If you love bananas, you’ll love the Budget-Friendly Banana Recipes in this list. There are recipes for nice cream, bread, and more.
For more ideas about what to make, check out all of our recipes.
Bananas are super versatile. And, you can keep them for a really long time. There are actually a lot of overripe banana recipes, as far as baking goes. I use overripe bananas in ice cream and banana bread.
They’re also super frugal. Even with prices going up lately, bananas seem to be the most affordable fruit. So if you’ve been buying more bananas lately, and wondering what else you can do with them besides just eat them, this list of Budget-Friendly Banana Recipes is for you.
There’s a good chance you clicked on this list of recipes because they’re budget friendly. We get it. Trust me. Everyone is on a budget right now. And even when you don’t have to be, it’s great to be frugal when you can so you can save for the future.
That’s why we put together The Ultimate Guide To Saving Money By Cooking At Home. You’ll learn cooking tips, about what kitchen tools you should invest in now, and more.
Budget-Friendly Banana Recipes
As we add more banana recipes to Drugstore Divas, we’ll update this post. So be sure to save it on Pinterest or bookmark it (however you save posts) and come back to it every so often to see what’s new.
Banana And Nutella Croffle (Croissant Waffle)
Sliced bananas are baked in crescent dough to make this delicious twist on a Korean street treat know as a Croffle (because it’s a croissant waffle, basically).
The traditional version is dipped in sugar before cooking, but this version puts the sweetness on the inside.
Chocolate Chip Banana Pancakes
Two ingredient Banana Pancakes went viral a couple years ago … but these pancakes are not those. These Chocolate Chip Banana Pancakes are actually made from scratch.
Bananas and chocolate chips are added to the batter before cooking the pancakes on the stovetop. The bananas add such a creaminess to the batter and you really do taste the bananas when you’re eating the pancakes (with a helping of butter and syrup, of course).
These are a really great make ahead breakfast recipe too. You can make a bunch, freeze them, and then reheat them when you’re ready to eat them.
Shark Pudding Cups
Five bananas are sliced and added to banana cream pudding to make these Shark Pudding Cups. They’re pretty much a twist on a traditional Banana Pudding, just served in individual servings — with a shark on top. Because that’s perfect for your Shark Week viewing parties.
If you want, you can leave the gummy sharks off, but you can’t leave out the banana. The entire dessert is so banana-forward, so if you like the flavor of banana, this is the perfect dessert for you.
Homemade Banana Doughnuts With Chocolate Shell
Homemade Banana Doughnuts are basically banana bread dough baked in a doughnut pan instead of a loaf pan.
But then, these ones are dipped in chocolate magic shell and kept in the freezer until you’re ready to eat them. That keeps the chocolate shell cold.
Alternatively, you could dip them in melted chocolate and keep them in the fridge, but then you wouldn’t be able to impress people by telling them you know how to make magic shell from scratch.
Since you’re only dipping half the doughnut in the chocolate, the banana flavor really does come through. And who doesn’t love chocolate bananas?
Mango Banana Berry Detox Smoothie
This Mango Banana Berry Detox Smoothie has half a banana blended into it, along with some other fruit, and some detox water. That’s how it’s considered a detox smoothie.
Instead of detox water, you could add any sort of flavored water or juice to this smoothie. It wouldn’t be considered a detox smoothie in that case, but it would still be delicious.
Even though each smoothie has a banana half in it, the berry flavor really does take over. You don’t taste too much of the banana in this, but you need it to add to the texture of the smoothie.
Banana Nut Muffins
These Banana Nut Muffins are such a good breakfast muffin. They’re sweet and hearty and really easy to make when you have a little bit of time. Then, grab one for an easy breakfast when you don’t have a lot of time.
The nuts are stirred into the banana-based batter, then crumbles are put on top so that they bake on top. But, even with so many nuts, the banana flavor really comes through in these muffins and is the star of the dish.
Chocolate Banana Ice Cream
Chocolate Banana Ice Cream is also known as “nice cream.” It’s a dairy-free ice cream that you make from bananas, sweetener, and cocoa powder. That’s it. What’s great about this recipe is you don’t need an ice cream maker to make it. You just need a blender.
What’s also great is riper bananas work better in this recipe, so that’s a good way to use up ripe bananas which isn’t banana bread. Which is pretty much everyone’s go to ripe banana recipe. This chocolate banana ice cream is a good way to change it up.
And, you can change the recipe up by adding strawberries instead of chocolate too.
Chocolate Dipped Banana Bites
Bananas are cut, then dipped into melted chocolate and toppings to make these Chocolate Dipped Banana Bites. They’re a tasty way to get rid of a lot of bananas without just eating plain bananas.
You want to use fresh bananas in this recipe, rather than overripe ones, because they’ll hold up better to cutting and dipping. Overripe bananas will be too soft and mushy and will fall apart in your hands.
You can dip these in whatever toppings you want: sliced nuts, sprinkles, shaved coconut, cookie crumbs, etc. Your mind is the limit.
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Homemade Banana Bread is the classic way to use up bananas that are overripe. This recipe calls for a half of banana (in addition to full bananas), so you’ll either way to double the recipe or someone needs to be ready to eat half a banana when you make it.
You can add walnuts to this recipe, although we prefer it with just the chocolate chips.
Which of these easy banana recipes are you going to try first? Let us know in the comments.