| | | | | |

Homemade Banana Chips Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission.

Homemade Banana Chips are inexpensive, easy, and healthy snack the entire family will love. Fresh bananas are sliced and dried in a dehydrator, oven, microwave or air fryer!

banana chips in white bowl

Want to save this recipe?

Enter your email & I’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!

Save Recipe

This banana chips recipe is a great way to use overripe bananas when you don’t feel like making banana bread or chocolate chip banana bars. They are also a healthy snack the kiddos will love! Eat them on their own or dip into chocolate, salsa, hummus, or even guacamole!

How to Make Banana Chips

The basic premise of making banana chips is to slowly dry out the bananas until they are crisp like a chip. You can do this in the oven, in a dehydrator, air fryer, or even the microwave!

Air Fryer

I’m always looking for new air fryer recipes so this is my favorite way to make banana chips!

With the air fryer I recommend using barely ripe bananas that are firm. Peel and slice the banana thinly and soak the slices in lemon water for five minutes.

Meanwhile preheat the air fryer to 360 degrees. Spray the inside of the air fryer basket with nonstick cooking spray to make sure the chips don’t stick. Layer the chips in a single layer in the air fryer and air fry for 12 minutes.

Tip: Work in batches if you need to so that they are in a single layer not touching each other.

Check and if not yet crisp fry an additional 3 minutes.

Dehydrator

To make these chips in the dehydrator, prepare a bowl with 2 cups of water and 1/2 cup lemon juice. Slice bananas evenly and add to bowl. Allow to soak for 5 minutes before adding to dehydrator tray.

Dehydrate at 135 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 hours. After 10 hours flip the chips and dehydrate another 2 hours or until dry.

Oven

In the oven we prepare the bananas the same as the dehydrator, letting them soak in the lemon water five minutes before placing in a single layer on a foil lined baking sheet.

Heat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 2 hours or until dry, flipping after 30 minutes.

sliced bananas on foil lined baking sheet

Microwave

Again prepare the banana chips as above, soaking in the lemon juice. Place in a single layer on a microwave safe plate and microwave for 1 minute. Flip chips and season if desired, then microwave 1 minute wait 30 seconds and microwave one additional minute.

If bananas are not fully dry add 30 second intervals until they are the desired crispness.

Regardless of which method you use, chips will crisp more as they cool.

Seasoning ideas & flavor variations

You certainly don’t need to season the bananas before drying but there are a lot of fun flavors to experiment with if you choose to change up the taste!

  • soak in lime juice instead of lemon juice
  • sprinkle with cinnamon
  • add salt to enhance the sweetness
  • 2 parts garam masala & 1 part chili powder sprinkled over chips
  • sprinkle with brown sugar
  • sprinkle with powdered peanut butter
  • soak in water with salt & turmeric instead of lemon water
  • season with pepper
  • sprinkle with savory spices like garlic powder or paprika

The possibilities are endless!

Tips for best results

  • Slice the bananas thinly and evenly, a mandoline slicer is helpful for this (link below in the tools section)
  • the harder the banana, the easier it is to make the chips

FAQs about this Banana Chips Recipe

What kind of bananas do you use to make chips?

You can make banana chips with fresh or overripe bananas, firm bananas are the best however. You can even use plantains or green bananas that have yet to ripen.
If you use green bananas or plantains you will need to take an extra step of soaking the chips in water and lemon juice for 2 hours before drying. (Directions in recipe card below.)

How do you keep them from browning?

The secret to avoiding brown banana chips is to brush the chips with lemon water. This keeps them nice and fresh looking!

How to store banana chips

Store these chips in an airtight container up to two weeks.

Why are my banana chips soggy/mushy?

If your banana chips turn out soggy you have not cooked them long enough. Cooking time will vary depending on your oven/microwave and the thickness of your slices. Cook until dry. They will crisp more as they cool.

What is the difference in banana chips and plantain chips?

They are very similar but plantain chips have a slightly higher calorie count and more carbohydrates. They will also have a greener hue when dehydrated.

Helpful tools

These are tools I use to make banana chips: (affiliate links)

You might also like these Chocolate Chip Banana Bars, Strawberry Banana “Ice Cream,” and this Banana Pudding recipe.

If you’ve tried this recipe please comment and rate it below, I love hearing from you!

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
banana chips in white bowl

Homemade Banana Chips


5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

2.8 from 4 reviews

  • Author: Melissa Riker
  • Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
  • Yield: 24 chips 1x

Description

Homemade Banana Chips are a healthy, inexpensive, and easy snack the entire family will love. Fresh bananas are sliced and dried in a dehydrator, oven ,microwave or air fryer!


