A creamy homemade vegan banana pudding recipe you can make with just a few basic ingredients.
No tofu
No cashews
No eggs or heavy cream
And unlike many other quick banana pudding recipes you can find online, there’s also no Cool Whip and no instant vanilla pudding mix needed for this one.
You May Also Like: Vegan Brownies – reader favorite recipe
Here’s the chocolate version ➜ Healthy Chocolate Pudding
Banana Pudding Ingredients
The recipe can be made with just five ingredients, and it’s easily customizable.
Most granulated or liquid sweeteners will work here, and make sure to use pure vanilla extract, not imitation. The turmeric is completely optional, for color.
I chose non-gmo cornstarch to thicken the pudding, but it’s easy to make banana pudding without cornstarch if you prefer:
Simply use my recipe for Coconut Whipped Cream and blend in two bananas.
For the milk of choice, feel free to go with your personal favorite. Canned coconut milk will yield the richest and creamiest results, or I’ve also had success with soy or almondmilk.
Leftover banana? Make Banana Ice Cream or Healthy Banana Bread
Ways To Eat The Pudding
Serve this southern vegan banana pudding plain or with Vegan Nilla Wafers.
Or you can transfer the pudding to a pie shell and refrigerate until thick, for a quick and easy homemade banana pudding pie.
It’s great stirred into overnight oats or chia pudding, layered into a parfait glass with crushed graham crackers, or used in recipes that call for boxed banana pudding.
Try adding 2-3 tbsp of peanut butter, for peanut butter banana pudding!
Above, watch the vegan banana pudding recipe video
Vegan Banana Pudding
Ingredients
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 1/4 cup milk of choice
- sweetener of choice, such as 1 tbsp pure maple syrup or sugar, or pinch stevia
- 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot (or see substitution above)
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- optional 1/8 tsp turmeric for color
- optional 1 tbsp vegan butter or coconut butter, for richer taste
Instructions
- *You can also add 2-3 tbsp of peanut butter to turn it into a peanut butter banana pudding.In a small pot over medium heat, combine banana, sweetener, optional ingredients, and 1 cup of the milk of choice. Whisk the remaining 1/4 cup milk with the cornstarch. Once banana mixture is warm, whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Cook on low heat, whisking occasionally, until thick. Turn off heat and stir in vanilla. (If not eating right away, you can take it off the heat before it's thick, let cool, then refrigerate. The pudding will thicken considerably in the fridge.) If a smoother texture is desired, feel free to use a hand blender. Serve hot or cold.View Nutrition Facts
Notes
Have you made this recipe?
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More Healthy Fruit Recipes:
Theresa says
To. Deanne
From. Theresa
Nell Wadlington says
Every recipe looks delicious! I’m anxious to start making some, but can’t decide which one first!!!
Anya says
The video cuts off at the pudding in the pot on the stove and doesn’t show the layering process. 🙁
CCK Media Team says
It’s just the pudding layered with the vegan nilla wafers and coconut whipped cream linked in the post. Those are optional serving ideas, not part of the banana pudding recipe itself 🙂
Linda says
Correct indeed
Sandra says
Hello! Can’t wait to try this, but my question is could I leave out the bananas and this recipe turn out to be vanilla pudding. Could you tell me how to adjust this to be vanilla pudding, my daughter wants a trifle for her upcoming birthday…thank you in advance!
CCK Media Team says
Hmm sorry we honestly have never tried it so really can’t say how to turn it into vanilla. Maybe use this coconut whipped cream for the vanilla part (including the optional vanilla extract if desired)? https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/coconut-whipped-cream/
Lori says
I’m so excited to make this. I love banana pudding, but never eat eat because of the high fat content. Now I can enjoy this delicious treat again.
Casey says
I took it off the heat and it wasn’t super thick and I put it in the fridge overnight but it didn’t thicken too much. Is there a way to make it thicker? It taste great, so would like to enjoy it. Thank you!
CCK Media Team says
Hi, what specific ingredients did you use? Glad it tasted good!
Casey says
I used almond milk, butter, 2 bananas, Tumeric, corn starch, maple syrup and vanilla extract.
CCK Media Team says
Hmm, as long as your cornstarch is still good, perhaps it just needed to be cooked a little longer? Did you do the optional puree step at the end?
Michelle says
Just boil it longer, especially if your cornstarch is old. I used almond milk and it turned out very thick after just a few hours in the fridge.
It’s delicious!
CCK Media Team says
Just boil it longer until it thickens 🙂
RiaSunflower says
This was much better than I expected, a very nice pudding in fact. I used vegan custard powder for the starch since it contained natural vanilla flavouring, cornstarch, tumeric and annatto.
Thank you.
CCK Media Team says
Thank you so much for trying it!
RiaSunflower says
Opps turmeric. 🙂
Michelle says
This was so delicious! I used almond milk so it would be lower fat and calorie than coconut milk, but it was still very creamy and delicious!
beth says
Hi 🙂 I’m not sure that I understand how to substitute the whipped coconut cream for the cornstarch. Can I make this without the cornstarch?
