Creamy Vegan Banana Pudding
Recipe Highlights
This creamy vegan banana pudding brings all the comfort and nostalgia of the classic Southern US dessert without any dairy or eggs. Layers of homemade custard with cream, fresh banana slices, and soft digestive biscuits come together in a trifle-style treat
By making the custard from scratch, you have complete control over the consistency and flavor, ensuring perfect layers every time.
The key is getting the custard thickness just right and using quality plant-based ingredients for the creamiest results.
This is the ideal make-ahead dessert, leaving you less stressed on the day of hosting! My plant-based version proves you don’t need dairy to create that same creamy, indulgent experience that makes banana pudding such a beloved dessert.
Getting the Perfect Custard Consistency
The success of this banana pudding looking the part is achieved by the perfect custard consistency.
Your custard needs to be thick enough to create those beautiful, distinct layers that make this dessert so visually stunning. If the custard is too thin, it will seep through the biscuits and bananas, causing all your carefully constructed layers to disappear into one homogeneous mixture.
The ideal consistency should coat the back of a spoon but still be pourable. It should hold its shape when dolloped, but not be so stiff that it won’t flow naturally when layered. Think of it as a thick pouring custard — substantial enough to maintain structure but light enough to fold with whipped cream without deflating it.
TIP: The color of your turmeric and milk will affect the appearance of your finished custard. My turmeric powder was quite yellow. Some can be more brown. Some almond milks can be more of a cream/taupe color. If you want the perfect colour, pick a yellow turmeric powder, and milk that is white. Some coconut blend milks are the perfect white.
Ingredients
Step by Step
Variations
Vanilla wafer swap: If you have access to vegan vanilla wafers, swap them out for the digestive biscuits for a more traditional American-style banana pudding. I’m using digestive biscuits because they’re more accessible, and I like the balance of the salt that’s distinctive in the digestive biscuits to cut through the richness of the custard cream.
Add booze: Add a tablespoon of rum extract or bourbon flavoring to the custard for an adult twist on this classic dessert. Alternatively, use the liquor itself, and drizzle it over the biscuits as you’re laying the cake, like you would coffee in a tiramisu. I would keep this to one or two layers of biscuits only, as it can overpower.
TIP: Let the digestive biscuits soften as they absorb the pudding mixture. This makes the dessert easy to cut through with just a spoon.
Storage
Keep refrigerated for up to 3-4 days. If the bananas are the right ripeness when you make it, they won’t brown significantly during storage.
The dessert actually improves after the first day as the flavors meld together and the biscuits fully soften. Cover tightly to prevent the bananas from oxidizing.
Serving Ideas
Instead of one large trifle, divide the ingredients between 8-10 individual glasses or mason jars for smaller servings.
Or you can use glasses to serve the dessert once you have made that show-stopping large version (as pictured below).
You can also garnish your pudding with banana flambe. I would let the bananas cool before topping the pudding with this rich, boozy addition. Ideal to use just before serving.
Creamy Vegan Banana Pudding
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Chill Time: 6 hours
- Total Time: 6 hours 45 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 serves
Description
This vegan banana pudding trifle layers thick homemade custard, just-ripe bananas, and soft biscuits for an easy, no-bake dessert that’s great for make-ahead entertaining.
Ingredients
Vegan Custard Cream:
- 4 cups / 875mls plant milk (soy or almond, ideally a white milk), divided
- ½ cup / 60g cornstarch
- ½ cup / 100g cane sugar
- 1 cup / 240g coconut cream, thick cream part only (or full-fat coconut milk)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder* (for color, you won’t taste it)
- 11.25 ounces / 320g oat condensed milk (or coconut condensed milk)
- 1½ cups / 340ml vegan whipping cream*
- 2 teaspoons cane sugar
Assembly:
- 365g / 12.87 ounces – 24 digestive biscuits
- 3–4 medium just-ripe bananas, sliced
Serving: (optional)
- ½ cup / 115ml vegan whipping cream*
- 2 teaspoons cane sugar
- Extra digestive biscuits (2-3 biscuits)
- ½ – 1 medium just-ripe banana, sliced
Instructions
Before you begin this recipe, I would suggest that you take a look at the step-by-step images earlier in this post so you know what visual cues to look out for when making the custard and cream.