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 bananas
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice

Instructions

Dehydrator

  1. To make these chips in the dehydrator, prepare a bowl with 2 cups of water and 1/2 cup lemon juice.
  2. Slice bananas evenly and add to bowl. Allow to soak for 5 minutes before adding to dehydrator tray.
  3. Dehydrate at 135 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 hours.
  4. After 10 hours flip the chips and dehydrate another 2 hours or until dry.

Oven

  1. In the oven we prepare the bananas the same as the dehydrator, letting them soak in the lemon water five minutes before placing in a single layer on a foil lined baking sheet.
  2. Heat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 2 hours or until dry, flipping after 1 hour.

Microwave

  1. Again prepare the banana chips as above, soaking in the lemon juice.
  2. Place in a single layer on a microwave safe plate and microwave for 1 minute.
  3. Flip chips and season if desired, then microwave 1 minute wait 30 seconds and microwave one additional minute.
  4. If bananas are not fully dry add 30 second intervals until they are the desired crispness.

Air Fryer

  1. With the air fryer I recommend using barely ripe bananas that are firm. Slice the banana thinly and soak the slices in lemon water for five minutes.
  2. Meanwhile preheat the air fryer to 360 degrees.
  3. Spray the inside rack with nonstick spray to make sure the chips don’t stick. Layer the chips in a single layer in the air fryer and fry for 12 minutes.
  4. Check and if not yet crisp fry an additional 3 minutes.

Notes

  • You certainly don’t need to season the bananas before drying but there are a lot of fun flavors to experiment with if you choose to change up the taste!

    • soak in lime juice instead of lemon juice
    • sprinkle with cinnamon
    • add salt to enhance the sweetness
    • 2 parts garam masala & 1 part chili powder sprinkled over chips
    • sprinkle with brown sugar
    • sprinkle with powdered peanut butter
    • soak in water with salt & turmeric instead of lemon water
    • season with pepper
    • sprinkle with savory spices like garlic powder or paprika

  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Category: snack
  • Method: baking
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 6 chips
  • Calories: 53
  • Sugar: 7.3 g
  • Sodium: 0.6 mg
  • Fat: 0.2 g
  • Carbohydrates: 13.7 g
  • Protein: 0.7 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg

This recipe was originally shared in February 2018 and updated with additional information and new photos July 2020.

Want more great recipes?

Join our community of over 20,000 everyday cooks and I'll send you an eCookbook with 13 of my favorite desserts as a welcome gift!

Powered by ConvertKit

Similar Posts

25 Comments

    1. Use the dehydrate instructions if you are using the dehydrate function of the oven, but I would also reference your oven manual as well. I just got an oven that has that function but I have not tried it yet.

  1. Even a five-minute soak in lemon water did not stop the food from turning brown. These seem to have been grilled. I adhered to the instructions to the letter.

  2. I followed the recipe to the “T”. They came out AWFUL. I used my air fryer. I had to make them at 350 because mine goes from 350 to 375. Stopped them at 10 minutes because any longer they would’ve been burnt. I taste no banana at all; all I can taste is lemon. I tried sprinkling them with cinnamon and sugar, and then all I taste is lemon, cinnamon and sugar! So much for those bananas. They’re going in the trash.






  3. I followed your recipe and they came out perfect. I used my dehydrator. Only issue I had is they stuck to the wire rack a bit. Wonder if I wipe it with a bit of non stick spray beforehand?

  4. Recipe states 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, directions state 1/2 cup. This could make or break this recipe.

  5. I followed the recipe just like it is and it was perfect. Thank you for the recipe and the hints. Loved it!






  6. I followed the recipe for the oven and my banana chips came out soggy. I’m not sure if I’m not reading it right, but I sliced them, soaked them in the lemon/water mix for 5 minutes, then baked at 200 for 1.5 hours (flipping after 30 mins) and they came out squishy and wet. The notes say it crisps as it cools but it was not true in my case.






    1. The instructions say to bake for 1 1/2 hours or until dry because ovens vary as does the thickness of the banana slices, I have updated it to say 2 hours as mine usually take that long.

      1. After some research, I think I know what the problem is. Bananas are sensitive enough to heat that they can be sun baked – Which means the same model oven can produce very different results just due to the tiniest differences

        Maybe experiment with really low temp baking for 5+ hours. Takes forever, but I bet if I try this, I’ll have consistent results. Worst case scenario, it fails and the mystery deepens

    1. I agree, these wern’t good at all!. Soggy and look grilled, hmm, not impressed, I must have screwed up somewhere, don’t know where, but must have.

  7. I just slice my bananas. Lay them out on parchment paper. And cook them for 20 mins less than 200 degrees. My oven doesn’t label lower than that. After the 20 mins I flip them and repeat until crisp and they are good enough for me.






Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star