Smooth and delicate Matcha Pudding is a beautiful dessert to enjoy any time of day. Triple-layered with Japanese red bean paste, matcha powder, and creamy milk, this delicious green tea pudding is super easy to make at home.
Throughout the year I receive many requests for Japanese desserts, especially with matcha (green tea) as an ingredient. I hope this Matcha Pudding (抹茶プリン) will satisfy some of the readers’ cravings. The Japanese enjoy this dessert all year round, and it’s a perfect little sweet to end a meal.
Easy Matcha Pudding Recipe
This pudding dessert is very easy to make. As long as you have a few hours before guests come, you can quickly make it and still have enough time to chill the pudding in the fridge. It requires just a few ingredients and if you never made pudding desserts before, this is a perfect one to try.
The way I make it results in 3 different layers so it’s quite pretty. The very bottom layer is Japanese anko (red bean paste), the soft bean texture of the red beans contrasts really well with the smooth pudding.
As the pudding settles, the heavy red beans stay at the bottom. The middle layer is created by green tea powder settling, resulting in a darker color and more intense flavor than the top layer. As you scoop your spoon through the different layers, you enjoy both the delicate texture a well as the aromatic green tea with sweet red bean in one bite.
Use Gelatin Sheet for Matcha Pudding
As I mentioned in the Orange Jelly post, I’ve been using gelatin sheets (or gelatin leaf) since I can’t stand the gelatin powder’s strong smell. The strong smell ruins the taste and smell of the desserts or the dishes it’s used in. The brand of gelatin sheet that I like is this PerfectaGell from Amazon.
The gelatin sheets are very thin and almost translucent. Each sheet is 2.5 grams and there are 20 sheets in the package.
The best part about these gelatin sheets is there is almost no smell at all (at least for me). The instructions are also very easy so if you have been reluctant to make jelly because of the awful gelatin powder smell, definitely try the gelatin sheets!
Ever since I started using gelatin sheets, I’m really enjoying making pudding and jelly desserts that I was hesitant to make before.
If you’re vegetarian or vegan, you can use Kanten powder which is plant-based. In general, 1 tsp gelatin powder gelatin is about the same as ½ tsp kanten powder.
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Matcha Pudding
Ingredients
- 1½ Tbsp matcha (green tea powder) (1 Tbsp matcha powder weighs 6 g)
- 2 gelatin sheets (or use 5 g gelatin powder; I highly recommend PerfectaGell gelatin sheets, which are nearly odorless and available on Amazon; see the blog post for how to use kanten powder for vegetarian)
- 2 Tbsp hot water
- 1¼ cups whole milk
- ¼ cup sugar (4 Tbsp)
- 3 Tbsp sweet red bean paste (anko)
- whipped cream (optional)
Instructions
- Before You Start…Please note that this recipe requires 2 hours of chilling time.Gather all the ingredients.
- Sift 1½ Tbsp matcha (green tea powder) through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl. If you have a chasen (bamboo tea whisk), you can whisk the powder in the sieve so there will be no green tea powder left inside. Set aside.
- If you are using gelatin sheets, cut 2 gelatin sheets into thin ½-inch (1.3-cm) strips in a separate medium bowl. Please use a heat-resistant bowl as we will dissolve the gelatin using a double boiler (Step 2). If you are using gelatin powder, put 5 g gelatin powder in a medium bowl. Once the gelatin sheet/powder is in the bowl, pour 2 Tbsp hot water and mix.
- In a small saucepan, bring roughly ½ cup water to a simmer and place the bowl of gelatin mixture over the saucepan. The steam will immediately warm up the glass bowl and start dissolving the gelatin. Once dissolved, remove from the heat and set aside.
- Pour 1¼ cups whole milk into a small saucepan and bring it to a near boil. When you see small bubbles around the edge of the saucepan, turn off the heat.
- Add ¼ cup sugar (4 Tbsp) to the milk and whisk well to dissolve the sugar.
- Add 3 Tbsp of the milk mixture into the sifted green tea powder. Whisk with a chasen or small whisk until the mixture is silky smooth and you don’t see any lumps of dry green tea powder left—very important!
- Pour the green tea mixture into the milk mixture and whisk it together. If you blended the powder well in the previous step, this step should be easy and the matcha mixture should combine smoothly with the milk.
- Add the gelatin liquid to the green tea mixture and whisk well.
