How do you make banana bread with 3 bananas? You’re about to find out! This easy banana bread recipe made with 3 bananas and oil is moist and delicious. No mixer required, one bowl, and less than 10 minutes prep.
So, you’re looking for a 3 banana bread recipe. Well, I’m happy to say that you’ve found it. This is a simple recipe with few ingredients, very easy to make, and beginner-friendly. It’s one of the best ways to use overripe bananas.
How do you make Banana Bread moist?
By using lots of bananas and oil or butter. I prefer banana bread with oil.
I adapted this recipe from my 2 banana bread recipe. Since there’s 3 bananas in this one I just simply decreased the oil and it worked out perfectly.
This recipe actually yields a tender and moist banana bread because compared to other recipes this one has more wet ingredients that don’t include milk or water that stretches the batter thin and also less flour.
3 Banana Bread Recipe Ingredients
{Full recipe below}
- 3 overripe bananas, mashed
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
These are all the ingredients you need. Nothing fancy or special. Just baking staples.
As you can see this recipe is completely dairy-free. It’s without butter and milk but you won’t miss either of them.
There’s just a touch of cinnamon. You can add more or omit it completely depending on your personal preference. Feel free to add nuts as well.
How ripe should Bananas be for Banana Bread?
The best bananas for banana bread are overripe bananas that are speckled and half black or dark brown.
Besides the salt, vanilla, and spices, bananas are the main contributor of flavor in a banana loaf. So if you want your loaf to come out great every time, use overripe bananas.
How to quickly ripen Bananas for Banana Bread
- Ripening bananas in the oven – Place the unpeeled bananas spaced apart on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees F for 15 – 20 minutes until black or dark brown on the outside and soft to the touch. Allow them to cool before using.
- Ripening bananas in the microwave – Using a fork, poke straight through the banana peel multiple times on all sides to allow the heat to easily penetrate then microwave for 30 seconds at a time, checking each time for doneness. This can take up to a couple of minutes depending on how green the bananas were to begin with. The bananas are done when they have the soft texture of a ripe banana. Cool before using.
- Ripening bananas in a paper bag – Place the bananas in a loosely closed paper bag to help trap the ethylene gas (that is responsible for ripening) to help speed up the process. Check the bag once a day and remove the bananas when they have reached your desired ripeness.
These methods aren’t just useful for this recipe, they’re also useful for all the other ripe banana recipes that you’ll try.
How to make Banana Bread with 3 Bananas
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl combine bananas, granulated sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- Beat in the oil, eggs, and vanilla extract.
- Add the flour and and mix until fully incorporated.
- Prep the baking pan.
- Pour the batter into the baking pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes, remove from the oven and cover loosely with foil, then continue to bake for 15 – 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or mostly clean.
- Cool in pan 10 minutes then remove to cool completely.
So that is how to make banana bread at home using 3 bananas. Pretty simple huh?
Why is it necessary to cover the bread with foil?
The crust for this bread gets very dark very quickly. Covering it with foil at the 30 minute mark ensures that the crust doesn’t burn.
Often times I find that when you don’t use the foil the crust will be dark brown way before the bread is done baking therefore naturally causing you to pull the bread out of the oven before it’s done. And then you end up with a crust that’s fully baked or burnt and a middle that is mostly raw.
This has happened to me before in the past and I’ve even had it happen to me with other recipes as well. Fortunately, loosely covering the loaf with foil is a quick and easy solution.
How to Store Banana Bread
Store it in an airtight container, food-safe resealable bag, cover with foil, or wrap tightly in plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out.
How long does banana bread last? If stored correctly it should last for 2 – 3 days at room temperature and up to 1 week in the fridge.
How to Freeze Banana Bread
Wrap tightly in foil, plastic wrap or place in a freezer bag. You can also wrap tightly and place in a freezer bag for maximum protection.
How long does banana bread last in the freezer? For about 2 months.
More Easy Banana Recipes
- Cinnamon Sugar Banana Muffins
- Banana Brownie Muffins
- Mini Blueberry Banana Muffins
- Cake Mix Banana Muffins
You can find the nutrition facts for this loaf at the very bottom of the recipe.
