessert made with pistachio pudding and a graham cracker crust, which makes for a cool and creamy treat!

If you love creamy desserts, this one is going to feel like an old friend. Pistachio cream pie skips the oven entirely.

You start with a prepared graham cracker crust, then pile in a filling made from pistachio pudding, cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and whipped topping. The result is light, fluffy, and rich all at once, with a little crunch from the crust underneath.

That pale pastel green color is the reason this pie shows up on so many tables in spring and summer.

this …

It fits BBQs, potlucks, Easter, and Mother’s Day, and it looks right at home next to a bowl of potato salad and a platter of burgers.

Honestly, I would eat it any month of the year, but there is something about a green dessert in warm weather that just works.

The recipe page was updated on January 30, 2023 with new photos, and the pie has been a reader favorite ever since.

Here is how it came together for me. I had some leftover pistachio pudding mix from another recipe, and this pie was the perfect way to use it up. My family could not stop going back for seconds.

The idea actually started with pistachio bread, which left extra pudding mix sitting in the pantry, and from there I started daydreaming about other pistachio desserts.

Cookies, cake, ooey gooey butter cake, cupcakes, banana bread, ice cream, fluff, sheet cake, cranberry bread, and whoopie pies all crossed my mind. In the end, a cool pistachio pudding cream pie won, because it was the easiest and the most refreshing.

What is Pistachio Cream Pie?

Pistachio cream pie takes its inspiration from pistachio ambrosia salad, the retro dessert many of us also know as Watergate salad. That classic mix brings together pistachio pudding, whipped cream, fruit, nuts, and marshmallows. It was a church potluck staple where I grew up, and it always disappeared fast.

This pie takes that same flavor and turns it into something sliceable. To keep things simple, it leaves out the fruit, the marshmallows, and the extra nuts. You can absolutely add them back if you want a chunkier filling, and there are notes on that below.

What you get instead is a dessert that is light, fluffy, and perfectly creamy, with that signature pale pastel green. The color alone makes it a natural fit for spring holidays like St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, or a baby shower. It also works for Christmas, where the green looks festive next to red and white treats.

If you want a firmer and slightly more tangy dessert, a no bake pistachio cheesecake is the way to go. It has a denser texture and a little more tang from the cream cheese. This cream pie is the softer, dreamier option.

If creamy pies are your thing, here are a few more to try:

• Caramel Cream Pie
• Vanilla Pudding Cream Pie
• Chocolate Dream Whip Pie
• Eggnog Ice Cream Pie
• Frozen Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

How to Make Pistachio Cream Pie with Pudding Mix

Good news. This pistachio cream pie uses just a handful of ingredients, and the whole thing comes together in minutes. There is no cooking, no custard to temper, and no oven to heat up. Once the filling is in the crust, the refrigerator does the heavy lifting.

Ingredients You’ll Need for this Pistachio Cream Pie Recipe:

Here is everything you need for the filling and the crust. Most of these items are pantry or refrigerator staples, which is part of why this pie is so easy to pull off on short notice.

• 1 prepared graham cracker crust
• 1 package (3.4 ounces) pistachio instant pudding mix
• 1 cup cold milk
• 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 8 ounces whipped topping, such as Cool Whip

For garnish, you can keep it simple or dress it up. Crunchy chopped pistachios, maraschino cherries, or a little extra whipped cream all look lovely on top. I usually pipe a ring of whipped cream around the edge and scatter pistachios over the middle, because it takes about a minute and makes the pie look bakery level.

How to Make this No Bake Pie:

The filling comes together in two bowls, then they meet in one. I like to get everything measured before I start, because once the mixer is running, this moves quickly.

1. Start with the pudding. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the pudding mix and the cold milk at low speed for 2 minutes, until it begins to thicken slightly. It will still look loose at this point, and that is exactly right.
2. Beat the creamy base. In a small mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together the cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar until it reaches the consistency of thick frosting. Give it a minute or two. You want it smooth, with no lumps of cream cheese left behind.
3. Combine the two mixtures. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and beat them together on medium high speed until smooth.
4. Fold in the whipped topping. Gently fold in the whipped topping with a rubber spatula, or mix on low speed, until the mixture is uniformly pale green with no white streaks. Folding rather than beating keeps the filling light and airy.
5. Fill the crust. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust and spread it evenly with the spatula.
6. Chill. Allow the pie to chill for at least 2 hours before serving. This is the step that turns a bowl of green fluff into neat, sliceable pieces.
7. Garnish if you like. Pipe whipped cream around the edges and sprinkle with chopped pistachios, or add a maraschino cherry on each slice.

