Name: Banana Pudding Pie (No cooking, No Baking)
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 4 h 15 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 bananas (Ripe); 4 1/2 cups of pudding mix (one 3.4 oz package); 2 cups of milk; 2 cups of heavy cream; 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract; 6 tablespoons of confectioners sugar; 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon; 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg; 1 graham cracker pie crust; 20 Nila wafers (crushed)

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Modeled after Magnolia Bakery’s Banana pudding, this Banana Pudding Pie is light and fluffy with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg. Ripe banana slices and Nila wafer crumbles divide each layer of pudding for added texture. With no cooking or baking required, this is a foolproof recipe that anyone can make!

Banana pudding is a typically southern dish, and although it wasn’t one of those desserts I grew up eating (we’re a sweet potato pie family through and through), having familial roots in the South, it was always a recipe I’d heard and was curious about.

The first time I remember having banana pudding was at Magnolia Bakery when I first moved to NYC. I fell in love with it’s light and fluffy texture, which is a lot closer to a dense whipped cream than a traditional pudding (one of my fave dessert toppings). For this pie, I wanted to honor that experience, but add a bit more textural complexity by making it into a pie with a graham cracker crust.

Also, I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again — I’m not much of a baker. I’m your classic Millennial with too little patience and too big a craving for convenience to do it any more than occasionally. Other than the flavor, texture and ease of assembly, the lack of cooking or baking is definitely one of my favorite parts of this pie. Plus, it’s easy to make any time of year – but especially in the Spring or Summer months.

Fun fact: this recipe was developed in February in honor of Black History Month, but work got in the way and here it is in March (making it on-theme in it’s own way *wink*).

What is Banana Pudding?

Banana pudding is a dessert with roots in the American South. Traditionally made with a custard base, ripe bananas, and Nila wafers, this pudding can be made in a variety of consistencies from thick and viscous to light and fluffy.

Ingredients for Banana Pudding Pie

Banana Pudding Pie Ingredients (graham cracker crust in a pie tin with a plastic labeled cover, a box of Jell-o vanilla instant pudding inside the pie crust. The pie crust is surrounded by a bottle of nutmeg, two very ripe bananas, a small bowl of Nila wafers, a bottle of cinnamon and a box of icing sugar.

Bananas — bet you didn’t see this one coming. Bananas are stirred into pudding, layered in between layers of pudding, and placed on top of the pie for garnish.
Crushed Nila wafers — the second in command for this dish. Crushing them up ensures that they soften faster for a more cohesive texture.
Vanilla Instant pudding mix — this eliminates the cooking component of this pie. I used Jello instant pudding mix and pie filling, which only requires a little mixing.
Milk — to mix with the pudding
Vanilla — although we’re using vanilla-flavored pudding mix, this is key!
Cinnamon — if you read this blog, you know I’m a fan of this spice. Just a hint adds a little je me se qoi! But feel free to omit if it’s not your jam
Nutmeg — see above re: my thoughts and this being optional
Heavy cream — this is the base of the whipped cream, which goes in both the pudding, and is used as the topping! You could swap this and the confectioners sugar out for whipped topping, if you want, but why when homemade whipped cream is sooo much better??
Confectioners sugar — see above
Graham cracker pie crust — buy from the store, or make yourself with just two ingredients!

See recipe card for quantities.

How to Make Banana Pudding Pie Without Cooking or Baking

A large knife sitting in the middle of a bamboo cutting board with thinly sliced bananas on one side and pieces of minced bananas on the other side.

1. Chop bananas. Chop one banana into ½ inch by half inch pieces. Thinly slice the other two bananas into rounds (about a quarter inch) and set aside.

2. Prepare pudding. Pour pudding packet and milk in a medium-sized mixing bowl and whisk until fully combined and all pudding mix is dissolved. Set aside.

3. Make whipped cream. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, place heavy cream, vanilla extract, confectioners sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to whip cream, increasing the speed gradually from low to high to avoid splattering until cream forms stiff peaks.

Picture of pudding and whipped cream folded in together.

4. Combine whipped cream and pudding. Gently fold 1 ½ cups of whipped cream into pudding in three batches until fully combined, making sure the whipped cream doesn’t deflate.

First layer of pudding topped with banana slices and crumbled nila wafers

5. Fill pie crust. Scoop about 1 ¼ cups of pudding mixture into the pie crust and even out with a rubber spatula until the entire bottom of the crust is covered. Top with about 12 banana slices and sprinkle about half of the crushed Nila wafers.

First layer of pudding topped with banana slices and crumbled Nila wafers and a heap of pudding and whipped cream mixture.

6. Repeat. Top with the remaining pudding and spread to even out.

Second layer of pudding topped with banana slices and crumbled Nila wafers

7. Top. Top with 12-16 more banana slices and ⅔ of the remaining crushed Nila wafers.

Banana Pudding Pie topped with whipped cream

8. Top with whipped cream. Scoop remaining whipped cream on top of the pie (or as much as desired) and smooth to even out.

Banana Pudding Pie topped with whipped cream and decorated with rings of ripe bananas and crushed Nila wafers between rings of banana slices.

9. Garnish and refrigerate. Garnish with remaining banana slices and Nila wafer crumbs. Place in refrigerator for 4+ hours (up to 24) to allow for pie filling to set and Nila wafer crumbs to soften.

Substitutions

Milk: If you’re looking to cut down your grocery bill, you can mix half heavy cream and half water to make milk (instead of buying a separate container of milk) for the pudding

Variations

Make this recipe your own! Here are a few ways you can tweak this recipe to fit your taste:

Spiced – add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and ¼ a teaspoon of nutmeg to the pudding mix to make your pie extra spiced
Whiskey – give this pie a little kick by using whiskey whipped cream in the pudding and as the topping.

See the whiskey version of this pie on the blog!

Banana Pudding in graham cracker pie crust topped with banana slices and topped with Nila Wafer Crumbs

Storage

Cover with foil (tenting to prevent the foil from touching the top of the whipped cream) and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Top tips

To make this recipe a success, be sure to:

Ensure your heavy cream is whipped into stiff peaks so that it will hold up to being folded into the pudding and burnt used as a topping.
The more crushed the Nila wafers are, the faster they will soften in the pie. If you’re looking to serve this pie sooner rather than later, using smaller crumbs are the best choice.

Looking for other dessert recipes? Try these:

Yield: 8 servings