Best Banana Pudding -Don’t LOSE this Recipe

This is not just banana pudding. This is THE Banana Pudding. The one passed down, scribbled on notecards, and requested at every family gathering. It’s a perfect, layered symphony of cool, velvety custard, sweet ripe bananas, and soft vanilla wafers that achieve a cake-like tenderness. The secret? A from-scratch pudding that’s impossibly lush and a topping of meringue-like sweetened whipped cream. Bookmark this page, print it, write it down—whatever you do, don’t lose this recipe. It’s the last one you’ll ever need.

Ingredients

For the Homemade Pudding:

1 ½ cups granulated sugar
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
4 large egg yolks (save the whites for another use, or discard)
2 cups whole milk
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed milk)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Assembly:

1 (11 oz) box Nilla Wafers (about 90 cookies)
5-6 medium ripe-but-firm bananas (yellow with brown speckles)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

For the Whipped Cream Topping:

2 cups heavy cream, very cold
¼ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Equipment

Medium saucepan (heavy-bottomed preferred)
Whisk
Heatproof spatula
Large bowl for ice bath (optional but helpful)
Stand mixer or hand mixer
9×13 inch baking dish or a large glass trifle bowl
Plastic wrap

Instructions

1. Make the Pudding from Scratch (15 mins – THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP)

In your medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, flour, and salt. This dry mix prevents lumps.
In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, whisk the egg yolks, whole milk, and evaporated milk until smooth.
Gradually pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients in the saucepan, whisking constantly until completely smooth and no dry pockets remain.
Place the saucepan over medium heat. Cook, whisking gently but constantly, making sure to scrape the bottom and corners. After about 8-10 minutes, the mixture will begin to thicken. Continue cooking and whisking for another 2-3 minutes until it reaches the thickness of a loose mayonnaise and large bubbles just begin to pop at the surface. Do not stop whisking.
Remove from heat immediately. Stir in the butter and vanilla extract until the butter is fully melted and incorporated.
Pro-Tip for Perfection: Pour the hot pudding into a clean bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming. Let it cool at room temperature for 30 minutes before assembling. This prevents the bananas from cooking.

2. Prepare the Bananas & Assembly Line (5 mins)

Slice your bananas into ¼-inch thick rounds. Place them in a bowl and toss gently with the lemon juice. This adds a bright note and drastically slows down browning.
Have your box of Nilla Wafers and your 9×13 dish ready.

3. Assemble the Layers (5 mins)

In your dish, spread about one-third of the slightly cooled pudding to create a thin base layer.
Add a single layer of Nilla Wafers, breaking some to fill in gaps.
Top with a layer of half of the lemon-tossed banana slices.
Repeat: another third of the pudding, another layer of wafers, the remaining bananas.
Finish by spreading the final third of the pudding over the last banana layer, sealing everything in. Gently press down with a spatula.

4. The Final Topping & The Long Chill (10 mins + 4+ hours)

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or using a hand mixer), beat the cold heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. This should take 2-3 minutes—do not overbeat into butter.
Spread the whipped cream evenly over the top of the final pudding layer, swirling it decoratively.
Cover the dish tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but overnight is truly ideal. This is the transformative stage where the magic happens.

5. Serve the Legend

Remove from the fridge, peel back the plastic, and behold. The wafers will have softened into delicate, cake-like layers that meld with the pudding and bananas. Serve with a big spoon, ensuring each portion gets all the glorious strata.

The Last Bite: Why This Recipe Works and Must Be Saved

This recipe is sacred because it understands and masters the alchemy of time and texture, a process that instant pudding mixes can never replicate.

The soul of the dish is the custard pudding, cooked on the stovetop. The flour and egg yolks are its structural heroes. As the pudding heats, the egg yolk proteins (livetin and phosvitin) and the flour’s starch granules work in tandem. The starch granules swell and gelatinize at around 160°F, thickening the mixture. The egg yolks, with their lecithin, act as a powerful emulsifier, creating a fat-in-water emulsion that is incredibly stable and smooth. Cooking it to just the point of a bubble ensures the flour’s raw taste is gone and the starch is fully activated, resulting in a pudding that is rich and thick, yet still softly spoonable, not gluey. The evaporated milk is the stealth ingredient, adding a concentrated creaminess and a subtle cooked-milk note that evokes nostalgia without overpowering.

The long, cold rest is non-negotiable magic. This is when the humble Nilla Wafer undergoes its metamorphosis. The wafers, porous and dry, act as sponges. They slowly absorb moisture from the pudding and the bananas’ natural juices. Over several hours, they hydrate evenly, losing their crunch and transforming into a tender, almost cake-like layer that is the defining texture of great banana pudding. This cannot be rushed. A two-hour chill leaves you with distinct, soggy cookies; a four-hour or overnight soak creates a unified, soft stratum.

The fresh whipped cream topping is the final grace note. Its airy lightness provides a crucial contrast to the dense, creamy layers beneath. The powdered sugar, which contains cornstarch, stabilizes the cream slightly, helping it hold its peaks for days in the fridge. Using sweetened whipped cream instead of meringue is the classic Southern choice—it’s richer, less fussy, and melts luxuriously on the tongue.

To lose this recipe is to lose the blueprint for perfect balance: the cool, silky custard; the sweet, creamy bananas; the soft, vanilla-infused cake layer; and the cloud-like whipped cream. It’s a dessert that is both humble and utterly magnificent, a testament to the fact that the best recipes aren’t just about ingredients, but about understanding the beautiful transformations that happen in between.

Nutrition Information (Per Serving, based on 12 servings)

Calories: ~480 kcal
Total Fat: 25g
Saturated Fat: 15g
Cholesterol: 135mg
Sodium: 220mg
Total Carbohydrates: 59g
Dietary Fiber: 2g
Sugars: 42g
Protein: 7g

Note: Nutritional information is an estimate. Using reduced-fat milks will compromise the pudding’s luxurious texture. The ripeness of the bananas is key—too green and they’re starchy; too brown and they’ll turn to mush. The lemon juice is essential for maintaining color and flavor. DO NOT SUBSTITUTE INSTANT PUDDING MIX. The chemical stabilizers and artificial flavors in instant pudding create a different, rubbery texture and a synthetic taste that will not allow the wafers to soften correctly. This recipe is an heirloom. Guard it