🍌 Classic Southern Banana Pudding
Ingredients
Pudding (from scratch)
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3 cups whole milk
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¾ cup sugar
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⅓ cup all-purpose flour
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¼ tsp salt
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3 large eggs (yolks only)
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1½ tsp vanilla extract
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1 tbsp butter
Layers
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1 box Nilla wafers (or vanilla cookies)
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4–5 ripe bananas (not mushy, just spotty)
Optional Meringue Topping
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3 egg whites
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¼ cup sugar
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¼ tsp cream of tartar
🥣 Make the Homemade Pudding
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In a saucepan, whisk together sugar, flour, and salt.
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Slowly whisk in milk until smooth.
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Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.
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In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks.
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Slowly pour in a little hot pudding to temper the yolks.
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Pour yolk mixture back into the pot.
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Cook 2 more minutes, stirring nonstop.
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Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and butter.
Let cool slightly (5–10 minutes).
🍮 Assemble the Banana Pudding
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In a 9×13 dish or large bowl, layer:
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Vanilla wafers
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Banana slices
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Warm pudding
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Repeat layers until finished, ending with pudding on top.
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Optional: Top with more wafers for crunch or crumble wafer crumbs on top.
☁️ Optional: Make the Meringue
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Beat egg whites + cream of tartar until foamy.
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Gradually add sugar; beat to stiff peaks.
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Spread on top of pudding.
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Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 10–12 minutes until lightly browned.
❄️ Chill
Let it chill for at least 3–4 hours (overnight = best flavor).
Wafers soften and the flavors blend beautifully.
⭐ Tips
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Use just ripe bananas so they don’t turn mushy too fast.
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Dip banana slices in lemon juice if you need it to last 2+ days.
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For extra richness, add ½ cup sweetened condensed milk to the pudding.
🍰 No-Cook Shortcut Version (very popular)
Mix together:
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1 box instant vanilla pudding mix
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1½ cups cold milk
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1 can sweetened condensed milk
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1 container Cool Whip (8 oz)
Layer with bananas + wafers. Chill 4 hours.
Want the Magnolia Bakery style, baked custard version, or banana pudding poke cake next?
