Chrissy Teigen's Banana Pudding Recipe Contains a Genius Secret Ingredient

Chrissy Teigen is already making the sweetest memories with her newborn daughter, Esti. On March 28, the model shared photos of what seemed like the ingredients to the perfect day: snuggles with her 10-week-old girl and a big bowl of her famously delicious banana pudding. She captioned it, "Babies and banana pudding" and we can't think of a better combo.

While we can't help deliver the baby part of the equation, we do know how you can replicate Teigen's mouthwatering banana pudding. This recipe is our own take on her method, which the "Cravings" cookbook author posted on Instagram in August 2020. It uses Nilla wafers (don't come at us with the Chessman vs. Nilla debate), and has a secret ingredient: sweetened condensed milk. And if you've never had pudding made with the latter, you're in for a real treat. I mean that literally, because the condensed milk adds such a decadent touch to the classic dessert.

The resulting banana pudding might not be as cute as a 10-week-old baby, but at least it's edible — and this recipe makes a portion you'll be able to enjoy for days to come.

To start, I whipped together a box of vanilla pudding mix with a can of sweetened condensed milk. If you want a slightly less sweet pudding, you can add some regular milk to the mixture, which will tone down the sweetness and give you more pudding. Then, fold the pudding mix with whipped cream to achieve a dreamy, fluffy mixture. You can use the whipped cream of your choice here — you can even make your own — but I swear by Cool Whip, so that's what I went with.

Then you just layer the pudding with Nilla Wafers (or a similar cookie) and bananas however you want! I crumbled some of my Nilla Wafers and left some whole for a bit of variety. Then I dolloped another bit of Cool Whip on top because I don't think there's such thing as too much Cool Whip. My advice is to put it in the fridge for a little bit before eating so the Nilla Wafers have time to soften. And Teigen is absolutely correct that this recipe rivals Magnolia Bakery's famous banana pudding — it's just as rich and creamy! Check out the full recipe ahead.

— Additional reporting by Melanie Whyte

Ingredients

1 1-ounce box instant vanilla pudding
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 containers Cool Whip (or whipped cream of your choice)
1 box Nilla Wafers (you won't use them all)
3 bananas

Directions

Mix pudding mix with sweetened condensed milk until combined. Fold in 1 1/2 containers Cool Whip. Slice bananas. Layer pudding mix, bananas, and Nilla Wafers in bowl until you reach the top. Garnish the top with the rest of the Cool Whip, Nilla Wafers, and more banana slices. Let sit in fridge for a little bit to allow the Nilla Wafers time to soften, then enjoy!