If you’re craving a classic banana pudding but can’t have dairy or gluten, you’ll love our allergy friendly version! We created a dairy free and gluten free version of Nilla pudding that is still creamy and delicious.
Let’s be honest, banana pudding is a classic for a reason. That creamy, sweet, banana-y goodness layered with vanilla wafer cookies just hits the spot!
But even if you’re dairy-free and gluten-free, you can still enjoy this iconic dessert with our version. This isn’t just a “good for a substitute” recipe – it’s genuinely delicious and guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Traditional Southern banana pudding is usually more of a layered custard made with eggs, our version is made with dairy free vanilla pudding from scratch and a layer of fluffy dairy free coconut whipped topping.
Why we love this recipe
Even though this recipe has a few steps, it’s actually quite easy to make, and it really hits the spot if you’re craving the nostalgia of “nilla pudding” but made allergy friendly.
This recipe is also really easy to make into individual desserts by layering the same ingredients in cups instead of one large dish. You can chop the bananas instead of slicing them and crumble the cookies for individual layered pudding cups for parties.
We used a blend of creamy oat milk and thick coconut milk for our vanilla pudding, but you can use all coconut milk if you want an even creamier and richer pudding for this recipe.
How to make dairy free and gluten free banana pudding
Here are the steps for making the nilla wafer banana pudding. This is just an overview of steps, the full recipe is at the end of the post.
I don’t have process shots yet, but I will get some soon to add to this post!
Making the vanilla pudding
- In a 1-quart saucepan, whisk together the coconut milk, oat milk, sugar, dairy free butter, vanilla, and dash of salt.
- Bring to a simmer over medium heat and reduce the heat to medium low.
- Scoop out 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the hot milk into a small bowl and whisk in the cornstarch until smooth to make a cornstarch slurry.
- Slowly add the cornstarch slurry back to the pot, whisking constantly as you pour it into the pot.
- The hot milk will begin to thicken into pudding. Continue to cook the pudding for a few more minutes, whisking regularly, until it reaches it gets thicker.
- Remove from the heat and allow the pudding to cool in the pan for about 30 to 40 minutes, whisking ocassionally to prevent the “pudding skin” that can start forming on top of the pudding as it cools.
Assembling the banana pudding
- While the vanilla pudding is cooling, add the gluten free wafer cookies to the bottom of an 8×8-inch glass baking dish. I used 25 cookies in the bottom of mine, but you may end up using more or less than that if your pan runs smaller or larger.
- Once your pudding has cooled down, pour it over the vanilla wafer cookies and smooth it out.
- Slice 1-2 ripe bananas into 1/8 to 1/4 inch slices and arrange on top of the vanilla pudding. I ended up using about 1 ½ bananas.
- Add the Cocowhip on top of everything and spread it evenly.
- Take about 5 vanilla wafer cookies and crumble them up, and sprinkle on top of the whipped cream.
- Cover the pudding and chill for about 2 hours to set up and soften the cookies a bit.
- Serve and use within 2 days. After 2 days, the bananas will get too overripe and won’t be as good, so it’s best to make this the day of or the day before you plan on eating it.
Options for gluten free vanilla wafer cookies
I used the Kinnickinnik vanilla wafer cookies for this recipe since they are super close to the real Nilla Wafer cookies in taste and texture. Plus they aren’t too expensive at our local Walmart.
The Kinnickinnik ones do contain eggs, though, so if you can’t have eggs, here are a few options that you can look for instead. Most of the cookies listed below I haven’t tried myself, so I am not sure how the texture would compare to the ones I used.
- Partake vanilla wafer crunchy cookies
- Homefree mini vanilla cookies
- MadeGood vanilla crunchy cookies
There are a few gluten free homemade vanilla wafer cookie recipes online, but most of them still include eggs and real butter. I did find a recipe for gluten free nilla wafers that includes notes for making them dairy free and egg free.
Check out our recipe for dairy free chocolate pudding!
⭐️ If you make our dairy-free banana pudding recipe, please leave a star rating and comment below letting us know what you think! ⭐️
Dairy Free Banana Pudding (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
Vanilla pudding
- 1 ½ cup canned coconut milk
- 1 cup creamy oat milk
- ½ cup unbleached cane sugar
- 1 Tablespoon dairy free butter (this adds a richer flavor)
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- Dash salt
- 3 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Assembling the banana pudding
- 30 Kinnikinnick gluten free vanilla wafer cookies (1 box has about 40 cookies in it)
- 1 ½ medium ripe bananas
- 1 container So Delicious Cocowhip (this is coconut whipped topping)
Instructions
Vanilla pudding
- In a 1-quart saucepan, whisk together the coconut milk, oat milk, sugar, dairy free butter, vanilla, and dash of salt.
- Bring to a simmer over medium heat and reduce the heat to medium low.
- Scoop out 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the hot milk into a small bowl and whisk in the cornstarch until smooth to make a cornstarch slurry.
- Slowly add the cornstarch slurry back to the pot, whisking constantly as you pour it into the pot.
- The hot milk will begin to thicken into pudding. Continue to cook the pudding for a few more minutes, whisking regularly, until it reaches it gets thicker.
- Remove from the heat and allow the pudding to cool in the pan for about 30 to 40 minutes, whisking ocassionally to prevent the "pudding skin" that can start forming on top of the pudding as it cools.
Assembling the banana pudding
- While the vanilla pudding is cooling, add the gluten free wafer cookies to the bottom of an 8×8-inch glass baking dish. I used 25 cookies in the bottom of mine, but you may end up using more or less than that.
- Once your pudding has cooled down, pour it over the vanilla wafer cookies and smooth it out.
- Slice 1-2 ripe bananas into 1/8 to 1/4 inch slices and arrange on top of the vanilla pudding. I ended up using about 1 ½ bananas.
- Add the Cocowhip on top of everything and spread it evenly.
- Take about 5 vanilla wafer cookies and crumble them up, and sprinkle on top of the whipped cream.
- Cover the pudding and chill for about 2 hours to set up and soften the cookies a bit.
- Serve and use within 2 days. After 2 days, the bananas will get too overripe and won't be as good, so it's best to make this the day of or the day before you plan on eating it.
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Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie which she founded in 2011. Sarah is based in Wyoming and has been managing food allergies for herself and her 2 children for over 20 years. Sarah was also a certified personal trainer for 12 years, as well as a group fitness instructor, health coach, running coach, and fitness nutrition specialist.