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Homemade Banana Pudding Trifle is a classic, Southern dish that’s required for any holiday or special occasion. Layered bananas, cookies, pudding, and fresh whipped cream come together for a show-stopping dessert that’s downright heavenly!
I have a confession to make. I’ve been holding out on you with this banana pudding recipe. I didn’t do it intentionally, I just kind of forgot. The funny thing is, I make this dish at holidays and for family celebrations and it disappears so quickly that it just slipped my mind to share the recipe. But today, I’m changing that! Here’s my “no-bake,” easy, absolutely divine, Banana Pudding Trifle.
If you’re from the South, then most likely, you grew up eating Banana Pudding. I have fond memories of enjoying a pretty dessert cup filled with layers of bananas, soft cookies, pudding and whipped cream. There wasn’t and still isn’t anything quite like a bite of cool, luscious banana pudding and I guess that’s why it’s become such a beloved dessert that’s stood the test of time.
How to make my Banana Pudding Trifle
My version of this classic dessert is so easy to make and requires no baking or cooking. I’ve taken all the traditional flavors of Banana Pudding and added my own shortcuts. I’ve changed out the cooked custard filling for a rich, mousse-like vanilla filling that’s absolutely sensational. I use fresh whipped cream, (you can use store-bought whipped topping if you like) because I’ve saved time on the filling and to be honest, there’s just nothing quite like fresh whipped cream. To display this dish as the true show stopper that it is, I layer everything in a trifle bowl just to make sure everyone can see just how special this dessert really is!
Now that I’ve come clean and am sharing my recipe, I hope you’ll forgive me by making it for yourself. It truly is a dish that deserves to be served at any holiday meal, special celebration or maybe when you want to make someone smile.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ boxes vanilla wafers
- 6-7 ripe bananas – sliced
- 2 cups cold milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 5 oz box french vanilla pudding
- 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 8 oz package cream cheese – room temperature
- 4 cups heavy cream
- 4 tablespoons confectioners sugar
Instructions
- In a 9″/5 quart glass bowl cover bottom with 2 layers of vanilla wafers. Next, layer half of bananas over wafers.
- Place heavy cream and powered sugar in a large bowl. Using a stick blender, pulse on and off, whipping cream and sugar together until stiff peaks are formed. Place in refrigerator until needed.
- In a medium size bowl, blend together milk, vanilla extract and vanilla pudding packet using a hand mixer. Add in cream cheese and condensed milk and blend until smooth. Fold in 1 cup of whipped cream to mixture. Layer half of mixture over bananas. Add half of whipped cream over vanilla pudding mixture.
- Repeat all steps ending with whipped cream on top. Add crushed vanilla cookies to top of dish. Cover with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator for minimum of one hour, or until ready to serve.
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IF you make the trifle the night before, do you need to put lemon juice or anything on the bananas to keep them from turning brown. Thanks.
Hey there Donna!
Thank you so much for your interest in this recipe, I think you’re really going to love it! I’ve made this recipe ahead of time on many occasions, and there are a couple different ways you can do it. When the bananas turn brown, it doesn’t mean that they’ve gone bad it just means that they’re oxidized. You can add the banana into the layers of the trifle and those slices may brown a little bit, then you can wait to add fresh banana slices on top when you’re ready to serve. The other option is to toss the banana slices in lemon juice and then they won’t turn brown at all, it’s really up to you’re personal preferences. I hope this is helpful, let me know how everything turns out, I’d love to hear what you think!
~Donya
Do you use instant pudding or cook & serve pudding?
Hey there Jane!
Great question! I like to use the boxed instant pudding, I buy the Jell-O brand most of the time and it works really well. I hope this helps, thank you so much for your interest in this recipe, let me know how everything turns out! Happy Easter!
~Donya
So good and easy. Perfect to make ahead and serves a lot of people!
Hey there Petra!
My goodness, I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! I completely agree with you, this recipe is the PERFECT make-ahead dessert. Thank you so much for your kind words and this fantastic rating, I appreciate your support!
~Donya
I am so excited to have found this recipe! I am planning to make it for Thanksgiving dessert. Would you recommend to make it the same day as serving or is this something I can make the night before? I just don’t want the whipped cream to melt on me! 🙂
Hey Alex.
You can make the recipe the night before and it will turn out great. Just make sure you’ve got stiff peaks on your whipped cream.
Happy Thanksgiving!
~Donya
OMG! Hubby LOVES banana pudding and I have a trifle bowl that’s just waiting to be used. So……..guess what’s going to be made for Easter! Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipes.
Claudine in Fort Worth, TX
Thanks, Claudine. I hope y’all enjoy the recipe.
Happy Easter!
~Donya
Try subbing Banana nut bread for wafers. My niece wanted a banana nut bread for wedding buffet 🥴 cake fell apart coming out of pans – chunked it up and made a truffle with Banana pudding recipe ( much like the one here) and layered in trifle bowl. Smash hit 🥳
Hey there Pat!
My goodness, what a fantastic idea, that is honestly genius! I am definitely going to give that a try the next time I make a Banana Pudding Trifle, thank you so much for sharing! I hope you enjoy this trifle recipe, if you ever have any questions about a dish please don’t hesitate to ask!
~Donya