If you're looking for an easy, make-ahead breakfast for busy mornings -something the kids will actually eat - put a few of these in the refrigerator.
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Table of Contents
❤️ Why you'll love it
- Makes plain yogurt taste as yummy as banana pudding
- Easy recipe to customize based on what you have in the pantry
- A delicious breakfast that doesn't require any cooking
This banana yogurt parfait recipe is a great way to feed everyone in the morning, even before you've gotten that first-cup-of-Joe boost.
Kids think fruit parfaits taste like a fun treat and parents love that they're a healthy snack, so it's a win-win for the whole family.
🧾 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
📖 Variations
- We love the flavor of creamy Greek yogurt, but if you have a regular yogurt you prefer to buy, feel free to use that.
- You can swap the vanilla cookie pieces with graham crackers, crunchy granola, or cereal if you need to use up stuff from your pantry.
- Feel free to add more fresh fruit, like sliced strawberries or a handful of blueberries (smashed or quartered if you have toddlers.)
- Pecan allergy? Swap them for another crunchy topping like almonds or walnuts. Or, leave out the nuts altogether.
- Make it tropical by adding some shredded coconut.
🔪 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Soak the sliced bananas in orange juice.
- Portion some of the yogurt into small mason jars or containers. Top with the crushed cookies.
- Add the bananas, then the pecans.
- Top with another yogurt layer. Garnish with extra fruit or toppings and dig into the easy yogurt parfaits.
🥫 How to store leftovers
These vanilla Greek yogurt parfaits can be made ahead of time for a quick, grab-and-go breakfast or a delicious after-school snack.
Simply cover the glass jars with a layer of plastic wrap and refrigerate until you're ready to enjoy. They'll keep for about three days, but the cookie layer gets a bit softer as it sits.
As long as you use freezer-safe containers, the yogurt parfaits will last for about two months in the freezer. Let them thaw in the fridge, or enjoy frozen—fun fact, frozen yogurt almost tastes like ice cream!
💭 Things to know
Expert Tip: Remember to cut fruit and nuts into age-appropriate-sized pieces. Though a healthy treat, whole nuts aren't safe for kids under five.
- If you don't have small glass cups, Tupperware or little food-prep containers work well, too.
- You don't have to toss the orange juice after soaking the bananas. It's just a few sips, and perfectly fine to enjoy.
- Make your own vanilla yogurt by stirring a spoonful of vanilla extract into plain yogurt. You can also add pure maple syrup if it needs a bit of sweetness.
- One perk to making your own parfaits is that you can monitor the amount of sugar your kids are eating. Choose whichever type of yogurt best fits your family's dietary or budget needs—even dairy-free yogurt!
👩🍳 FAQs
Sure thing! The easy breakfast makes a great snack any time of day. Just be sure to use a container with a snug lid and include an ice pack so the dairy doesn't spoil. And, don't forget a spoon!
Absolutely—kids of all ages love to spoon out the yogurt and toppings. It's a fun way to learn simple kitchen skills. Plus, picky eaters are more willing to try their own food, especially when they see what went into it.
Ooh, great idea for a special occasion! You can scale the recipe and fill disposable snack cups with layers of yogurt, nuts, cookies, and bananas.
You can also make a yogurt parfait "bar." Simply lay out all the ingredients, favorite fruits, and other fun toppings, and let the kids (and adult guests) build their own parfait!
📚 Related recipes
- Make-Ahead Breakfast Bowls are tasty for kids and adults. They're packed with healthier choices so you can enjoy all the flavor, guilt-free.
- Light, fluffy, and done in just ten minutes, Blue Cornmeal Waffles are a fun brunch recipe that gets everyone excited to eat—even picky eaters!
- Leftover Pizza Breakfast Casserole is a wonderful way to get everyone up and out of bed in the morning. It's easy and super yummy.
- Use up the leftover Nilla wafers and the last few bananas in this Six-Ingredient No-Bake Banana Pudding Pie.
🍽️ Serve with...
- Crunchy Peanut Butter Banana Bread goes great with a yogurt parfait for mornings when everyone is simply starving!
- English Muffin Bread is full of crevices, just like your favorite muffins. Toasted and slathered with butter, it makes a great pairing for breakfast.
📞 The last word
I love these banana yogurt parfaits as a hearty, high protein breakfast that lasts me all morning or as an afternoon pick-me-up. Give them a try - pretty sure you'll love them too.
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Make Ahead Banana Yogurt Parfait
Print Pin Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 32 ounces Greek yogurt, vanilla or plain
- 1 cup bananas, cut in cubes or slices
- ½ cup vanilla wafer cookies, crushed
- ½ cup pecans, toasted and chopped
- ¼ cup orange juice, to dip bananas (keeps them from browning)
Instructions
- Chop or slice the bananas.
- Pour the orange juice over the bananas and stir gently - let sit for a couple of minutes. This will keep the bananas from turning brown.
- Divide the yogurt into 8 3-ounce servings. Or, eyeball it!
- Add part of the yogurt to 4 8-ounce jelly jars or other container.
- Top with ⅛ of the vanilla wafers.
- Add ⅛ of the bananas.
- Sprinkle on ⅛ of the pecans.
- Repeat layers ending with the yogurt or pecans - as you prefer.
- Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for longer storage.
Notes
-
- Remember to cut fruit and nuts into age-appropriate-sized pieces. Though a healthy treat, whole nuts aren't safe for kids under five.
- If you don't have small glass cups, Tupperware or little food-prep containers work well, too.
- You don't have to toss the orange juice after soaking the bananas. It's just a few sips, and perfectly fine to enjoy.
- Make your own vanilla yogurt by stirring a spoonful of vanilla extract into plain yogurt. You can also add pure maple syrup if it needs a bit of sweetness.
- One perk to making your own parfaits is that you can monitor the amount of sugar your kids are eating. Choose whichever type of yogurt best fits your family's dietary or budget needs—even dairy-free yogurt!
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.
✍🏻 A note from Marye...
I know y'all don't always like the stories bloggers tell so when I have one I try to put it at the very bottom so you can read or skip as you like.
Believe it or not yogurt wasn't really a thing in the early 1960s.
Our moms sleepily poured cereal in a bowl, topped it with milk, and sat across from us drinking instant coffee with bleary eyed boredom while we read the back of the cereal box and shoveled in something sugary.
This was quality time with mom back before Pinterest.
Yogurt was hippy food right along with homemade whole grain breads and organic produce.
Somewhere in that tumultuous time a company decided that yogurt shouldn't just be hippy food so they began to market it to middle America and by 1980 if you didn't eat yogurt you just weren't cool -- or healthy.
My parents, who used organic gardening methods before they were cool, jumped on the yogurt wagon pretty early on.
I think it was because Mom no longer had to actually pour cereal and milk into a bowl - she could motion sleepily to the refrigerator and I could get my container of yogurt and a spoon by myself.
Now, of course, we've embraced the yogurt revolution and most people can't imagine it not being a part of their lives.
First published January 15, 2019. Last updated May 26, 2023 for better images and readability.
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