- Put 3 Tbsp sweet red bean paste (anko) in a medium bowl and pour a small amount of the green tea mixture into the red bean paste. Combine well. The green tea mixture will loosen up the anko. Divide and add the red bean and green tea mixture to each serving cup.
- Pour the green tea mixture on top. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Once the pudding has solidified, add whipped cream on top and sprinkle with matcha powder to decorate. Serve chilled.
To Store
- You can store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
- 1 sheet gelatin = 2–3 g gelatin powder, or approximately 1 tsp
- 3½ sheets gelatin = approximately 1 envelope Knox gelatin
- 4 sheets gelatin = approximately 1 Tbsp gelatin powder
- 1 tsp gelatin powder = ½ tsp kanten powder
- 1 tsp gelatin powder = 1 tsp agar powder
Hello! Would you have a suggestion on what one could use if allergic to dairy? Thank you.
Hello, Kate. Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe.
You may use oat milk or soy milk if you like. We hope this helps!
The green tea mixture were all mixed into the heavy cream, how do I have save a portion to mix with the red bean to create two layers or else there wont be two colors? Thanks
Hello, Karina. Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe!
You can follow Nami’s recipe in steps 10 and 11. As the pudding settles, the heavy red beans sink to the bottom. The middle layer is formed by green tea powder settling, resulting in a deeper color, while the top layer is milky in color. There is no need to construct two levels; it will happen naturally! It’s incredible! We hope you like it!
this is now my favorite gelatin dessert! So easy to make and taste sooooo good!!! I put them in little glass jars so that i can grab one easily. Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Hi agnes, Aww. We are so happy to hear that this is now your favorite gelatin dessert!
Thank you so much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback.💞
Hi Namiko
I tried your recipe but does not show layers like in your picture. What did I do wrong?
Hi, Yani. Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe!
Did you use gelatin sheets? The layers formed naturally due to the density of the ingredients. If you used a different product, it might not work. We hope this helps!
I had this wonderful dessert in Japan. There was a very thin layer of some kind of paste (something like marzipan) draped over the top. Do you know what it was?
Hi Nami,
This dessert is delicious, thank you for sharing it!
It’s perfect for hot summers. I plan to make it again in a few weeks for my girlfriends, but they’re both lactose intolerant. Would soy milk work instead of whole milk? I’ve had matcha lattes with soy milk so I’m hoping it would be fine, what are your thoughts?
Hi Sherie! So glad you liked this recipe. Yes, you can use soy milk or lactose-free milk. 🙂
I’ve been making kanten-textured desserts for many years, as a less-expensive substitute for mail-order items or those purchased in specialty shops using the basic recipe on Knox-brand gelatin i.e. Knox Blox. Over the years, the generic store brand has proven a reasonable substitute.
When my babies were small, and quite underweight compared to their American counterparts, it was a clever way to provide more egg and milk, and I used less added sweetening agents favoring fresh fruit in season.
This year I’m making pumpkin gelatin with a combination of plain yogurt for the bacteria and lemon-flavored goop, pumpkin pie spices, a little creamer from Burger King to make a little rich flavor and canned pumpkin mash. In addition, my son asked for Tea Jell-O which really is yokan sweetened with a bit of honey. I used oolong tea for a stronger flavor. I don’t have any bean paste on hand right now.
One time I made yokan with mashed (and hull removed) lima beans and a bit of lime Jell-O for flavor and color in addition to the unflavored gelatin packets. I had to cook the lima beans quite a while for the particular texture of unnk (sp?) and to try to remove any hint of saltiness. (I don’t recall if I was using frozen or canned lima beans.)
When my sons were in youth orchestra, they took turns bringing refreshments during the break in the three-hour long rehearsals, and when it was my son’s turn I made yokan cut-out in the shapes of violins, tubas, and other musical instruments. I was surprised that hardly any was consumed (all the more for us!), and speculated that I’d made it with blackberry yogurt. Perhaps the random blackberry seeds were a turn-off. We live in an international town, so it probably wasn’t all that unusual, though, the next time we brought bags of Lay’s corn chips and Oreos and it seemed there weren’t any left.
Anyway, I went to this site to see what else was in the authentic recipe for yokan, and have been delighted to see this variety of desserts. I think I will surprise my husband! Though, after all these years in the USA he has developed diabetes (too many Bavarian cream doughnuts, he says, but I think that the stresses he faces is a major contributor since he is always very energetic and not overweight). In any case, we’ve adapted our diet to contain very little sweetening agents and use fruits for flavoring or generic Jell-O powders. It doesn’t really take a whole lot of sugar to sweeten a food if your sense of taste has adapted over time to less. (We have never used the other sugar substitutes –other than honey, because there are so many it’s hard to adapt to their varying chemical taste.)