One quick tip from my kitchen. When you fold in the whipped topping, stop as soon as the streaks disappear. Overmixing deflates the filling, and you lose that lovely fluffy texture.

Also, give the pie the full 2 hours in the refrigerator. I once tried to rush it at 45 minutes, and while it tasted great, it slid onto the plate instead of holding a clean slice.

In total, plan on about 5 minutes of prep and 2 hours of chilling, which adds up to roughly 2 hours and 5 minutes from start to serve.

Notes and Adaptations for Making Pistachio Pudding Pie:

A few things are worth knowing before you make this pie for the first time.

The filling is meant to be soft. This is a creamy, spoonable pie. It sets up some in the refrigerator, but it will not become super firm. If yours is still soft and creamy after chilling, that is how it should be. Serve it well chilled and use a sharp knife or a warm spoon for neat pieces.

The crust is flexible. A store bought graham cracker crust is the easiest route and it works great. If you prefer, a homemade graham cracker crust pressed into a pie plate is a lovely upgrade, and an Oreo crust is a fun twist that pairs really well with the pistachio flavor.

Want a pistachio ambrosia pie? You can turn this into the chunkier, fruit filled version. For that variation, use a 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple.

Gently mix the pineapple and its juice with the dry pudding mix in place of the milk, along with the whipped topping.

Once everything is combined, add 1 to 2 cups of mini marshmallows and 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped nuts, such as walnuts, pecans, or pistachios. Add more or less depending on how chunky you want the filling.

Keep it cold. Because the filling is soft and creamy, this pie is happiest straight from the refrigerator. I keep it chilled until the moment I set it on the table.

Here is the source nutrition per serving, based on 10 servings.

Recommended Equipment:

You do not need much here. An electric mixer, either a hand mixer or a stand mixer, does the work of beating the cream cheese mixture smooth.

Beyond that, a couple of mixing bowls, one large and one small, plus a rubber spatula for folding, will get you all the way to a finished pie. If you are making your own crust, you will also want a pie plate.

FAQs

No Bake Pistachio Cream Pie

---

• Total Time: 125 min
• Yield: 10 1x

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Description

Easy No Bake Pistachio Cream Pie Some desserts earn a permanent spot in my recipe box, and this Easy No Bake Pistachio Cream Pie is one of them. It is cool, creamy, and that soft pastel green makes everyone at the table smile before they even take a bite.

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

1 prepared graham cracker crust
1 package pistachio instant pudding mix
1 cup cold milk
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
8 oz whipped topping

---

Instructions

1-In a large mixing bowl, mix together: In a large mixing bowl, mix together pudding mix and cold milk at low speed for 2 minutes, until it begins to thicken slightly.
2-In a small mixing bowl, use an: In a small mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar until it is the consistency of thick frosting.
3-Add cream cheese mixture to the pudding: Add cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and beat together on medium-high speed until smooth.
4-Gently fold in (or mix on low: Gently fold in (or mix on low speed) the whipped topping, until the mixture is uniformly pale green with no white streaks.
5-Pour filling into prepared pie crust: Pour filling into prepared pie crust. Allow to chill for at least 2 hours before serving.
6-Optional: Optional: Garnish pie by piping whipped cream around the edges and/or sprinkling with chopped pistachios.

• Prep Time: 5 min
• Cook Time: 0 min
• Method: no_cook

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1
• Calories: 283
• Sugar: 14
• Sodium: 209
• Fat: 19
• Saturated Fat: 11
• Carbohydrates: 27
• Fiber: 0
• Protein: 3
• Cholesterol: 24

Keywords: Easy No Bake Pistachio Cream Pie, pistachio cream pie, pistachio pudding pie, no bake pistachio cream pie