I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
Pan Fried Cinnamon Bananas is a quick and easy recipe to cook bananas, perfect for a special breakfast or an afternoon snack. How do you pan fry a banana? Use 3 ingredients, grab a skillet, and it's ready in 10 minutes.
This recipe was inspired by the age-old problem, how to use up overripe bananas. And now this is one of my favorite things to make with bananas.
No matter how hard I try to buy the right number of bananas for my family, I can never seem to get it right. If one week I don’t have enough, I try to buy a few more the next week, but then it seems I have too many!
Luckily there are lots of yummy things you can do with overripe bananas. Banana bread is really the first thing that comes to mind, but sometimes that is a little more trouble than I have the energy or time to tackle.
This recipe is so quick and easy, and it is perfect for a special breakfast or even an afternoon snack!
Bananas are important to my family. All the potassium in it is so good for heart and muscles. It also has so many natural vitamins and nutrients that are so good for everyone. I find myself sneaking in bananas in pancakes or smoothies, because they are so tasty and versatile!
Ingredients
- bananas - slightly overripe. If there are big brown patches on your bananas, they are too ripe and will just become mushy.
- sugar - you can also use a sugar substitute like granulated Splenda
- cinnamon - tastes great and contains antioxidents, too!
- nutmeg - optional
Instructions
- Slice the bananas into rounds
- Combine the cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg in a small bowl and set aside.
- Spray a skillet with nonstick spray, heat over medium, then add the banana rounds.
- Sprinkle about 1/2 of the cinnamon mixture, then cook for 2-3 minutes until the rounds start to warm.
- Flip the rounds, sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon mixture, then cook for another 2 minutes or so until the bananas are warmed through.
This recipe can always be used as a quick and easy method for caramelized bananas. If that's more what you are going for, add a little butter into the pan while it is heating and let it melt before you add in the banana rounds.
TIPS FOR MAKING PAN FRIED CINNAMON BANANAS
- Use bananas that are slightly overripe. It's OK if there are a bunch of small brown spots, but if the surface of the bananas are mostly brown spots or big brown patches, they are too far gone and will just turn out mushy.
- When cooking a banana, do not overcook. If they start to get too soft, they are done. This might happen quickly if your heat is a little too high so pay attention to them as they cook.
- Use good quality nonstick oil spray, or skip the spray and use a good non-stick pan. Poor quality oil could affect the taste of your banana rounds.
- Sugar works best but you can also use granulated Splenda (or equivalent) if you prefer.
Pan Fried Cinnamon Bananas
Serve with cherry yogurt and some V8 Fusion juice for a nice breakfast that energizes the kids and gives them a great start to the day!
If you love this recipe, please give it 5 stars!
And I also invite you to follow me on FACEBOOK, PINTEREST, or INSTAGRAM to keep up with what's going on in my kitchen.
Pan Fried Cinnamon Bananas
Ingredients
Instructions
- Slice the bananas into rounds, approximately 1/3 inch thick.
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg (if desired). Set aside.
- Lightly spray a large skillet with nonstick oil spray. Warm over medium heat.
- Add the banana rounds and sprinkle 1/2 of the cinnamon mixture on top.
- Cook for about 2-3 minutes.
- Flip the rounds, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon mixture
- Cook for 2-3 more minutes until the bananas are soft and warmed through.
Notes
- Slightly overripe bananas work best. If your bananas are too overripe, they will still taste good but they will be mushy.
- If they start to get too soft, they are done. Be careful to not overcook them!
- The quality of the oil can affect how the banana rounds taste, so make sure yur oil is fresh and a good quality brand.
- You can substitute granulated Splenda (or equivalent), however white sugar works best.
- Note that this is not a actually a substitute recipe for the kind of bananas that are fried by immersing them in oil in a fryer. These are a just tasty way to do something a little different with your bananas by cooking them in a pan or skillet.
Video
Nutrition
Enjoy!
Mateo
This way SOO good but it didn't look like was in the picture but it still SLAPPED. Good job gurl
Kristin
Haha, thanks! 🙂
Noor Elshami
THESE WERE AMAZING. I made them for my sister and they all loved it. They wanted more! But we ran out of bananas!
Kristin
That's wonderful to hear! Glad you guys enjoyed this!
Carolyn J Smith
We use stevia or honey. I make peanut butter on toast with sliced bananas drizzled with honey. You can use the bananas kept for a long time in the refrigerator after they are ripe. They get black on the outside but stay good inside for a few weeks.
Kristin
Great tips! Thanks! 🙂
Brilyn Perryman
I haven’t tried it yet but about to, but I’m very curious of what you put on top of the bananas in the video at the end? Please and thank you! I’m very excited to try it out!
Kristin
It was just a little powdered sugar. It's not really needed but I thought it looked nice, lol! Of course it adds some sweetness but it's totally optional!
Karen Swift
My husband made these for me and they were delicious..
Kristin
Awesome, so glad you liked them, Karen! And thank you for stopping by to let me know! 🙂
Dante
this has to be fake, I made it just like the recipe said, multiple times trying to figure out what I did wrong. Bananas give off juices when heated like that, so "frying" them doesn't work unless you stick them in a fryer. I was very disappointed. Maybe I did something wrong but from following your directions, and doing it multiple times was a no-no. I can say though that even though it went not so good, it actually had a good taste and some of my family members agreed as well. So thank you for that part, but I was looking forward to actual Fried Cinnamon Bananas.
Kristin
Hello! I'm really sorry to hear you didn't get the results you were expecting! Possibly I should change the name of the recipe because they are definitely not a comparable result to actually frying. I actually wasn't trying to duplicate the taste and texture of frying in oil, but just wanting to do something a little different with my leftover bananas. I guess I should rename them to be skillet cinnamon bananas or something like that! Anyway, I'm glad they tasted good even though they weren't what you were expecting. Thanks for stopping by!
Debi
I made these last night & they were delicious & super easy to make!
Kristin
That's wonderful to hear, I'm so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Colin Griffin
Lovely. Used honey instead of sugar and had with a spoonful of thick custard. Yum
Kristin
Oh, that sounds delicious! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
A Magical Life
My 16 year old son wanted to try making fried bananas so I found this recipe for him last night. These were good although a little strange. We agreed that they'd be good on pancakes (with whipped cream), ice cream or oatmeal, but we also agreed that regular sliced bananas are nearly as tasty on all those things for a lot less work, calories and sugar. It was a fun experiment but next time we'll just use our bananas for our favorite banana goodies thus far -- smoothies, frozen "ice cream" recipes,, banana bread and fresh eating. It was a fun experiment though!
Kristin
It's so nice that you and your son got to spend some time together in the kitchen. To me, that's sometimes the best part of cooking and eating... even more than the food itself. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Randee
This sounds so good! Especially over some vanilla ice cream 😉
Kristin
That's an awesome idea! 🙂