Don’t throw out those browning bananas! Chop and freeze them to make delicious and easy banana ice cream with just one ingredient: bananas.

How to Make Banana Ice Cream

No matter how few bananas I purchase, there’s always one or two that go brown before we eat them. This is a great way to save those bananas and turn them into a healthy frozen treat!

Step 1: Chop the bananas and freeze them

I chop the bananas about 1/2″ thick and them put them in a sealable plastic baggie. The secret to this recipe is freezing the bananas first! The cool thing is that you don’t need to use them right away so you can save those browning bananas and then make the ice cream anytime later.

Step 2: Put the bananas in a blender and start blending

If your bananas were a little mushy or they’ve been frozen for a while, you’ll need to seperate them before blending. You don’t want to put a solid frozen chunk in there or it won’t easily blend. I just take the baggie and slam it on the counter, or even the floor until the contents are broken up a bit.

I don’t have a favorite blender setting for the blending portion. I mostly press random options until I see things start to move. Sometimes I pour a little milk or cream in at this point, to get things moving better, but that is completely optional.

The bananas will look all chunky at first and you’ll probably have to repeatedly shove them down and blend. This part always takes some effort and perseverance.

Step 3: Keep blending until it looks like banana ice cream

Just keep at it and eventually it will start to look like ice cream! I usually switch to the “smoothie” setting on the blender for this part. Once you have the right consistency it will be smooth and moving on its own.

Step 4: Pour into a bowl and serve

Once it starts to look like ice cream, it’s time to pour it in a bowl and eat it right away! I’ve found it doesn’t refreeze all that well, so just make the amount you plan on eating.

An interesting thing to note- it doesn’t taste overly “banana-y.” It tastes mostly like vanilla ice cream with a hint of banana. It’s also naturally sweet and can be made with purely bananas, or you can mix in cream, honey, peanut butter powder, etc. and make your own unique blend.

To Recap the Banana Ice Cream Recipe:

1. Chop bananas
2. Freeze banana slices
3. Blend bananas until smooth
4. Eat yummy ice cream