Bananas have a lot going for them. They aren’t too sweet, and they aren’t messy, at least before they get too ripe. Anyone keen on healthy food knows they are a staple.
The problem comes with how they are sold. Unlike apples and oranges which you can buy individually, bananas are sold in a bunch. So we often have more than we need. It doesn’t help that they ripen very fast compared to most fruits. If you aren’t too careful, they end in the trash as waste.
How can we fix this? Here is a list of creative ways to consume more bananas and to stop them from going to waste.
Banana muffins are just cooler than regular old muffins. The cinnamon-sugar crumb top takes it up a notch to bring out more complex flavors. The best part is that they are easy to make.
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#12 Banana and Chocolate Microwave Pudding
It’s sweet and soft, as all pudding should be. Best of all, it shouldn’t take you more than thirty minutes to make.
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Think about your favorite taco and imagine it being sweet rather than salty. These are pancakes made with bananas and served folded with Greek yogurt inside them, like a taco filling.
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#14 Banana Bourbon Upside Down Cake
The pink-stained banana splits aren’t just decorative. They’ve been caramelized in brown sugar, butter, and bourbon to bring out a level of sweetness you didn’t know existed. It’s no joke, trust me.
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What makes this one special isn’t just the bananas used to bake the donuts. After baking each, each donut gets a spoon of banana glaze and is sprinkled with coconut shreds. The result is a tropical twist that makes all regular fried donuts a letdown.
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#6 Banana Peanut Butter and Oat Smoothie
Oats suck. They taste horrible. This recipe wasn’t made to just make oats bearable; it makes them delicious.
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#7 Butterscotch Banana Trifle
The ingredients are easy to find, the treat is easy to make, and it tastes amazing. What more could you ask for?
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#8 Banana Coconut Chia Pudding
This is one of those rare finds that hits the perfect balance between being nutritious, helping with weight loss, and being delicious.
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#9 Chocolate-Dipped Banana Treats
It’s plain bananas sliced and dipped in chocolate sauce and sprinkled with toppings of your choice. Walnuts, pistachios, coconuts, and salt are a great choice. You then freeze them for at least fifteen minutes.
It’s light on carbs and packed with healthy fats. Need I say more?
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#10 Banana-Chocolate Pudding Cake
Are you looking to get rid of some very ripe bananas? This recipe is perfect for that. It’s rich in protein and low in carbs. If that isn’t enough, it cake, healthy cake.
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#1 Oatmeal with Banana and Cinnamon Toppings
As mentioned earlier, with the oatmeal smoothie, oatmeal can be hard to swallow on its own. This dish tastes great without having to add unhealthy refined sugar. Healthy food choices don’t have to make you miserable.
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Inspired by shish kebabs, this is meant to satisfy your sweet tooth, but in a healthy way. Think of all your favorite fruits, including bananas, and put them on a skewer. Put them in the fridge for a few minutes to make them cool.
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Many cereal ads tend to use berries as toppings because they are more colorful and photogenic. Banana slices on regular cereal, however, offer a far richer taste than any other topping.
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#4 Banana Ice Cream (without the cream)
This is a keeper for all you lactose intolerant folk out there. It does not use any dairy.
Blend bananas and coconuts till creamy and then add some walnuts and chocolate. Freeze the results for fifteen minutes, and you have healthy and tasty ice cream.
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#5 Banana Oatmeal Cookies
These treats are rich in fiber and starch. Since it doesn’t use flour and sugar, it’s also very low in carbs. Binging on these won’t undo your gym gains.
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#16 Banana-Flavored Popsicles
These are a great way to combat the summer heat. Blend Greek yogurt, bananas, peanut butter, and add as much honey as you’d like. Next, pour the mixture into popsicle molds and freeze them overnight. You can also dip them in chocolate and sprinkle nuts of your choice to spruce it up.
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#17 Bananas Paired with Peanut Butter
This concept works perfectly when used in pastries, why shouldn’t it work with plain bananas and spoons full of peanut butter? It tastes great and is good at helping your body recover after an intense workout.
