How to Ripen Bananas Fast
How to Ripen Bananas – Learn the easy steps and top tips for ripening yellow bananas quickly in the oven so they are perfectly brown, soft, and sweet to make breads, cakes, smoothies, and more!
Why We Love Ripe Bananas
There are times when you want your bananas to last as long as possible… Then there are times when you have green bananas you would like to ripen just a little so that they are the perfect texture and sweetness for snacking. Or you want to ripen them A LOT to use them in baked goods and smoothies.
If you would like to ripen bananas just a little so that they are perfectly soft and sweet for consuming as-is, simply place them in a brown paper bag and set them in a warm spot in the kitchen. Within a day or so, green bananas will be perfectly ripened and ready to enjoy with cream cheese fruit dip or Nutella chocolate fondue.
However, 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 use overly ripened brown or black bananas…
When baking with bananas, the riper the bananas are the better. The extra soft texture and sugary-sweet taste brings out the best banana flavor once bananas are cooked.
Therefore, instead of waiting days and days for your bananas to turn dark speckled brown or even black, you can bake them quickly in the oven to create instant ripeness!
How to Ripen Bananas Fast in the Oven
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Set out a large rimmed baking sheet. Place as many unpeeled bananas as needed on the baking sheet.
Pro Tip: You can line the baking sheet with parchment to keep the peels from sticking or making a mess. Also, be sure to give each of the bananas a bit of space so they are not touching.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the bananas are completely brown or black.
Get the Complete (Printable) How to Ripen Bananas in the Oven Steps Below. Enjoy!
What To Do With Ripe Bananas
Allow the bananas to cool before cutting them open and scooping out the banana to measure and use in recipes.
Overly ripe (mushy) bananas are great to use in baking recipes. Try our delicious and nutritious high protein banana bread, kid-friendly peanut butter banana cookies, decadent hummingbird cupcakes, or chocolate banana cake… Check out this fabulous lineup of 20 Easy Banana Recipes for more of our favorite uses for brown bananas!
Freeze the filling from the baked bananas and use it to make yummy frozen treats. Try this spot-on Smoothie King Caribbean Way copycat recipe, satisfying green protein smoothie, or scrumptious banana pudding milkshake.
Frequently Asked Questions
Bananas will ripen the fastest with the stem on, and kept in a bunch. But with these steps for how to ripen bananas fast, it doesn’t matter how you’ve kept the fruit on the countertop before baking!
Yes, you can! Prick the peel with a fork several times all over. Then microwave in short 30 second bursts, until fully browned. Note that while this method does work, it is not quite as foolproof as oven baking to evenly ripen bananas.
Yes, ripening the fruit in the hot oven quickly caramelizes the naturally occurring sugars in the bananas. So they are soft, rich, and super sweet!
Bake yellow bananas for 15-20 minutes in the oven, until dark brown and soft.
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 fridge for a day or freeze it for up to 3 months.
Looking for More Handy “How To” Guides? Be Sure to Also 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 Ripen Bananas Fast in the Oven
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!