10 Yummy Recipes You Can Make Using Leftover Bananas
We’ve got a whole bunch of ideas for using up leftover bananas. If you’ve got one, two or a few that are starting to look a bit sad, there’s no shortage of inspiration on this list to help you transform them into something tasty.
While ripe, freckled bananas might not look appealing to everybody, there’s no denying that they’re your best friend when it comes to whipping up banana-flavoured creations. As bananas turn brown, their natural sweetness really comes through, which means they’re ready to add a whole new level of flavour to bite-sized snacks, puddings and even curries (yes, really!).
Don’t throw those ripe bananas away just yet!
This post contains affiliate links. Find out what this means.
1. Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips
It wouldn’t be right to kick things off without mentioning Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips. The ultimate recipe to use up leftover bananas, you can’t go wrong with a trusty, homemade banana loaf.
Ready in under an hour, with simple store cupboard ingredients, it’s a great place to start if you’ve never baked with ripe bananas before.
To make every slice go down even better with a cup of tea, we’ve stirred a handful of lower-calorie dark chocolate chips into our loaf mixture. We’d recommend using an electric whisk to whizz your ingredients together, so that every slice is light and fluffy when it leaves the oven.
You can swap out vanilla essence for a teaspoon of banana essence, if you’d like to really bring those banana flavours home.
2. Banana and Chocolate Pancakes
Banana and chocolate has always been a match made in heaven, and our Banana and Chocolate Pancakes are absolutely stacked with it. An extra-special way to start the day, our indulgent recipe is still lighter than it tastes at less than 500 calories.
To give our pancakes a smoother, fluffy-in-the-middle texture, we’ve skipped traditional flour for a surprise ingredient…Ready Brek! You can use rolled porridge oats if you’d prefer, but you’ll want to blitz them in a food processor to get the same consistency.
To bring the chocolate fun for fewer calories, we’ve used chocolate spread and reduced-sugar chocolate Choc Shot as slimming-friendly pancake toppings.
3. Banana and Peanut Muffins
When you’re on the go, having our Banana and Peanut Muffins in your bag is a slimming-friendly life-saver. You can also settle down and tuck into them with a bit of fruit and yoghurt, if you’re in the mood for a more filling banana-based snack.
Surprisingly, you won’t spot any peanut butter in our recipe; we’ve used peanut butter powder to give us the same flavours for a fraction of the calories you’d find in a jar of spread.
Simply fold your scrummy muffin ingredients together and divide the mixture into a muffin tin. Our recipe will make around 16 delightful little bites, so you’ll have plenty to stash away in the freezer or your cake tin, even after you’ve packed your bag for the day ahead.
4. Banana and Caramel Filo Rolls
Light, crisp and irresistibly sweet, our Banana and Caramel Filo Rolls are a lovely way to round-off a midweek meal. This recipe works better when you use under-ripe bananas, so you can make the most of a bunch you’ve only just bought.
You can use ripe, softer bananas but be warned…the filling may ooze out from your oven-baked parcels!
To keep things lighter, we’ve given our rolls their crispiness using ready-rolled light puff pastry sheets. Combined with a drizzle of reduced-sugar caramel dessert topping and a sprinkling of cinnamon, it’s hard to believe our filo rolls come in at just 266 calories each.
To make this dessert even more delicious, add a glug of homemade Custard.
5. Banana Cream Pudding
Get ready to tuck your spoon into our Banana Cream Pudding. It’s one of the quickest recipes to rustle up on this list, and you’ll only need a short list of ingredients to get started.
To make the velvety custard base in each of our pots, we’ve used egg yolks, cornflour, sweetener and vanilla essence. The key to getting this recipe just right is in adding the hot milk carefully – if you add too much at once, you might scramble your eggs!
After half an hour chilling in the fridge, your creamy pots will be ready to top with Elmlea Double Light, crumbled Flake pieces and extra slices of banana.
6. Banana Ketchup
Our Banana Ketchup is one of those unexpected flavour combinations that you need to try. Just like it says on the tin, we’ve paired the mashed flesh of ripe bananas with a lightly-spiced tomato sauce.
Borrowing from a recipe that started in the Philippines, we’ve cut the calories down by sticking to a small handful of simple ingredients (chances are you’ve already got most of them in your kitchen!).
A sweet yet tangy condiment that’s far tastier than shop-bought versions, keep a batch at the ready to add a fiery punch to your plate. It’ll keep nicely in the fridge for a few days, or you can freeze it for up to 3 months.
If mango chutney and Thai-style flavours are your bag, you need to try our Banana Ketchup Curry next. Who knew a bunch of bananas could start a fakeaway-night feast?
7. Banana Fritters
Crispy on the outside and gooey in the middle, our Banana Fritters never disappoint. The spottier your banana skins, the better for this recipe! We want our filling to be warm and oozing with sweetness when they’re fresh from the frying pan.
You’ll know your fritters are ready when the homemade batter coating turns golden brown. That’s your cue to pop them on a plate and dust them with a moreish layer of icing sugar.
Too scrummy to hold onto, these little fritters aren’t suitable for refrigerating or keeping in the freezer. They’ll never take longer than 10 minutes to make, so you won’t have to wait ages for your banana fix.
8. Banana Bread Brownies
There’s no denying that our Banana Bread Brownies are absolutely ‘top banana’! We’re not surprised that they’re one of the most popular recipes from our fifth cookbook, Pinch of Nom: Enjoy (now’s the time to grab your copy from the shelf and flick to pages 230-231).
Lighter than traditional brownies, our fusion recipe divides into squidgy, slimming-friendly squares of chocolate and banana sponge.
You can never have too much banana, so we’ve used mashed banana and sliced bananas in our brownie mix.
Add a layer of ultra-sweet white chocolate chips on top for the perfect finishing touch.
9. Banoffee Tiramisu
Looking to impress? Our Banoffee Tiramisu always goes down a treat with dinner guests. Instead of calorie-loaded syrups, we’ve used reduced-sugar chocolate and caramel dessert toppings.
By adding a tiramisu-style twist with instant coffee granules, we’ve made the most of two classic decadent dessert flavours in one.
This dessert is the perfect excuse to crack out the fancy serving dishes…
If you like the sound of this recipe, you’ll love our showstopping banana-topped Banoffee Cheesecake too.
10. Sweet Tacos
Get creative at dessert o’clock with our fun and fabulous Sweet Tacos recipe. A chocolatey fiesta of a pud, they don’t look or taste like they come in at just 253 calories per portion.
Our taco-style ‘shells’ are made with oven-baked low-calorie tortilla wraps. Once they’re soaked through with a cinnamon-infused layer of reduced-fat spread, give each rim a lining of chocolate and rainbow-coloured sprinkles.
When you’re ready to serve, add a scoop of both homemade banana ice cream flavours to each shell. We’ve added juicy sliced strawberries too!
Are you eating a banana recipe tonight?
Pleeeease share your photos and posts telling us which of our banana recipes you cook up in our Facebook group – we might just send you some PON swag to say thanks a bunch! We have an amazing community of almost 1 million members who are waiting to support you on your slimming journey.
An endless source of inspo, our Gallery is the perfect place to visit if you’re still on the lookout for inspiration. To submit your photos, you’ll want to sign up for a free website account (it’s easy-peasy and we’ve got a step-by-step guide you can follow!).
Explore more of our blog for penny-saving tips, recipe ideas, the latest kitchen equipment lowdown and LOADS more.