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!

Perfect for spring and summer, you can bring this pistachio cream pie to a BBQ, potluck, or its pretty pale pastel green color is lovely for Easter or Mother’s Day!

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(Updated January 30, 2023 with new photos)

Creamy desserts are one of my family’s favorites! There’s something about the light and fluffy sweet cream paired with a slight bit of crunch from cookies or graham crackers that makes them so appealing!

From heavenly chocolate Oreo cream layered dessert, to creamy peanut butter pie, to decadent speculoos tiramisu and more, no bake desserts are something the entire family enjoys.

I recently made a batch of pistachio bread, but I had accidentally bought extra pistachio pudding (oh darn!).

I thought about making one of our favorite pistachio pudding dessert recipes, such as pistachio cookies, pistachio cake, pistachio ooey gooey butter cake, pistachio cupcakes, or pistachio banana bread.

There’s also the option of pistachio ice cream, retro pistachio fluff, pistachio sheet cake, or pistachio cranberry bread or pistachio whoopie pies (decisions, decisions, right?!).

But I ultimately decided instead to put the box of instant pudding mix to good use by making a pistachio pudding cream pie.

What is Pistachio Cream Pie?

Have you ever had pistachio ambrosia salad? Some people refer to it as Watergate salad. But it’s essentially some pistachio pudding with whipped cream, fruit, nuts, and marshmallows mixed it.

It was always a staple at our church potlucks growing up, and that’s what initially inspired me to make a pie with the pistachio pudding mix.

I opted not to use fruit, marshmallows, or extra nuts in the pie, just to keep things simple. But you could totally add those in if you wanted to!

The resulting pie was light and fluffy, perfectly creamy, and a lovely pale shade of pastel green. In short–it was a success!

Because of it’s pretty hue, I think this cake is perfect for spring holidays such as St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, or a baby shower.

But it would be great at Chrismtas, too!

If you want a firmer, more tangy dessert, try my no-bake pistachio cheesecake recipe!

More Creamy Pie Recipes:

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

How to Make Pistachio Cream Pie with Pudding Mix

It’s so easy to make this pistachio cream pie! With a handful of ingredients, this pie comes together in a matter of minutes.

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

• Ready-made graham cracker crust
• Instant pistachio pudding mix (this gives delicious pistachio flavor!)
• Milk
• Cream cheese
• Unsalted butter
• Powdered sugar
• Whipped topping (such as Cool Whip)
• Optional: Crunchy pistachios, maraschino cherries, or whipped cream for garnish

How to Make this No Bake Pie:

Mix the pudding. You’ll start by mixing the pudding mix and cold milk for a couple of minutes, until smooth and beginning to thicken.

Beat cream cheese mixture. In another bowl, using a hand mixer on medium speed (or a stand mixer), beat together some softened cream cheese, softened butter, and powdered sugar. This will form a thick frosting-like mixture.

Prepare the filling. Mix together the pudding mixture with the cream cheese mixture

Add whipped topping. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold in the whipped topping, mixing until no green and white streaks remain, but it’s a pale green color.

Fill the crust. Pour the filling into a graham cracker pie crust. I most often use a store-bought crust, but you can make your own in a pie plate if you’d prefer.

Refrigerate. Chill the pie for at least a few hours to allow it to set up a bit more.

Garnish, if desired. As an optional step, you can pipe some whipped cream around the edge or sprinkle with chopped pistachios. Some people like to add a maraschino cherry on top!

Serve and enjoy!

Notes and Adaptations for Making Pistachio Pudding Pie:

• The filling for this pie is supposed to be very creamy and soft. It does set up some in the refrigerator after chilling, but it does not set up to be super firm. We like it that way, but just know that if yours is still soft and creamy after chilling, that’s how it should be!
• I used a store bought graham cracker crust, but you can always make your own if you prefer. You could also use an Oreo crust!
• If you prefer to make this as a pistachio ambrosia pie, you can add in marshmallows, crushed pineapple, and extra nuts (such as chopped walnuts, pecans, or pistachios). In that case, I’d recommend using a 20-oz can of crushed pineapple. Gently mix the pineapple and its juice with the dry pudding mix (in lieu of milk) as well as the whipped topping. Once that’s combined, add in 1-2 cups of mini marshmallows and 1/2-1 cup of chopped nuts, depending on how chunky you want the filling to be.

Be sure to pin this to your dessert board on Pinterest!