Most any fruit can be frozen using the proper methods. Bananas are definitely freezable and are commonly frozen for future use in pies and other bakery items. Bananas can also be fickle to buy with the right ripeness, so future storage is sometimes necessary.
The question of how to freeze bananas well can be answered in a few ways. Bananas are a flexible fruit that can be kept tasty and useful for a long time using relatively simple methods.
Bananas can be frozen as a whole fruit or in slices. The method you choose depends in part on what kind of final result you want, and how much room you have in the freezer.
So how do I freeze bananas?
You have some options here.
Freezing bananas with the skin on
- Don’t peel the bananas
- Place the bananas in a freezer safe zip lock bag to prevent frostbite
- You may want to label the bag with the date especially if you plan to freeze multiple batches
- Remove the bananas when ready
Note that the yellow skins will turn black in the freezer. This doesn’t impact the fleshy fruit of the banana much if at all. Thaw the bananas and peel them.
Freeze slices
- Peel the bananas
- Cut them into the size slices you want in the end
- Place the slices on parchment paper with a tray and place them in the freezer for two hours
- After two hours, transfer the slices to a zip lock bag.
- Remove when ready
Why cut them ahead and freeze. This can keep the banana slices from freezing into a ball of banana that needs more thorough defrosting later.
Freeze whole peeled bananas
- Peel the bananas
- Place bananas with some space between them on a tray.
- Place tray in the freezer for a couple of hours
- Transfer the bananas into a plastic zip lock bag
Freezing and transferring the whole bananas will keep them from potentially freezing and sticking together.
How much time does freezing give me?
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the answer is forever. While they may lose quality after a couple months, they should be perfectly edible after some defrosting. Otherwise, the answer is more like “for as long as you can keep it frozen.”
Also, don’t refreeze fruit or much of anything. Thawing and refreezing can degrade quality pretty badly. Only remove from the freezer when you are ready to use all of it.
How about mashed banana?
Bananas can be mashed for a variety of reasons. You might be making a pie, or discovered your bananas are going bad and mashed them anyway.
- Peel the bananas
- Mash the bananas. This is easiest done with a large spoon, your hands, or other wide weighted object
- Scoop the mashed result into a plastic freezer bag.
- Put bag of bananas into the freezer
- Remove when wanted
Also note that you could place the whole unfrozen banana in the bag and mash it within the bag. You might risk breaking the bag, but you’ll get less of a mess.
Conclusion
Frozen bananas are familiar sites, especially in homes with the frequent baking of pies or banana bread. The easiest way to freeze bananas depends on whether you want the bananas sliced ahead, and how much room you have. Freezing bananas unpeeled and whole in a bag is a common method for simple slicing and use later.
We can imagine you might be thinking about freezing more than one kind of fruit. Freezing fruit has different lengths and conditions for keeping it good. You might also be surprised to learn that a frozen banana makes a fairly ergonomic, useful, and very inexpensive hammer.
