Banana Tempura

Japanese inspired banana tempura are crispy on the outside and gooey and sweet on the inside. Serve them dusted in coconut flakes with a pot of dulce de leche for dipping.

Jump to:

• Reasons You'll Love This Recipe
• Ingredients
• How To Make Banana Tempura
• Serving Suggestions
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Craving More Easy Vegan Recipes?
• Recipe

If you've ever had banana tempura at Benihana (or any other Japanese restaurant), you'll know how decadent and delicious deep fried bananas are. And, the good new is that it's not a difficult dish to make at home. In fact, you only need seven simple ingredients to create light, crispy tempura that's filled with a soft sweet center.

I'll walk you through making your own banana tempura step-by-step, and give you some creative serving suggestions. Banana tempura split, anyone? Let's go!

Reasons You'll Love This Recipe

✅This banana tempura has no egg in the recipe, so it's suitable for vegans and allergy sufferers.

✅Kids love this recipe!

✅This is a great way to use leftover bananas. Think of them as the new banana bread!

✅Banana tempura can easily be made gluten free by swapping the all purpose flour for more rice flour.

Ingredients

• Vegetable Oil: Canola oil is my top choice for deep frying. It has a high smoke point and a neutral flavor. Sunflower oil is also a good choice.
• Sparkling Water: If you want your tempura to come out extra light and crispy, the secret is to add ice to your sparkling water. Ice cold water yields fluffy and light tempura.
• Bananas: Choose ripe bananas, but not so ripe that they're falling apart.
• Rice Flour: Rice flour is the traditional flour used in tempura batter, and I think it yields the best results. However, if you want to replace it with another flour, the recipe will still work.
• All Purpose Flour: A combination of rice flour and all purpose flour give the tempura batter just the right texture. If you want gluten free banana tempura, it's ok to swap the all purpose flour for more rice flour.
• Baking Powder: Baking powder helps the tempura puff up, making it light and fluffy.
• Salt: Salt naturally enhances the flavor of all the other ingredients.

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How To Make Banana Tempura

• Heat your oil in a deep pan, wok or deep fryer until it's shimmering. Test the oil by carefully dropping a small piece of batter into the oil. It should descend slightly, and then pop back up and begin to bubble.
• Peel the bananas and cut them in half lengthwise. Cut each half in half again horizontally. You can also simply slice the banana into coin shapes for smaller fritters.
• Whisk together the rice flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, water, and salt in a bowl by hand. Do not over mix the batter. A few lumps are fine.

• Using tongs, one by one, coat the banana pieces in the batter and carefully drop them into the oil. Make sure to leave space between each piece, or your banana tempura will stick together.
• Cook the bananas for 4-5 minutes, turning once at the halfway point.
• Using tongs or a slotted spoon, remove the banana pieces from the oil and transfer transfer to a paper towel lined plate or a cooling rack with paper towels underneath it.

Serving Suggestions

• Serve with chocolate chickpea ice cream for a Japanese inspired banana split.
• Make a pot of vegan dulce de leche for dipping your banana tempura into.
• Dust with desiccated coconut flakes.
• Once cut, stuff your bananas with strips of chocolate or chocolate chips. They'll melt as the tempura fries and you'll get a wonderful burst of chocolate.
• Add a tablespoon of desiccated coconut to the tempura batter.
• Swap the bananas for plantains. You'll need to add an extra minute to the cooking time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Craving More Easy Vegan Recipes?

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Recipe