How to Make Crispy Banana Peel Bacon (Vegan)

Banana peel bacon is made from the skins of ripe bananas. You scrape out the soft white pith, slice each peel into three strips, marinate them in soy sauce, maple syrup and smoked paprika, then fry them in oil and finish them in the oven until crisp. Two medium bananas give you six rashers in about 20 minutes.

The peels do the work here. Leftover banana skin takes on a marinade beautifully and crisps up chewy, salty and smoky. There is no liquid smoke, no carrot, no tofu, no coconut and no mushroom in it. It cooks on the stove, in the oven or in the air fryer, and it only takes a few minutes.

Most of us have been throwing banana peels in the bin for years. This recipe puts them to good use, and it tends to surprise people at the table.

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Is it safe to eat banana skins?

Yes, unless you have a banana allergy. Banana allergy is often linked with latex allergy, so if you react to latex it is worth avoiding bananas altogether. Otherwise the skins are fine to eat once washed well. Bananas and their skins carry potassium, fibre and magnesium, and organic fruit saves you worrying about pesticide residue on a part you would normally discard.

Does banana peel bacon taste like real bacon?

It gets closer than most plant-based bacon. The marinade brings the salt, smoke and sweetness, and the peel gives you the chew and the crisp edge. My non-vegan mother tried it without much enthusiasm and scored it 8 out of 10 against pork bacon. She held back the last two points because she knew what it was made from, which put her off a little.

• Simple to prepare
• Vegan
• Plant-based
• Vegetarian
• Uses up something you would otherwise bin
• Source of vitamin B6
• Source of magnesium and potassium
• Mushroom-free
• Carrot-free
• Tofu-free
• Gluten-free if you swap the soy sauce for tamari and check the steak sauce label

Can you make it without frying?

There are three main ways to cook this banana peel bacon. The recipe below uses the frying method. Both of the alternatives below skip the oil.

1. Air Fryer Method - Leave out the oil and air fry your banana peels for around 10 minutes.
2. Oven Method - Omit the oil from the recipe and line a sheet pan with aluminium foil. Set the oven temperature to 350°F (175°C) and bake for 5 minutes per side.

Vegan Banana Peel Bacon Recipe

Video Recipe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CtEGZzY464

Ingredients

• 1/2 tsp Vegan Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp raw apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tbsp organic brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp 100% pure maple syrup
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp Vegan Steak Sauce
• 3 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
• 2 medium organic bananas (These need to be ripe and have a lot of brown patches.)
• Nonstick pan spray

Directions

1. Thoroughly clean the bananas. Chop both of the bananas’ ends off, then take the bananas and set them aside for a different dish.
2. Remove the interior white section of the banana peels with a spoon and discard.
3. Each banana peel should be cut into three strips along the long side to yield three slices of bacon for each banana. Place your peels off to the side.
4. Then, mix the remaining ingredients (excluding the olive oil and pan spray) in a reasonably wide, shallow basin. This is your marinade.
5. Put a wire rack on top of your large sheet pan lined with parchment paper and greased with cooking oil spray. You must do this to keep the bacon from clinging to it later.
6. Turn on the oven and set it to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius).
7. Over medium heat, heat a large nonstick sauté pan. Pour in the olive oil after the pan is heated.
8. Add 3 to 4 slices of banana peel to the heated oil, outer side down first. Cook for 1 1/2 minutes on one side, then turn and cook for another 1 and a half minutes on the opposite side. If their outside edges appear to be turning black, promptly take them from the pan and lay them on the prepped wire rack. Larger pieces of banana skin will fry and brown faster than smaller, skinnier ones. The idea is for them to be highly crispy and medium-golden brown.
9. Brush both surfaces of each fried banana skin peel in the marinade, careful not to overcook them. After brushing each peel, there should be no remaining marinade. Return the peels to the wire rack that has been oiled.
10. Put the prepped peels on a sheet pan in the centre of the oven. Then, bake for 4 to 5 minutes, flipping after around 2 minutes. The idea is to cook the skins long enough to absorb all of the marinades and become crunchy. Keep a constant eye on the skins to protect them from scorching since the sugars in the skins caramelise fast.
11. Leave the skins to cool completely before eating for the most golden crunch.
12. If preferred, you may preserve the banana skin bacon in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The peels will not stay crispy or crunchy once they have cooled, but they will remain firm.

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Frequently asked questions

Which bananas work best?

Very ripe fruit, the kind with plenty of brown patches on the skin. Ripe peels are thinner, softer and easier to scrape, and they carry more sugar, so they caramelise properly in the oven. Green or barely yellow peels stay tough and taste bitter no matter how long you cook them. Wash the fruit well first, and use organic if you can, since you are eating the outside.

How long does it keep?

Store the cooled rashers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. They lose their crunch within a few hours and turn firm and chewy rather than crisp, which is still good in a sandwich or a salad. To bring some of the crispness back, spread them on a tray and give them 3 to 4 minutes in a hot oven or an air fryer, then let them cool again.

Can you make it without the oven?

Yes. Fry the strips as usual, brush them with the marinade, then return them to the pan over low heat for a minute or two a side so the marinade tightens up. Keep the heat gentle, because the sugar in the marinade catches quickly. The result is a little chewier than the oven-finished version, but the flavour is the same.

What do you serve it with?

Treat it as you would any bacon. It works in a vegan BLT, chopped through a potato salad, crumbled over pasta or piled onto avocado toast. It is also good on its own as a snack straight off the rack. Because the strips are thin, they soften quickly in anything wet, so add them at the last minute.

Final Thoughts

That’s it, and I hope you liked this vegan banana peel bacon. I use organic bananas to avoid contaminants from pesticides. Let me know in the comments how it did turn out for you. Also, if you liked this recipe, then you might wanna try this one also How to make Vegan Bacon Bits

• banana peels
• plant based bacon
• vegan bacon