Dehydrated Banana Chips
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These dehydrated banana chips taste like candy! Dried banana chips are an addictive gluten-free, vegan snack. They’re so easy to make in the oven or the dehydrator.
Homemade banana chips are a great substitute for sugary desserts. They’re very easy to make, and you’ll wonder how they could possibly be good for you when you bite into one. Dehydrated bananas are chewy and sweet, so they’re basically like candy.
This recipe shows how you can use an oven or a dehydrator to make dried banana chips. These are great for snacking, and you can also use these dehydrated banana chips to make homemade banana Larabars.
How to Dehydrate Bananas in the Oven
Thinly slice the bananas (¼ inch thickness or less is ideal), and arrange them in a single layer on the lightly oiled baking sheets. Use olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, or cooking spray to grease the baking sheets. Coconut oil will give them a slightly tropical flavor.
Cook the bananas in the oven for about 3 hours, until they are dehydrated but not rock solid. They should be flat and thin.
You may be able to remove the dehydrated banana chips from the baking sheets with a metal spatula, but I find it easier to just peel them off by hand. Transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely before storing.
How to Make Banana Chips in a Dehydrator
To make dried banana chips in a dehydrator, you won’t need to use any oil. Simply layer the banana slices on the trays in your dehydrator and cook them at 135 degrees for about 8 hours for chewy dehydrated banana chips.
Keep an eye on them for the last couple hours so you can remove them from the dehydrator tray when they reach the texture you want.
Grab a handful of these dehydrated banana chips when your sweet tooth hits, or stir them into a bowl of homemade granola.
Dehydrated Banana Chip Tips and Frequently Asked Questions
The key to getting a good batch of dehydrated banana chips is to cut the fresh bananas into uniformly thin slices. I aim for ¼ inch thickness at most, but if you cut them a little thicker, that’ll work, too. It will just take a bit longer for them to dehydrate.
In the oven, it takes about 3 hours to dehydrate bananas at 175 degrees. It takes about 8 hours in the dehydrator for chewy banana chips.
Banana chips can be either chewy or crispy depending on how long you dehydrate them. A longer cook time will yield crispier chips, and a shorter time will leave them a bit chewy if some of the moisture is left in the chips. Keep an eye on the bananas as they’re dehydrating, and remove them from the oven or dehydrator once they’ve reached the crispness you prefer.
For storage, I recommend placing them in an airtight container and storing them in a cool, dry place at room temperature for up to two weeks. You can also freeze them and they’ll last for several months.
Expert Recipe Tips
How to Pick the Best Bananas for Dried Banana Chips
I like to use organic bananas that are ripe but not too ripe. They should still be firm for clean slicing, and they should be yellow with a few brown dots. Taste a slice to make sure it’s sweet.
How to Best Prepare Bananas for Dehydrating
Slice the bananas into even pieces about 1/4 inch thick. If they don’t hold their shape, the banana is overly ripe and too mushy, and it should be saved for banana bread.
Do You Have to Use Lemon Juice When Dehydrating Bananas?
Some recipes for dried banana chips call for treating them with lemon juice before dehydrating them in order to preserve their light color. I personally don’t think it’s necessary to pre-treat the banana pieces since they still look tasty without that step.
While it’s not necessary to treat them with lemon juice, that’s an option if you want to keep them very light in color. The lemon juice may impact the flavor of the banana chips a bit.
How to Keep Banana Chips from Sticking
When dehydrating bananas in the oven, I place a bit of oil on the baking sheet to keep them from sticking. In the dehydrator, the bananas don’t typically stick to the plastic mesh tray so there’s no need for oil.
How to Tell When Banana Chips Are Done Dehydrating
The slices will be flat and thin when they’re done dehydrating, and they’ll have a leathery texture. If you want to get crispy banana chips, you’ll need to dry them a bit longer.
The individual chips tend to finish dehydrating at different times, so check regularly and remove them as they reach the texture you want.
Why are my banana chips mushy?
It’s possible that the bananas haven’t been dehydrated long enough if they’re still soggy after the initial cook time. Also, if you used overly ripe bananas that you weren’t able to cleanly slice, they may be too ripe. These bananas are better off being used in banana bread.
Other Dried Fruit Recipes
For more delicious fruity snacks, try my homemade apple chips and dehydrated strawberries. Also check out my oat flour banana bread and dairy-free banana bread to enjoy that great banana flavor!
