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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
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Vegan Banana Pudding
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsweetened almond milk
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch or arrowroot starch
- 1 15-ounce can full-fat coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch turmeric optional, for color
- 1 9-ounce container vegan whipped topping divided, see Notes
- 4-5 medium bananas peeled, sliced into discs
- vegan vanilla cookies to taste
Equipment
- 2 small bowls
- whisk
- Small saucepan
- Refrigerator
- Serving dishes
Instructions
- In small bowl, whisk together almond milk and cornstarch until combined. Set aside.
- In small saucepan, heat coconut milk over medium heat. When hot, slowly whisk in almond milk/cornstarch mixture.
- Simmer until thickened, approximately 7 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Stir in vanilla, maple syrup, and salt. If adding turmeric for color, stir in here.
- Transfer mixture to bowl and let cool at room temperature 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, cover bowl and move it to refrigerator. Refrigerate 2 to 3 hours until set and thickened.
- Remove pudding from refrigerator. Stir in 1 cup of vegan whipped topping. Combine thoroughly.
- In dish(es) of choice, layer wafers, then bananas, then pudding. Repeat layers as needed. Top with remaining whipped topping and serve.
Notes
- Whipped Topping: I used So Delicious Dairy Free Original Cocowhip.
- Cookies: If you have trouble finding vegan vanilla wafers, you can use any vegan vanilla cookies you like. You can also make this with vegan graham crackers instead.
Nutrition Information
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
Hi
What do I use for whipped topping? I’m in Australia.
Hi there! Any vegan whipped topping or heavy cream option should work fine with this recipe! Hope this helps!
Hello, can you substitute the almond milk?
Oat milk would work well as a substitute!
Delicious my family loved it! I added a little bit of maple sugar to sweeten it a tad more.
Ooh, that sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing, Anna!
Very good! I think next time I would let it sit over night. Otherwise very easy to make and delicious
So glad you enjoyed it, Cassie!
Hello, on the coconut cream do I use all of it or am I skimming the top layer off and throw away the water?
Hi! This recipe doesn’t use coconut cream – you’ll need a can of coconut milk, and yes, you’ll use the entire can. It’s heated on the stovetop in step 2.
hi, can i remove the whipped topping ? i temporarily live in a foreign country and can’t find that ingredient. i’m actually making it now and will try withou for.. maybe add xanthan gum for thickening. let me know, thanks !!
Of course! If you’re able to find coconut cream (or coconut milk) you could whip the coconut cream with a hand mixer (or handheld whisk) for a quick dairy-free whipped cream.
This looks so good! Do you think I could substitute oat milk for the almond milk?
Sure thing!