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Banana

Fruits · Tropical fruit

Banana

Soft, sweet, curved yellow fruit; eaten raw, blended into smoothies and mashed into breads and pancakes.

Also called: bananas, kela, muz, plátano (fruit)

25 recipes with it

Photo: TimothyPilgrim, via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-3.0)

What it is

Bananas are long, curved fruits with yellow peel and soft, creamy, sweet flesh. They ripen from green and starchy to yellow, then speckled brown and very sweet. Plantains and green cooking bananas are firmer, starchier relatives that are always cooked; this record is the sweet dessert banana.

Musa acuminata (and hybrids)

How it’s used

  • Eaten raw or sliced over cereal and porridge
  • Mashed into banana bread, muffins and pancakes
  • Blended into smoothies and frozen 'nice cream'
  • Fried or caramelised in desserts such as banoffee and pisang goreng

Characteristics

Taste
Sweet; more aromatic as it browns.
Texture
Soft and creamy.
When cooked
Browns quickly once cut; very ripe bananas are best for baking.
Sold as
fresh, frozen, dried
Cooking uses
Usually eaten raw, Suitable for baking, Suitable for frying

Storage

At room temperature. Ripen at room temperature away from other fruit; refrigerating ripe bananas blackens the skin but keeps the flesh. Peel and freeze overripe bananas for baking or smoothies.

Diet, allergens and safety

No major allergens in typical versions.

  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Dairy-free
  • Egg-free
  • Gluten-free
  • Nut-free
  • Soy-free
  • Caffeine-free

Nutrition per 100 g

Energy
89 kcal
Protein
1.09 g
Carbohydrate
22.84 g
Fat
0.33 g
Fibre
2.6 g
Sugars
12.23 g

USDA FoodData Central: Bananas, raw.

Substitutes

Optional — what works if you don’t have it, and how it changes the dish.

  • Apple sauce — In baking, for moisture; less sweet and less flavour.

Related ingredients

Recipes with banana

See all 25

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