Jamaican Banana Fritters

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This Jamaican banana fritter recipe is completely authentic, easy to make, dairy free vegan, and so tasty! They can be enjoyed as a healthy vegan breakfast or topped with powdered sugar and snacked on as a fruity dessert.

What is a Jamaican Banana Fritter?

Jamaican banana fritters are delicious fried dough made from extremely ripe bananas, flour, sugar and spices. My Jamaican father always made these for me as a little girl and it was always such a joy to get a chance to share the connection of our culture.

“Fritters” are basically just fried, flavoured pieces of dough, yet different form a donut. Banana fritters aren’t puffy rather slightly dense yet crunchy with a slight fluffiness. They can be made with plantain or salt fish but the chef can be as creative as they desire.

What you’ll need

Ripe Bananas
Whole Wheat Flour
Water
Baking Powder
Vanilla
Cane Sugar
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Salt

How to make Jamaican Banana Fritters

First Step:

Mash the bananas with a fork or potato masher. Mix in the water, vanilla extract, nutmeg, cinnamon, cane sugar, and salt as well. Once the banana mixture is complete, sift in half of the baking powder and flour SLOWLY. Mix the ingredients then add the other half of the flour amount.

**You may not need to add all the flour. Use your eye as judgement! Check the notes on which type of flour to use.

Second Step:

The batter should be smooth but not too runny. For example, if you try to pick it up with a spoon/spatula, it should be able to flow easily but not run off like pancake batter.

Set a pan with oil and be prepared to shallow fry. My preferred oil choice is grape-seed or avocado oil as they are alkaline and have high heating points.

Third Step:

Carefully spoon the mixture into the oil once hot. I don’t like to make them too thick or big as they’ll take longer to cook. I typically like to make mine about 2 – 3 tablespoons big and a bit flat.

Allow each fritter to cook on medium – high heat or about 2-4 minutes per side. Be careful not to burn these as they cook quickly! Once cooked, allow to dry on a paper towel lined plate to soak up oil. Serve while warm and enjoy!

*Optional to top with powdered sugar (its delicious).

Tips on making Jamaican Banana Fritters

**The measurements for this recipe have been tested with whole wheat flour. If using all purpose, use 1 cup of flour instead of 3/4 cup. All other flours may have different results. Use your judgement while measuring and combining! 😀 

The riper the banana the sweeter and easier to mash. Adjust the sweetness level to your taste.

I used olive oil to shallow fry but it is not recommended. Using an alkalinising high heat oil such as grapeseed or avocado yield fantastic results.

When combining the flour with the wet mixture, pour slowly! Depending on the flow of the dough, you may or may not need to use the entire amount of flour. Use your judgement, I believe in you! 😀

How to store Jamaican Banana Fritters

Jamaican banana fritters are best served fresh. The longer they sit, the staler they become and absorb more oil. As the recipe is quite simple to make, I would not recommend this as meal prep. However if there are leftovers, store in the fridge for up to 3 days. Re-heat in the oven at around 400 F degrees or 204 C no more than 10 minutes.

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Check out these other vegan Jamaican recipes you’ll love

Cornmeal Porridge (vegan)

Jamaican Steamed Cabbage

Green Banana Porridge (vegan)