Banana Pudding Recipe – Girls Can Grill

Every time I make this banana pudding recipe, people tell me it’s the best banana pudding they’ve ever tasted. And the recipe is so easy!

Banana pudding made from scratch involves heating egg yolks with milk and vanilla and getting everything to the right consistency without curdling. It can be a little tricky.

Good news! You don’t have to do any of that with this banana pudding and nilla wafers recipe. This is one of those easy recipes that you can whip up with just a few steps, using boxed pudding mix and cool whip.

What is banana pudding

Surprisingly, the base of classic banana pudding is actually vanilla pudding. It’s the layering in of freshly sliced bananas that gives it the banana flavor.

Well, I love bananas, so this recipe uses both vanilla pudding and banana pudding, plus sliced bananas.

This recipe is inspired by the world famous Magnolia Bakery recipe. They mix sweetened condensed milk and whipped cream into the pudding to make it rich, light and airy.

Ingredients

• Sweetened Condensed Milk: Look for this in the baking aisle. It comes in cans. Be sure not to buy evaporated milk. That’s different.
• Cold Water
• Milk: For the richest flavor, use whole milk.
• Vanilla: You can use vanilla extract or vanilla paste.
• Instant Pudding Mixes: I like using one box of instant vanilla pudding mix and one box of instant banana pudding mix. This recipe calls for the smaller 3.4-ounce box.
• Cool Whip: When I’m in a rush, I use thawed Cool Whip. If you have more time, you can whip up your own whipped cream.
• Vanilla Wafers: An 11-ounce box is perfect. You’ll need about 30 cookies for the bottom layer, 30 for the middle layer and 15-20 crushed cookies for the top.
• Bananas: You’ll need 4-5 large bananas or 6-8 medium bananas.

Substitutions: Instead of vanilla wafers, you can also use shortbread cookies, chessman cookies or graham crackers. 

See the full recipe card below for servings and a full list of ingredients.

How to make banana pudding

To start, get a really large mixing bowl. This is going to make a big batch of pudding, so you can serve up a crowd.

1. STEP ONE: In a large bowl, whisk together a can of sweetened condensed milk, cold water, whole milk and vanilla. You want it to be nice and smooth.

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2. STEP TWO: Add the vanilla and banana pudding mix powder and whisk for about two minutes. It will start to thicken. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

3. STEP THREE: Using a rubber spatula, fold the thawed Cool Whip into the pudding, until it’s all one color. You don’t want to see any yellow streaks of pudding.

PRO TIP: You can do this part up to five days in advance. Then, move onto the next step the day you're ready to serve the pudding. 

You may have some pudding leftover. Just save that for yourself as a treat.

PRO TIP: As an alternative, you can layer the ingredients into cupcake liners to make banana pudding cups. These make for fun individual servings. 

How to serve banana pudding

Banana pudding and vanilla wafers are best served cold straight from the refrigerator. Simply remove the lid and then sprinkle with crushed vanilla wafer cookies.

This recipe makes a huge pan full, which is great for potlucks or backyard BBQ parties. Just place the dish on the table with a serving spoon. People will scoop out their serving and will come back for more.

For even more fruitiness and color, you can make banana pudding with strawberries on top. Just slice fresh strawberries and layer them on the pudding. Then, sprinkle on the crushed cookies.

If you want to turn this into banana cream pie, just layer the bottom of a graham cracker pie crust or baked pastry crust with bananas. Then, scoop the pudding on top and chill. Garnish with whipped cream and banana slices when ready to serve.

Storage

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. After that, the bananas may start to brown and the cookies will become more soggy.

If you need to make this in advance, you can make the pudding portion up to five days early. Then, layer everything the day you plan to serve it.