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Banana Bread Recipe with 3 Bananas
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Ingredients
- 3 overripe bananas, mashed
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- To a large bowl add the bananas, granulated sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- Mix well to combine.
- Beat in the oil, eggs, and vanilla extract.
- Add the flour and mix until fully incorporated. Do not over mix.
- Spray a 9x5 inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray or line with parchment paper and set aside.
- Pour the batter into the baking pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes then remove from the oven and cover loosely with foil.
*This prevents the crust from burning. - Continue to bake for 15 – 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or mostly clean.
- Cool in pan 10 minutes then remove to cool completely.
Notes
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54 comments
I generally follow a recipe as written. I read all the comments and in the end I followed the recipe. I liked the recipe because it called for all ingredients I had on hand. However,the 1/3 cup of vegetable oil made the bread so oily. Really takes away from the banana flavor. I will not be using this recipe…I was so hopeful. ?
Oh, no. I’m so sorry, Joyce. I will work on improving this recipe. It sounds like it may just need more flour. Thank you for leaving a review!
Hi Crystal! Thanks for sharing your three-banana cake recipe. It is a great idea to give recipes for the number… I have three to use today. But I’ve no time to figure out quantities. So PLEASE give your recipes in metric too! Or even imperial measures, but in weights to help all we folk around the world who don’t use cups to measure amounts. Also in Fahrenheit AND Celsius/Centigrade so this cake bakes in a moderate oven 350°F / 180°C (160 °C fan-assisted oven) 🙂 Which brings me to write today to help out with your oven temperature and tendency to burn cakes! There are a few things you need to address. First you need to get to know your oven better. Are you using a family heirloom? That may be quirky but a good cook can learn to live with any equipment. My grandmother could bake in a fireside oven with no thermometer just fine. Problem is there is an assumed standard these days. Modern ovens have top and bottom heat plus a fan to circulate the heat so it is more evenly distributed and you have constant heat top, bottom and middle. Usually you can choose what heat source you need depending on the type of cake. Cakes are traditionally baked in the middle of an oven, but if you have issues with a burning crust it would indicate either it is set at too high a temperature or you have a problem with top down heat with no or inadequate heat distribution. You could start using a lower or bottom shelf, but I fear it sounds very much as if you have the grill / broiler function or simple top down heat only. Check it out. Buy or borrow an oven thermometer and test different parts of your oven when it is on. Check your thermostat is working. Ovens can vary an awful lot. Old ovens are unreliable, so you need to concentrate on learning in what way it works best. If you are baking in a very small table top oven you would do better to lower the temperature and bake for longer. I wish you luck sorting your oven and baking know-how. I’m going to make the cake seeing I have three bananas to use. I take no notice of too much fat/oil comments with recipes these days because so many people expect good taste to come fat and/or carb free! They are fundamentally missing the point that all cake is a luxury and a treat! They want their cake, but not let it count as a sin. That is cheating! 180 g sugar / 75 ml oil or 7 Tablespoons / 300 g flour. The rest is all the same. Ah… 2lb loaf tin or 23 cm x 13 cm and I’ll be baking at 160°C on the middle shelf of fan-assisted oven. I’ll let you know if it “catches”! No, it didn’t cooked through fine in 45 minutes. Nice flavour. Maybe give oil, soft margarine or melted butter in the recipe so as to not frighten the horses? I’ll be putting less sugar in next time if I have seriously overripe bananas like today. Also some mixed spice aka apple pie spice in the USA. Definitely one for the “banana recipes page”. Thank you!
You’re very welcome! I’ve only baked using cups so I’m very unfamiliar with other types of measurements and I don’t want to put the wrong measurement on my site as this will cause problems for many. But one day I will. Thanks for all the tips. I’m glad you like the recipe but I’m still going to improve it so that everyone can enjoy.
I only had 3 “dead” bananas and found this. I do not like banana bread but make for the family. BUT this recipe is wonderful – I loved it and will definitely make often! Like again today Going to buy more bananas today. Then I need to use your regular recipe. I did add walnuts.
Don’t change recipe – the amount of oil was perfect!
Yay! That’s really great to hear. Thank you so much for the reassurance! I think the oil amount is perfect as well.
