Vegan Banana Cream Pie
This vegan banana cream pie recipe features a golden cookie crust, tasty vegan vanilla pudding, fresh-sliced bananas, and coconut cream whipped topping. It’s layers of deliciousness in every bite. This is a favorite family dessert everyone will love!
This vegan banana cream pie happened because I asked the question on the Namely Marly Facebook Page, “What’s your favorite pie recipe that you’d like to see veganized?”
There were several responses, but the one I picked up on was Banana Cream Pie. I love bananas, so I was happy to take up the challenge. If you love summertime fruit pies like me, try this Vegan Berry Pie, too!
This pie starts with a golden sandwich cookie pie crust. I could have used a traditional vegan pie crust, a vegan graham cracker crust, or even an oatmeal pie crust. But I loved the idea of these golden sandwich cookies as the foundation for the pie. It reminds me of vanilla wafers which I always combined with bananas.
What You Need
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe, including substitution ideas:
- Oreos — I used golden Oreos to make an Oreo pie crust, but you can use chocolate or lemon, or whichever flavor you prefer.
- Vegan Butter — You can buy Earth Balance or Miyoko’s or make your own homemade vegan butter.
- Sugar — You’ll need granulated sugar.
- Cornstarch — You can substitute other thickeners, such as arrowroot powder, but cornstarch delivers the consistency I’m after.
- Salt — Use either table salt or sea salt.
- Evaporated milk — I used vegan evaporated milk because it’s rich and creamy, or you can substitute a vegan creamer such as Silk Oat Creamer or Ripple Half & Half, or canned coconut milk. Any plant-based, creamy milk will work.
- Vegan milk — Use soy, almond, etc.
- Silken tofu — I love using silken tofu to thicken a creamy dessert like this. Here’s more on how to buy tofu products.
- Nutritional yeast flakes — We’ll use nutritional yeast flakes to add color and flavor to the pudding. You can substitute a drop of yellow food coloring or a small pinch of ground turmeric.
- Bananas — You’ll need 2 to 4 bananas, depending on their size. I prefer bananas that are yellow with only a few spots. Overly ripe bananas get mushy very quickly.
- Vegan Whipped Cream — My go-to favorite whipped cream is this Coconut Whipped Cream.
What Bananas are Best for Banana Cream Pie?
Using ripe bananas brings out the sweet flavor in any recipe, but for a banana cream pie, you’ll want to choose bananas that are just barely ripe. That’s because we want the banana flavor they provide without any mushiness. Besides, overly ripe bananas can weep, causing the pie to get runny. Choose bananas that are primarily yellow with a few brown spots.
What Makes This Recipe Shine?
- A cookie crumb crust adds buttery flavor and texture, making every bite better than the last.
- Using cornstarch to make a thick vanilla cream pudding helps absorb any moisture from the bananas.
- Adding fresh banana slices between layers of pudding helps add banana flavor and seals the banana into the pudding, preventing them from weeping.
Whipped Topping
Top the pie with decorative dollops of coconut whipped topping. Here’s how to do that:
- Transfer the whipped cream to a piping bag with Wilton 1M star tip.
- Make fluted dollops around the edge of the pie, leaving spaces for banana slices.
- Chill the pie in the fridge for at least an hour (or more) before serving.
Sliced bananas will turn brown as they sit. I recommend placing banana slices on the pie immediately before serving.
Other favorite vegan cream pies? This Vegan Coconut Cream Pie and this Vegan Chocolate Meringue Pie are the best!
Serving Suggestions
You can serve individual slices with drizzles of any of the following:
Reader Reviews
★★★★★
Chiara
I made this and it was sooo good! Everybody who tried it loved it, even people who are very skeptical of vegan dishes were impressed by it.
★★★★★
Stephanie M
My husband made this pie for Thanksgiving and it is the BEST banana cream pie I’ve ever had.
Marly’s Tips
Use these expert tips and tricks to make this vegan banana cream pie recipe perfect every time:
- If you have banana extract, you can add a tiny bit of that (1/8 teaspoon) to the vanilla pudding for even more banana flavor.
- Use gluten-free cookies in the crust to make this into a gluten-free banana cream pie.
