Vegan Banana Cream Pie features a creamy custard filling, plenty of fresh sliced bananas and fluffy vegan whipped topping! Indulgent and delicious.
Vegan Banana Cream Pie is easier to make than you might think, and it’s the kind of dessert that even banana haters will come to love. There are 4 main components: the crust, the custard filling, plenty of fresh sliced bananas, and loads of fluffy whipped topping.
Vegan custard is not too difficult to make. I used a can of full fat coconut milk, cornstarch, sugar, vanilla and a touch of coconut oil to help it set.
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How to make it
Get the crust ready: Make this recipe super easy by purchasing a store bought cookie crust. I used my Healthy Vegan Pie Crust (which is also gluten free). I love the taste of it plus it is so easy to pre-bake as it doesn’t ever sink down, not even a little! Or use my Easy Vegan Pie Crust and pre-bake it using pie weights <—these are the ones I have, you do need two packages for one pie crust.
Make the custard: Mix the cornstarch with a little coconut milk in a bowl, then pour the rest of the milk and sugar into a small pot. Bring to a gentle simmer, then add the cornstarch/milk mixture and whisk until thickened somewhat. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and coconut oil.
Can’t have coconut? It is possible to use another non-dairy milk, such as soy, almond or oat milk in place of the can of coconut milk. Use 1 1/2 cups. The custard won’t be quite as thick, but it will work. You can also omit the coconut oil if needed.
Pour the custard into the crust, it will still be kind of runny, but will thicken up as it cools.
Cover the pie with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to cool for 2-4 hours or even overnight. Once cooled, sliced the bananas and layer most of them on top of the custard, saving some for decorating the top of the pie.
Cover the pie with vegan whipped topping, and decorate with more sliced bananas.
Whipped topping options
I used So Delicious Coco Whip which I personally love. You can use another store bought vegan whipped topping, or make my Vegan Whipped Cream (using aquafaba) or Coconut Whipped Cream.
Want more vegan pie recipes?
Vegan Banana Cream Pie
Ingredients
- 1 Healthy Vegan Pie Crust (see below for options)
Vanilla custard
- (1) 13.5 oz can full fat coconut milk, divided
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
The rest
- 3 large bananas, sliced
- 1 container non-dairy whipped cream (I used SoDelicious Coco Whip) (see below for options)
Instructions
- Pre-bake Healthy Vegan Pie Crust, then let it cool while you make the custard filling. You could also use my Easy Vegan Pie Crust, or a store bought crust such as a cookie crust.
- In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup of the coconut milk and cornstarch. Stir well and set aside.
- In a small pot over medium heat, whisk together the rest of the can of coconut milk, sugar and salt. Bring to a gentle simmer.
- Quickly stir the cornstarch/milk mixture once more, then add it to the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking frequently for 5-10 minutes, until it starts to thicken. It won't quite look as thick as custard yet, but it will firm up as it cools.
- Remove from heat, and stir in the coconut oil and vanilla. Pour the custard mixture into the pre-baked and cooled crust. Let cool at room temperature for 10 minutes, then move to the refrigerator and chill for 2-4 hours or overnight. Cover with plastic wrap if desired, to help prevent a film from forming on the custard.
- Once the pie is cool, slice the bananas. Layer most of the banana slices on top of the custard filling, saving some to decorate the top if desired.
- Cover the pie with vegan whipped topping. I used SoDelicious Coco Whip. If you can't find a whipped topping at the store, you can make my Vegan Whipped Cream or Coconut Whipped Cream. Decorate with more banana slices right before serving, if desired.
- Serve immediately, and refrigerate any leftovers. The pie will only keep for 1-2 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Blind Bake Easy Vegan Pie Crust: Prepare the crust as instructed, and line the pie plate with it. Chill the crust in the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 375℉. Line the crust with a layer or parchment paper, and fill with weights. You can use ceramic weights, dried beans or even sugar! Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the weights, carefully. Poke holes in the bottom of the crust with a fork, return to oven and bake for 15 more minutes. Let cool before filling.
- Nutritional information is an estimate only, and will vary depending on what whipped topping you use, as well as the kind of crust used.
- Coconut milk from a can works best for this recipe, but you could substitute another non-dairy milk if needed, such as soy, almond or oat milk (use 1 1/2 cups if you do). The custard will not be as thick. You can also omit the coconut oil if needed.
- The pie is gluten free if you use my Healthy Vegan Pie Crust.
Nora, this recipe is INCREDIBLE! My husband has life-threatening food allergies to milk and eggs, meaning he has been very limited in food choices his whole life. He never had a cream pie before and usually doesn’t like sweets, but he ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS! I served it at Easter and the whole family loved it, along with your vegan strawberry cake! No one could believe it’s vegan. I am so excited I have found your website and to make our family a ton of your delicious recipes(:
Hi Hannah. I’m so thrilled your husband gets to eat a cream pie! That is awesome! I’m glad you found my site as well! Enjoy your journey through my recipes and reach out with any questions! Thank you for sharing your fabulous feedback and review! Happy cooking!
Hi Nora! First let me say that I have your cookbooks and all your recipes are fantastic! I have a question regarding this recipe: can I use some banana flavoring in the pudding? Thanks!
Sure! And thank you so much, I’m glad you are enjoying my recipes!
I can’t tell you how happy I am to have access to such a great banana cream pie recipe! When I was a little girl, rather than a cake for my birthday, I asked my grandmother for a banana cream pie. Since becoming dairy and gluten free many years ago, I’ve missed this delight. Perfect with my gluten-free crust. Now I just need some yellow food coloring to make it absolutely perfect. (And thank you for the coconut whipped cream recipe!)