So very good! Highest marks!!!
In experimenting, I added carob powder in place of a portion of the flour to give a chocolate taste, and my tasters (my family ?) thought it was brilliant! Now if only I had paid attention to the proportions.
That’s great!! I’ve never baked with carob powder before. I’ll have to try it one day. Thanks so much for the 5-star rating!
Loved this , so easy. I added grated orange peel and chocolate chips, and also did sugar and cinnamon on top at the second cook !
Oh, wow! You really made it your own. I’m glad you loved it. Thanks so much for leaving a review, Joe!
This recipe was a bit wet when I mixed in the flour I ended up adding around 1 quarter more flour I used did gluten free flour maybe the that is the problem?
Family LOVED IT highly recommend
Yes, it is the gluten free flour. Sometimes substituting GF flour for AP flour doesn’t work very well because of the lack of protein which is important for structure. But I’m glad you were able to think on your feet and it ended up being a hit! Thank you for leaving a review.
I use this recipe every time I bake banana bread. I’ve added walnuts before. This time I did chocolate chips. Perfect every time! Thank you!
I’m so glad you like this recipe enough to make it twice! Thanks so much for the 5-stars, Keisha.
this was soooo good!! perfect texture and sweetness! i added dark chocolate chips & i cooked it in a round cake pan lol and it worked really well!!! it’s disappearing so fast
Yay! I’m really happy it turned out great. I do that sometimes too. Thank you for giving this recipe a 5-star rating, Hannah.
Very nice and easy to follow recipe even if being a Brit I work in grams or ounces usually. Love the cup measurements though! Lovely texture, not at all greasy and mosteoporosis importantly, delicious. Thanks for the recipe. Paul UK ?
Thank you, Paul! In the past, I have tried to include grams in my recipes but I got the measurements all wrong. So instead of putting incorrect measurements I decided to just leave them out. I will try again one day with the right help. I’m very happy that you like it! I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment.
Does this taste good? if so I will use thus recipe. I’m glad there is a banana bread recipe using three bananas because that’s all I have!!
It does to me!
It doesn’t taste good to us but I probably messed up somehow. At Christmas I made a 3 banana nut bread recipe which used butter and I liked it much better as I love butter.
Aw, I understand. Almost anything tastes better with butter.
Also you are soo pretty crystal!!
Aw, thank you! That’s sweet of you to say.
I don’t know why I was in doubt. This recipe is delicious!! Thank you for making up this recipe you saved me from doing a whole lot of math. lololol Also in my opinion this is a 10 star recipe!!!!!!!!! Thank you Crystal ( if that’s your name)
Yay! I’m happy you like it. Yes, that is my name. Thank you for the 5-star rating.
I don’t know why I was in doubt. This recipe is delicious!! Thank you for making up this recipe you saved me from doing a whole lot of math. lololol Also in my opinion this is a 10 star recipe!!!!!!!!!
Also I am sorry for sending that one comment twice my computer is glitching. And for sending so many comments!! I hope thats fine.
That’s alright. I’m just glad the recipe worked out for you! Feel free to leave a comment any time.
THIS WAS DELICIOUS!!! So soft and perfectly crusted, followed this recipe with no problem and came out perfect!!!!
That’s great to hear!! Thank you for reviewing this.
It’s delicious!what a great Recipe!.
Thank you!
The 3 Banana Bread was easy to make and was absolutely delicious !
Thank you so much!
really like this recipe. Do you have a recommendation to keep the flour from clumping? Noticed it forms little white balls I try to mash against the bowl
Thank you! I just noticed that my instructions say to “stir” in the flour which you shouldn’t do so I updated it. The mixing technique and the tool that you use can cause the flour to clump together.
[…] Inspired by Banana Bread Recipe For 3 Bananas […]
I searched in the pantry for vegetable oil but it expired in 2020! LOL! So I substituted 5 tablespoons of softened butter. Absolutely perfect recipe. Thanks for posting! Connee of the Eastern Shore of Maryland 6/3/2022
I went to the pantry and my vegetable oil was “best used by 2020.” LOL. So I substituted 5 tablespoons of warm butter. Absolutely perfect recipe. Moist, just the right amount of sugar (without being too sweet). Bookmarked your page. Great job and appreciate your sharing it.
