Leave The Plantains Alone And Give Overripe Bananas A Pan-Fry Instead

Bananas have a finite shelf life, often becoming overripe before we have time to eat them. Making banana bread, smoothies, and ice cream are great ways to repurpose them. However, pan-frying overripe bananas is the unexpected way to cook with bananas you need to try.

The riper your bananas get, the sweeter they become and the high heat from pan frying will caramelize their sugars even more. Frying bananas in a bit of oil will transform their unpleasantly mealy texture into a creamy, pillowy consistency. Plus, depending on how you prepare and fry them, you could take advantage of those caramelized sugars to create a slightly charred, crunchy burnt sugar crust.

You can slice bananas in half lengthwise or cut them into half-inch thick rounds to fry in a bit of coconut oil over medium-high heat for a few minutes, flipping them halfway through. Coconut oil is a dairy-free choice that'll impart a nice nuttiness to complement the banana and caramelized sugar flavors. Butter is another great option that'll help brown the bananas as they cook. You could also roll the banana slices in a cinnamon and sugar blend before frying them for a spicy, sweet crust. At the other end of the spectrum, you could fry bananas in a sweet glaze for a more sticky, saucy, melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Fried bananas are a tasty dessert on their own, to drizzle with chocolate sauce or this salted caramel sauce. But, you can also use them as a topping or additional ingredient in other desserts or breakfast dishes. You could line a baking pan with them before pouring cake batter on top and baking a caramelized banana upside down cake. They'd make a tasty topping for a bowl of tangy Greek yogurt and crunchy granola. A fancy breakfast toast with peanut butter, fried bananas, cacao nibs, and a drizzle of honey would bring a myriad of textures and a trifecta of sweet, bitter, and savoy flavors.

You can also build upon the seasonings or glazes for fried bananas for more depth of flavor and textural complexity. Fried bananas are already a popular New Orleans dessert called bananas foster, which we have a recipe for. So, you could draw inspiration by spiking the frying pan with rum and baking spices or bourbon for a smoky sweet dessert to serve over vanilla ice cream. They'd also make for an upgraded topping for your next banana pudding or filling for a Nutella crepe. You could add pecans, walnuts or peanuts to the frying pan with the bananas, brown sugar, butter, and baking spices for candied crunch.