Last October we drove sixteen hours through Pennsylvania and Ohio to the far north of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula and on into the Upper Peninsula to visit my dad and stepmom. For the trip we packed the usual snacks—pretzels, sandwiches, water, apples and bananas—and ate most of it along the way. Three days into the visit I discovered a bunch of bananas that had been forgotten under the van seat. They were overripe and clearly destined for banana bread, so I brought them in and asked Val if she wanted to use them. She smiled and said, “No—those are perfect for banana chips.” She sliced the bananas, loaded them onto dehydrator trays, turned the machine on, and the house quickly filled with a wonderfully sweet, toasty aroma.
Val offered me a handful while the rest were drying. These chips were crisp, intensely sweet and clean-tasting—completely unlike the greasy, oddly flavored banana chips I’d tried before. Most commercial banana chips are fried, often in palm oil, which explains the heavy mouthfeel and aftertaste. Val’s dehydrated chips were caramel-brown and pure banana flavor.
Her tip was simple: buy the reduced-price bananas meant for banana bread. They’re already very sweet, and drying concentrates that sweetness and flavor. We tested her advice immediately and spent the rest of the visit snacking through their stash. My dad and I mixed banana chips with apple and pear chips, made triple-decker chip “sandwiches,” and even spread peanut butter on the chips. We ate a lot.
On the drive home my dad called with an idea: “What if you grate a little nutmeg over the banana slices while they dehydrate? They’d be like eggnog chips.” It was an inspired suggestion. The next day I sliced about seven pounds of bananas as thinly as I could manage, spread them on trays and grated just a touch of fresh nutmeg over the tops. Twenty-four hours later the chips were perfectly crisp, deep caramel in color and bursting with concentrated banana flavor and a delicate hint of nutmeg. It didn’t taste like eggnog exactly, but the warm spice complemented the fruit beautifully.
I quickly learned that these chips disappear fast. My family devoured a full dehydrator of nutmeg banana chips in two days. Since then I’ve made nearly fifteen batches and watched them vanish by the handful. They’re a hit with my kids, their friends and even the ones who normally avoid fruit. A couple of families bought dehydrators for their kids just so they could keep a steady supply. If they reach for a jar of these chips before reaching for a bag of Fritos, that’s a sign they’re doing something right.
I can fill my nine-tray Excalibur dehydrator in about thirty minutes now. We prefer very thin, crispy chips, but you can easily adjust the texture: thicker slices yield a slightly chewier result. Experiment and find the thickness you like best.
Enjoy them straight from the jar, layered on peanut butter sandwiches, mixed into trail mix, or spread with a little Nutella—one chip at a time. I’d love to hear your favorite way to eat them.
Nutmeg Banana Chips
Rebecca Lindamood
Ingredients
- A bunch of slightly overripe bananas—about at the banana-bread stage. It takes 7–9 pounds to fill a 9-tray dehydrator.
- Fresh nutmeg, for grating
Instructions
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Peel the bananas and slice them between 1/16 and 1/4 inch thick. Thinner slices yield crispier chips; thicker slices produce a chewier texture. Grate a light dusting of fresh nutmeg over the slices—use sparingly, as nutmeg is potent. Arrange the slices in a single layer on dehydrator trays and dry at 135°F (57°C) for about 24 hours, or until they are a deep caramel color and fully dry. Let the finished chips cool in a large bowl, uncovered, until completely at room temperature. Store in glass jars with tight lids or in resealable bags in a cool, dry place; they can keep for months, though they rarely last that long in my house.
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided as a courtesy. Calculate nutrition using the exact ingredients you use if you need precise values.
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