Dehydrated Banana Chips
Recommended Equipment
- dehydrator (optional)
- baking sheet (optional)
Ingredients
- 2 tsp. olive oil (or coconut oil, avocado oil)
- 4 ripe bananas
Instructions
Oven Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175 degrees, and lightly coat 2 cookie sheets with the oil.
- Thinly slice the bananas (¼ inch thickness or less is ideal), and arrange them in a single layer on the baking sheets.
- Cook the bananas in the oven for about 3 hours, until they are dehydrated but not rock solid. They should be flat and thin. Depending on your oven and the thickness of your banana slices, you may need an extra 30 to 60 minutes.
- Carefully remove the banana chips from the baking sheets by gently peeling them off. Transfer them to a cooling rack, and let them cool completely before storing. These banana chips can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for about two weeks.
Dehydrator Instructions
- To make dried banana chips in a dehydrator, you won’t need to use any oil. Thinly slice the bananas (¼ inch thickness or less is ideal).
- Layer the banana slices on the trays in your dehydrator and cook them at 135 degrees for about 8 hours for chewy dehydrated banana chips. Keep an eye on them for the last couple hours so you can remove them from the dehydrator tray when they reach the texture you want.
- Let the banana chips cool completely before storing in an airtight container for two weeks.
Approximate Nutrition Info
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Price Breakdown
This recipe yields 2 cups of dehydrated banana chips, and it costs $1.23 to make. This comes out to $.21 per 1/3 cup serving. Try this recipe the next time your sweet tooth hits.
Note: This recipe was originally posted in 2013, and it was updated in 2024.
I do a 2-3 min “dip” in a water & citric acid (vit C) which can be found in Canning/Preserving sections of store. It helps w/those ‘bothered’ by the blrowning during dehydrating.
I tend to buy bananas in lg batches & have to freeze a lot, before use. If I do not have enough for Banana Bread/Muffins, I can freeze, until I have enough. To freeze fresh, I slice then place on baking trays, keeping separated as much as possible, then freeze. After frozen, can put into freezer bags, doubled (helps w/freezer burn) or food saver bags. Place back into freezer. Keeps for 6-12 mths in freezer.
Very good ideas for dehydrating banana chips will try in my 10.tray dehydrator Does oil need to be sprinkled on dehydrated banana chips while being dehydrated Will also try dehydrating custard apple pulp and strawberries
It isn’t necessary to add oil in the dehydrator. Enjoy!
Will try dehydrating bananas in the oven. Takes too long in the dehydrator and very cumbersome. We have found that storage in jars does not work as the bananas become chewy.
This last batch we did, we put in the refrig then in bags in the freezer. Stays crispy. Thanks for posting this recipe
Great idea to store them in the freezer! I’ll have to try that.
Is it cook for 8 hours or 3 hours?
3 hours in the oven or 8 hours in a dehydrator
I had already soaked my banana slices in a sugar/honey/water mix and was drying in my dehydrator for a few hours when my dehydrator motor must have burned out. I noticed your instructions above are for plain, untreated slices except for the oil used on the cookie sheet. So now that I have a huge amount of sticky, wet banana slices and need some method to dry them, do I still use the coconut oil and how will the honey and sugar water interact with the oil?
I would try dehydrating them in a low-temperature oven as described in this recipe. I think that would work fine with the toppings you have on them. Please let us know how they turn out.
Can they be frozen? I have so many bananas
I don’t see why not, but I haven’t tried it.
Can’t wait to try this out.
I love the banana chips! So yummy than any recipe! ♥️
Under How To Dehydrate Banana Chips in a Dehydrator you have “Simply layer the banana slices on the trays in your dehydrator and cook them at 135 degrees for about 8 hours for chewy dehydrated banana chips” then under the Instructions you have “Preheat the oven to 175 degrees” and “Cook the bananas in the oven for about 3 hours, until they’re dehydrated but not rock solid.”. Which is correct? a 40 degree temp increase does not work out to a 5 hour reduction in cook time.
These timings and temperatures work for me. Please let me know if you try it and have a different experience.
If I use parchment paper, do I still need to oil the pan?
You can skip the oil if you use parchment.
How many chips does it make?
It will depend on the size of the bananas you use. Medium/large bananas yield about 1/2 cup of dehydrated banana chips per banana.