Merci Bailey says
It was amazing! I will definitely be making again!
Elizabeth Hanson says
I have made this twice but with arrowroot powder. Tastes great! But unfortunately did not get thick… maybe it needs to be cornstarch.
Christina says
I made this and love it! Just had it warm, so not sure what the final consistency will be when cooled. I layered it with crushed vegan chocolate graham crackers and banana slices in little jars. My healthy-dessert-skeptic husband loved it too, which says a lot! Thanks for this recipe =)
Kelsey says
Yum! I love the strong banana flavor that is not fake like in boxed pudding. I used 1% milk and the pudding turned out quite well. I used the immersion blender, and found that a pinch of salt accentuated the flavor. I used the pudding to mix with vanilla ice cream and cookies, then refroze to make my own banana cream pie blizzards.
CCK Media Team says
Your blizzard sounds amazing!
Kim says
Can’t wait to try. Would it also work if I add protein powder? I have a banana pudding protein powder I would like to try with this .
CCK Media Team says
As long as you like the protein powder you use, sure why not!
Amanda says
I really want to try this. Wondering if frozen bananas will work? If I thaw them out?
CCK Media Team says
Sure! Frozen bananas just yield a darker pudding.
Lorri Berger says
The recipe isn’t complete. How and what is it layered with?
Maya says
This recipe is just the banana pudding itself. In the post, it lists the different ways to incorporate it— one of them being layered with coconut whipped cream and their vegan nilla wafers to achieve the authentic South banana pudding taste! 🙂 The layering is just a few scoops of each (banana pudding, cream, and wafers).
Georgie says
Looks great! I also like a commenter’s idea to add protein powder. How long will this keep in the fridge for?
CCK Media Team says
3-4 days. It may turn a darker color, but stirring helps (plus that does not affect the taste!)
Aisha says
This was absolutely delicious! I had to leave it on the stove to boil for a while for it to thicken, but popped it in the fridge right after and it got decently thick. The flavor was amazing! Thank you for sharing!
CCK Media Team says
Thank you for trying it!
Debra says
Pretty ding dang good! I found it easiest to whirl all of the ingredients except for the vanilla extract in a food processor, then transfer it to a saucepan to heat and thicken. Also subbed tapioca starch (doubled the amount) since that’s what I had on hand. Layered with Oreo crumbs for a Halloween dirt cake!
Rojalex says
Love this recipe! I basically make it every time I have a banana left over and it never disappoints. Recently I added a tablespoon of peanut butter powder and it was to die for ❤️ My only comment would be that even if you are planning to refrigerate before eating (as I always do), try to cook on low for as long as possible on low heat. I didn’t the first time and it came out a bit runny despite a couple hours in the refrigerator
ssk says
Nothing “southern” about this banana pudding, but it’s probably good.
Katie B says
Hi Katie! I want to use this pudding to make a banana pudding poke cake for hubby’s birthday. Unfortunately, most recipes I’ve seen direct you to use boxed cake mixes or some other disgustingly sugar packed yellow cake recipe. Do you have any recipes you’d suggest to use for a poke cake with this pudding? I thought about trying one of your banana breads & cutting it in slices to layer with nilla cookies and pudding but wasn’t sure if it would get too soggy, and of course a full cake would look prettier I think.
CCK Media Team says
Hi! Maybe try this one? https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/vegan-cake-recipe/
Erinn Drake says
Delish. I used soy milk and 2 tbsp of PB fit….good stuff.
jess says
Did not remotely work for me. Curdled texture. Very strange. Good blend of flavor, but all in all inedible.
CCK Media Team says
Hi, what milk did you use? We have never heard that from anyone else here or ever had it happen to us, so it could just be that your milk was bad (or maybe a type of milk we haven’t tried here?)
Jen says
Made it with homemade almond milk and liked it a lot. Made it again with homemade cashew milk and loved it!
Hailey says
How ripe should the bananas be (yellow or freckled)? I tried making with only lightly yellow bananas, along with Oatley, and it didn’t turn out for me… wondering if the bananas weren’t ripe enough, or if it doesn’t work with oat milk?
CCK Media Team says
Hi Hailey, what about it didn’t turn out, the flavor? When you say lightly yellow, do you mean greenish bananas? A greenish tint or no brown spots means the bananas aren’t ripe yet and taste earthy, so that definitely would make the pudding taste bad!
Linda says
when you say milk of choice, does that mean I can use almond, skim or lactaid free?
CCK Media Team says
We do not see why it wouldn’t work with any of those, as long as you don’t need it to be vegan.
Michael Castellano says
Hello can you do water instead of milk?
Tia Mays says
Can you explain how to use the coconut cream mixture as a substitute for the cornstarch?
Maude says
What are the crumbles in the layers?
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Hi, those are just graham cracker crumbs 🙂
J says
I want to make this in a large batch, any suggestions or can I just multiply every ingredient by 3 or 4?