This super easy no bake Banana Cream Pie recipe is made with instant pudding, lots of fresh banana, piled in a vanilla wafer crust. It’s creamy yet light, has so much banana flavor, a guaranteed winner!
If you’re looking for an easy pie to impress your guests, this banana cream pie is the one for you! You can make it entirely no-bake, from the filling to the vanilla wafer crust. And it will take no time at all.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- While the filling is made with instant banana cream pudding, it is mixed with homemade whipped cream to create a light and airy cream filling that melts in your mouth.
- The combination of the pudding, sliced bananas, and vanilla wafer cookies in the crust give this pie the classic banana pudding flavor but in pie form.
- It is extremely easy to make and you don’t even need to turn on the oven.
- While simple, this pie is guaranteed to delight your guests and make you look like a pro baker!
- This pie is creamy but light, it doesn’t taste too rich or heavy, which makes it the perfect summer dessert.
Ingredients and substitutions
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:
- Vanilla wafer cookies – you can use Nilla wafer or generic vanilla wafer. Some good substitutes for vanilla wafers would be Graham crackers, shortbread cookies, animal crackers or digestive biscuits.
- Salt – vanilla wafers are pretty sweet on their own, a little bit of salt will balance out the flavor of the pie crust.
- Butter – I use unsalted butter so I can control how much salt to add. If you use salted butter, it may make the pie crust too salty. If you do substitute salted butter, make sure to omit the salt called for separately so the pie crust doesn’t get overly salty.
- Cream – heavy whipping cream is whipped and folded into the banana pudding filling to give it volume and lighten it a bit. It is also used to decorate the top of the pie as well. Light whipping cream should also work in the pie filling, though I don’t know how well it will hold up as the whipped cream decoration on top.
- Sugar – I use just a small amount of granulated sugar to sweeten the whipped cream.
- Vanilla – just a splash of pure vanilla extract is enough to flavor the whipped cream, adding a little flavor complexity to the pie filling.
- Instant pudding – I use 1 box of banana cream flavor instant pudding, the larger 5.1 oz box.
- Milk – I use whole milk to make the instant pudding, though you can use 2% milk to make it less rich. Either way, the filling is very light. Note that I only use 2 cups of milk for the pudding and not 3 cups like the direction on the box. This is so it doesn’t get too runny when I fold in the whipped cream.
- Bananas – use ripe bananas here but not overripe. You’ll need between 2-3 bananas. The more bananas you use, the better the flavor but you might end up with excess pudding that doesn’t fit in the pie crust.
Tools you’ll need
Here are the few tools you’ll need to make this banana cream pie:
- A food processor will be useful to make the vanilla wafer crust though you could make it by hand. Check out my full post for the pie crust for more tips and tricks.
- A stand mixer or an electric hand mixer would be handy to make the whipped cream for the pie filling.
- You’ll also need a 9” pie pan.
How to make banana cream pie
The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
Make the vanilla wafer crust
Start with 4 cups of vanilla wafers along with kosher salt. Process everything in a food processor until the wafers become fine crumbs.
Drizzle in melted butter while the food processor is running and process until the butter is distributed and the crumbs start to clump together.
Tip: you may need to stop the food processor to scrape the side and bottom to get everything to mix more evenly. Pulsing the food processor will also help.
Turn the mixture out into your pie dish, tart pan or springform pan, ect. Press into an even layer on the bottom and up the sides of your pan to form the crust. Freeze or refrigerate until ready to use.
Make the banana cream pie filling
First, make whipped cream by beating together heavy cream, sugar and vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. Keep this in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
Make the instant banana cream pudding by whisking together the instant pudding powder and milk. Note that you will use just 2 cups of milk instead of 3 cups per the packaging direction. Whisk for 2 minutes or until it is thickened.
Now, fold about a third to half of the whipped cream into the instant banana pudding mixture until it is completely smooth. Refrigerate while you cut up the bananas.
Tip: depending on the size of your pie crust, you may end up with some excess filling so you can adjust how much whipped cream to fold into your pudding mixture to avoid having too much leftover.
Cut 2 – 3 bananas into slices, layer them into the prepared pie crust and add the cream filling on top. Even out the top.
Tip: add one layer of banana slices, then fill some pudding in the crevices before adding another layer of banana slices.
Decorate the pie with the remaining whipped cream, whole vanilla wafers, vanilla wafer crumbs and banana slices if desired. Refrigerate a couple of hours or overnight until set, and serve cold.
More baker’s tips
- For a crunchier, crispier pie crust, you could blind bake the crust at 375°F for 10 minutes. This gives a nice contrast to the creamy pie filling and adds a nice toasty flavor too. Just allow the crust to cool completely before adding the filling.
