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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
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. The recipe can be scaled up or down. Personally, 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. - Reduce browning
Bananas will naturally brown as they dehydrate in the oven, 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 in a bowl. Don’t worry, they won’t taste like lemon juice. - Bake
They should be spread out on a sheet pan, with a little space in between. If you’re making a lot, you can bake several sheet pans at the same time; just swap positions halfway through baking. 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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Homemade Baked Banana Chips
Watch How It’s Made:
Ingredients
- 4 bananas
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ cup water
Instructions
Prep
- Preheat the oven to 250F with the top rack positioned in the middle. Then, line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a shallow bowl or pie dish, combine ½ cup water with 2 tablespoons lemon juice.
- Slice the bananas between ⅛ and ¼-inch slices. Soak them in the lemon water mixture and transfer them to the lined baking sheet, making sure there's a little space between each slice. They can be tight but in a single layer. You can also brush them with the lemon juice mixture using a basting brush.
Bake
- Bake them in the preheated oven for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until they are mostly crispy, flipping them over halfway through and swapping the baking sheet positions about 1 hour in. Visually, they'll be medium golden brown, with some yellow left.
- Remove the sheet pans from the oven and let the banana chips cool down completely on the counter. They'll be slightly soft at first, but they crisp up as they cool.
Storage:
- Once the banana chips have fully 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.
Hadley says
I’m not sure if this was recipe or user error; however, I followed the recipe and ended with chewy and sticky chips. I used parchment (not wax) paper and made the slices very thin. I baked them for an hour and 45 min, took them out and let them cool. They were pretty gooey, but noticed your instructions said the more they cool the crispier they will get. This did not work, so I decided to stick them back in. Thirty more minutes in the oven and they looked pretty brown (from the cooking, I used the lemon juice) indicating that they should come out or be burnt. I tried to take them off of the pan but about half stuck to the paper and made a mess. The other half was still chewy after letting cool ):
MOMables - Laura says
I am sorry this didn’t exactly work for you, Hadley. Making sure your oven is at its lowest setting makes a big difference and while they are called “chips” they aren’t crispy like fried, they do have a slightly “fruit leather” texture to them.
Cindy Wong says
Hi,
I noticed there’s a discrepancy in your detail note & your instructions on how much lemon juice & water for the banana chip recipe.
On your note section, you put 4 part water + 1 part lemon juice but on your instructions, you put 1/4 water + 3/4 lemon juice. Please correct it & let me know which is the correct portion of each. Thanks
MOMables - Laura says
Hi Cindy, the recipe has been updated with the proper corrections. The solution 4 parts water (4 tablespoons) with 1 part lemon juice (1 tablespoon). The soaking method is also optional.
Anna says
I love this recipie. At then end I had a bowl left with the lemon juice in it and turned it into a nice cup of lemonade. I dunked the bananas so it had a banana tang to it and I only had to use a pinch of sugar. Love how simple the recipe is with only 2 dishes being created!
Asya says
How can I store these. I did everything they came out crispy but a day later they got mushy.
MOMables - Laura says
I recommend storing them in an airtight container like plastic containers or lidded mason jars.
Lynda says
This recipe was an absolute disaster. I ruined my cookie sheets! No parchment, no oil? I thought it was too good to be true, and it is. As my first try making banana chips I am sorry to have found your recipe. And I am pretty sure the photos are of commercially prepared fried banana chips.
MOMables - Laura says
Hi Lynda, sorry it didn’t turn out but I have revised the recipe to include a step about lining the baking sheet. These have been tested twice and each batch has turned out perfectly.
A Booth says
Hi Lynda, sorry that your recipe didn’t turn out. Please please please don’t be negative to Momables because it didn’t work for you. Thank you hope you have a good day
amelia004 says
I like your recipe, makes me understand a variety of food banana chips
Emily says
Hi! I’m just 14 and your way of explaining these is really simple! Thanks for that!!!
MOMables - Laura says
i hope you enjoyed them! :)
someone says
Hi! I was wondering if i could coat them in something different like honey instead of lemon and water?
MOMables - Laura says
I’m not sure how they would turn out coated with honey but the lemon water keeps them from browning as much.
Kari says
Just a quick question. The description above the recipes says to soak for 2 hours and then the recipe instructions say to brush with lemon and water. Which method works better?
MOMables - Laura says
The tip above the recipe describes how to make banana chips that are lighter in color than when using regular yellow bananas. Following the recipe, as is, will result in a banana chip that looks like the images at the top of the post, and some kids don’t like that. If you want them to look like the ones you typically buy at the store (yellow) use green bananas or plantains and soak them for 2 hours first. I hope this helps clear it up. Thank you and good luck!! Let me know how they turn out.
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tim says
I did everything as per instructions and then put them in the oven at 250 degrees centigrade and burnt them; presumably, the 250 degrees mentioned is in Fahrenheit, which would be approx 125 centigrade?
MOMables says
The temperature is indeed in Fahrenheit. These need to go in the oven at about 100-125 celcius.
Destiny says
I’ve done these before and they were delicious! My husband absolutely loves them!