- Make the custard: Add half of the plant milk to a medium saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until it reaches a gentle simmer.
- Prepare custard mixture: In the meantime, to a bowl, whisk together the remaining milk, cornstarch (½ cup), sugar (½ cup), coconut cream (1 cup), vanilla extract (2 teaspoons), and turmeric (¼ teaspoon) until completely smooth with no lumps.
- Cook the custard: Once the milk in the saucepan is simmering, pour in the custard mixture and whisk continuously for 4-5 minutes until it thickens and starts to stick to the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to low and cook for an additional 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Cool custard: Remove from heat and let the custard cool completely by transferring it to a bowl, placing cling film on the pudding surface, so it doesn’t form a skin, before placing it in the fridge. It can take 2-3 hours for it to cool completely. The custard will continue to thicken as it cools. If it appears lumpy once cooled, whisk with a hand mixer until smooth.
- Add condensed milk mixture: Once the custard is completely cool, mix in the oat condensed milk (11.25 ounces / 320g) until well combined. Set aside.
- Whip the cream: In a separate deep bowl, whip the vegan cream (1½ cups) with sugar (2 teaspoons), by starting the speed on low, and increasing it to high over time. Whip until stiff peaks form. A good indicator is tipping the bowl upside down and it staying in its place. Just be careful not to overwhip!
- Combine mixtures: Gently fold the whipped cream into the custard and condensed milk mixture until just combined. This should be thick, but light and airy.
- Prepare bananas: Slice bananas into ¼-inch rounds. Choose bananas that are just ripe – they should not have green tips but feel firm to the touch.
- Layer the pudding: In a large glass trifle bowl or 9×13 dish, create layers in this order:
- Layer of digestive biscuits
- Layer of custard cream – a quarter of the mix (only one layer will be like this before adding banana, so that the bottom biscuits can soak up the cream)
- Layer of digestive biscuits
- Layer of banana slices
- Layer of custard cream – a quarter of the mix
- Then repeat biscuit, banana, and custard cream until you have used it all up, finishing with custard cream.
- Chill: Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.
- Serve: You can whip a little more cream (½ cup) and sugar (2 teaspoons) to finish it off, and garnish with extra banana slices and crushed biscuits just before serving. Serve within 8 hours after garnishing for the best appearance. It will, however, keep for 3-4 days, covered well in the fridge.
Notes
Turmeric powder: Use a yellow turmeric powder. Some can be more brown, which will impact the final appearance of the pudding.
Whipping cream: I used Flora Plant Cream here in Australia. Silk, or Country Crock, are great options in the US. Keep in mind that some brands you can overwhip, and others you can’t.
Homemade custard control: Making custard from scratch gives you complete control over the consistency and flavor, ensuring the perfect thickness for beautiful layers. If you feel that after you have folded in the cream, it’s still not thick enough, place it in the fridge for a couple of hours before using to assemble the pudding.
Custard consistency: Finding the perfect custard consistency is crucial for this recipe. You don’t want the custard to be too thin (this will cause the layers to disappear), but you also don’t want it too thick, as you won’t be able to fold in the whipped cream properly. If the custard is too heavy, you’ll lose all the air that you’ve created by whipping the cream. The ideal consistency should be thick enough to hold its shape but still pourable and light enough to fold cream into without deflating it.
Banana selection: Use bananas that are just ripe with yellow tips. They should feel firm. This prevents them from becoming too soft and browning quickly.
Serving options: You can serve this in individual cups, a large glass bowl, or, for a real show-stopper, use a trifle dish.
Best served: Within 8 hours for optimal banana appearance, though flavor remains excellent for several days.
What can use instead of oats condensed milk? Or how does one make it as we don’t get in my area.
Hi, you can substitute it for any condensed milk, coconut or soy would also work. Alternatively you can make your own. Here’s a recipe I found. Let me know how you go!