A creamy and delicious banana pudding pie recipe! It has a fluffy, smooth texture and vanilla flavor and is layered with fresh bananas. It’s served in a Nilla Wafer pie crust, which adds a crunchy texture and delicious cookie flavor.
This pie is one of the best I’ve ever made, and it didn’t last long in our house. It is the creamiest banana pudding pie and an easy recipe, as you don’t have to cook or bake the filling!
It’s the perfect dessert to serve year-round. The fresh banana flavor and creamy pudding filling are so good. It’s a messy, delicious banana pie and one of our favorite desserts.
If you want more pudding pies, try my Coconut Keylime Pie and Old-Fashioned Coconut Cream Pie. You’ll also love my pistachio bundt cake made with pudding!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy to make, no cooking or baking the filling, just whipped to perfection!
- Depending on your time, this recipe will work with a store-bought pie crust or a homemade Graham cracker crust.
- You won’t have to worry about it being too sweet, either—the banana adds a balanced flavor that’s sure to please.
Shopping List & Ingredient Notes
Here are all of the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe. You can find them at your local grocery stores.
Cream Cheese -This adds a creamy texture and flavor. Make sure the cream cheese is completely softened. You can microwave it for a minute, but it has to be soft.
Sweetened Condensed Milk – This is what adds sweetness to the pie recipe.
Milk – This recipe can use either 2% or whole milk.
Heavy Whipping Cream – This thickens the pie and gives it a super creamy flavor.
Instant Vanilla Pudding – This helps thicken the pie and adds a vanilla flavor. You can mix it with coconut instant pudding for a coconut banana cream pie or use instant banana pudding. Try an organic instant vanilla pudding or sugar-free vanilla pudding mix if you want a healthier option.
Vanilla Extract – Use pure vanilla extract when making this recipe. It adds flavor and enhances flavor.
Fresh Banana Slices – You’ll need about three bananas, which will be sliced and layered with the pudding. Wait to cut the bananas until you’re ready to layer them into the pie. Otherwise, they will brown.
Nilla Wafer Cookies – You’ll need two boxes of these classic cookies to make a Nilla wafer crust. These vanilla wafers are cookies that are classic to banana pudding. Use graham crackers if you prefer.
Unsalted Butter – Melted butter gives the crust a delicious buttery flavor and holds the crumbs together.
Granulated Sugar – This is added to the crust to give it a little extra sweetness.
Salt – We add a dash of salt to enhance the flavors in the crust.
Banana Pudding Pie Garnishes
The banana pudding pie is all on its own, but you can also top it with a few garnishes to make it extra special.
Fresh Whipped Cream – Top with a big dollop of whipped cream. You can use store-bought Cool Whip or make your own.
Chocolate Shavings – To add a little crunch and chocolate flavor, sprinkle some chocolate shavings on top.
Nilla Wafers – For a classic banana pudding taste, sprinkle some crushed Nilla Wafers on top.
Banana Slices – Add a few sliced ripe bananas to the top of your banana pudding pie.
Caramel Sauce – Drizzle some caramel sauce over sliced bananas.
Shredded Coconut – If you use coconut pudding with vanilla, add shredded coconut to the top of the pie. Better yet, use toasted coconut for even more flavor.
How to Store
If you have leftover pie, here’s how you can store it:
Refrigerate: This banana pudding pie should be stored in the refrigerator. Covered with plastic wrap or foil, it will last up to five days. However, the bananas will brown once they’re sliced.
Freeze: You can freeze this banana pudding pie for up to one month. Once you’re ready to serve, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight and let it come to room temperature before serving.
More Pie Recipes
If you love pie as much as we do, here are a few more of our favorite pie recipes:
- Lemon Pie Recipe
- Canned Peach Pie
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
- Strawberry Lemonade Pie
- Chocolate Pudding Pie
And if you love bananas, try my best banana bread recipe and banana cake recipe too!
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Banana Pudding Pie Recipe
Ingredients
Nilla Wafer Pie Crust
- 4 cups Nilla wafer cookie crumbs
- 11 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
Banana Pudding Pie Filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 5 ounces instant vanilla pudding
- 2 cups milk
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided 1 cup and 1/2 cup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Nilla Wafer Crust (optional)
- Add the Nilla wafer cookies into a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs form.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the cookie crumbs, melted butter, sugar and salt and mix with a spatula.
- Butter the pie dish and press the cookie mixture into the pie dish and up the sides.
- Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 10 minutes.
Banana Pudding Pie Filling
- First make the whipped cream which will be folded into the pudding mixture. To do this beat 1 cup of heavy cream until it forms stiff peaks. Set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, you'll make the pie filling. You need to make sure the cream cheese is completely softened. You can actually remove the foil, place the cream cheese in a microwave-safe bowl and heat it for 15-20 seconds.
- Once the cream cheese is fully softened, use an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until light in texture with no lumps.
- Beat in the condensed milk, pudding mix, cold milk, heavy cream, and vanilla extract.
- Beat until completely smooth. Note, it will not be a thick pudding consistency yet. It will be more watery and as it sits it becomes thicker.
- Next, fold in the whipped cream you made previously.
- Do this by adding it to the pudding mix and then using a spatula to gently fold the mixture until it’s all incorporated.
- Slice 3 peeled bananas to layer into the pudding mixture.
- Pour 1/3 of the pudding into the pie dish.
- Add a layer of sliced bananas and repeat 2 more times.
- Top with whipped cream and bananas.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, banana cream pie is made of pudding and cream. We use a banana pudding mix combined with heavy whipping cream and sweetened condensed milk to make this banana cream pie. We then layer the banana slices in between and top it all off with a Nilla wafer crust for an irresistible banana pudding pie!
The best way to keep bananas from turning brown in the banana cream pie is to slice them just before adding them. If you’re making banana pudding pie, mix some lemon juice into the banana slices to help them stay slightly yellow and prevent browning. Additionally, you can cover the banana slices with a bit of banana pudding before adding the whipped cream layer to help keep them fresh and colorful.
Yes, the banana cream pie should be refrigerated. Covered with plastic wrap or foil, it will last up to five days.
If you don’t have a food processor, you can crush the cookies in a zip-top bag using a rolling pin or a blender at low speed. You can also use graham crackers instead of Nilla wafers for the crust.
