An amazing vegan banana bread recipe with tons of banana flavor and a moist, tender, cake-like crumb that melts in the mouth. You can eat it for breakfast because it's healthy, and you can serve it for dessert because it's decadently delicious.
Banana bread is the first baked good I veganized when I began eating vegan in 2007, and it remains my -- and my family's -- favorite vegan dessert recipe to date.
It tastes amazing, slices beautifully, and it's loaded with so many goodies, including five bananas and lots of crunchy walnuts.
I love baking with bananas, including recipes like this tasty vegan banana cake, vegan banana upside down cake and vegan banana muffins, among so many others. But this easy vegan banana bread is the banana dessert I make most often for my family because it's so healthy and so versatile.
I am sure you have some overripe bananas sitting in your kitchen right now. Go, make this exquisite vegan banana bread, and be sure to let me know how much you love it in the comments below!
Table of Contents
Why you'll love this recipe
- It's packed with fresh, banana flavor and it has a soft, tender, moist texture. This is truly a classic banana bread, just eggless and dairy free.
- It's so good for you. This is truly a perfect banana bread. There's very little sugar and fat in this recipe. Instead we rely on the natural sweetness and moisture in bananas to do their magic. The applesauce, nuts and flax meal add more healthfulness and deliciousness.
- It's super kid-friendly. It makes the best lunchbox or after-school snack.
- It is easy to make. This is a one bowl batter and it's a super simple recipe to put together. Mix the dry ingredients, dump in the wet ingredients, mix and bake. Easy peasy. It's quite foolproof and a great recipe to start out with if you are new to baking quick breads.
Ingredients
For exact quantities of each ingredient skip to the recipe box below.
- Flour. You can use all purpose flour or a 50-50 mix of regular whole wheat flour and unbleached all purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour. I have made the bread with all of these and it turns out great. My favorite, to keep this bread healthy, is whole wheat pastry flour.
- Leavening: Baking soda + baking powder.
- Salt
- Oil. Most oils will work here, including avocado oil, grape seed oil, sunflower oil and coconut oil. You can also use an equal quantity of melted vegan butter.
- Sugar. Cane sugar, coconut sugar, turbinado sugar or any sugar you want to use is fine. You can also use date syrup, coconut palm syrup or maple syrup.
- Flax meal (ground flaxseed, not flax eggs). This adds more nutrition and, along with the bananas, serves as an egg replacer for this eggless banana bread.
- Apple cider vinegar. To give more rise and fluffiness to the bread.
- Unsweetened applesauce. This adds lots of moisture and flavor and also gives a nice nutrition boost.
- Very ripe bananas. Bananas that are very soft, with deeply mottled skins, will work best here. You need four bananas for the batter and one banana for the decorative top, which is optional.
- Walnuts (or pecans, optional). The crunch from the chopped walnuts flecking the soft, tender banana bread crumb is wonderful. You can skip the nuts if you are nut-free. See variations below for other suggested additions to the banana bread batter.
How to make vegan banana bread
These are the step by step instructions with photographs. To simply see the recipe steps, check recipe box below.
Place the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and flax meal in a bowl.
Whisk until well-combined.
Add apple cider vinegar, applesauce and mashed bananas to the flour mixture.
Mix until just combined and there's no dry flour in the bowl.
Fold the chopped walnuts in the batter. Pour the batter into an oiled loaf pan and spread evenly. If using a banana to decorate the top slice it lengthwise into three slices, then halve each slice. Arrange on top of the loaf. This is optional.
Bake the banana loaf in a preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit/180 degree Celsius oven about 50-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes and then unmold and let cool to room temperature on the rack.
Variations
- Stir in pecans instead of walnuts into the batter.
- Add ¾ cup vegan chocolate chips to the batter instead of the nuts for a delicious vegan chocolate chip banana bread.
- If you like some warmth in the banana bread loaf add a teaspoon of ginger or cinnamon or a 50-50 mix of both.
- Stir in a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract for a nice boost of sweetness. Use no more than a teaspoon.
Expert tips
- You may have less moisture in the batter if the bananas you use are not too ripe. In that case add up to a fourth of a cup of non dairy milk (soy milk, oat milk, almond milk or any milk of your choice), a tablespoon at a time, until the batter achieves the right consistency.
- Toast the nuts lightly before adding to the batter for the best, nutty flavor.
- Don't overmix the batter after adding the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix with a spatula just until no dry flour remains in the bowl.
- Make cleanup easier by using a blender to mix your wet ingredients. You can throw in the bananas first, blend them, then add all the other wet ingredients and blend them for a few seconds before adding to the dry ingredients.
