This delicious and easy paleo banana pudding is egg free, vegan, and tastes just like the real deal! You’ll love this creamy and decadent treat, along with the homemade vanilla wafers to go with it.
The first time I had banana pudding was when I was living in NYC during college. My friends and I used to frequent Magnolia Bakery quite often, and while were they famous for their perfect cupcakes, we were especially obsessed with their seriously amazing, perfectly textured banana pudding. I was hooked and I remember walking for 45 minutes there and back to get my fix two times a week.
Vegan & Paleo Banana Pudding Recipe
While I can’t enjoy that same banana pudding anymore filled with all the dairy and gluten that I’m sensitive to, I made a pretty amazing copycat recipe with this vegan and paleo banana pudding that brings me right back to my college days. It’s thick and creamy without using eggs, and it’s plenty sweet enough without added sugar (though you can sweeten it a bit more if you’d like).
Not using eggs makes this vegan banana pudding recipe a breeze to make because you don’t have to temper the eggs like in the traditional bread pudding recipes. The texture is still so thick and creamy still, so I highly recommend you trust and try it out!
How to Make This Easy Gluten Free Banana Pudding Recipe
Like I mentioned, this vegan bread pudding recipe takes so much less work than traditional bread pudding recipe. There are just 3 easy steps involved:
- All the main ingredients are placed in a blender and blended until smooth.
- You then transfer the mixture to a saucepan and then heat it up to reduce and thicken. The arrowroot starch will help with that.
- Then, to thicken even more, it’s chilled in the refrigerator for a few hours and the texture will be so much like the real deal, you won’t be able to stop eating it!
Super easy, right? You’ll be surprised that this paleo bread pudding is lower in sugar and missing all the common allergens when you taste it.
Tips For Making This Vegan Banana Pudding Recipe
- If you don’t have arrowroot starch on hand, you can use tapioca starch to substitute. Definitely do NOT leave out the starch, as that’s what helps the pudding thicken.
- I highly recommend you make my paleo and vegan vanilla wafers beforehand so you can serve them with this paleo banana pudding. The crumbly bites of the cookies in between the creamy pudding really is SO heavenly.
- I found that using ripe bananas and reducing them made this gluten free banana pudding recipe sweet enough and I didn’t feel the need to add any more sweeteners. However, if you love sweeter desserts, you can add coconut sugar to the mixture.
- Be creative with the toppings! I like to add sliced bananas and chopped pecans for that buttery crunch but you can add any kind of toppings that you prefer, like nut butter, granola, coconut flakes, and more.
- For the AIP option, just substitute the vanilla extract with vanilla powder. You would also need to omit the vanilla wafers as well as any nut toppings. It’ll still be really delicious and you can add some toasted coconut chips for that yummy crunch!
- This paleo banana pudding will last chilled in the refrigerator for 4-5 days so feel free to make it ahead of time if you are serving it on a specific day.
I really hope you enjoy this vegan banana pudding recipe! I’m honestly so proud of how it turned out and I made it 3 times already because I just can’t get enough.
Other recipes you might love…
- Keto Vanilla Wafers (Vegan & Paleo Option)
- Paleo & Vegan Chocolate Sweet Potato Pudding
- Paleo Chocolate Banana Bread with Walnut Topping
- 3-Ingredient Matcha Ice Cream (Paleo, Vegan)
Vegan & Paleo Banana Pudding (Egg Free, AIP Option)
Ingredients
- 2 large bananas ripe, but not mushy
- 3 tbsp arrowroot starch
- 2 cups full-fat coconut milk
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp vanilla powder if you are AIP
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- Optional: 1 tbsp coconut sugar I thought it was sweet enough without added sugar, but adjust to your taste preference
To serve (optional)
- Sliced bananas
- Paleo & Vegan Vanilla Wafers omit for AIP
- Chopped pecans or any other nuts – omit for AIP
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a blender and and blend until smooth.
- Transfer to saucepan and heat on the stove over medium high heat until the mixture starts boiling.
- Lower the heat the medium and simmer for 10 more minutes until thickened to a syrup mixture. It will thicken more as it cools.
