With homemade vanilla pudding, sweetened condensed milk (the secret ingredient no one talks about), and mascarpone, this truly is the best (and easiest) banana pudding recipe. Many recipes call for using instant pudding mix, but making it from scratch adds about five minutes and a creaminess and complexity you won’t get from the boxed stuff.
You might think sweetened condensed milk would make for a cloyingly sweet banana pudding, but fear not! The pudding is barely sweetened and the mascarpone adds a subtle tang and slight acidity. I like the velvety richness mascarpone imparts, but if you are team cream cheese (another banana pudding secret ingredient), go for it. And skipping the mascarpone or cream cheese all together works too.
Nilla Wafers are traditional—and fantastic—but there’s another world-famous(ish) recipe out there that calls for Pepperidge Farm Chessmen Butter Cookies, so substituting with those is an option if you’re looking to shake things up.
Finally, be sure to plan ahead, as the vanilla pudding needs to be chilled for an hour before you assemble the whole shebang and the finished dish needs to chill for about 6 hours before serving. (Make-ahead-dessert lovers, this one’s for you!) Pro tip: If you’re making ahead for a group, consider doubling the recipe. Leftovers keep just fine in the refrigerator for up to three days. The bananas will brown a bit and the pudding may loosen, but the flavors and textures hardly suffer, and with a dessert this good, you won’t even notice. —Jessie Sheehan
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What you’ll need
KitchenAid 5-Speed Ultra Power Hand Mixer
$59 At Amazon
8x8" Baking Dish
$18 At Amazon
Measuring Spoons
$10 At Bon Appétit Market
Measuring Cups
$28 At Bon Appétit Market
Whisk
$10 At Amazon
Medium Saucepan
$50 $39 At Amazon
Get It Right Spatula
$13 At Amazon
Cutting Board
$10 At IKEA
Chef's Knife
$34.53 At Amazon
Small Bowl
$15 At Amazon
Rolling Pin
$13 At Amazon
Recipe information
Yield
8–10 servings
Ingredients
2
1
¼
1
¾
1
¾
5
¾
½
1½
1
Preparation
Step 1
Whisk 2 Tbsp. sugar, 1 Tbsp. cornstarch, and ¼ tsp. kosher salt in a medium saucepan to combine, then whisk in 1 large egg and ¾ cup whole milk. Set pan over medium-high heat and bring mixture to a boil, whisking constantly, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, whisking, 1 minute more. Remove from heat and whisk in 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter and ¾ tsp. vanilla extract. Scrape pudding into a large bowl with a rubber spatula and chill while you prep the banana and condensed milk mixture (no need to cover).
Step 2
Peel 1 banana and chop into ½" pieces. Whisk ¾ cup sweetened condensed milk and ½ cup mascarpone or room-temperature cream cheese (if using) in a small bowl until combined and smooth.
Step 3
Fold banana and sweetened condensed milk mixture into warm pudding with rubber spatula (adding the banana to the warm pudding helps flavor it). Return pudding to the refrigerator and chill 1 hour (no need to cover). It’s okay if the pudding is still quite loose at this stage. (If you aren’t using the mascarpone, add the banana and sweetened condensed milk when you transfer the warm pudding from the saucepan to the large bowl.)
Step 4
Using an electric mixer, beat 1½ cups heavy cream in another small bowl until stiff-peaks form, about 4 minutes. (Err on the side of too stiff rather than too loose.) Whisk chilled pudding if lumpy and gently fold two thirds of whipped cream into pudding; set remaining whipped cream aside for serving.
Step 5
Slice remaining 4 large or 5 medium bananas into ½"-thick rounds. Set aside a large handful of cookies from one 11-oz. box Nilla Wafers and set the rest next to a 2-qt. or 8x8" baking dish or pan.