Recipe FAQs
Replace the flour with the same quantity of gluten free flour (preferably an all purpose gf flour) for a vegan gluten free banana bread.
You can divide the batter into 8-10 muffin cups and bake them up for 18 minutes. I do have a scrumptious vegan banana muffins recipe on the blog and you might just want to follow that instead.
You can store the banana bread for up to six days in the fridge. To freeze the bread, wrap the loaf tightly in plastic wrap or place in an airtight container for up to four months. You can also freeze individual slices. Thaw before eating.
As ripe as possible. I use bananas that are simply too soft to eat with skins that are covered in dark spots. This is when they have the most sugar in them, and they taste fabulous in the banana bread. For the top use a banana that's still firm so you can slice it easily.
With lots of fruit and flax meal, this is a healthy banana bread and you can make it even healthier by using whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour. There are 191 calories in one hearty slice with three grams of protein and one gram of fiber.
More yummy banana dessert recipes
Vegan Banana Bread
Equipment
- Standard size loaf pan (8 ½-inches by 4 ½-inches)
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cups flour (all purpose flour, a 50-50 mix of whole wheat flour and all purpose flour, or whole wheat pastry flour are all fine)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons flax meal
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil (I use avocado oil. You can also substitute vegan butter)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup applesauce
- 4 very ripe bananas (mashed or blended until smooth with few or no lumps, You will need one more banana for the optional decorative top)
- ¾ cup walnuts (or pecans, lightly toasted, then chopped)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C. Oil an 8 ½-inch by 4 ½-inch loaf pan.
- Whisk the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and flax meal in a bowl.
- Add apple cider vinegar, applesauce and mashed bananas to the flour mixture. Mix until just combined and there's no dry flour in the bowl.
- Fold in the chopped walnuts.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and spread evenly with a spoon or spatula. If using a banana to decorate the top slice it lengthwise into three slices, then halve each slice. Arrange on top of the loaf.
- Bake the banana loaf about 50-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Place the banana bread on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes, then unmold and let cool completely on the rack.
Recipe notes
- You may have less moisture in the batter if the bananas you use are not too ripe. In that case add up to a fourth of a cup of non dairy milk of your choice, a tablespoon at a time, until the batter achieves the right consistency.
- Add ¾ cup vegan chocolate chips to the batter instead of the nuts for a delicious vegan chocolate chip banana bread.
- Unrefined sugars like coconut sugar, turbinado, coconut palm syrup, date syrup and maple syrup add wonderful richness to banana bread. You can also add in a tablespoonful of molasses for really amazing flavor, because molasses and banana go nicely together. This bread is perfectly sweet and not cloyingly so, with rich banana flavor.
- Applesauce adds delicious moisture to this bread, without bumping up the amount of oil. You can use vegan yogurt instead if you like, which will make the crumb really silky and tender.
- If you want nuts in your banana bread -- I love some here -- you have a choice of walnuts or pecans. Both work really well. Toast the nuts lightly and chop them before adding them to the batter. You can also add vegan chocolate chips to the batter.
- Make cleanup easier by using a blender to mix your wet ingredients. You can throw in the bananas first, blend them, then add all the other wet ingredients and blend them for a few seconds before adding to the dry ingredients.
- You can refrigerate the banana bread for up to six days. To freeze the bread, wrap the loaf tightly in freezer wrap or place in an airtight, freezer-safe container for up to four months. You can also freeze individual slices. Thaw before eating.
Gail
I really like your recipes and want to try this one, but I'm having problems with the amount of bananas. Where I come from, bananas range from small to extra large, and I never know what will be available. I've had problems before with quick breads being overly moist or underdone--having a compacted layer towards the bottom. Could you give the banana amount by weight or in cups?
Vaishali
Hi Gail, two cups of mashed banana.
Gail
Thanks. It turned out great. Surprisingly 4 pretty large bananas turned out to be 2 cups mashed.
Stephen Koenigsberg
Can you use the erythritol equivalent instead of sugar?
Vaishali
Yes, absolutely. I'd suggest adding 1/4 cup more of applesauce in that case to make up for lost moisture from the sugar.
Van
Hi Vaishali!
I have a question, what is the proportion of date syrup (grams) that I should use?
Thanks a lot!
Van.
Vaishali
Hi Van, I am not sure how many grams it would be but about 6-8 tablespoons of date syrup should be enough. Taste and add more if you want the batter sweeter.
Anonymous
Thanks so much for your advice!
