Here’s How To Put Your Bananas To Good Use At Every Stage Of Its Life Cycle

Making the best use of your bananas is all about timing, as their ripeness affects the recipe. With this piece, we hope to encourage less banana waste through a compilation of different ways to put your bananas to use regardless of their level of ripeness.

1. Unripe

Unsure what to do with your unripe bananas, try searching for menu items from the Latin American and Caribbean cultures. Unlike common beliefs, unripe plantains actually make good meals thanks to their high-starch content as well as, a firm texture. You'll especially enjoy them fried, roasted, and garnished with pepper flakes, salt, and lime.

Tip: to ripen your bananas faster, place them on a baking sheet and in an oven at 150°C for 30 minutes.

2. Perfectly Ripe

At this level of ripeness, a banana is well-suited for any recipe, from yummy desserts to more savory snacks. Because they have just the right amount of sweetness and firmness, they can be incorporated into recipes that require unripe or overripe bananas. So, get creative!

3. Overripe

Stop throwing your overripe bananas in the bin! Research studies report that the more brown banana is, the higher its antioxidants content.

And as for how the level of their ripeness may affect the quality of their taste, keep in mind that overripe bananas have a characteristic sweetness and softer texture. These features make them best suited for recipes that require blending e.g. banana bread, pancakes, frittatas, and many more others.

On a final note, we leave you with the tip that if your bananas are getting ripe too fast than you can consume them, try peeling and freezing. This way, you'll always have bananas on hand for yummy recipes!