Strawberry Banana Pudding is layered with fresh fruit, creamy pudding, and buttery cookies for an easy, delicious make-ahead dessert for holidays, potlucks, and special occasions.
If you love fresh, fruity desserts, check out Strawberry Bread with Lemon Glaze and White Chocolate Raspberry Blondies next!
This Strawberry Banana Pudding recipe is a fresh, summery twist on everyone's favorite banana pudding. I swapped the traditional vanilla wafer cookies for thicker Chessmen cookies, which soak up the strawberries' juices beautifully and added an optional strawberry glaze for a tangy pop of flavor and vibrant color.
It’s perfect for spring and summer holidays and entertaining, and since it tastes even better the next day, it's an ideal make-ahead dessert. I think I'll make it for Easter :).
If you love the combo of bananas and strawberries, check out my friend's amazing recipe for Strawberry Banana Cake!
❤️You're Going to Love This
- Fresh, fruity version of classic banana pudding
- Great dessert to make ahead for potlucks, holidays, and special occasions
- Easy, impressive no-bake dessert that's always a crowd pleaser
🍓Ingredients
See recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full list of ingredients and exact amounts.
- Fresh bananas. Choose bananas that are slightly underripe so they are firm enough to hold up to slicing and layering. You don't want brown or overripe bananas.
- Fresh strawberries. Look for firm, plump, shiny strawberries that are bright red all the way to the green cap.
- Cream cheese. Use full-fat block cream cheese for the firmest texture. Soften to room temperature so it easily whips up without lumps.
- Instant vanilla pudding mix. For the pudding layers, you'll need two 3.4 oz. boxes (4-serving size) of vanilla, French vanilla, or cheesecake instant pudding mix.
- Cold milk. Keep the milk cold until you're ready to use it.
- Chessmen cookies. Vanilla wafers won't hold up to the moisture of the strawberries. Use a thicker butter cookie, like Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies or Lorna Doone shortbread cookies.
- Cool Whip. If you're not into Cool Whip, try Truwhip!
- Strawberry glaze, optional. Strawberry glaze adds a little more sweet strawberry flavor. You can use homemade or pick it up in the produce section at the grocery store.
🥣Instructions
Step 1: In a very large bowl, whip cream cheese with a stand or hand mixer until smooth. Mix in the sweetened condensed milk until there are no lumps. In a separate bowl, mix the milk and pudding mix until smooth. Pour the pudding into the cream cheese mixture and mix until combined. Fold in ½ of the Cool Whip with a rubber spatula.
Step 2: Line the bottom of the dish with a layer of cookies.
Step 3: Add a layer of bananas and strawberries on top of the cookies.
Step 4: If desired, brush or spread a thin layer of strawberry glaze over the fruit.
Step 5: Spread a layer of pudding on top of the fruit, completely sealing it in
Step 6: Repeat the layers 1-3 times. Four layers are perfect in my trifle bowl. One to two layers will work in a 9 x 13 pan.
Step 7: Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. When ready to serve, spread the remaining Cool Whip on top of the pudding.
Step 8: If desired, immediately before serving, tuck sliced bananas and strawberries and cookie pieces into the Cool Whip. Sprinkle with crushed cookies.
👉Top Tip: Chill at least 2 hours, but overnight is best for soft cakelike cookies.
☑️Tips
- For lump-free pudding, beat the pudding mix with 1 cup milk until completely smooth, then slowly mix in the rest of the milk.
- To keep the bananas from turning brown, completely cover them with pudding.
- Add toppings immediately before serving. You can brush the bananas with a little lemon juice to keep them from turning brown.
🎁Storage
Store leftover banana strawberry pudding in an airtight container or tightly covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. The cookies will soften, the strawberries may release a little liquid, and it won't look quite as pretty as it did on day 1 or 2, but it will still taste very delicious.
📅Make Ahead
Strawberry banana pudding is a great make-ahead dessert because it always tastes best the next day!
❓FAQs
When bananas are exposed to air, they'll start to turn brown. To keep bananas from turning brown in banana pudding, completely cover them with the pudding mixture and add them as a topping immediately before serving.
I don't recommend vanilla wafers in this recipe. Nilla Wafers are thinner and less dense than Chessmen Cookies or Lorna Doone Cookies and, when tested, turned soggy overnight. Chessmen Cookies and Lorna Doone Cookies both turned soft and lovely, like cake, as they absorbed the liquid from the fruit.
Your banana pudding might have turned runny if the pudding didn't properly set, the bananas were overripe, the strawberries were overripe, or whipped cream was used. Here are some tips to prevent that:
• The cream cheese pudding mixture should be very thick -- if it isn't, it's likely it was overstirred when the Cool Whip was added or too much milk was used.
• Use bananas that are slightly underripe so they are firm.
• Choose strawberries that are perfectly ripe.
• Use Cool Whip or stabilized whipped cream so it doesn't release liquid into your banana pudding.
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📖 Recipe
Strawberry Banana Pudding
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 2 3.4 oz. boxes instant vanilla pudding mix
- 2 ¾ cups cold milk
- 8 ounces Cool Whip, divided
- 45 Pepperidge Farm Chessmen Cookies from two 7.25 oz. packages, can also use Lorna Doone Cookies (you'll need more since they're smaller)
- 5 ripe bananas
- 3-4 cups sliced strawberries, patted dry
- ½ cup strawberry glaze, optional
Instructions
- Whip cream cheese in a very large mixing bowl until smooth. Add the sweetened condensed milk and mix until there are no lumps.
- In a second bowl, mix the pudding mix and milk. For lump-free pudding, add about 1 cup of milk and mix until smooth. Slowly mix in remaining milk until thick and creamy.
- Pour pudding into cream cheese mixture, mix until well combined. Fold in ½ of the Cool Whip until just combined -- do not overmix.
- Line bottom of a dish with a layer of Chessmen cookies. Add a layer of sliced bananas on top of the cookies, then a layer of strawberry slices. If desired, brush or spread a thin layer of glaze over the strawberries. Spread a layer of pudding over the fruit layer, completely sealing it in. Repeat 1-3 times, depending on your dish. 4 layers are just right in my trifle dish. Use 1-2 layers in a 9 x 13 pan.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours, up to overnight. Before serving, spread the remaining Cool Whip on top. Optional: immediately before serving, tuck sliced bananas and strawberries and Chessmen cookie pieces into the Cool Whip and sprinkle with crushed cookies.
Notes
- For lump-free pudding, beat the pudding mix with 1 cup milk until completely smooth, then slowly mix in the rest of the milk.
- To keep the bananas from turning brown, completely cover them with pudding.
- Add toppings immediately before serving. You can brush the bananas with a little lemon juice to keep them from turning brown.
- Chill at least 2 hours, but overnight is best for soft cakelike cookies.
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