Vegan Pudding
Using cornstarch to create pudding is something I learned from my mom, but now there are so many ways to create puddings. For example, in my Vegan Chocolate Chia Pudding, I used chia seeds.
Here are other thickeners you can use:
- Cornstarch — this traditional thickener is easy to find and easy to use.
- Agar Agar — use flakes or powder to make a lower-carb thick pudding.
- Arrowroot Starch — This is a new favorite of mine, and it’s easy to use.
- Chia Seeds — I use chia seeds to make this banana chia pudding.
- Jello Vanilla Pudding — This pudding is dairy-free, and you can use it with plant-based milk to create a vegan vanilla pudding.
These will create a nice pudding layer for this vegan banana cream pie.
Storage Tips
Bananas are produce and therefore, you’ll want to devour this banana cream pie. This pie will last about 3 to 4 days in the fridge. I would not recommend freezing this pie since the quality of the bananas will deteriorate with freezing. However, You can serve it as a frozen pie. Simply cut it into slices and place those slices on a tray. After they’re frozen, transfer them to a freezer-safe container or freezer bag.
More Vegan Banana Desserts
If you love this vegan banana cream pie, here are even more banana recipes you’ll want to try:
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Vegan Banana Cream Pie
Ingredients
Golden Cookie Crust
- 24 golden Oreos (or any vanilla cream cookie)
- 4 tablespoons vegan butter dairy free margarine, sliced
Cream Pie Filling
- ½ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup cornstarch (see notes)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups vegan evaporated milk (See note)
- 1 cup plant-based milk soy, almond, coconut, etc, vanilla flavored
- 12 oz container of firm silken tofu drained
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter dairy free margarine
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
- 2 to 3 bananas peeled and sliced
- Coconut Whipped Topping
Instructions
For the Golden Crumb Crust
- Place the Golden Oreos in a food processor. Pulse for a few seconds until the cookies are broken up into smaller pieces.
- Add the vegan butter. Pulse again until the cookie crumbs until an even consistency develops, similar to large grains of sand.
- Press the crust into an 8 or 9" pie pan, pushing firmly against the side. It helps if you use a measuring cup to press the crust against the pan. Refrigerate for about an hour to set.
For the Banana Cream Pie Filling
- Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt in the bottom of a medium-sized saucepan. Add the milks and stir until combined.
- Place the saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cook until the mixture thickens. Do not worry about lumps. We'll take care of that in a minute.
- Place the silken tofu, 2 tablespoons vegan butter, and nutritional yeast flakes in a food processor. Pulse for several seconds until the mixture becomes very smooth. Remove the lid and push some of the contents down to the bottom and then pulse again. Add the pudding mixture to the food processor and pulse again until all the ingredients are combined and any lumps that may have formed while cooking are gone. Set this aside and allow it to cool a little.
- Once the Pie Filling is mostly cooled, remove the pie crust from the fridge and pour about half of the pie filling into the pie crust.
- Top this with a layer of sliced bananas.
- Pour the remaining pie filling over the sliced bananas. (Depending on what size of pan you used, you might have a little of the pudding left over. Lucky You!).
- Place the pie in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably two, before serving.
- Follow the instructions in the link to make the Vegan Coconut Cream Whipped Topping.
- Once your Banana Cream Pie is set, remove it from the fridge, cover it with large dollops of the vegan whipped cream and add additional slices of banana on top.
- Store the pie in the fridge. It will keep for up to 5 days.
Recommended Equipment
(The products above contain sponsored links to products we use and recommend)
Notes
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This post was originally published in 2019 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2021.
In my 33 years, I have never a) made anything outside of a family recipe repeatedly and b) written a review on a recipe that I found online. Honest truth on the latter. If you are browsing banana pie recipes and are on the fence, choose this one. Vegan or not. Don’t be turned off by the tofu. Don’t be turned off by the smell of the tofu and yeast in the blender. Don’t taste the pie before it is set. Trust the whole process and you will find yourself eating an entire pie on your own the next day. I have made this pie for work parties, boyfriend’s work parties, Thanksgiving, and just for my partner and I to indulge in solo. Everyone always asks for “that pie that your girlfriend makes.” We are vegan but no one even asks or knows that it’s vegan (unless they are also plant-based so we can let them know they can have it.) This is literally my favorite dessert and a brilliant recipe. Perfectly sweet, creamy, and genuinely banana in flavor. My only advice is to not make it before an event and hope that the 1-2 hours will be enough time for it to set. I always leave it overnight and am dissatisfied if I take a bite too soon. 12 out of 5 stars.