Step 6
Evenly spread about one third of pudding across bottom of dish in an even layer. Top with a layer of cookies, spacing evenly apart and not covering the pudding completely. Top with half of the bananas. Repeat layers once more, using half of the remaining pudding. Then top with a final layer of pudding and reserved whipped cream. (You will not use the entire box of cookies—the extras are the chef’s treat!)
Step 7
Place reserved cookies in a resealable plastic bag, close, and finely crush with a rolling pin. (A mortar and pestle also works well.) Sprinkle crushed cookies over pudding. Cover with plastic wrap or a silicone lid and chill at least 6 hours before serving.
Do ahead: Pudding can be assembled 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.
Leave a Review
Reviews (87)
Back to TopProbably made this about 5-6 times now for various cookouts and summertime events, literally always a hit. I would definitely not go off of the video gifs for this recipe, you want your pudding to be pretty set once you cook it and you don't want it to be overly liquidy, the cornstarch should thicken it up considerably as soon as it hits boiling. It should look like a cooked jello pudding mix! I've messed this recipe up by adding too much whipped cream to the pudding though before assembly and people still rave about it so 🤷🏻♀️ who knows anymore. I'll keep making this one forever and ever.
Aydrian
Columbus, GA
9/9/2023
Ok, it is a little sweet but that's a matter of personal taste. I have made this twice and a lot of it has to do with the sweetness (ripeness) of the bananas. It's easy enough to reduce sugar if sweet deserts aren't your thing. No problems with it setting up. Here's a tip for those who might not be aware - Cornstarch swells to maximum capacity and thickening ability after it has been simmered for about a minute. Cooking longer than a minute actually causes the custard to start thinning. I also appreciate that it's a re-vamped recipe. Just because a recipe differs from what I consider traditional doesn't mean it can't be called the same thing, so simmer down people ;-).
Steven
Novato, CA
7/29/2023
The pudding was delicious and a big hit with my family. Next time I think I'll try leaving out the extra 2 Tbsp of sugar - it was still very good as is and not too too sweet, but probably would taste just as good without it.
Ben G
Atlanta, GA
11/25/2022
Wow, the haters love to hate. I loved this recipe and my family loved it too. The only complaint was that there was not more of it. I'm always amused by people who get a recipe and change absolutely everything, if it's not your cup of tea then move on. I'm sure there's a box mix with your name on it somewhere. And for those that think it's too sweet, maybe you shouldn't be looking at dessert recipes. Someone below added walnuts, the only thing I added was chopped pecans for a little crunch. Delish!
Patricia K.
New Mexico
7/28/2022
This is a fantastic recipe and so easy with pantry items most already have at home. I was concerned that with no sweetening in the whipped heavy cream this would not be flavorful enough, however with the sweetened condensed milk and marscapone, and the flavoring from the bananas themselves, this was truly perfection. I replaced, with what I had on hand, almond butter cookies for the vanilla wafers- frankly any vanilla, butter cookie will do!
Sara Mesler
Dallas, TX
2/27/2022
“ You might think sweetened condensed milk would make for a cloyingly sweet banana pudding, but fear not!” On what planet is this not repulsively sweet? This recipe is revoltingly, cloyingly sweet. Like made me sick to my stomach after a quarter cup. I made it for guests who aren’t from the US and I’m embarrassed to serve it to them. I rarely eat added sugar, so if you’re the same, find another recipe — honestly one that’s just sweetened with bananas and maybe a couple of tablespoons of sugar would be plenty. Also, I followed the instructions precisely and the pudding is quite runny. It doesn’t make a lot of sense that a tablespoon of starch and one egg would set that much liquid, but i suppose I’ll wait and see. I did stabilize my whipped cream so maybe the gelatin will help. At least I have time to make something else that’s less gross before tomorrow…
Anonymous
Las Vegas
12/31/2021
This is great! Every time I make it o get rave reviews about it. Linda W: shut up, this is a classic to everyone else. Stop ruining a good thing. You can’t even make what you’re talking about.
Linda w is a dummy
Austin
11/28/2021