Yes, we have brown bananas! What do we do with them today? Can you freeze bananas?
Yes! Freezing bananas to use in baking, smoothies, and other banana desserts is a great way to stop wasting food and extend the life of your purchase.
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You had high hopes when you bought that bunch of bananas. Pack them in lunches. Make Monkey Salad. Enjoy a post-workout snack packed with potassium.
But, now….
Well, they’re getting a little brown. And you know if you pack them in lunches they’ll just be a squishy mess by meal time. They’re still good, but they’re, well, brown bananas.
One thing for sure: you don’t want to throw them away.
The obvious answer is to bake your brown bananas into banana bread or banana muffins. But, you do not have time for homebaking right now, despite the fact that your quickly-ripening bananas demand it. Good thing for you, you can freeze bananas.
Why Do This
You can stretch your investment. Freezing bananas before they go bad is a great way to buy yourself some time and stretch your grocery dollar.
Frozen bananas make for delicious frozen snacks and desserts. Frozen bananas are great in smoothies, nice cream, and dipped in chocolate. Having already frozen them, you’ll be one step closer to deliciousness!
You can bake with them later. Since most banana recipes call for mashed banana anyway, freezing them is a great way to have them mashed, portioned, and ready for later baking.
Ingredients
Bananas are a tropical fruit that is picked and shipped while still green.
Most people store their bananas at room temperature. They taste best that way and of course, a green banana will ripen faster at room temperature. But, getting the bananas to ripen is not your problem right now.
While refrigeration will slow down ripening slightly, freezing will help you stretch the life of your bananas.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Freezing has a more dramatic effect on enzyme action, serving as a way to preserve brown bananas for a little while longer. While frozen bananas are not as tasty for plain eating as fresh, they do wonderfully well for baking, smoothie-making, and chocolate dipping.
There are several ways you can freeze bananas:
Freeze the banana whole.
If you’d like to leave them whole, you can freeze them in the peel or wrap a peeled banana in plastic wrap before placing it in a ziptop freezer bag in the freezer.
Note: a banana frozen in the peel will be difficult to peel while frozen, not the best bet for making smoothies, but fine if you’re going to thaw the banana completely and bake with it. Just thaw it on a plate to catch drips, remove the peel, and use as you would a fresh banana.
Freeze banana slices.
Peel the brown bananas and slice them. (No, you don’t need the banana slicer! A regular table knife will do.)
Place the slices on a lined baking sheet and place the baking sheet in the freezer until the slices are very firm, 20 minutes to overnight. Don’t leave them open in the freezer too long as their aroma will start to creep into other frozen foods. Banana-scented pizza? No thanks.
Place the frozen slices in a labeled, ziptop freezer bag, and immediately return the bag to the freezer. Use within the next month or two, just pulling from the bag however many slices you need at a time.
Freeze banana puree.
Peel and mash the bananas. Transfer the banana puree to the sections of a Souper Cubes tray or other silicone ice cube tray.
Freeze until firm. Pop out the cubes and transfer them to a ziptop freezer bag and store it in the freezer until ready to use.
How to Use Frozen Bananas
To use: simply thaw briefly before using in baked goods or use them as is for milk shakes and smoothies. Leave them frozen if you’re going to make frozen chocolate banana bites.
FAQs
Placing your brown bananas in the refrigerator will slow down the enzyme action that will (eventually) lead to decay. The bananas will continue to ripen, just more slowly. They’ll turn brown, but they’ll be okay — as long as they’re not oozy or fuzzy. In fact, they will actually deepen in flavor, great for baking. For longer storage, however, it’s best to freeze them.
If you’re in a big rush, you can place the whole banana, peel and everything, in the freezer. However, if you want to use frozen banana in smoothies, it will be difficult to remove the peel without thawing. If you’re going to bake with them, allow them to thaw on a plate (they will drip a bit) until you can remove the peel. Then you should be able to mash them for your recipe.
Bananas turn brown when exposed to oxygen, even in the freezer. Once they are peeled, the oxidation process begins. If you can remove as much air as possible from your storage bag, this will reduce the amount of oxidation that occurs while the banana is store in the freezer.
Uses
When you’ve got a little more time on your hands, you can thaw your frozen bananas and use them in any number of recipes. Consider these delicious uses for ripe bananas:
1. Bake someone happy!
Bananas are delicious baked into any number of goodies. Typically, you’ll need mashed bananas for baking recipes, so you don’t need to worry that your frozen bananas get mushy when you thaw them.
Choose one of these banana recipes:
2. Use them frozen.
Smoothies are a delicious way to use up bananas, which add a sweetness and creaminess to smoothies. People who typically don’t like bananas, tend to enjoy them in smoothies, sometimes without even knowing it.
You can fill your freezer with freezer smoothies or simply add a bag of sliced bananas to your Smoothie Station.
You don’t need to thaw bananas before blending them, though you do want to use a high power blender so that you don’t get stuck with a frozen chunk.
Don’t forget! You can also make Banana Nice Cream or How to Make Frozen Chocolate Bananas.
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How to Freeze Bananas
Equipment
- Souper Cubes or other ice cube trays
- heavy duty sheet pan
- parchment paper
- ziptop freezer bags
Instructions
- Depending on how you want to use the bananas after freezing, you can leave them whole, slice them, or mash them. Peel then prep them how you like.4 bananas
- If leaving whole or slicing, lay the bananas or slices out in a single layer on a tray covered with plastic wrap, parchment, or a silpat mat.
- If using mashed bananas, mash them in a bowl with a fork or potato masher. Place the banana puree in the compartments of the silicone tray.
- Freeze until firm, several hours to overnight.
- Remove the tray from the freezer and transfer the bananas or banana puree cubes to labeled freezer bags or containers, removing any air from bags. Move quickly.
- Store the packaged bananas in the freezer for up to 1 year in the deep freeze or for several months in a refrigerator freezer.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on May 21, 2014. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Nicole
I don’t do freezer cooking, but my version is simplifying ingredient prep. We make a beloved recipe for banana chocolate chip muffins every other Sunday. (It’s an awesome pantry challenge recipe too, because it uses up a cup of mayo…something I always have but can never come close to finishing a jar.) Anyway…when I have overripe bananas, I mash them all and freeze in containers with just the right amount for a batch of muffins. Makes the baking process much faster!
Jessica Fisher
Great strategy. Thanks for sharing, Nicole!
Kelly
I intentionally bought a bag of overripe bananas at the store yesterday! I hadn’t read the email you sent, but I saw the subject and decided to load up. My store sells a grocery bag full of bananas for 99 cents when they start getting brown dots on them. I think I’ll start with the pecan coffee cake, and use the rest for chocolate banana smoothies-my kids’ favorite-and freeze them.
Jessica Fisher
I love it when they mark those down!
Laura
They are also good to use in oatmeal.
Jessica Fisher
Do you mash them and cook them in the oats?
Demi Taylor
Over-ripe bananas are perfect to use as a sugar substitute in desserts like puddings or fudge!
Jessica Fisher
Thanks for the suggestion. That sounds really interesting!