Hi Mrs Nakajima! Thank you for writing! Wow, I can imagine your family enjoyed so many creative sweets you made! Some Japanese sweets are sweet, but probably not to the same extent as American sweets (we can’t eat typical American cakes or sweets sold in supermarkets etc). But we also don’t have the custom to eat “dessert” after the meal (we typically serve fresh fruits after dinner, and cakes and sweets are for 3 Oclock “snack time”).
I really enjoyed reading about your creative desserts. I’m going to suggest my friend whose kid is in the orchestra for making yokan cut out in the shape of instruments. Such a great idea!
Hi, i was looking for houjicha jelly recipe and this looks simple enough to make. Just to be sure, if i were to use kanten it would be 1 to 1 substitute for gelatin powder right? In this recipe, it means 5g of kanten.
Gelatin of any form is pricey in this country but kanten/agar is dirt cheap. I often have issues w/ gelatin not dissoving properly.
Thanks for the wonderful recipe
Hi Ima! Yes, it’s 1 to 1 substitute. But one thing to note. Kanten/agar and gelatin is set very differently. Gelatin would be wobbly when you shake, but kanten is more solid. It’s less wobbly. So to resemble gelatin-like texture, you may need to use less. You can slowly adjust the amount according to the texture you like. I like using gelatin sheet as it’s very easy to use and not smelly. 🙂
Can I use light milk instead of full cream milk?
Hi Joyce! Sure, it’ll be lighter in flavor/texture. 🙂
Hi Nami,
If I use cooked red beans instead of the paste, do I need to do anything diffetent?
Thanks for replying! -Ann
Hi Ann! What do you mean by cooked red beans? Are they sweetened red beans? You can definitely add in the pudding but if they aren’t paste, it’ll be more like a decoration (beans in the jelly). Which seems okay to me. Red bean pastes are sweet, so I adjusted the recipe accordingly. If your red beans are not so sweet, you could maybe increase the amount of sugar for the pudding. 🙂
How long will this last in the refridgerator for?
Hi Irene! Probably 3 days or so. 🙂
Hi Nami! Thanks for sharing your recipes. I’m dying to make this delicious and delicate dessert (I got the gelatin sheets you recommend), but I would like to know if I can replace the whole milk with almond milk … will it solidify well? Love all your recipes!
Oh, never mind… I saw someone else asked the same question. I’l try it then!
Well… it didn’t work. The pudding never solidified even after a whole day in the fridge, and I carefully followed all the steps. I guess I’ll try again with whole milk.
Hi Aura! I looked into it and almond milk should work with gelatin. I think it is not related to the milk part but maybe gelatin wasn’t prepared right. What type of gelatin did you use?
Oops, sorry you already mentioned that you got the gelatin sheets. Maybe was the gelatin bloomed properly? Try to see why it didn’t solidify…
I double boiled the 2 sheets, and almost boiled the almond milk as you showed. Really can’t say what could go wrong… I tried with another recipe that asks for gelatin powder, but also used almond milk and it didn’t set. That’s why I think the almond milk is the culprit 🙁
Hi Aura! Thank you for letting me know. I’ll try with almond milk when I get a chance. Thank you for letting me know. Hope regular milk one will work for you next time. 🙂
Hi , I wanted to ask if you know the recipe for a egg custard pudding jelly that they used in boba tea and in chinese birthday cake filling ?
Hi Peggy! Hmmm… I like boba but I drink very old fashion or standard way… sorry I’m not sure Chinese birthday cake filling either. Maybe if I see it I might know what you’re talking about? Sorry I can’t be much of help here.
Hi Nami,
Thanks for these great Japanese recipes. I am vegetarian, can you suggest an alternative to geletin sheets in this green tea pudding recipe?
Thank you
Mandy
Hi Mandy! I mentioned in the blog post:
If you’re vegetarian or vegan, you can use Kanten (agar agar) which is a seaweed/plant based. In general, 1 tsp. powder gelatin is about the same as 1 tsp. agar/kanten powder.
Hope that helps! 🙂
Will the texture of the pudding still the same if I replaced gelatin sheet with agar-agar powder?
Hi Wei Lee! Actually, gelatin and agar agar (kanten) are different in texture. Gelatin is more wobbly but agar agar tends to stay in shape and not so wobbly. 🙂