Vegan Banana Pudding

This vegan banana pudding is a sweet, creamy, dairy-free take on a classic Southern treat. Vegan vanilla pudding layered with bananas and vegan vanilla cookies, with a dollop of dairy-free whipped topping to round it off. Dress it up in individual servings or make a big bowl for yourself.

🍌 What Makes This Recipe So Good

• This homemade, Southern-style vegan banana pudding is so simple to make, and you don’t need any instant pudding packets to do it!
• It’s a fantastic make-ahead dessert option. The pudding needs at least 3 hours in the fridge to set up, but you can make it as many as 3 days before you need it!
• This can be a beautiful, elegant, neatly-layered dessert, or it can be a fun, casual, eat-it-straight-out-of-the-bowl dessert. It’s up to you! Trust me, it’s delicious either way.

Key Ingredients

Whipped Topping – Any kind of store-bought dairy-free whipped topping will work here! I used a container of Cocowhip I found in the freezer section at my grocery store. Alternately, you can chill a can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight, then use the thick coconut cream that forms on top as your whipped topping.

Maple Syrup – This is my sweetener of choice for vegan pudding, but you can use any liquid or granulated sweetener you like! For a vegan sugar-free sweetener, try erythritol.

Bananas – Since this is a Southern-style vegan banana pudding, the pudding itself isn’t banana-flavored – it’s vanilla! That’s why fresh bananas are super important. Without them you’ve just got vegan vanilla pudding. Use bananas that aren’t overripe. You don’t want them to be mushy!

👩🏼‍🍳 Chef’s Tips

• Instead of serving this pudding layered like a trifle, you can make it a chilled vegan banana pudding pie! Take a vegan pie crust, layer slices of bananas on the bottom, then top it off with the banana pudding.
• Wait until you’re ready to assemble your pudding layers before you peel and slice the bananas. They’ll start to brown when they’re exposed to air, so slicing them too early will affect the texture and the presentation.
• Traditional Southern-style banana pudding is made with Nilla wafers. If you have trouble finding vegan vanilla wafers, though, use any vegan vanilla cookies you like. You can also make this with vegan graham crackers instead.

🌱 Other Vegan Recipes You Should Try

• The Best Avocado Chocolate Mousse
• Vegan Key Lime Pie
• Crispy Vegan Chicken Sandwich
• Vegan Cottage Cheese
• The BEST Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Vegan Biscuits and Gravy
• Easy Vegan Lemon Curd (Dairy Free, Egg Free)
• Vegan Crème Brûlée
• 4 Ways to Make Seitan