2 Ingredients Is All It Takes to Make Banana Chips at Home!

Name: Homemade Baked Banana Chips
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 125 min
Ingredients: 2 bananas; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 4 tablespoons water

Recipe

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Baked banana chips are a healthy and delicious snack you can make with extra bananas and this easy recipe.

If you’ve never made banana chips at home, you’re in for a surprise. All you need are a couple of bananas and a little patience while they bake. The result is a naturally sweet snack that everyone loves.

Why You’ll Love This Banana Chips Recipe

Laura Fuentes holding a stack of lunchboxes and a school lunch bag

Homemade banana chips are one of the easiest healthy snacks you can make. They’re naturally sweet, crisp around the edges, chewy in the center, and perfect for snack boxes and school lunches. I usually make a double batch because they disappear fast.

Best Bananas to Make Banana Chips

Ripe, yellow bananas with a few brown speckles work great because they have the perfect balance of sweetness and are firm enough to slice. Avoid green bananas, which aren’t sweet enough, and overly brown bananas, which tend to be too soft and can become mushy instead of crisp.

How to Make Banana Chips

If this is your first time making banana chips, the short video in the recipe walks you through these steps:

Prep
Preheat the oven and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Then, slice the bananas and place them on the baking sheet.
Keep them from browning
Bananas will naturally brown as they dehydrate, but you can preserve most of their yellow color by brushing a lemon-water mixture (4 parts water, 1 part lemon juice)over each slice or soaking them for a few minutes in the bowl. Don’t worry, they won’t taste like lemon juice.
Bake
Depending on their thickness, they’ll take between 1 ½ and 2 hours for the bananas to crisp up (become chips).
Cool & store
Cool completely on the baking sheet before storing them in an airtight container for up to one week.

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Banana Chips FAQ’s:

Do I need the lemon juice?

No. Lemon juice helps slow browning and keeps the banana slices looking lighter, but it’s optional. The banana chips will still bake and taste great without it.

Can I use green bananas or plantains?

Yes, but expect different results. Green bananas and plantains make a starchier, less sweet chip that’s more similar to store-bought banana chips. They may also need a slightly longer baking time.

Why aren’t they crispy?

Banana chips continue to crisp as they cool. If they’re still soft after cooling, they likely need more baking time. Slicing the bananas too thick or using overly ripe bananas can also make them chewier.

How should I store them?

After they’ve cooled completely, store them in an airtight container for up to a week. If they’re left uncovered or you live in a humid environment, they might soften over time. Add a piece of sandwich bread inside the bag or container to absorb the moisture. Or, you can pop them back into a 250F oven for 10 minutes to crisp them up again.

Can I make banana chips in the air fryer?

Yes. Slice the bananas evenly and cook them at a low temperature until lightly golden. At 250F they’ll take about 35 minutes. At 300F they’ll take about 25 minutes, although every air fryer cooks a little differently.

Do they keep in the fridge?

No. They keep best in an airtight container at room temperature. Refrigeration can introduce moisture, making them soften faster.

More Healthy Snack Ideas

If you love healthy baked snacks, try making apple chips, no-bake energy bites, and homemade fruit roll-ups.

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Homemade Baked Banana Chips

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 2

Total Time: 2 5

Baked banana chips are a healthy and delicious snack you can make with extra bananas and this easy recipe.

4.76 from 139 votes

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Watch How It’s Made:

Ingredients

2 bananas
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 tablespoons water

Instructions

Prep

Preheat the oven to 250F with the top rack positioned in the middle. Then, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup water with 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
Slice the bananas into ⅛-inch slices (quite thin). Place them on the parchment paper, then brush them with the lemon juice mixture. You can also dip them in the bowl and then place them on the sheet pan.

Bake

Bake them in the preheated oven for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until they are crispy, flipping them over halfway through, about 1 hour in.
Remove the sheet pan from the oven and let the banana chips cool down completely. They'll be slightly soft at first, but they crisp up as they cool.

Storage:

Once cooled, transfer them into an airtight container or zip bag where they'll keep for a week at room temperature.

Notes

Make them sweet: Use ripe bananas and sprinkle with cinnamon after brushing with the lemon water. Follow the baking directions above.
Make them spicy: Add ¼ teaspoon of sriracha or hot sauce to the lemon water mixture and brush it over the banana slices.
In the air fryer: Slice the bananas evenly and cook them at a low temperature until lightly golden. At 250F they’ll take about 35 minutes. At 300F they’ll take about 25 minutes, although every air fryer cooks a little differently.