How to Keep Bananas Fresh so You NEVER Have to Throw Them Away!

How to keep bananas fresh for over one week with these simple tips that you already have at home.

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We have all been there before, we grab a bunch of green bananas with the intention of using them for this or that. After just a couple of days, the brown spots have completely overtaken that beautiful yellow fruit. No worries, I will show you how to keep bananas fresh and yellow for longer and what you can do with bananas that are too far gone.

One of our goals here at Living Practically is to save you precious money. Eliminating food wast is one of the best ways to save money. According to RTS, Americans discard more food than any other country, roughly 30-40% of the entire US food supply. Every day, Americans waste an average of one pound of food per person. Every time you toss that food into the trash, you are wasting money.

Meal planning and effective grocery shopping can help you save money and eliminate food waste. I created a course, Practical Meal Planning, that teaches people how to meal plan to save money. Be sure to check it out!

Now, let’s go save those bananas!

Store bananas by themselves

According to Dole, one of the largest banana producers, it is best to store bananas in a cool area that is not exposed to direct sunlight. An enclosed pantry is perfect!

Bananas should not be stored next to other fruits, such as apples, as that will help them ripen faster, which we don’t want!

Wrap in plastic wrap

Many grocery stores put bananas in plastic bags so they can be transported easily. Do NOT store the bananas in these bags. Bananas will actually rot in warm and moist environments.

Instead of keeping them in their bag from the store, grab some plastic wrap and tightly cover the stems. Bananas give off ethylene from their stem, or tip where they are connected. Wrapping them in plastic wrap will drastically slow down the release of ethylene gas, and therefore prevent the bananas from ripening as quickly.

For even better results, you can separate each banana and cover each individual stem in plastic wrap. I personally don’t do this because I just don’t take the time.

Use Ethylene balls

As we just covered, bananas release ethylene from their stems. Using ethylene balls can also be very helpful as they collect the ethylene gas. You probably don’t already have these at your house, but for just a couple of dollars they can help a lot of your produce, not just bananas. They are worth the money if they save just you money on your groceries in the long run!

Put bananas in the fridge

You probably haven’t heard this one before. We all vary on our perfect amount of ripeness in our bananas, some people like them under ripe and green while others like them over ripe and almost mushy. Once your bananas are at your sweet spot, pop them in the fridge. They will not continue to ripen, but the skin will brown.

When all else fails- Freeze them

This one is simply my favorite, when all else fails stick your over ripe bananas in the freezer.

If your life is busy like ours, there are sometimes my bananas fall way down on my priority list. Instead of tossing them when they are covered in brown spots, I stick them in the freezer. They are perfect for smoothies, shakes, chunky monkey ice cream, and of course banana bread.

Peel the banana peels, cut in half, and toss them in a freezer bag. They will last for a couple of months in the freezer, but I recommend using them within the first 1-2 months as their quality really starts to go downhill quickly. If there are really rough looking spots you can cut them out of the banana if you would like, but that is completely optional. Actually, I recommend just leaving them on because you will never be able to tell they were bruised after they are frozen.

What you need to know…

• Bananas release ethylene gas from their stems. In order to slow down the ripening, we need to minimize the ethylene gas surrounding the bananas. Store them by themselves, wrap the stem in plastic wrap, and use ethylene balls.
• If you still can’t keep up with those fresh bananas, stick them in the fridge.
• Still can’t use them up before they rot? Pop them into the freezer!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will come back for more!