How to Freeze Bananas

by Carrie Forrest, MPH in Nutrition | Jun 3, 2020 (updated: 8/20/21)

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If you have ripe bananas on hand, you can learn how to freeze bananas for smoothies, ice cream, and oatmeal. Just follow this easy step-by-step guide.

Contents show

Pro Tips

Bananas are ripe when they are soft to the touch, have brown spots on them, have a mild or strong odor of bananas, or have turned brown around the edges. Some types of bananas may not have obvious signs of ripening, so you do need to keep an eye on them.

You’ll know when a banana is not ripe when it is hard, green, or has no odor. Sometimes it can take up to several days for a banana to ripen on the countertop. If you want to help a banana ripe faster, you can always place them in a paper bag for a few days.

The problem is that when a banana ripens, it can go bad pretty quickly. A banana is over-ripe when the skin turns black or it becomes mushy.

But, don’t worry! You can use frozen ripe bananas in so many ways, including in smoothies, ice creams, dairy-free soft serves, oatmeal, and in baked goods.

Recipe Steps

bunch of ripe bananas on a white background

Step One

The first step for freezing bananas is to remove the skin. Some people just pop a ripe banana on the freezer with the skin on, but I don’t recommend this method. If you freeze a banana with the skin on, it will make it very difficult to remove the skin.

Step Two

The second step to freezing bananas is to either break them in half or cut them into slices. Depending on what you plan to do with your frozen banana will dictate if you slice them or just break them in half.

It’s best to break up your fresh bananas as you may not want to use a whole frozen banana. Once, frozen, it will be harder to break up your bananas.

For example, if you have a high speed blender like a a Blendtec or a Vitamix, then you can just freeze your bananas in large halves, or even whole. A high speed blender will have to problem blending large chunks of frozen banana.

If you just have a regular blender or you are planning to make soft-serve with your frozen bananas in a food processor, then you should slice your bananas before you freeze them (see the photo below).

Step Three

After you cut or slice your bananas, you can lay them on a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. This will prevent the banana from freezing into a large clump.

Freeze the baking sheet for at least 2 hours before transferring the frozen bananas into a zip-top bag or any other freezer-safe container for long-term storage (up to 2 months). Squeeze out any much air from the bag as possible to help them freeze flat for optimal storage efficiency.

FAQs

How can I tell when a banana has gone bad?

There are a few ways to tell when a banana is rotten. If your banana smells bad or is very mushy, then you will need to throw it away.
However, if your ripe banana isn’t too mushy, then you can probably cut away the bad parts and still freeze the good parts.

What can I do with frozen bananas?

You can serve frozen bananas almost the same way you would use a fresh banana. Once you have frozen bananas, it’s best to use them frozen as opposed to defrosting them. I am a huge fan of frozen banana ice cream (see my recipe for Chocolate Banana Vegan Soft Serve).

Do I have to defrost bananas before using them in baked goods or oatmeal?

Ideally, you would use bananas frozen. But, if you are making muffins, banana bread, or another recipe that calls for ripe banana, you can defrost the frozen banana ahead of time in the refrigerator.

Recipes Using Frozen Bananas

Other Guides to Freezing Food

Here is the how to guide: