Are bananas a staple for you when it comes to smoothies and baking? Me too! Check out this post on how to freeze bananas for an easy step by step tutorial on how to slice bananas and save them in the freezer for later.
How to Freeze Bananas- It’s SO Easy!
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to freeze bananas, I know. I’m sure you have thrown a bunch of brown bananas into the freezer thinking – “I’ll make banana bread with these later or throw them in a smoothie”. I have done the same thing more times than I can count.
Most times, if I throw bananas into the freezer that are not peeled and easy to grab and throw into a blender, I don’t use them! More often than not, my bananas get freezer burned and when I clean out my freezer (maaaaaybe once a year) they get tossed into the garbage. But, guess what?
This year is the year of NO BANANA LEFT BEHIND.
We have developed a SUPER easy system for leftover bananas in the Fit Foodie kitchen and we wanted to share it with all of you! It is a very simple system that seems like overkill, but when you have a perfect bag of frozen bananas in the freezer that aren’t freezer burn, aren’t mushy, and don’t stick together, you are going to thank us.
Step One- Prepare a Baking Sheet
You don’t want to just slice your bananas and throw them into a freezer bag fresh. Why? Because they will all freeze together in a big mushy clump and when you’re ready to make a smoothie in the morning, you will have to thaw them out or ice pick your way through a clump of frozen nanner. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper so that you can lay your banana slices down flat and freeze them before you prepare them for storage.
Step Two- Peel and Slice Those NANNERS
Grab your bananas and peel them. Now, we don’t discriminate against any nanner- yellow or brown, you decide. All you have to do is slice your bananas into 1/4-1/2 inch rounds and place them on the parchment paper. Bananas are about $0.15, so we suggest bulk slicing and freezer. So? Use as many bananas as your heart desires! Place sliced bananas into the freezer for at least 30 minutes or until your bananas are completely frozen.
Step Three- Store Banana Slices for Later
Lastly, remove baking sheet from the freezer and use a spatula to remove bananas from the baking sheet. Immediately place frozen sliced bananas into a freezer safe bag, remove air from the bag, seal, and place in the freezer for easy access to perfectly frozen bananas!
What can I use frozen bananas for?
Any recipe that calls for banana puree or any smoothie recipe that calls for frozen bananas! You have endless options! Check out some of our favorite banana recipes below.
- Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Banana Oatmeal Pancakes
- Peanut Butter Banana Cold Brew Protein Smoothie
- Banana Soft Serve Recipes
- Layered Chocolate Banana Protein Smoothie
- Peanut Butter Cup Banana Soft Serve
How to Freeze Bananas (for smoothies and baking!)
Ingredients
- 4 large bananas peeled
Instructions
- Prepare a baking sheet by laying a piece of parchment paper flat onto a baking sheet.
- Next, slice bananas into 1/4-1/2 inch rounds and place them on the parchment paper. Make sure all bananas are laying flat and not overlapping with each other.
- Place into the freezer for at least 30 minutes or until bananas are hard and completely frozen.
- Remove from the freezer and use a spatula to scrape frozen bananas off of the baking sheet.
- Place bananas into a freezer safe bag. Remove all air from your freezer safe bag and seal tightly.
- Finally, store bananas in your freezer for easy access to frozen bananas throughout the week!
My grandfather recently passed away and my grandmother has been totally distraught. They were definitely hoarding and particularly with food storage. Luckily, we found a good dumpster rental company and got ourselves a dumpster for the week and got all of the trash and old food taken care of. Now we’re trying to help her better manage her food storage and your freeze dried bananas recipe has been a true miracle. It was incredible to see her light up again as we made them together, and she definitely felt a little more secure after she made them. Now the trick will be making sure she eats them at the right time. Thanks for sharing this. It’s truly helped us all through this difficult time.
Love this simple fix, but one quick question:
Would the frozen banana slices be able to be used in a Nutrobullet type blender, straighth from the freezer, or would they have to be partially thawed for them to be blended easily?
My frozen banana have turned dark brown can I still u them?
yes sure…. if they are not very sweet in taste
Would dipping the bananas in fruit juice help with the discolouration?
Hi Mala! You can use lemon juice for that if you want. If you peel yellow bananas and freeze them immediately, they won’t discolor at all in the freezer!
Can you add frozen bananas to porridge, muffins or cook them with oats and other frozen fruit? Or even just bake them plain with oats?
Do you need to always thaw them?
You can totally add them frozen, if you want!
How to freeze bananas. Way to complicated!!!!!!!!!
Smarty pants way:
Once ripe
Peel
Cut in half
put in plastic throwaway type bag
close bag with tie twist.
Place in freezer.
Line em up: as good as ice cream.
While this is effective as well and serves purpose for different recipes that ripe to very ripe bananas are excellent for…I am a banana snob and only like the freshest just turned ripe taste and texture of bananas…(like stem is still green and hombres down a tad to the body of the banana)…yeah, its like that xD…this is smoothie type heaven for me and so THIS method is a must for myself and im sure others cuz, i cant be the only one :O
I can’t believe I haven’t frozen bananas before this I can’t believe how many bananas I’ve thrown away. It looks so easy to freeze.
What if i just sliced the banana in half, freeze them, and put in a bag?
That totally works too!
Say I freeze a bunch of bananas then later want to make banana bread. What’s the best way to thaw them? Just put enough for the recipe in the fridge overnight?
You can do that or pop them in the microwave to defrost them!
I’m so happy to find this. We buy bananas from Sam’s and it’s a very large bundle , of course they are pretty green. By the time they are ripe you have to eat quickly, so this is great. QUESTION: Will these be ok to use in a banana pudding, if so do I let them thaw before layering the pudding or place them in frozen, then bake meringue??
I don’t see why not! And I think you could do either frozen or thawed…just because they thaw fo fast!
I don’t think that frozen and thawed bananas will make a good banana pudding. Fresh bananas are best for banana pudding.😊
I do this but the bananas get a bit brown in the ziplock . Why does that happen??? Don’t want to waste all those good bananas !
Hmmm that is weird! Make sure you squeeze as much air out of the ziplock before freezing. Air is what will turn them brown!
Your freezer is not maintaining steady temp.
Thanks for this. With the way things are, bananas aren’t always on the empty shelves. When they are, I’m buying more with the intent of freezing some.
YES! So smart! Keep a bag in the freezer at all times!
Yes! Exactly! All of a sudden our reliable supermarkets are overwhelmed and I find myself not being able to find things every time I shop.
Thanks for this!
Thanks!
Genius. Thank you.
You say, serving size is 1/4. Is that a quarter of a cup? I’m new to all of this healthy living. Lol
1/4 of the recipe!
Such a simple idea yet brilliant — thank you for sharing!!
Oh man, I could eat frozen bananas with a little dark chocolate and sea salt ALL FREAKING DAY LONG. And with some almond butter? Oh my gosh, it’s the most fantastic dessert EVER! Freezing bananas for acai bowls, nice cream, and green smoothies are the best!