How to Ripen Bananas Fast
How to Ripen Bananas Fast – Learn the easy steps and best tips for ripening yellow bananas quickly in the oven so they are brown, soft, and sweet – and perfect to make breads, cakes, smoothies, and more!
Why We Love This Handy Guide to Ripen Bananas
Sometimes, you want a bunch of bananas to last as long as possible… Then there are times when you have green bananas you would like to ripen just a little in a brown paper bag so they are the perfect texture and sweetness for snacking. Or you want to ripen them A LOT to use when craving baked goods and smoothies.
If you have green or yellow bananas and you are hoping to make banana bread, banana cake, or fresh fruit smoothies, it’s best to overly ripen the bananas in the oven to make them dark brown or black bananas. Because when it comes to baking with bananas, the riper the bananas, the better!
That’s right – instead of waiting days and days for your unripe bananas to turn dark-speckled brown or even black, here we are showing you how to bake them quickly in the oven to create instant ripeness. The extra soft texture and sugary-sweet taste bring out the best flavor once bananas are cooked!
Step-By-Step How to Ripen Bananas Fast in the Oven
- Start by preheating the oven and setting out a large rimmed baking sheet. Place as many unpeeled bananas as needed on the baking sheet. Most baking pans can hold about 4 to 5 bananas.
Pro Tricks: Line the baking sheet with parchment paper to prevent the peels from sticking or making a mess. Also, be sure to give each banana a bit of space so they do not touch.
- Bake the bananas for 15 to 20 minutes, until the peels are entirely dark brown or black.
- Allow the bananas to cool for several minutes on the baking sheet. Then cut each open lengthwise and scoop out the soft banana inside to measure and use in recipes.
Get the Complete (Printable) Guide for How to Ripen Bananas Fast Below. Enjoy!
What To Do With Ripe Bananas
Overripe bananas are great for baking recipes like banana muffins or pancakes! You’ll love these baked goodies:
- High protein banana bread
- Kid-friendly peanut butter banana cookies
- Decadent hummingbird cupcakes
- Crowd-pleasing chocolate banana cake
You can also freeze the cooled filling from the baked bananas and use it to make yummy frozen treats, like:
- Smoothie King Caribbean Way copycat recipe
- Satisfying strawberry and banana smoothie
- Sweet banana pudding milkshake
Check out this fabulous lineup of 20 Easy Banana Recipes for more of our favorite uses for brown bananas!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can! Poke the peel with a fork several times all over. Then microwave in short 30-second bursts, until fully browned.
Note that while microwaving does work to speed up the ripening process, it is not quite as foolproof as the oven method for ripening bananas.
Yes! Ripening the bananas in the hot oven quickly caramelizes the natural sugars in the bananas. So they are soft, rich, and super sweet!
Once the bananas have cooled, scoop the filling into an airtight container. It is best to use it right away, but you can store it in the refrigerator for a day or freeze it for up to 3 months.
Looking for More Handy “How To” Guides? Be Sure to Try:
- How Long to Microwave a Potato
- How to Make Ricotta Cheese
- Easy Way to Peeled Boiled Eggs
- How to Make Pizza Dough from Scratch
- How to Roast Garlic
- How to Cook Quinoa
- How To Make Buttermilk
- How To Shuck Oysters
- How to Cook Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans – 3 Ways!)
How to Ripen Bananas Fast
Ingredients
- Fresh bananas any number
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Set out a large rimmed baking sheet. Place as many bananas as needed on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the bananas are completely brown or black.
- Allow the bananas to cool, then cut them open and scoop out the banana to measure and use in recipes.
Thank you so much for sharing! This post was so helpful and I was able to make banana bread with fresh bananas I had just bought!
It worked perfectly! So happy I found this, I needed to make my kids banana bread. Great tips!
I love this trick for when I want to make banana bread. It enhances the flavor so much!