Banana Pudding is a creamy no-bake dessert ready in 10 minutes. With layers of flavor, it’s perfect for parties or a tasty weeknight treat.
Homemade Banana Pudding is an easy Pudding recipe that’s perfect for a quick weeknight treat. Just like the creamy Chocolate Pudding and Vanilla Pudding this dessert is incredibly popular and a delicious sweet treat for any occasion!
Sabrina’s Banana Pudding Recipe
The classic dessert is great to serve at a party in a beautiful glass bowl, or just to serve up to your family for a delicious no-bake dessert. This easy no-bake dessert is the perfect sweet treat that is ready in 10 minutes. You can serve them individually as pre-made portions, or all in one dish for self serving. Everyone will love it’s light refreshing flavor.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 5 ounces package instant vanilla pudding mix
- 2 cups cold milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 16 ounces Nilla wafers
- 8 bananas , sliced
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl add vanilla pudding mix and milk, whisking until smooth, about 3 minutes.
- Add in condensed milk and vanilla extract and whisk until creamy and smooth.
- Add heavy cream to stand mixer and whip to stiff peaks, about 3-4 minutes.
- Fold heavy cream into pudding mixture.
- Layer a serving dish with bananas, wafers, and pudding as desired, then chill for 2 hours before serving.
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Nutrition
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Note from Sabrina
You don’t want the bananas to be too old before you use them. Once the bananas start to have their first few brown spots, it’s the perfect time to make the pudding and get the best banana flavor.
Table of contents
About This Recipe
Old fashioned banana pudding is also the perfect way to use up extra bananas just like with Banana Bread. it is an amazing comfort food that doesn’t require a lot of work. The simple ingredients like vanilla pudding, banana slices, and Nilla wafers come together in no time. This entire recipe is ready in just 10 minutes, then all you have to do is let it set in the fridge before serving. And since this pudding is made with an instant pudding mix, you don’t even need to use your stove!
Key Ingredients
- Milk: Milk acts as the base liquid ingredient that you’ll eventually mix all the other simple ingredients into. Using whole milk creates the creamiest pudding mixture.
- Vanilla Extract: Wait to add the vanilla until you’re done cooking. You’ll mix the extract in along with the butter to flavor the dish before refrigerating. The vanilla gives the pudding its flavor, while the butter enhances the richness of the recipe. Together they create a more indulgent and complex dessert out of this simple recipe.
Can this be made ahead of time?
Yes, this dessert is perfect to make a few days in advance. Once the pudding has been made, cover it in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge. Then, whenever people want a sweet snack they can just get it right from the fridge. You can also prep this ahead of time for a party or event.
Pairing Suggestions
No matter when you’re serving it, the fresh bananas, wafer cookies, and creamy pudding are sure to be a hit. For an even richer flavor, try adding a generous layer of whipped topping to the traditional banana pudding. Stabilized Whipped Cream or Cool Whip would both taste amazing as a topping.
How to Store
- Serve: Don’t leave pudding at room temperature for more than 2 hours. Keep it lightly covered when not actively being served.
- Store: Cover the dish in plastic wrap or put the pudding in an airtight container to store in the fridge. It will stay good for 3 days.
- Freeze: To make the pudding in advance put it in an airtight container. You can keep it in the freezer for up to two weeks. Take it out a day before serving and set it in the fridge to allow it to thaw.
Ideas to Serve
- Wine Goblets: Layer the pudding, bananas, and whipped cream in a clear wine goblet or other clear cup that is stemless. This is a great way to showcase the various layers of pudding. You can get disposable clear plastic cups from the store that can easily be thrown out.
- Serving Dish: This recipe is using the standard porcelain serving dish that guests can scoop from. This is a great way to serve your pudding without having to worry about any accidents from glass cups.
- Trifle Bowl: A trifle bowl is great for a pretty representation if you’re serving it at a party. It looks like a very large wine glass so you can see all the layers.
Frequent Questions
Instead of vanilla wafer cookies, you can use different kinds of crisp, buttery cookies for the layer of cookies. You can also sprinkle wafer crumbs over the top of the pudding instead of just layering whole cookies.
Instead of this traditional pudding, you can add some tang with cream cheese. Combine ¾ cups softened, whipped cream cheese with the pudding mixture in place of the heavy cream. The pudding cream cheese mixture makes a delicious, thick cheesecake pudding.
Ultimately, browning bananas that have just been cut are safe to eat. They just won’t look as fresh as they can be. Browning is a natural process that happens when the banana is exposed to the air. You can mitigate this issue by coating the cut banana slices with a little bit of citrus juice from pineapples, oranges, lemons, or limes. This will be especially useful for the top layer if the Banana Pudding is being served at an open party where the appetizers will be sitting out throughout the night. This is why many people will use single serve clear cups which help maintain the bright and vibrant yellow color.
Variations
- Chocolate Banana Pudding: You can use a chocolate pudding mixture instead of vanilla in the recipe. To add to the chocolate banana treat, drizzle Chocolate Ganache over the top of the pudding before serving.
- Caramelized Banana Pudding: You can make delicious caramelized bananas to layer in this recipe. Combine ¼ cup butter, ½ cup brown sugar, and ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon with the slices of banana in a saucepan. Cook for 3 minutes until you have slightly caramelized bananas.
- Cinnamon Whipped Cream for this recipe: For an optional topping try making Cinnamon Whipped Cream. To make Fluffy Cinnamon Cool Whip just mix 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon into your whipped cream or cool whip recipe.
- Fruit: Along with the sliced bananas, try adding other fruits into the layer like blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries. These will give a fun and delightful twist to this classic dish.
Related Recipes
More Tasty Banana Desserts
Photos used in previous version of this post
Will it be fine with 2oz less pudding mix? I bought two family size Jello packets and realize it’s not enough for 5oz.
Sorry to respond so late. How did the Banana Pudding turn out?
Could you use cool whip instead of the heavy cream? Is it sorta the same or no?
It wouldn’t hold the consistency and would change the flavor so I wouldn’t suggest it.
Delicious! Creamy and oh so yummy!
Love this recipe. It’s close to what my Nana used to make!
What size dish would you recommend? By the way this recipe looks and sounds tasty. Can’t wait to try it.
This is exactly what I was wondering too. ?????
My sister is a banana pudding snob and raved over this delicious dish. She actually told me she “needed” this recipe. IT. IS. DELICIOUS!
It makes enough to feed an army. We nicknamed it “The 50 Pound Pudding” because the dish was so heavily weighted with the yumminess! Not complaining though–usually such quick and easy recipes that are so good just aren’t big enough to last more than a day.
Thank you for another winner, Sabrina!!!
PS Can’t wait for your cookbook to arrive!
Thank you, Lonna! So glad it was received so well. And thank you for your support!
Is the white stuff on this whipped cream? I’m new to baking and not sure what it is
Its a heavy cream mixture, not exactly whipped cream but close.
I haven’t made banana pudding in years and my husband loves it. Thanks for the inspiration.
You’re welcome.