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#18 Yogurt with Banana Toppings
In the same spirit of simplicity mentioned above, this one works perfectly. Greek yogurt is thick and best eaten in a bowl. Sliced bananas and an assortment of nuts as toppings amplify its taste but also offers a very nutritious meal.
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#19 Bananas as an ingredient in chicken curry
Bananas make an excellent substitute for coconut milk when making curry. Try blending bananas with butter, curry powder, ground coriander, lime zest, lime juice, and some chicken stock. Add that to your chicken, and you will be amazed.
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#20 Upside Banana Monkey Bread
This is great for large groups of people. Being able to pull out a single piece out of the whole bread creates a “feast” feel at your breakfast table. It looks good and tastes even better.
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#21 Strawberry Banana Crepes
You can make the crepes using overripe bananas and then serve them with cream, banana slices, and strawberries as toppings. It’s a light dish and delicious.
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This should not be confused with the banana cream pie smoothie we mentioned earlier. You can mash ripe bananas and use them as an ingredient for the filling or just use sliced bananas with cream filling. Then use more banana slices and whipped cream as a topping.
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#23 Frozen Banana Cereal Pops
Another frozen banana treat. Cut bananas in half and stick a popsicle into each. Dip the bananas in yogurt and roll them in fruity cereal and then freeze them. It’s simple and sweet.
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#24 Marshmallow Banana Cupcakes
What could possibly make banana cupcakes better? Marshmallows. They’re perfect.
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#25 Banana Foster Baked French Toast
Done right, the rich golden caramelized top is what wins people over. It smells good and tastes even better. This is the sort of breakfast food that ensures you will have a great day.
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This uses bananas, orange juice, and lemonade to give you a sweet and sour tangy drink. It’s best served cold on a hot day.
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#27 Roasted Banana and Pecan Cheesecake
This is perfect for get-togethers such as Christmas and Thanksgiving. It’s also a great way to utilize a bunch of overripe bananas.
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Beignets are great for breakfast or as a quick snack throughout your day. Overripe bananas are a perfect ingredient for these as a twist. The result is very tasty and chewy.
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They are a great treat for lazy Sunday afternoons and evenings when no one is hungry but would like a quick bite. They are easy to make and will help clear out all those bananas you have sitting in your kitchen.
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Plain old bread works fine, but there’s no harm in trying something a little special. It’s also a great gift for your friends and neighbors.
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#31 Banana Split Ice Cream Burger
Here you have banana cake filled with strawberry sauce as the buns and then have a slice of pineapple cheese and ice cream as the meat. Wouldn’t you love to meet whoever came up with this?
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#32 Fruit Salad with Apricot Dressing
Most fruits are either too sweet or too sour. Bananas and avocados bring in a balance to these extreme flavors to give you the perfect bowl of fruit.
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This is a warm and gooey treat that works well as a dessert after a heavy meal. It also doesn’t take much time to put together.
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The contrasting colors between the brownie layer and the cream topping look amazing. When you finally get to eat it, it doesn’t disappoint you at all.
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#35 Banana Split Icebox Cake
No baking necessary. With an assortment of berries, a few bananas, some cream, and crackers, you can make this marvel in minutes.
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This is a sort of homage to Elvis Presley’s love for peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Cook it slowly in a crockpot and throw in some chocolate and you’ll be surprised by how good it is.
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#37 Peanut Butter and Banana Waffles
Don’t just stop at using mashed bananas to make the waffles. Use sliced bananas and syrup to top it all off.
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#38 Cranberry Banana Smoothie
Cranberry sauce and frozen bananas make for an amazing chilled drink. If you don’t have frozen bananas, use regular bananas and some ice.
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This takes your regular ice cream sundae and gives it a bit of a twist with some rum, nuts, and bananas. It works.
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It’s easier to make than it looks. Adding a bit of rum and bananas to your normal souffle brings it up a few notches as far as rich flavor is concerned.
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#41 Banana Skillet Upside Down Cake
If you have a bunch of overripe bananas sitting in your kitchen, this will help you put a lot of them to good use. The brown caramelized coat makes it hard to resist.
