Easy Bananas Flambé

By
Peggy Trowbridge Filippone
Peggy Trowbridge Filippone
Peggy Trowbridge Filippone is a writer who develops approachable recipes for home cooks. Her recipes range from Grandma’s favorites to the latest food trends.
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Updated on 10/10/21
Easy Bananas Flambe

The Spruce / Christine Ma

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total: 25 mins
Servings: 4 servings

Any kind of dessert that looks like it's going to catch on fire and, in the meantime, emits the aroma of rum-and-sugar cooked bananas is going to catch someone's attention. And this recipe for bananas flambé makes an impressive presentation with the lights off, as rum is flamed to finish it with a flourish. Despite how fancy it sounds, it's really a banana dessert dish popular in the French Caribbean that you can easily create at home. 

This recipe takes less than 30 minutes to make and provides a delicious dessert for a special occasion or the perfect ending for a romantic dinner for two. Bananas are sliced in half, browned in a skillet, and cooked in rum and sugar with just a touch of lime juice. It is then flambéed, and a dollop of homemade vanilla ice cream is added, if you desire, which is the ultimate way to top it off. Yum!

This flambé is similar to the New Orleans dessert known as Bananas Foster. 

Ingredients

  • 2 bananas

  • 2 tablespoons sunflower oil

  • 1/4 cup sugar

  • 1/2 cup white rum

  • Juice from 1 lime

  • Vanilla ice cream, for serving, optional

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Easy Bananas Flambe ingredients

    The Spruce / Christine Ma

  2. Peel and halve each banana lengthwise.

    Peel and halve each banana lengthwise

    The Spruce / Christine Ma

  3. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat.

    Heat the oil in a frying pan

    The Spruce / Christine Ma

  4. Brown the bananas 5 minutes on each side.

    Brown the bananas in a frying pan

    The Spruce / Christine Ma

  5. Add the sugar and pour in the rum.

    Add the sugar and rum to the bananas in the frying pan

    The Spruce / Christine Ma

  6. Cook for 2 minutes.

    cook the bananas in the pan with the sugar and rum

    The Spruce / Christine Ma

  7. Flambé.

    Flambé the bananas

    The Spruce / Christine Ma

  8. Sprinkle with lime juice and serve at once with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

    Easy Bananas Flambe, Sprinkle with lime juice and serve with vanilla ice cream

    The Spruce / Christine Ma

Tips

  • This recipe calls for white rum, but you can experiment to find your favorite one that goes with the bananas.
  • You want to make sure the bananas are ripe but still firm enough so that when they are cooked in the pan in oil, sugar, and rum, they don't fall apart in the heat.
  • Vanilla ice cream is traditional for this dessert, but you might find a tropical ice cream like coconut is a fun twist, or chocolate.

What Is Bananas Foster?

Bananas Foster was created at Brennan's Restaurant in New Orleans in the 1950s. It is similar to the above bananas flambé recipe in that firm ripe bananas are sliced lengthwise and sautéed. But butter is used, not oil, along with dark brown sugar, dark rum, lemon juice, and banana liqueur. It is flambéed and typically served with vanilla ice cream. The dessert was named after a loyal Brennan's customer, Richard Foster.

Source: "French Caribbean Cuisine" by Stephanie Ovide (Hippocrene Books)

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
216 Calories
7g Fat
27g Carbs
1g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 216
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 7g 9%
Saturated Fat 1g 4%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 1mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 27g 10%
Dietary Fiber 2g 6%
Total Sugars 20g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 10mg 48%
Calcium 5mg 0%
Iron 0mg 1%
Potassium 230mg 5%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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