Keto Banana Pudding

A delicious keto version of the classic banana pudding made with layers of unsweetened whipped cream and keto gluten-free shortbread cookie crumble.

You will love this keto banana pudding with less than 1 gram of net carbs per serving!

Is Banana Pudding Keto?

No, the classic banana pudding is not keto-friendly. It’s made of milk, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla wafer cookie, and banana slices.

All these ingredients are high in sugar and carbs and are not keto-approved.

Bananas in particular are quite high in carbs and they only make a classic banana pudding too high in carbohydrates.

How To Make Keto-Friendly Banana Pudding

The classic Southern recipe can easily be adapted to create the most delicious keto-friendly banana pudding.

The ingredients you need to make a keto low-carb banana pudding recipe are:

• Heavy cream – for a dairy-free keto pudding, you can replace heavy cream with canned coconut cream. Shake the can before measuring. Heavy Cream is perfectly keto-friendly.
• Unsweetened almond milk – hemp milk is also a great keto nut-free option.
• Erythritol or xylitol, or any keto-friendly sweetener you like. This recipe works with Monk fruit. Make sure to use my sweetener converter to adjust the amount. Monk fruit, like stevia, is very sweet, and you will need a tiny amount to reach the same level of sweetness.
• Natural Banana extract – not all banana extracts are equal and have different strengths. That’s why I recommend starting with the minimal amount recommended by the recipe, then adjusting to taste.
• Vanilla extract
• Egg yolk
• Whole eggs
• Xanthan gum – that’s your pudding thickener, don’t skip it, or the pudding won’t be thick at all.
• Butter – this adds a boost of creaminess to your pudding. If dairy-free, you can skip this ingredient. The result will be lighter but still delicious. Butter is very much keto-friendly.

Ingredients at room temperature

First, gather all your ingredients and bring the eggs to room temperature.

This is an important step to avoid cooking the eggs in the hot milk in the next steps of the recipe.

Egg mixture

Before you start, beat the eggs and erythritol (or any keto sweetener you like), and xanthan gum together until well combined.

It is important that you sprinkle xanthan gum into the bowl to avoid lumps, don’t add the gum all at once.

Set the bowl aside while you warm the milk and heavy cream.

Warm milk and cream

In a saucepan, over medium heat, warm unsweetened almond milk, and heavy cream together.

Stir constantly to avoid having the mixture overflowing the pan or burning. After 2 minutes, remove from heat.

Temper the eggs

Scoop 2 tablespoons of the warm milk mixture and stir one at a time into the egg mixture bowl.

This step brings the egg mixture to the perfect temperature, preventing the eggs from cooking in the hot milk.

Bring the egg mixture into the saucepan

Now that the egg mixture is lukewarm, you can pour it into the saucepan along with the hot milk/cream mixture.

Return to heat

Continue to cook under low heat for 5-8 minutes until the mixture thickens and covers the back of the spoon.

If the mixture is not thick enough, sprinkle some extra gum all over the sauce, stirring at the same time to incorporate.

Don’t add more than 1/2 teaspoon of gum, or the pudding will be slimy.

Adding butter and flavoring

Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in fresh butter, vanilla, and banana extract.

Stir in until the butter is fully melted, and test the pudding flavor to check if it matches your linking. You may want to increase the banana extract flavoring depending on its strength.

Always add 1/4 extra teaspoon, stir and taste. Adjust until it reaches the banana flavor you love.

Assembling The Banana Pudding

This easy keto banana pudding can be served in many ways:

• Plain – serve 1/2 cup of this recipe, plain, with no toppings or layering.
• Layered – the classic banana pudding recipe is assembled with a layer of banana slices, whipped cream, and vanilla wafers. All these ingredients are high in carbs, and you can’t use them to assemble this keto banana pudding. Instead, use unsweetened whipped cream and one batch of my keto vanilla shortbread recipe crumbled into pieces.

Storage Instructions

This sugar-free banana pudding keto recipe must be stored in the fridge in a sealed jar.

Or, you can use a simple mixing bowl covered with plastic wrap.

It is important to cover the container to prevent the formation of a film on top of the pudding.

This recipe can be stored for up to 3 days in the fridge. You can also freeze your pudding in small sealed containers and thaw it in the fridge overnight.

Frequently Asked Questions