- Remove from heat and place in the refrigerator to cool for at 3 hours.
- Stir well. Serve alone, or layered with sliced bananas, paleo & vegan vanilla wafers, and/or chopped pecans. If you like the vanilla wafers softened, you can chill the assembled banana pudding for a few more hours so the cookies can soak up the liquid.
Notes
- This paleo banana pudding will last chilled in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
- For the AIP option, just substitute the vanilla extract with vanilla powder. You would also need to omit the vanilla wafers as well as any nut toppings. It’ll still be really delicious and you can add some toasted coconut chips for that yummy crunch!
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The cookies in there sound soo good! And I clicked through to see your special bakery. Those goodies look amazing! Such fun memories … to make something new and healthier. My family will love these, and yay for egg-free! 🙂
Banana pudding takes me back to my college days! I used to buy the ready-made from the grocery store but it was full of sugar and bad fats! So happy you created this recipe!
Banana pudding! Yum! So glad for this awesome recipe that brings the best of this wonderful dessert in a healthier way!
This is soooo easy! I love banana pudding, too. Thank you!
Wow. This is such an amazingly beautiful recipe, and I’m super stoked to make it over the weekend. Yes!
Banana pudding is one of my favorite things and now I get to eat it again! This plus your wafers makes me so happy!
I’m excited to make this yummy pudding & combined with your vanilla wafer recipe it will bring back fond memories of a banana pudding & nilla wafer pie my grandma used to make that I haven’t had in decades.
I could eat about 3 of these right now! Looks so creamy and delicious!
This is almost low carb. For sure making it
I’ve been meaning to try this all week but keep running out of time! Will report back. 🙂
mmmmm total comfort food . . . yet better for me! Thanks for sharing!
I have 13.5 coconut milk.
Is that ok?
Yes. It’s a little less than 2 cups but should be fine.
Ok so I made this and it turned completely grey. Not sure if I overcooked it or what. 🤷
This is common when you use ripe bananas. If you want it less gray, you can use bananas that aren’t too ripe and then add a bit more sugar.
This was incredibly easy and delicious! Thank you for this recipe! It is now my go-to when I want a “treat.” 😊
Hi I would like to know how much egg replacer could I use to replace the 3tbsp of arrowroot starch? I would like to make this today?
I’ve never tried it with an egg and I’m not sure it’ll work! Sorry – I can’t be much help. If you have tapioca starch instead, that will probably work.
Yummy! Thank you! I added 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder to my pudding which was actually a little much but it was still delicious! The consistency did remind me more of chocolate banana jello than pudding. Still great though!
I just made it, and I’ve never tried this before. I loved the pudding in my childhood, especially the one from Dr. Oetker, which was made with cornstarch and other synthetic flavors. I used to make it myself, from the age of 8-9, almost every week, that bad was my addiction 😜 Maybe I’m paying for it now. And because I missed it, I tried recipes with tapioca starch, coconut milk and vanilla, but I couldn’t get rid of that strong coconut milk flavor until I added carob or cocoa powder (AIP reintro). Your idea of using bananas is much better. I divided the boiled cream into two parts and added cocoa in one of them, then I poured it over the simple one and made a 2-layered pudding. No sugar is needed – it’s moderately sweet. Even the cocoa part of it was sweet enough without any sugar added. I also tried to add turmeric to a 1/4 cup of hot pudding, but I couldn’t really notice more than a slightly different flavor. However, this can be a base for many other flavours. Thank you for posting this!
I simply adored pudding in my childhood, especially the one from Dr. Oetker, which was made with cornstarch and other synthetic flavors. I used to boil it myself, from the age of 8-9, almost every week. Maybe I’m paying for it now. And, because I missed it, I tried a recipe with tapioca starch, coconut milk and vanilla, but I couldn’t get rid of that strong coconut milk flavor until I added carob or cocoa powder (AIP reintro). Your idea of making it with bananas is much better. I divided the boiled cream into two parts and added cocoa in one of them, then I poured it over the simple one and made a layered pudding. No sugar is needed – it’s really sweet.