- If you want to add more whipped cream on top for serving, feel free to do so, just adjust the recipe to make more whipped cream.
- If you don’t want to make whipped cream, you could substitute cool whip instead but I think homemade whipped cream will give the filling a more superior flavor and lightness.
- If you have excess pie filling, make mini banana cream pies or individual banana pudding in a jar or ramekin with some vanilla wafer cookies at the bottom.
Storage
Store this pie in the refrigerator at all times and serve it cold, it will last up to 5 days. You could leave it out on the counter for an hour or two while serving it, but remember that it tastes best when cold.
I don’t recommend freezing this pie since bananas don’t freeze and thaw well.
FAQs
Yes, absolutely. You don’t have to use a nilla wafer crust for this banana pudding pie. You can use a Graham cracker crust or a Biscoff pie crust, it will also go well with a traditional all-butter pie crust.
Since this banana cream pie with instant pudding has a moist cream filling, the crust could absorb moisture from the filling and become soggy and crumbly. Baking the crust before filling it will keep the crust crunchier and crispier. You can take it even one step further by brushing the crust with some beaten egg white, creating a barrier to keep the crust from getting soggy.
To prevent the banana slices from going brown, you could soak them in some lemon juice and pat dry before using them in the pie. I didn’t do this and the bananas turned slightly brown the next day, but it didn’t affect the taste and the pie was still delicious.
Yes, you can make the pie a few days ahead of time. Or you can prepare the vanilla wafer crust weeks or months ahead, keep it frozen. Then prepare the banana cream filling the night before, fill the pie crust and let it set overnight before serving the next day.
More no bake recipes
📖 Recipe card
Banana Cream Pie
Equipment
Ingredients
Pie crust:
- 4 cups vanilla wafers (230 g)
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 oz unsalted butter (melted, 85 g)
Pie filling:
- 1 ½ cup heavy whipping cream (354 g)
- 3 tablespoon granulated sugar (35 g)
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 – 5.1 oz box of instant banana cream pudding (144 g)
- 2 cup milk (whole or 2%, 480 g)
- 2 to 3 bananas
Instructions
Make the pie crust
- Ground vanilla wafers in a food processor until fine crumbs form.
- Melt the butter in the microwave for about 30 – 45 seconds, stir with a fork to dissolve any remaining solid butter. Drizzle melted butter over the cookie crumbs while the food processor is running, then process for an additional 10 – 20 seconds until the mixture is the texture of wet sand.
- Turn the mixture out into a pie dish and press into the bottom and sides of the pan to form a crust.
- Freeze (or refrigerate) until ready to use.
Make the pie filling
- In a large mixing bowl or in your stand mixer bowl, beat 1 ½ cup of heavy whipping cream with 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar and ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. Place whipped cream in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the instant banana cream pudding with 2 cups of milk for 2 minutes until the mixture thickens.
- Fold a third to half of the whipped cream into the pudding until thoroughly incorporated and smooth. Set it in the fridge while you prepare the bananas.
Assemble the pie
- Peel and cut the bananas into slices, add a layer of sliced bananas to the bottom of the prepared pie crust. Add some pudding mixture on top to fill in all the crevices between the banana slices. Add another layer of banana slices if you wish, then add the remaining pudding mixture on top and even it out with a spatula.
- Pile the remaining whipped cream on top or pipe it around the border and the middle of the pie if you want a neater look.
- Decorate with some whole vanilla wafers and crumbs. Refrigerate a couple of hours or overnight to allow the filling to set further and serve cold.
Notes
- If you want a crunchier crust, blind bake the crust at 375°F for 10 minutes.
- Use ripe but not overripe bananas.
- I used about 2 ½ bananas and ended up with some leftover pudding mixture. Having lots of fresh bananas makes the pie tastier but you do end up with some excess pudding. You could use excess pudding to make banana pudding in a jar or small ramekins.
- You can also decorate the pie with extra banana slices. If you do this, add the banana slices just before serving so they don’t turn brown in the fridge.
- To prevent the banana slices from going brown, you could soak them in some lemon juice and pat dry before using them in the pie.
Nutrition
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These are the cutest little pies. That crust is so perfect.
It’s fantastic, I’ll try to make it, thank you for share
Gosh, these are so stinkin’ cute!! Pie is one of my all-time favorite desserts, but I’ve actually never have tried banana cream. What gives, right?! I must make a mental note to change that soon ;).
Thanks Christine! You must try, it’s so fun to make tiny little dessert! And let me know if you end up making it 🙂