How to Freeze Bananas
on Mar 26, 2014, Updated Aug 13, 2022
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This is the Best Way to Freeze Bananas! Stock up while bananas are on sale and keep your stash in the freezer for smoothies.
How to Freeze Bananas
Frozen bananas will change your smoothie life and I’m here to show you how I do it.
When you freeze bananas and blend them, they almost have the consistency of homemade ice cream. Some kind of magic happens and they just get amazingly smooth and creamy. Frozen bananas are a great base for smoothies. They are very sweet, they are a pretty inexpensive fruit, and that texture just can’t be beat.
To start your frozen banana collection, I would buy 3-4 extra banana bunches for the week and let them rest on the counter until they get nice and ripe. Then freeze them all at the same time and you’ll have a nice stash for when you need them. I like to keep two bags in the freezer. One I am using, and one I am adding to. Once I have a stash built up, then I’ll just buy an extra bunch of bananas a week and put them in the freezer as they ripen. When I empty the “using” bag, I start using the bag I was adding to, and then that first bag becomes the bag that I add to. It’s a simple way to rotate through your supply.
My kids are also awful about getting a whole banana by themselves and then eating 3 bites and leaving the rest somewhere for me to find. So now instead of trying to save the banana and get them to eat it later (and in Southern Utah they end up dehydrating on the counter before they eat them), I just break off the top where they bit it and then throw the rest of the banana in my frozen banana bag in the freezer.
Sometimes I can get overripe bananas for free or on major discount and I always take advantage of that. I like to peel them all and break off any parts that are really black. I took this picture to show you what I do and don’t keep. If you can see, some of the bananas are a bit soft and bruised looking but the parts that I’m throwing out are definitely black and getting slimy. I’m sure you could use them I just don’t like to. I think that they start to have a rotten flavor to them that I can even taste in banana bread, so I give those pieces to the chickens.
Then I break all of the bananas into pieces. If you have a high power blender you could break them into 2 to 3 inch pieces. If you have a more traditional blender then I would recommend breaking them into smaller 1 inch pieces. This is a great job for your kitchen helpers.
We just stack them on a baking sheet, add a lid, and stick them in the freezer for at least 4 hours.
After they have started to freeze, we break the banana pieces apart and stick them in freezer bags.
I’ve skipped the baking sheet step before and just chucked a whole lot of ripe bananas in a freezer bag. They were quite hard to get apart because they were all frozen together. I had to chisel then apart to use them! That being said, it is ok to add a banana or two worth of pieces to the bag of already frozen bananas without pre-freezing them (this is how I keep my supply up, remember).
We have smoothies 5-6 days a weeks and so we use a whole lot of bananas!
My husband asked me if I could freeze bananas for Banana Bread and I have no idea. Do any of you freeze bananas for banana bread? Do you let them thaw first?! I’d love some more information on it if you do.
Now run out and stock up on some bananas, because I have a huge smoothie post and a Blendtec blender giveaway planned for Friday (UPDATE… I’m a month off, check back at the end of April… oops)! You’ll want to be prepared.
For your eating pleasure, here’s a few smoothie recipes you’ll love:
- Workout Recovery Smoothie
- Orange Pineapple Banana Smoothie
- Healthy Strawberry Kiwi Smoothie
- How to make freezer smoothie bags (the easiest smoothies ever!)
- Healthy Tropical Smoothie
- Good, Better, and Best Smoothies
- Healthy Key Lime Pie Smoothie
- Workout Recovery Smoothie
- Healthy Pumpkin Protein Smoothie
- Cold Killer Smoothie
- Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Smoothie (no weird powder needed)
I hope you enjoyed learning about the Best Way to Freeze Bananas!
I freez my bananas in the skin whole. I make banana bread, banana cake, smoothies. I put my bananas in the microwave for 1 minute peel them and make my recipe.
Yes I freeze my bananas for bread, I freeze them whole 3 to a bag that is what my recipe call’s for. I let them set on the counter while get everything ready they threw enough to mash and I am on my way to bread.
I use frozen bananas all the time for banana bread. Yes you let them thaw before adding to the mix.
I always freeze my bananas in their skins. It’s super easy to peel off once frozen. You can take the bananas out and let them thaw for a few minutes then just take a knife and sling them. You can let them thaw longer then they will literally just slip off.
I freeze my bananas for banana bread all the time, no issue. And you can freeze bananas before they go black, the skin blackens in the freezer naturally, its very interesting. Still work perfectly!
I enjoyed reading your post since in my family im known to be the one to freeze absolutely anything and wvwrything to cut on waste and add on oreservation. To answer your question, yes, you can most certainly freeze bananas for bread making, I do it all the time. I actually leave the skin on my bananas as I freeze thwm to helo with the freezer burn situation. I allow my bananas to ripen fully in order to allow the natural sugars to develop then i freeze them whole. When im going to ise them for bread recepie, i take the ones i need, place them in a large bowl and let them thaw..once thawed, i remove tge skin and add all of my ingredients, all that is, except sugar, its not needed. Then when my breads are about 3/4 of the way done i pull them oyt of the oven add toppins like chocolate chips, mini marshmellows graham crackers, shreded coconut, and other fruits or leave them plain then put them back into the over to finish baking. once baking time is completed I allow them to cool enough for me to handle them in their pans before unmolding for individual wrapping in plastic wrap(by now you can guess I gift and sell them lol ) they also freeze very well for up to a week.,and thaw perfectly well for eating….but they dont really last that long…lol
I left the skin on and sliced into small pieces. I did this for baby food for my grand baby. Unthawed in microwave on low power for less than a minute since they are sliced about a quarter inch thick. Then mashed it up since she is only 6 months. Only about 20 percent power.
When tge bananas are to ripe to eat i throw the whole thing in the freezer and pull 3-4 out when i want to make banana bread
I’ve always Wondered about this. My blenders on the pathetic side so I would worry that I’d get lumps in the smoothies when they have not broken down properly. Any tips?
You could slice the bananas into even smaller pieces, that would help a lot!
Yes you can freeze the whole banana in the freezer. When you are ready to make banana bread the bananas out of the freeze about 20-30. When they thaw a bit the peel comes right off. Frozen solid you can’t get the peep off and you have to cut the peel off with a knife.
I toss my ripe bananas peel and all in the freezer and when I make banana bread I just thaw them out and whip it up. I am of the mind the riper the better so I will wait until they are almost black before I freeze and I get begged to make my bread