Easy Homemade Banana Pudding

This Easy Homemade Banana Pudding is made with creamy, homemade vanilla pudding, loaded with fresh bananas and of course, crunchy Vanilla Wafers. Made with real food, this is the most wholesome, delicious banana pudding you will ever eat!

This post was originally published in May 2018. I’ve since updated the photos!

Banana pudding has and always will be my absolute favorite Summer dessert. It’s cool, refreshing and simply sweet. I love the creaminess of the pudding combined with the sweetness of the bananas…and you can’t forget those amazingly delicious vanilla wafers.

I could eat a whole box of those puppies in one sitting. Real talk: I love it when the banana pudding has been in the fridge for a day or so and all of the wafers get slightly soggy.

I don’t know why – that’s just my favorite. I could eat this for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack or dessert. Or all of the above. I’m obsessed.

Why You Should Make Homemade + Skip the Boxed Stuff

I have been planning this recipe for months. I knew I wanted to spotlight this perfect beyond anything dessert.

So let me start off by saying, I used to make this recipe with the instant pudding boxes. It’s all I ever knew. The ingredients in the pudding boxes are as followed:

• sugar
• modified cornstarch
• some artificial flavors and dyes.

Please, for the love of banana pudding, take the 20 minutes to make this homemade pudding and skip the instant stuff! I promise you won’t regret it. Still not sure? Let me list out the ingredients that I know you probably already have in your kitchen:

• milk
• sugar
• 2 eggs + one egg yolk
• pure vanilla extract
• sugar
• butter
• cornstarch

Sounds a lot more complex, real and wholesome than the instant stuff, huh? 

This was my first time making homemade pudding, y’all. I knew I had to do a little bit of research.

Cornstarch acts as the main thickening agent in this recipe. It helps to make the pudding the thick creamy superstar that it is. The whole fat milk makes it deliciously rich, and the real vanilla extract gives it a delicious, pure vanilla flavor. 

Tips for making the Best Banana Pudding:

Here are a few tips I have learned along the way…

Use a large saucepan and a large heat-proof bowl for this recipe. You don’t want your Mama’s favorite Pyrex cracking in the middle of whisking your pudding because it’s too hot! Ha.

Take your time! Seriously, don’t rush the thickening of the pudding, no matter how tired your arm is.

If it gets to be too bad and you think you may have carpal tunnel, call in your significant other and tag team them in for a turn. I won’t lie – there is a LOT of stirring involved. Mostly to make sure that the dairy doesn’t scorch in the pan. I promise it will be worth it in the end, though!

I would only make this with either whole milk or 2% milk. I think anything below 2%, including almond milk and other non-dairy milks wouldn’t have enough fat to help thicken it.

If you are making this a day or two ahead of an event, I recommend coating the sliced bananas in lemon juice prior to assembling the pudding. This will ensure they don’t turn brown as quickly as they normally would!

How to Assemble 

Once the pudding is finished and has cooled in the fridge, the world is your oyster when it comes to how you want to layer your banana pudding.

I chose wafers, pudding and then banana. I layered it 3 times and then sprinkled crushed up wafers on top for some extra oomph!

You can feel free to make it banana first, pudding next and cookies on top. Whatever you want. As long as the three main ingredients get in the dish and then make it into your mouth, you’re set.

Find the full instructions for the pudding below! 

Now I’m gonna go devour the rest of my pudding in the fridge. Bye! Xo.

Did you enjoy this recipe? Here are a few other dessert recipes you might like: 

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread 

Strawberries and Cream Cheese Turnovers 

Carrot Cake Bread

Salted Caramel Apple Galette