3 Ways to Ripen Bananas—Including One Method That Takes Only Minutes

Time passes excruciatingly slowly when waiting for bananas to ripen. Especially if you stare at them, willing them to turn just the right shade so you can use them for banana bread, pancakes, or even as an egg substitute. While patience may be a virtue for many things, there are ways to speed up the banana ripening process. Whether you have three days or three minutes, here is the right way to ripen bananas. 

What a Ripe Banana Looks Like

It can be hard to know precisely when a banana is ripe just from looking at it, as it's based somewhat on personal preference for firmness and sweetness. 

"The best way to tell if a banana is ripe is to taste it. Sometimes even yellow bananas have a slight 'green' flavor," says Emilie Berner, chef-instructor of plant-based culinary arts at the Institute of Culinary Education in Los Angeles.

Generally, a banana is ripe as soon as it is yellow and you no longer see any green. As brown spots start to form, the banana will taste sweeter.

"Unripe bananas are made up of mostly crystalline starch," says food scientist Dr. Bryan Quoc Le, author of 150 Food Science Questions Answered. "The ripening process causes these starches to break down and release sugars, which results in softening and sweetening of the bananas."

How to Ripen Bananas in a Few Days

If you have one to three days before you need to make that banana cream pie, make sure the stems are unwrapped and you're storing them somewhere warm, says Berner. "This is where ethylene is produced. So first, unwrap the stems. Storing bananas in a warm place excites the ethylene gas and speeds up the ripening process."

You can also place the bananas in a brown paper bag, which will trap the ethylene gasses the bananas produce and trigger faster ripening.

How to Ripen Bananas Overnight

If you know you'll need ripe bananas tomorrow, add other ethylene-producing fruits such as avocados, apples, melons, pears, or peaches to that brown paper bag. Just keep in mind, especially with the avocados, that those fruits will ripen quicker, too.

"Bananas in my house seem to ripen faster when they are in a paper bag with an avocado, and vice versa, because both produce ethylene gas, which triggers a rapid ripening process in each other," says Berner. 

How to Ripen Bananas in a Few Minutes

What if you completely blanked on offering to make banana muffins for the school bake sale? Don't worry; you can ripen bananas in less than a day and even in less than an hour.

Microwave

If you need to ripen bananas quickly for banana bread, then the microwave can be your friend. "Peel the banana and microwave it for 30 seconds to a minute, and that will help," says Berner.

Oven

You can also cook the bananas in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, but you'll want to leave the skins on for that method. After about 10 to 20 minutes, when the skins turn black, they're ready to take out. 

Why This Method Works—and Why It Doesn't

"If you only have a few hours or minutes, it makes sense to cook the bananas at 350 degrees or microwave them for a few minutes to get them soft," says Le. "The problem is that these are thermally induced approaches, so it actually doesn't do much to change the chemical composition of the bananas, only the physical structure."

In other words, while the bananas will be softer, they won't be sweeter, so you'll want to keep that in mind if you are counting on super-sweet muffins.

What If You Need to Slow Down the Ripening Process?

If you don't want your bananas to get too ripe too quickly, ripening can be slowed down by separating them from one another and keeping them in an open, cool space so the ethylene gas they produce does not concentrate.

Once they are ripe, you can refrigerate them for a few more days. You can also peel, slice, and freeze bananas until you can use them.

When to Compost a Banana

Sometimes, you miss out on that perfectly ripe banana. Luckily, there are plenty of uses for overripe bananas. Still, there may come a time when a banana is no longer edible.

You'll want to compost or toss a banana once you see excessive bruising or if you notice any pests. "Bananas that are attracting large numbers of fruit flies and fruit fly larvae or where there's visible mold growing on the peel should be disposed of," says Le.