Hi Carol. I absolutely love reading about people’s joy when they get to eat a long missed favorite food! I’m so glad that you love my banana cream pie recipe! Thank you for sharing your amazing feedback and review! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
Omg, this banana cream pie is absolutely incredible. I’ve only made it with storebought crusts because I’m lazy but I bet it would taste even better with a homemade crust. Amazing!
I’m thrilled you love the pie! Thanks for your fantastic feedback!
I am excited to make this! My husband requested banana cream pie for his birthday. I’m not a coconut fan so I’ll be using oat milk, and I know you said the coconut oil can be omitted if needed, but is there another oil that would work? Avocado maybe? Thank you!
I can’t wait for you and your husband to try it, Marta! I would simply leave the oil out completely because I haven’t tested this recipe with an alternative. Happy baking!
if you used refined coconut oil it has little to no coconut flavor
Absolutely amazing and set up just like a non-vegan banana cream pie.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful feedback and review! I’m glad you love the pie!
This is the absolute best banana cream pie EVER. Definitely give it a try!!
This recipe was SO delicious! Even the family (who are not all vegan) loved it and went back for seconds! Definitely making this again!
I’m so glad the recipe was a hit with your family! Thank you, Lisa, for sharing your wonderful feedback and review!
This pie was absolutely awesome!! I used my own pie crust recipe, put bananas on top and bottom of the pie, and enjoyed every bite when it was done. It was quite easy to make. Most difficult part was waiting for it to set!
Most. Successful. Custard. Recipe. Ever! I have been unsuccessful for 20 years! Made it as stated in the recipe. It tastes yummy and set up beautifully!
I’m so thrilled to hear it all went well for you, and that you loved it! Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful review and comments!
I love this recipe. So easy and delicious.
I wonder what other variations of pie could you make with that easy custard recipe!?
Thanks for sharing your review!
Hi! Excited to try this! Do you know if this would possibly work with coconut sugar? Thank you!
I haven’t tried it but I don’t see why not! Hope you enjoy it.
Yummy! When I licked the pan after pouring the custard into the crust, it tasted just like the vanilla pudding I remember.
Hi Cheryl! I love your fun review! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Nora! Just wondering, for the easy pie crust, how long do you bake it in the oven for? And is it possible to get away with not using the pastry weights? Thank you!
Hi there! Good question, I need to add in the information, sorry about that! Here is what I would do for the Easy Vegan Pie Crust: Prepare the crust as instructed, and line the pie plate with it. Chill the crust in the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 375℉. Line the crust with a layer or parchment paper, and fill with weights. You can use ceramic weights, dried beans or even sugar! Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the weights, carefully. Poke holes in the bottom of the crust with a fork, return to oven and bake for 15 more minutes. Let cool before filling. It really does need weights, or it will just shrivel down unfortunately.
Best banana cream pie ever! I did cashew milk instead of coconut milk and it was so amazing!! I’ve made this more than once and it turns out amazing every time!
That’s so great to hear!
So excited to try this! Could you substitute Arrowroot powder for the Cornstarch?
I think that should work fine. Hope you enjoy it!
I made this as coconut cream pie-just eliminated the bananas and added toasted coconut on top. It turned out okay but my filling was gummy rather than creamy. Is there a way to fix that?
I’m not sure why it turned out gummy rather than creamy. My best guess it the custard part got over boiled and cooked, changing the texture.
Ah so maybe I overcooked it? That’s definitely possible.
Did anyone else have an issue of small gelatinous beads ending up in their custard? I’m not sure where I went wrong, any help is appreciated!
This is easy and delicious! I added a layer of banana on top of the crust before adding the coconut mix and then let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. Turned out beautifully. Thank You!
Thank you, so glad you enjoyed it!
That’s a great idea. Thanks for the tip!
I’m making this recipe right now and noticed that you don’t include when to add the salt. I decided to add it with the coconut oil and vanilla extract, but it would be helpful if you added this to the instructions. 🙂
Sorry about that! I will fix that now. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Is it possible to bake the custard in the pie pastry and make custard tarts? I’m just curious if the coconut milk would bake similarly to an egg-based custard.
I think that would probably work, yes, though I haven’t tested it. Sounds fun though!
Sooo good! I improvised a little because I didn’t have all the ingredients for the crust. So I layered everything in Mason jars: crumbled leftover Trefoil Girl Scout cookies, bananas, pudding x 2 and topped with extra bananas and crumbled cookies. What a treat! Thank you, as always for your amazing recipes!
That sounds really good!
We just got a bunch of bananas from our banana trees in our backyard. I’m gonna have to pick up some canned coconut milk and Vegan whipped cream to try this out beautiful pie out. It looks absolutely amazing!
We love all of your recipes that we’ve tried! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you so much! How fun that you have a banana tree. 🙂 Hope you love the pie!
My grandmother always sliced the banana into the baked crust, then poured the custard over them. Is your bananas on top design simply personal preference or is there a practical concern?
You could absolutely do it that way instead, I just found with the vegan custard, it was easier to smooth it in the bottom without a layer of bananas already on the crust. And the bananas tasted fresher as well.
For a coconut cream pie, it sounds like add some shredded coconut to the custard, sprinkle some between the 2 layers, and sprinkle some on top?
Sure! That would work!
Thank you for the recipe! I was already planning to try the pie crust this weekend, so now I will try this recipe too. If I can make one small suggestion: When making banana creme pie, if you put a layer of bananas on the crust before you add the filling, it increases the banana flavor in the custard section and even keeps the crust from getting too moist.
Thanks for the tip! Hope you enjoy it with the pie crust as well!