This easy no-bake banana pudding pie takes about five minutes to throw together and considerably less time to disappear. Old fashioned banana pudding is already hard to resist. Put it in a pie crust and suddenly people are standing in the kitchen with a fork, arm wrestling for the last slice. It's ok, if you're like me you hid one for yourself behind the broccoli in the fridge.
Table of Contents
🥰 Is this no-bake banana pudding pie recipe for you?
- You think banana pudding deserves options.
- You need a dessert for the church potluck, family reunion, or cookout and your ambition left the building hours ago.
- You bought bananas with the best intentions and now they're giving you side-eye from the fruit bowl.
- You believe turning on the oven in the middle of summer is the 8th deadly sin that noone talks about.
🧾Ingredients for this easy pie recipe
Classic old fashioned banana pudding is one of our favorite desserts and I'm always looking for variations on it. This banana pudding pie takes all of that flavor and presents it in a unique way. Layers of sliced bananas, crumbled 'Nilla wafters, and creamy vanilla pudding are arranged in a graham cracker crust and chilled until you're ready to indulge!
- Milk helps the instant pudding mix set up thick and creamy. Evaporated milk makes it the creamiest.
- Instant vanilla pudding mix creates the rich, silky filling in minutes.
- Bananas add fresh flavor and that classic banana pudding taste.
- Whipped topping makes the pie light, fluffy, and perfect for summer.
- Nilla Wafers add the sweet vanilla crunch everyone expects in banana pudding.
- Graham cracker crust keeps things quick and easy with no baking required. Use a purchased one or make your own homemade crumb crust.
Don't forget to download the free kitchen cheat sheet with extra tips, storage, variations and more for this recipe.
📖 Recipe
Banana Pudding Pie with a Graham Cracker Crust
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- 1 9-inch graham cracker crust
- 6.8 ounces instant vanilla pudding mix, 2 (3.4 ounce) packages
- 2 ½ cups evaporated milk or whole milk, cold
- 2 bananas, sliced
- 1 cup 'Nilla Wafers, broken or coarsely crushed - plus extra for topping
- 1 ½ cups Cool Whip, thawed
Instructions
- Coarsely crush the 'Nilla Wafers to make about 1 cup pieces.
- Mix the milk and instant pudding mix until thick and creamy.
- Spoon ⅓ of the pudding in the graham cracker crust.
- Top with ½ crushed 'Nilla Wafers.
- Slice the bananas and arrange half the slices over the top.
- Repeat layers ending with pudding.
- Cover and chill for 4 hours.
- Before serving top with whipped topping and garnished with more banana slices and 'Nilla Wafers.
Notes
- I use evaporated milk because I feel it makes the pudding creamier. Whole milk will work. Skim and plant milks will set up runny-ish.
- Keep the banana slices from turning brown by dipping them in lemon juice.
- This pie needs to chill for 4 hours but longer will make the pie firmer.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
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🔪 How to make banana pudding pie
No baking, no special equipment, and no complicated steps. Just layer, chill, and try not to sneak spoonfuls of pudding along the way.
- Whisk the pudding mix and milk together until it's smooth and thick.
- Spread about a third of the pudding into the graham cracker crust. Scatter some broken Nilla Wafers over the top, then add a layer of banana slices.
- Repeat the layers, ending with pudding on top. Nobody's grading your layers, the don't have to be perfect. Cover and chill.
- Garnish the top of the pie with whipped topping as desired.
😱 What can go wrong (and how to fix it)
🍌 The pie didn't set.
The pudding probably needed more chill time, you used plant based or skim milk, or the milk-to-pudding ratio got a little sloppy. Give it a few more hours in the refrigerator and, if all else fails, freeze it.
🍌 The bananas turned brown.
Bananas are dramatic. It's what they do. If you're making the pie ahead of time, save a few fresh slices for the top right before serving. Also, in the future dip the slices in lemon juice.
🍌 The crust fell apart.
Most graham cracker crusts settle down once they've had plenty of time to chill. If it crumbles a little, call it rustic and carry on.
🍌 The layers look messy.
Congratulations, you've made homemade dessert instead of a magazine advertisement. Cover it with whipped topping and nobody will know the difference.
🍌 People keep sneaking spoonfuls before it's chilled.
This is not a recipe problem. This is a people problem. Consider hiding the pie behind the leftover vegetables until serving time.
👩🍳 FAQs
You can use almond milk or coconut milk but the pie won't set well and will be very soft. Oatmilk doesn't work.
Dip them in lemon juice before adding to the pie.
Absolutely. A Nilla Wafer crust makes the pie taste even more like classic banana pudding and works just as well in this recipe.
📚 More banana pudding recipe options
If banana pudding is your idea of comfort food, you're in the right place. Whether you're feeding a crowd or just looking for an excuse to buy another box of Nilla Wafers, these reader-favorite desserts keep all those creamy, nostalgic flavors front and center.
Try Banana Pudding Poke Cake when you need a party dessert that vanishes faster than the good parking spots. Southern Banana Pudding is a no cook version, and Old Fashioned Banana Pudding is a classic for a reason. Banana Pudding Cheesecake is what happens when two desserts decide to stop competing and start cooperating.
And if you're feeling a little reckless, Nutter Butter Banana Pudding adds peanut butter to the mix and creates the kind of dessert people keep talking about long after the dishes are done.
🏡 If somebody shows up with this banana pudding pie, I'm taking a big slice and not asking questions. It's cool, creamy, and proof that sometimes the best desserts come from a box of pudding and a complete disregard for culinary snobbery.
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