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#42 Strawberry Banana Cream
This uses very easy to find ingredients. It also tastes like a slice of strawberry cheesecake.
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#43 Tropical Energy Bites
These are great snacks for when you feel hungry but not hungry enough to eat a whole meal. They are made of dried mangoes, cashews, bananas, and flaked coconut.
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#44 Dates and Almond Banana Milkshake
This shake is a perfect drink to replenish your energy during a long workday or immediately after a few hours at the gym. Thrown in a few ice cubes when blending to make it extra cool.
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#55 Grilled Banana Dessert
This is an interesting choice. Cut a banana down the middle, with its peels on, but do it carefully so that doesn’t split into half. Fill the cutout area with toppings of your choice (Chocolate, nuts, marshmallows, fudge, cinnamon sugar, etc.) and then cover it with aluminum foil and grill.
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#56 Blueberry Strawberry Banana Ice Cream Cake
This creamy sweet treat is nothing short of amazing. Just look at it, you know it tastes good.
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#57 Fried Chicken with Banana Sambal
Shifting gears from desserts to more complete meals, this dish may take time to make. However, the spicy flavor is worth the wait.
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#58 Chocolate, Salted Caramel and Banana Mess
This is inspired by the traditional English Eton mess. It swaps out berries with bananas to create a banoffee-like dessert.
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#59 Fried Coconut Bananas
The result is a sticky and sweet serving of rich flavor. It’s one of those flavors you can’t fully explain. You need to try to understand it.
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#50 Frozen Banana and Praline Parfait
Even if you aren’t trying to, this one will impress your guests. Presentation is part of the experience. It’s delicious.
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#51 Banana and Cinnamon Rolls
They look good on any breakfast table and smell even better when served hot. Cinnamon rolls with a banana twist taste divine. Anyone who loves pastries will enjoy these.
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These are very easy to make, and you won’t struggle to look for ingredients. Since they are baked, overripe bananas would do very well.
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#53 Banana Chocolate Biscotti
These crunchy Italian “biscuits” are baked with bananas as an ingredient. This recipe is ideal for overripe bananas. You can have them with tea and coffee or dip them in chocolate as a snack.
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#54 Banana Blueberry Cake
This cake is amazing just to look at. Overripe bananas would be the tastier choice; however, if you are looking to consume fewer calories, you should go with less ripe bananas. Serving the cake with some blueberry puree and whipped cream elevates its flavor to a whole new level.
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While every layer significantly contributes to this pie, we can all agree that the star of the show is the dulce de leche. If you haven’t tried this before, I highly recommend it.
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#46 Banana Cream Pie Breakfast Smoothie
If you need to replenish your energy after a morning workout or need a quick breakfast, this is for you. This recipe uses oats that will leave you feeling full. The pan-fried banana slices are also a nice chewy surprise.
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#47 Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes
It sounds insane, but this works. It’s time to mix things up and put your maple syrup back on its shelf. The pancakes are made with mashed bananas and melted peanut butter and then served with sliced bananas and chopped up bacon. It’s mind-blowing how good it is.
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#58 Raw Vegan Raspberry Cheesecake
This is a healthier version of a regular cheesecake. The recipe switches out sugar for honey, bananas, coconut oil, and raw cashew nuts.
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It’s simple and tasty. All you need is frozen bananas, coconut milk, and some vanilla.
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#60 Coconut Banana Frozen Coffee
It’s your morning coffee and your favorite smoothie wrapped into one. Its name doesn’t roll off your tongue easily, but it does look and taste good.
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Bananas have a lot going for them. They aren’t too sweet, and they aren’t messy, at least before they get too ripe. Anyone keen on healthy food knows they are a staple.
The problem comes with how they are sold. Unlike apples and oranges which you can buy individually, bananas are sold in a bunch. So we often have more than we need. It doesn’t help that they ripen very fast compared to most fruits. If you aren’t too careful, they end in the trash as waste.
How can we fix this? Here is a list of creative ways to consume more bananas and to stop them from going to waste.