Vegan Banana Pudding – Nora Cooks

This is the best vegan banana pudding! It has everything you love about classic Southern-style desserts, including decadent vegan pudding, vanilla wafer cookies, banana slices, and whipped cream.

The classic banana pudding recipe first appeared in an 1888 issue of Good Housekeeping. It was made with custard layering over sponge cake and freshly sliced ​​bananas, then finished with a whipped cream topping. This sweet and creamy dessert hasn’t changed much from all these years ago because it’s so delicious!

These days, we can easily make a delicious vegan banana pudding with a few simple substitutions. My dairy free version is like a banana cream pie-flavored tiramisu. It’s layered with homemade vegan vanilla pudding, store-bought vegan vanilla wafer cookies, homemade whipped cream (or store-bought), and of course, bananas.

Why you’ll love this recipe

• Creamy, rich and sweet: True to the traditional banana pudding recipe, this non-dairy banana pudding is a multi-layered trifle-style dessert. Each bite is rich and creamy but beautifully sweetened by the banana and vegan vanilla pudding.
• An easy no-bake dessert: Turn to this recipe when you need a low-effort but crowd-pleasing vegetarian dessert that fits any occasion.
• It is customizable: Change the cookie layer and add custom toppings to make this banana pudding your own.

Necessary ingredients

• zinc sugar – Feel free to use coconut sugar. I haven’t tested this recipe with a liquid sweetener like maple syrup.
• Cornstarch – To help thicken the pudding. You may be able to use arrowroot as an alternative.
• salt
• i am milk – You can use any type of dairy free milk you like, but make sure it is not sweetened. Feel free to use almond, cashew, or oat milk as an alternative.
• Vegan butter
• Vanilla extract – This is what gives vegan pudding its signature, balanced vanilla flavor.
• banana – Save blemished ripe bananas for banana cake or banana bread. The bananas you use for this recipe should be just ripe and easy to cut into hard rounds.
• Vegan vanilla wafers – I used 365 brand organic vanilla wafer cookies. They are naturally vegetarian-friendly but not gluten-free. You may have to shop around for gluten-free and vegan vanilla wafers, but it looks like the HomeFree brand makes a vanilla wafer cookie worth checking out.
• Vegan Whipped Cream – My heavy whipping cream substitute is my favorite vegan whipped cream here because it’s rich, yet light and fluffy. If you don’t want to use this, you can use homemade coconut whipped cream, aquafaba whipped cream, or store-bought vegan whipped cream.

How to Make Vegan Banana Pudding

Find the full recipe with measurements on the recipe card below.

It’s good to start this recipe with vegan vanilla pudding. To start, whisk sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Gradually stir in the milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.

Continue cooking and stirring as the pudding begins to boil. You’ll know it’s ready when the consistency starts to thicken (it will get thicker as it cools).

Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the vegan butter and vanilla. Now that it is smooth, you can set the pudding aside.

To assemble, line the bottom of a deep baking dish with a layer of vanilla wafers followed by a layer of banana slices. Pour half the pudding over the top. Repeat with second layer of wafers, bananas and remaining pudding.

Cover the dish with plastic and refrigerate to chill.

Once the banana pudding has cooled and set, top with whipped cream of your choice (I like to use a lot!) Crumble a few more wafers on top, garnish with extra banana slices, and dig in!

Tips and variations

• I made this recipe in a deep 2 or 2.5 quart dish. You can use any other deep dessert dish you already have at home or, for a stunning presentation, layer it on a trifle instead. For individual servings, assemble the dessert in dessert glasses or small mason jars.
• Don’t skip cold weather. The assembled dessert should be chilled in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours, but leaving it overnight always gives the best results. At this point, the pudding will thicken and all the flavors will marry together.
• Wait for the banana to slice Because they are Starts browning on exposure to air. Wait until you’re ready to assemble to start slicing them.
• If you can’t find vanilla wafer cookies, Use vegan graham crackers, vanilla sandwich cookies or shortbread cookies.
• Have fun with the toppings. Once the banana pudding is fully set and smothered in whipped cream, finish with dark chocolate shavings, shredded coconut, peanut butter, hazelnut spread, caramel sauce, and anything else you like.

Frequently Asked Questions

Want more no-bake vegetarian desserts?