Bananas are not only high in potassium, but they are also tasty and versatile. While they are great to eat whole, you can also use them in your cooking and baking. If you are mashing your bananas to use in banana bread, as a baby/toddler food, or to add to your oatmeal, you may be wondering if you will be able to store any extra you have in the fridge for later use.
Mashed bananas can be stored in a fridge for up to three days before going bad. Mashed banana will likely become brown and discolored very quickly, but this will not mean that it is not edible. However, if your mashed banana smells bad, throw it out and do not consume it.
To help maximize how long mashed banana lasts, a container like this one from Amazon is what I recommend. As a bonus, it is designed to be really easy to clean.
In this quick guide, I will discuss everything you should know about properly storing your mashed banana. I will also provide a couple of helpful tips to make sure they stay as fresh as possible for as long as necessary.
How to Store Mashed Bananas to Keep Them Fresh
Different parts of your fridge will do a better job of keeping your mashed banana fresh than others. For example, the produce drawer tends to keep colder than the shelves in the fridge door. So, for your mashed banana to have the best chance of staying fresh, it may be a good idea to find the coldest part of your fridge to store it in.
It is also a good idea to ensure that your mashed banana is stored in an airtight container. This will help seal the nutrients and moisture in and stop any new bacteria from reaching them, reducing the chance of it going bad.
Here are the containers that I recommend. They are perfect for soft foods and are actually intended to hold ice cream. However, they work perfectly for mashed foods like bananas. The best part is that the containers are really easy to clean!
By the way, if you are unsure how many bananas to use when mashing, check out my related article: How Many Bananas Make a Cup of Mashed Bananas?
How to Keep Mashed Banana From Turning Brown
One of the distinctive features of bananas is that they turn brown very quickly, especially once they have been taken out of their peel and even more so once they’ve been mashed. If your mashed banana does turn brown, this doesn’t mean that it’s gone bad, but it can affect the flavor. Brown banana flesh is much sweeter than yellow banana flesh, but it doesn’t look very appetizing.
To keep mashed banana from turning brown, you can add a tablespoon of lemon juice (or other citrus fruit) or 1/2 teaspoon of ascorbic acid. Bananas turn brown because of an enzyme they contain called polyphenol oxidase, and the acid in citric juice and ascorbic acid deforms some of these enzymes.
You can also heat your mashed banana briefly before storing it in the fridge. The heat will kill off some of the enzymes, preventing the mashed banana from browning.
Can You Freeze Mashed Bananas?
You can definitely freeze mashed bananas. They can be stored in your freezer for many months, but it is important to remember that the flavor will start to lessen after about three months. Before storing your mashed banana in the freezer, it is a good idea to separate it out into portions.
Pro Tip: If you are mashing bananas up for your baby, you can buy special trays similar to ice cube trays but with larger wells. Otherwise, you can store portions of mashed banana in ziplock bags or plastic containers.
If you are freezing your mashed banana in a plastic container, it can be a good idea to place some plastic wrap directly over the top before sealing the container. This prevents ice crystals from forming directly on the mashed banana.
How to Thaw Mashed Bananas Properly
There are three methods for thawing mashed bananas:
- Thawing at room temperature- If you have the time, the best method is to simply leave the mashed banana in its container at room temperature until it thaws.
- Thawing in water- If you need your mashed banana to thaw out a little more quickly, you can place the container in a bowl of lukewarm (not hot) water.
- Microwaving- If you really need your mashed banana to thaw out as quickly as possible, you can use a microwave. The best method for doing this is to heat it in the microwave in short bursts (around 20 seconds), stirring thoroughly between bursts. It is essential to ensure that the mashed banana doesn’t cook, so you need to be careful with this method.
For some recipes, it is not necessary to thaw mashed bananas at all. For example, if you plan to use them in smoothies, ice cream, or oatmeal, it is best to add them while still frozen.
How Long Will Mashed Bananas Keep in the Fridge?
You can store mashed bananas in your fridge for up to three days. The coldness of the refrigerator will keep it fresh for longer than it would be at room temperature. This is because many of the bacteria and fungi that will make your mashed banana go bad have difficulty growing at lower temperatures.
How to Tell if Mashed Bananas Have Gone Bad
It can sometimes be hard to tell if your mashed banana has gone bad. As I have mentioned, if your mashed banana is just brown, it is still fine to eat. However, some telltale signs will show that your mashed banana is no longer safe to eat.
If mashed banana smells unusual or unpleasant, has any mold growing on it, is leaking or oozing, or you can spot any rot, it is best to throw it away.
Bottom Line
Mashed bananas can be stored in the fridge for up to three days. For best results, keep your mashed banana in a plastic container in the produce drawer of your fridge.
Your mashed banana will likely go brown quite quickly, but this doesn’t mean that it is unsafe to eat. You can prevent your mashed banana from turning brown by adding lemon juice to it. You could also freeze your mashed banana, and it will stay full of flavor for up to three months. If your mashed banana smells unusual, has mold growing on it, or is oozing liquid, it has probably gone bad and is no longer safe to eat.
I hope this article has been helpful. Thanks for stoppin’ by!
Jelly Grandma
For more, don’t miss How Many Bananas Make a Cup? | With Length Conversion.
Anne James has a wealth of experience in a wide array of interests and is an expert in quilting, cooking, gardening, camping, mixing drinks (worked as a professional bartender), and making jelly.
Anne has a professional canning business, has been featured in the local newspaper as well as on the Hershey website, and has been her family canner for decades. Anyone growing up in the South knows that there is always a person in the family who has knowledge of the “old ways,” and this is exactly what Anne is.
With over 55 years of experience in these endeavors, she brings a level of hands-on knowledge that is hard to surpass. Amazingly, she doesn’t need to reference many resources due to her vast wealth of experience. She IS the source.
Anne wants nothing more than to pass on her extensive knowledge to the next generations, whether that be family or anyone visiting her website, her YouTube channel, or preservingsweetness.com.