How to Ripen Bananas Quickly in 6 Ways (Tested!)
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We all know the familiar scenario of ending up with a bunch of overripe, brown-verging-on-black bananas that we need to use up — either by preserving them in the freezer or incorporating them into some sweet baked treat. But what about times when all you have are unripe bananas, and the hankering for banana bread or banana-nut muffins hits hard? Is there a reliable way to speed up the ripening process so that green, starchy-tangy bananas transform into sweet, creamy fruit in a flash?
For out-of-hand eating, you’ll have to exercise some patience, as the only palatable method — placing unripe bananas in a paper bag — takes at least a couple of days. But for use in cooking or baking, combining mashed bananas with an egg yolk works some serious enzyme magic to make the fruit noticeably sweeter in only 30 minutes.
To find out, I set about testing six highly touted speed-ripening methods. Some took as little as a few minutes, while others involved days of waiting. But did any of the methods change the character of the bananas enough so that they tasted as sweet as naturally aged ones covered in brown spots? Read on to learn what I discovered.
A Few Notes on Methodology
The bananas: I purchased two extra-large bunches of conventional (not organic) bananas from the same supermarket on the same day. All of the bananas were at the same stage of ripeness — bright yellow, unblemished peels for the most part, with a tinge of green near the stem.
The tests: I started the testing right after returning home from the store with the fruit. I tasted one banana from each bunch right off the bat so that I could gauge the baseline. They all tasted a bit tangy, starchy, and “green,” with a weak banana flavor. I then used two bananas for each test, one from each bunch. After completing the ripening technique, I tasted each of the bananas on their own. And then I used the bananas to make our two-ingredient banana pancakes, opting for the purest form of the recipe — just banana and eggs — so that I could better evaluate the flavor of the fruit. I then declared a winner for eating out of hand and for using in cooked applications.
The ratings: I rated each method on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 reserved for absolute perfection. The main criteria I used for my ratings were speed of ripening as well as flavor and texture of the fruit, which I assessed by tasting the bananas on their own and cooked in the banana pancakes recipe mentioned above.
Ripen Bananas in the Freezer
Rating: 1/10
About this method: To test this technique, I placed two unpeeled bananas in my freezer with no additional packaging and allowed them to fully freeze. I left them in for two days, but they were completely frozen after about three hours. I then fully thawed the bananas at room temperature before tasting them and making the banana pancakes.
Results: Like many of you, I routinely freeze peeled ripe bananas for use in smoothies, and they work beautifully when they start out ripe, are kept frozen (not thawed before use), and get blended into a creamy beverage. This method, however, was something different, and I did not care for the results one bit. First, it took about four hours to completely thaw the bananas, so the method was more time-consuming than most of the others. The skins were a light brown color and remained that way once defrosted. When the fruit was thawed and still unpeeled, each banana felt very limp and floppy. When I removed the peels, the fruit looked like melted ice cream. It was extremely mushy yet simultaneously fibrous, stringy, and slimy, and the bites I took were quite unpleasant because of that texture. The flavor of the fruit itself was “green” and watery. When I made pancakes with the thawed fruit, the batter was runny, and the cooked pancakes tasted rather bland.
Ripen Bananas in the Microwave
Rating: 2/10
About this method: For this test, I placed two whole, unpeeled bananas on a microwave-safe plate and microwaved them on full power in 30-second intervals until warm to the touch and softened.
Results: For my 1100-watt microwave, this took 2 minutes. At the 1-minute mark, I flipped the fruit over because the tops were black and the undersides were still yellow. At the 1:30 point, the bananas did not feel warm or softened. At 2 minutes, the skins had begun to split, and some of the flesh oozed out. The banana flesh was total mush, and the flavor wasn’t any sweeter than the baseline. Overall, the taste was more tangy than sweet. The pancakes I made with these bananas tasted as if they’d been made with unripe plantains.
Ripen Bananas in the Oven
Rating: 3/10
About this method: Here, I arranged two unpeeled bananas on a small rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. I placed them in a 300°F oven until they felt softened and their peels were blackened.
Results: My bananas took 30 minutes to soften and fully blacken. After 20 minutes, I flipped the fruit over to ensure it all softened evenly. The unpeeled fruit felt squishy, and the interior of the peeled fruit was the same. Much like with the microwave method above, the flesh tasted more tangy-starchy and no sweeter than the starting point. The pancakes’ flavor was fairly weak as well, tasting of unripe, green bananas.
Ripen Bananas in the Air Fryer
Rating: 7/10
About this method: I started by lining the basket of my tabletop air fryer with foil (to contain any leaks). I then trimmed down the banana stems so the fruit would fit into the basket and placed two bananas on the foil. I air-fried the bananas at 300°F until softened with black peels.
Results: For me, it took 10 minutes to soften and blacken the fruit; I did not have to flip the bananas over, as they blackened evenly when left stationary. At this point, the skins were just barely starting to split. Inside, the flesh was uniformly soft and creamy. It wasn’t as mushy as with the freezer, microwave, or oven method — but still a little too soft for pleasant out-of-hand eating. The flavor was sweeter and less tangy than with those other methods, but short of having a well-developed ripe banana taste. The pancakes were moderately sweet, with a muted banana flavor.
Ripen Bananas in a Paper Bag
Rating: 8/10
About this method: I placed two bananas into a paper bag, folded the top of the bag down to seal it, and left the bag on my kitchen counter, out of direct sunlight. I left the bananas in the bag until they developed some brown spots and became fragrant.
Results: This method didn’t win any speed awards. It took 2 days to get the bananas to show signs of ripening, with an even speckling of brown spots all over the peels and a noticeably stronger banana aroma. On their own, the peeled bananas felt somewhat still firm but proved to be creamy as I chewed bites. They tasted nicely sweet, with just a hint of that unripe “green” flavor. This was the only method that worked well for eating the fruit out of hand and the only one we’d recommend for that purpose. The pancakes made with bananas ripened this way tasted moderately sweet with deep banana flavor. So while it’s not a very fast method, it’s a reliable one that delivers great flavor.
Ripen Bananas with Egg Yolks
Rating: 9/10
About this method: This new-to-me method comes from Serious Eats. It involves mashing 2 bananas with 1 raw egg yolk, letting the mixture stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, and proceeding with a recipe. To summarize the article, the technique uses the enzymes in the egg yolk to quickly start converting the unripe bananas’ starches into sugars.
Results: After the half-hour wait time, the mashed banana mixture had darkened to a light brown color, resembling banana mashed with peanut butter. I did not taste this mixture on its own (a) because of the raw egg factor and (b) because it’s not supposed to be for out-of-hand eating. I simply proceeded with the two-ingredient pancakes. They were noticeably sweeter than any of the other methods. The banana flavor was there and was softer and more well-developed than with any of the other methods — no harsh green banana notes, no tangy or starchy flavor.
Overall Key Takeaways
When it comes to enjoying bananas out of hand, the paper bag technique is the only speed-ripening method that produces palatable results — but it still takes at least two days. If enjoying bananas on their own is your goal, you’ll still need to be patient. But if you’re planning to cook with the bananas, the egg yolk trick makes a noticeable difference in the sweetness of the fruit. And it’s one of the fastest methods here.
Further Reading
The One Cookware Brand That Gordon Ramsay Can’t Stop Talking About
Do Water Filters Really Work — And Which Ones Are the Best?
Reese’s Just Launched a Limited-Edition Peanut Butter Cup, and It Tastes 4x Better than the Original
