Red Velvet Banana Pudding

This Magnolia Bakery-inspired red velvet banana pudding is made with layers of creamy pudding, sliced banana, and red velvet cake. It’s an easy, 6 -ingredient, no-bake dessert perfect for celebrating Valentine’s Day and Christmas, potlucks, birthdays, and weekend entertaining.

Magnolia Bakery red velvet banana pudding recipe

Let’s talk about the amazingness that is this homemade red velvet banana pudding! It starts with fluffy, cloud-like pudding layered with sweet banana slices and moist, soft red velvet cake crumbs.

This fantastic dessert will have you think this is a fancy dessert that includes a lot of ingredients. But this one doesn’t take much, just some instant pudding, condensed milk, and red velvet cake.

While I pride myself on making most foods from scratch, it’s one of those simple treats that use a few shortcuts but taste as if it came from a restaurant.

In fact, this recipe was inspired by Magnolia Bakery’s gorgeous red velvet banana pudding. When I saw their wonderful creation, I knew I had to recreate this treat at home.

Banana pudding with red velvet cake is the perfect dessert to whip up for a quick after-dinner dessert, a get-together, to celebrate a special occasion, or just when you crave some banana pudding.

You can serve the treat in individual cups or fancy it up in a trifle dish. Or just throw it together in a big bowl or baking dish, and you’ll have a quick, creamy dessert in no time.

We love banana treats at our house. Whether it’s banana pudding brownies, condensed milk banana bread, or this irresistible strawberry banana cheesecake salad, you can’t go wrong with these delicious desserts!

Ingredients

The minimal ingredients alone are reason to try this red velvet banana pudding recipe. Not to speak of the amazing taste and creamy, soft texture. The dream! Please scroll to the recipe card below for exact quantities.

• Sweetened condensed milk: This pantry staple gives the pudding sweetness and a creamy texture.
• Vanilla instant pudding mix: Jell-O vanilla pudding works really well, but use whatever you can find. Other flavors, like cheesecake or white chocolate, would be delicious, too.
• Water is needed to prepare the pudding.
• Heavy cream is whipped to a fluffy consistency and then folded with the pudding to create an airy and light texture. Be sure to chill your cream well, so it whips up more easily.
• Bananas: Barely ripe bananas are ideal for this recipe as they won’t brown as quickly. They can even be a bit green. Save spotty, overripe bananas for things like banana bread.
• Red velvet cake: Because what is red velvet banana pudding without red velvet cake? You can prepare a boxed mix or make one from scratch. I made our red velvet loaf cake.

How to make red velvet banana pudding

This easy red velvet banana pudding recipe is practically foolproof because you won’t have to cook the pudding from scratch. Just combine your condensed milk, water, and instant pudding mix, and you’re on your way to the most delicious dessert!

#1: Mix pudding

1. Pour the sweetened condensed milk and water into a large mixing bowl. Using an electric hand mixer on low speed, mix until combined. Add the vanilla instant pudding mix and beat for 2 to 3 minutes, until well incorporated.
2. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap. Set in the fridge to chill completely and firm up, for at least 4 hours or overnight.
3. Add the heavy cream to a chilled mixing bowl. Beat with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or a hand mixer until stiff peaks form.
4. Gently fold the whipped cream into the pudding with a rubber spatula. Be careful not to deflate the whipped cream too much while ensuring everything gets mixed evenly.

#2: Assemble

1. Arrange 1/3 of the red velvet cake crumbs in individual dessert cups or mason jars. Next, add 1/3 of the sliced bananas, then spoon 1/3 of the pudding on top.
2. Repeat these layers 2 more times. Reserve a few red velvet crumbs and banana slices for decorating the top.
3. Instead of individual servings, you can assemble the banana pudding also in a trifle dish or a 9×13-inch pan.

#3: Chill and serve

• Lightly cover the jars with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or up to 8 hours, until set and the red velvet cake has softened.
• You don’t want to go much longer than 8 hours, or the bananas might start to turn brown. Enjoy!

Tips for success

This recipe is such a fun variation of classic banana pudding and will be a hit wherever it goes. I have a few extra tips and tricks to get your red velvet banana pudding tasting absolutely divine!

• Chill the beater and bowl: For the best results when whipping the cream, place your mixing bowl and beaters in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes or so.
• Fluffy pudding: To keep your pudding light and fluffy, gently fold the whipped cream into the pudding base with a spatula. Be careful not to deflate the whipped cream too much while still making sure everything gets combined evenly.
• Keep the bananas from turning brown: The trick is to select underripe bananas at the store to prevent them from browning too quickly once you slice them. And to keep the banana slices from turning brown, brush them with a little lemon juice or club soda.
• Make-ahead: You can make the pudding portion of this recipe in advance since it needs time to thicken up in the fridge. But for the best flavor and texture, I recommend assembling it 4 to 8 hours before you want to serve it.

Variations

You can play around with a few different mix-ins and flavor variations by adding chocolate chips or swapping out the pudding mix.

• Chocolate chips: Sprinkle mini chocolate chips between the layers. White, milk, and semisweet chocolate are all tasty options.
• Pudding flavor: Swap the vanilla instant pudding mix for other flavors such as cheesecake, white chocolate, banana, strawberry, or butterscotch.
• Nilla wafers: For a more traditional banana red velvet pudding, prepare the dessert with a mix of nilla wafers and red velvet cake crumbs.
• Chessmen cookies: Another idea is to prepare the banana pudding with a mix of red velvet cake and chessmen cookies.

Storage instructions

How to store red velvet banana pudding

The banana pudding will keep well covered in the refrigerator only for about a day or two at the most.

Can you freeze red velvet banana pudding?

No, I don’t recommend freezing this recipe. While I haven’t tried it, I imagine the bananas would become mushy and the texture awfully watery. Since it’s so delicious, I doubt you have any leftovers anyway.

Reasons to love red velvet banana pudding

• Basic ingredients: All the ingredients are basic fridge and pantry staples.
• Simple to make: Though it looks fancy, this red velvet pudding is actually pretty easy to make.
• Sweet delight: The banana pudding and red velvet pairing is fantastic. If you love banana pudding and red velvet cake, then you’ll love the flavors from this recipe.
• Wow factor: The layers of ruby red cake mixed with fluffy banana pudding look incredibly spectacular and will impress your family and friends.

More red velvet treats

Red velvet is such a fun flavor, and the deep, red color is so enticing. If you enjoy red velvet as much as we do, check out some of our other favorites.

• Frosted Red Velvet Loaf Cake
• Edible Red Velvet Cookie Dough
• White Chocolate Red Velvet Muffins
• Red Velvet Latte

More recipes with condensed milk

Everything is better with condensed milk! Maybe it’s because the milky sweetness and creamy texture are just so good. Here are a few more recipes with sweetened condensed milk to try out for dessert!

• No-Bake Cheesecake
• Cherry Yum Yum
• Condensed Milk Cake
• Fluffy Condensed milk Pancakes
• Condensed Milk Bread Pudding
• Lemon Pie with Condensed Milk
• Key Lime Pie
• Chocolate Cream Pie
• Condensed Milk Fruit Salad