By: Jill Mills Posted: Apr 10, 2022 Updated: Jun 30, 2023

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This Banana Split Cake is an easy dessert made with banana pudding, cream cheese, bananas, strawberries, pineapple, and whipped topping layered on a graham cracker crust. Top it off with some chocolate sauce, sprinkles, and cherries for the ultimate banana split dessert.

A slice of banana split cake next to a casserole dish of the dessert

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I have been making this for about 30 years! It is so refreshing and delicious! Beware...it's hard to stop eating it

– Gina

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Easy Banana Split Cake – No Baking Required!

There’s nothing quite like a banana split sundae to satisfy a sweet tooth, so we took it as inspiration to make what will likely be your new favorite no-bake cake: Banana Split Cake.

This banana split dessert begins with a simple graham cracker crust, which is topped with layers of cream cheese and whipped topping, banana pudding, sliced bananas and strawberries, and crushed pineapple. I like to finish it off with your classic banana split toppings – chocolate sauce, sprinkles, and cherries.

I love to serve this in the summer as it’s simple to put together and always a hit. Plus it’s a great cooking project to involve the kids with, since no oven is required.

If you love this cake, don’t miss our Neapolitan Cake – a decadent dessert with all the great banana split flavors!

Why You’ll Love This Banana Cake Recipe

Here are a few reasons why this no bake dessert will quickly become a family favorite.

Perfect for summer. Made with fresh fruit, sweet pudding, and tangy cream cheese, this banana split cake is perfect for those hot summer days.
No baking required. The best part of this banana split cake? You don’t need to turn on the oven – or the stove!
All the flavors of a banana split. With strawberries, bananas, and pineapple layered in the cake and chocolate sauce, cherries, and sprinkles on top, this no bake banana split cake has all the great flavors of the original dessert.

The Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make Banana Split Cake (the exact measurements and full recipe instructions are below in the easy to print recipe card):

Graham cracker crumbs – To make things easy, you can buy pre-made graham cracker crumbs in the baking aisle of your grocery store with the ready-to-use graham cracker pie crusts. If you prefer to make the crumbs yourself, just pulse graham crackers in a food processor until they become fine crumbs.
Butter – We used regular salted butter, but unsalted works as well.
Granulated sugar
Cream cheese – The best cream cheese to use for this recipe is full-fat block cream cheese. The cream cheese in the tub tends to be too soft.
Vanilla extract
Cool Whip – A generic store brand works fine too.
Bananas & strawberries – Classic banana split toppings! Fresh fruit works best.
Crushed pineapple – Be sure to drain the pineapple very well so the juices don’t make the cake soggy.
Instant banana cream pudding mix – If you can’t find banana pudding, vanilla works well, but this does take away from the overall banana flavor of the cake.
Milk – Make sure the milk is very cold as this helps the pudding thicken.
Toppings – Chocolate syrup, maraschino cherries, and rainbow sprinkles are our go-to’s.

How to Make Banana Split Cake

Preparing this banana split dessert is quick and easy. Just be sure to allow plenty of time for it to chill before diving in!

Graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl

Make the graham cracker crust. Combine the graham crackers with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup melted butter. Press into a greased pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Whipped cream cheese spread in a cake pan

Prepare the cream cheese layer. Beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy, then gently fold in the whipped topping.
Make the pudding layer. Whisk together the pudding mix and cold milk until well combined. Refrigerate for 10 minutes to thicken.

Strawberries and bananas layered on top of pudding in a pan

Crushed pineapple over sliced strawberries

Assemble the banana split cake. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the crust, then top with a layer of sliced bananas and a layer of sliced strawberries. Spread the drained pineapple evenly over the fruit. Add the pudding over the pineapple then spread a container of Cool Whip over the pudding.

Banana pudding layered over fruit in a banana split cake

Whipped topping spread on a banana split cake

Chill. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
Add the toppings. Before serving, add the chocolate sauce, maraschino cherries, and sprinkles. Enjoy!

freshly made Banana Split Cake topped with maraschino cherries

Tips for Success

Here are a few important things to keep in mind when making this easy banana split cake.

Use INSTANT pudding. Make sure you grab instant banana pudding, not the cook and serve type, as it won’t work in this recipe.
Press the crust firmly into the pan. Be sure to tightly pack the graham cracker crust into the pan. Otherwise, it will crumble easily when you slice the cake.
Drain the pineapple well. Be sure to drain the crushed pineapple really well, to prevent the juices from running into the rest of the cake.
Prepare this well in advance. While the directions say to let this banana split cake chill for at least 3 hours, I definitely recommend giving it a bit longer – overnight if you can.