Are you someone who sometimes ends up with overripe bananas and turns to panic-eating them in a feverish attempt to avoid throwing them in the trash?
Or do you end up tossing them out because they’re too ripe, too mushy, and too messy?
Well, you’ve come to the right place. We’re going to give you seven really delicious ways to enjoy them without all the panic-eating or throwing them away.
But before we get into those seven ways, there’s one step we want you to take right away.
The reason – it will help ensure your overripe bananas don’t start rotting, don’t attract any insects, and don’t fall apart on your counter or in your fridge!
The first step is to take your overripe bananas, put them in some freezer bags, and freeze them.
Note: this post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission if you buy through one of these links, at no cost to you. Thank you.
Why You Should Freeze Overripe Bananas
Besides preventing spoilage, rot, and insect infestation, freezing bananas also gives you one big advantage: time. It gives you time to not only figure out what you want to do with the overripe bananas, but it also allows you to enjoy them now, next week, or even a few months from now.
Freezing bananas also saves you from wasting produce, which will come in handy when making any of the dishes suggested below.
- Pro tip: we recommend peeling the bananas before freezing them. This will save you time when it comes time to put the bananas to work in a recipe. However, if the bananas are too ripe to even peel, freeze them, peel, and all.
How To Use Up Your Overripe Bananas
1. Smoothies
The first delicious way to enjoy overripe bananas is to use them in a smoothie. Take some and blend together with milk, cream or a dairy substitute like almond milk to make a healthy and creamy beverage.
You can also add other fruits, nuts, or even protein powder to make it a complete meal.
- Smoothies are quick and easy to make, usually taking longer to clean up than actually make and consume
- Make sure you have a blender before making your smoothie, even if it’s a handheld one
2. Banana Bread
You had to know that if we were going to talk about using bananas in delicious ways, banana bread was going to be one of the options. In fact, a lot of banana bread aficionados prefer overripe bananas to any bananas when it comes to making banana bread.
Why? Because overripe doesn’t only mean mushy and soft and easy to use. It also means incredibly naturally sweet. Like any fruit, the riper it gets, the sweeter it gets. Which makes overripe bananas a perfect match for moist banana bread.
- Looking for a banana bread recipe tailored for overripe bananas? Look no further
- Don’t forget to have a good loaf pan handy
3. Banana Muffins
If you’re going to consider making banana bread, you might as well consider making banana muffins, too. Especially since you’ve got the overripe bananas to make them.
They’re just as easy to make, with the right recipe, and are perfect for breakfast, snacks, or nutritious on-the-go meals.
In addition, if you’re using overripe bananas, you’re almost guaranteed to end up with moist muffins that retain all the sweetness of ripe bananas but without all the mess.
- Look no further for your overripe banana muffin recipe
- Like making banana bread, making sure you have the right baking pans to make your muffins in advance
4. Banana Oatmeal
If you’re a fan of sweet, creamy oatmeal but want to avoid adding dairy milk or cream, overripe bananas are the answer you’ve been looking for.
Not only are they a great substitute for dairy products, they also add natural sweetness with the need for additional sugar.
- Looking for a banana oatmeal recipe that also includes ingredients like chia seeds and cinnamon, here you go.
- Then again, if you still want some added sweetness, you can’t go wrong with throwing in some brown sugar.
5. Banana Ice Cream
Of course, overripe bananas make for awesome banana ice cream. Why would you even wonder if that’s an actual impossibility?
Think of it this way, overripe bananas already make for a great, creamy addition to oatmeal. Why not eliminate the oatmeal and go straight to the dessert? All you need is a recipe.
Well, here are just two you can explore:
6. Banana Pancakes
If you want to make banana pancakes, the biggest ingredient outside of the batter is bananas. Jokes aside, having bananas that are overripe, and therefore easily mashable, makes adding them to said batter that much easier.
And if you keep your overripe bananas frozen, you can make them anytime you want.
That’s right, they don’t have to be only for breakfast.
- Sometimes it only takes one overripe banana to make these pancakes.
- And if you’re not too familiar with making pancakes, here’s a basic recipe to review.
7. Banana Pudding
Well, if all of these delicious ways of enjoying overripe bananas seem like sweet dishes to you, you’re not wrong. The natural sweetness of bananas, coupled with their ability to be blended, mashed, or pureed make them perfect for any dish that stimulates the sweet tooth.
So, it shouldn’t be surprising that, yes, you can always use overripe bananas for banana pudding.
In fact, it’s wholeheartedly recommended by us!
- To get your banana pudding dishes rolling, you can start here.
- Or if you want something that feels more like it’s made for a down-home dinner dessert, go here.
Well, those are seven really delicious ways to use up overripe bananas!
But, if you want a little secret, the easiest way to enjoy them is to freeze them, cut them into slices, and dip them in melted dark chocolate. But, shh, that’s a secret and couldn’t be included in the official seven ways!