Oh, also, for those who are inquiring about the evap milk or cream, I usually make this with 1 cup of Chobani Oat Milk and 1.5 cups of an unsweetened vegan coffee creamer (it’s like coconut milk and MCT oil, mostly) BUT twice, in a pinch, I have used Chobani’s “Extra Creamy” Oat milk for the whole 2.5 cups of milk that it calls for and it still turned out perfectly.
Umm. While some obviously prefer to eat an non-GMO diet, GMOs and veganism have nothing to do with each other. And most vegans (like myself) will happily consume something like this as a treat.
I made this pie today and it was so good! My daughter is vegan and banana pie is her favorite dessert! She loved it too!
What can I use instead of ripple? I live in a small town, we don’t have a target or a lot of vegan options. The nearest target is 45 mins away and they don’t even sell the ripple half and half.
Hi Gretchen. Thanks for your comment. I grew up in a super small town (fewer than 1000 people in rural Missouri) and my sister still lives nearby that town today so I understand small town stores and limited selection. In fact, your comment is very helpful and I will add a note to the recipe to help others with this same question. If you have a can of coconut milk, that should work. If not, you could use 2 cups of plant-based milk and simmer it for awhile until it’s at 1 1/2 cups. That will create a thicker milk, which is what we’re after here. Let me know if this is helpful or if you need additional information. I’m happy to help.
It was so good! We used monkfruit instead of sugar, almond crust instead of cookies, and so Delicious topping instead of making our own. I got a little too much agar- I didn’t measure- and it was a bit too stiff, but I would definitely make it again using arrowroot perhaps! I would also blend the bananas in instead of having chunks in the pie. Thanks for another winner!
I have made this a few times and it was great! but don’t remember it having the Ripple half and half….if I can’t find it what’s a substitute
Hi Candice. So glad you like this recipe! I originally called for So Delicious Culinary Coconut Milk in this recipe but I was finding it more difficult to find it. However, I’ve noticed I can find Ripple in places like Target, Walmart, my local grocery store, Sprouts, and more. If you can still find that culinary coconut milk, that’s great. Or any thick non-dairy creamer like Ripple, etc. There are so many of them on the market these days!
So delicious!!!!!!!!!!!! I add a layer of melted chocolat on the crust. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Is Oreo vegan ?
Hi Fayol, Oreos are vegan in the US are considered vegan. Check out this tweet about Oreos by Peta for confirmation. I should clarify, however, that some people get hung up on the sugar used in products. Some refined sugars are processed with bone chard. I am a secular vegan, which means I’m passionate, but not so rigid as to care about sugar. It creates some “holier than thou” litmus test, if you ask me. As if only those who jump thru all these hurdles can you use the title vegan. That’s my two cents (and more) on the topic. Hope it helps!
Very excited to try out this recipe! If I can’t find the culinary coconut milk you mentioned, would coconut cream be a better substitute that the creamy part of regular coconut milk? Not sure how many cans I would need to make 1 1/2 cups of just the creamy part. 🙂
Hi Auni! Yes, I believe the cream part from a can of coconut milk would work. Thanks for this, I will add a note to the recipe.
Hi, I accidentally used coconut milk from a can and not just the cream, do you think I need to add more cornstarch or will it still thicken? It looks just a bit runny now, but still voluptuous
Hi Wren, Oh coconut milk. I can be so problematic. Because even from can to can things can be so different! I think you should be fine, between the tofu and the cornstarch for thickeners. I might cookie the coconut milk a little longer to let some of the more liquid part of the can to evaporate. You could also add a little bit of chia seeds (like 1 or 2 tablespoons), if you don’t mind the little black flecks that will be added. Let me know how it goes!