Dang! Butter makes almost anything tastes better; good thinking.
Soooo I tried this recipe and it was so easy to follow and turned out so good! I did add a bunch of mini chocolate chips and chopped walnuts and it was just oh so delicious! Now, I got a yummy breakfast and snack just like you said lol Thank you and God bless you!
Yasssss, told ya.
I chose this receipe from the rest because it specifically said three bananas banana bread, and my 23 yr old son loved it. He’s the reason I made it. I would use less oil or apple sauce instead. I added chocolate chips at the end and was really good.
Mine took a bit longer to cook, but it could be because my bananas were on the large side.
Excellent recipe!! All 3 bananas used had blackened skin; one was slightly riper than the other two. I baked the bananas in a toaster oven for 20 minutes at 350° to enhance flavor. I mixed the ingredients by hand just until moistened. I added 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.
My bread turned out perfectly. This will be my go-to recipe.
Woah, they were super overripe then. That’s great to hear!
I made this as written. Other than having to add 2 minutes to the bake time it was 100%. The bread came out full of flavor and just what I was expecting with only 3 bananas. Very good recipe and so easy to put together. Thumbs up!!
We used 1/2 cup of maple syrup instead of sugar and we used a heaping 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon rather than 1 teaspoon. We used Canola oil and 1 cup of chopped pecans. Perhaps because we used syrup instead of sugar, it was not cooked in center after the prescribed amount of baking (30 minutes uncovered and 20 covered w aluminum foil). I put it back in the oven and cooked it an additional 20 minutes uncovered, then let it cool 10 minutes, tried it – thought it turned out great – moist and not too sweet!
The extra baking time was definitely due to the maple syrup swap but I’m happy it still turned out great. I love maple syrup too. Thanks for the feedback.
Awesome! Thank you for sharing this recipe- I find I frequently have 3 bananas over-ripe and like to keep from wasting them. We’ve made this recipe 5-6 times now, it is seriously so moist & delicious! Tthe best compliment I got was from my brother-in-law…”wow! This is the best banana bread I’ve ever had.” In addition to increasing the cooking time til toothpick comes out clean- I have to substitute applesauce (1/2cup) for the 2 eggs & King Arthur Gluten Free Flour 1:1 to accommodate for egg-free & gluten free diets- but that’s a usual substitution that would not have worked if your recipe wasn’t so awesomely delicious!!!! Thank you.
Hi! I’ve been sick and haven’t been out for a week. I had three overripe bananas and wanted to use all of them, so I went in search of a banana bread recipe that would suit my purpose… and I found yours! I followed the recipe except that I added chopped walnuts and chopped dried apricots. I had some of those left over from a Christmas goody, and it was time to use them. Results? It’s delicious! I cooked it for 45 minutes with the last 15 under foil. It’s moist and light and just what I needed with a cup of decaf. I used a combo vegetable oil and I did not find it at all too oily. Maybe the bananas the other lady used weren’t ripe enough, or maybe the oil she used was too strong?
Just a suggestion for anyone who might balk at mashing the bananas with a fork. Sometime back my son and his wife gave me a ground beef separator/chopper/masher tool. I used it on my bananas and it worked a charm! These tools can be found at America’s biggest discount/variety/grocery store or from the folks on the huge online operation which can deliver most anything within a day or too if you have their premium service.
*a day or two!
Thank you for the really good recipe – this and the 2 banana bread recipe. I’ve made both several times. Both breads are really good as written, but are also good as base recipes that can be modified with more spices, chocolate chips, dried or frozen fruit, etc.
A few other tweaks I do: I use a silicon mat to cover during the last 15 minutes of baking as a way to be a little more sustainable and reduce exposure to aluminum. I bake on parchment, and leave the bread on parchment to cool. Then I cut up the bread, still attached to the parchment, into about 1″ squares. Still being on the parchment helps keep the bread together while I am cutting. Then, I freeze much of it. In the afternoon when I want a cup of tea and a little treat, I take out a couple of the cubes when I put the kettle on. By the time the tea is steeped, the bread is thawed. Perfect small afternoon treat.