Thank you
Van
Vaishali
You're welcome. 🙂
Joanne
Indeed the perfect banana bread recipe! We devoured it at a single sitting, it was so good, and I can't wait to make it again. Thank you.
Vaishali
So happy you loved it, Joanne!
AUSTIN
Just made in an air fryer on bake. Used 1 cup of coconut flour and some 1/3 cup of rolled oats, pumpkin puree vs apple sauce, coconut oil was all I had so used that. Bob's Mills egg substitute to keep it vegan. Looks good. Cooling off now. I think it's sweet because I big crumb fell off and had to taste it. ( :
Vaishali
Sounds awesome! Good to know it can be baked in the air fryer.
Bela
This is a wonderful recipe.... it turned out great. I did add 1 tsp cinnamon powder to it though. Also in the method it does not mention when to add the ACVinegar. I added with the oil. This is a great bLog and I look forward to using more and more recipes.
Vaishali
Thanks, Bela. Yes, it should be added with the wet ingredients, so you did fine.
Nilaxi Patel
I made this cake. perfectly texture, taste, I love it. thank you for sharing.
Vaishali
Thanks, Nilaxi, for the feedback. So happy you loved it.
Hemi
Hello Vaishali,
I have used this recipe for banana bread countless times. It’s just the perfect one. I have also tried other recipes in the beginning with eggs with butter etc but every single time family verdict is your other recipe is better. Wanted to let you know?
Thanks a lot for all your recipes. There are a few others also which are my go to recipes.
Hemi
Vaishali
Hemi, so great to hear! Glad you loved it. Who says you need butter and eggs to bake? 🙂 We proved them wrong, right?
Carol Sassoon
very good thanks i divided batter into muffin tins and loaf pan!
Vaishali
Thanks for the feedback, Carol! So happy you loved it.
Cathy Blais
Nice flavour, but not done, despite cooking for an hour. Very wet. Maybe something is wrong with my oven temp. Will check on that.
Vaishali
Yes check your oven temp that must be the problem. Ovens are temperamental and you should remember to do a toothpick test anytime you bake a cake or sweet bread before you take it out.
Rebecca
This recipe landed in my inbox right when I had overripe bananas needing to be used, and all the ingredients on hand, perfect timing. It's sooo good! I added chopped up chocolate instead of walnuts - personal preference. Will definitely make again, thanks for a great recipe 😀
Vaishali
So happy to hear Rebecca!
Mary
I don’t use oil in my cooking anymore. What can I replace it with?
Thank you!
annmarie
I am on an oil-free diet since oil causes inflammation in the body, especially heart tissue.
How or what can I use as a sub for oil ?
Vaishali
Hi Annmarie, try using more applesauce -- I'd add another 1/4 cup. It may make your bread a bit more tender though.
Lavan
Can it be replaced with almond flour?
Thanks for your reply!
Vaishali
Hi Lavan, it could work. The texture would be more dense, and for best results mix it with about a third of all purpose gluten-free flour.
Erik B
All I had to do was add chocolate chips and this recipe was perfect!!!
Vaishali
Awesome, and great tip. I was going to add it to the notes and forgot, so thanks for the reminder. Chocolate is a wonderful flavor with banana.
Vaishali
Hi Alamelu, Measure 5 tablespoons, and then 1/3rd of a tablespoon. Does that clarify? Glad you tried the blueberry muffins!
Alamelu
Thank you that's what I thought but I wanted to confirm.
Jayalakhsmi sowrirajan
All your recipes are brilliant!!!
Vaishali
Hi Laura, thanks for your kind words about the blog! I am sorry your bread went flat. Since this happens to all your baked goods it seems very probable that your oven is not heating up as much as it should. All ovens do tend to be temperamental. I would advise ALWAYS doing the toothpick test with baked goods. If the toothpick inserted at the center comes out dry you are okay. Otherwise let it continue baking until it passes the toothpick test. If the bread remains uncooked on the inside, it will most certainly drop when you take it out. Does that make sense?
Maximilian
Had some bananas I needed to do something with. Decided on this recipe and I'm glad I did. It was quick and easy. I have also made Best Ever Banana Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting and it's really really good as well, just a bit more time consuming. I'm sure I'll make this one again. Thanks!
Judy
flaxseed, banana and applesauce - it all of that really necessary (apart from the bananas?) as the bananas already act as an egg replacement...I don't have the other stuff in the house so wondering if I can replace it with anything or just leave it?
Deni Corklin
Made this banana bread....So moist and flavorful I didn't miss the cinnamin at all!
Your site is now on my favorites list after huge success (2 mornings in a row now) with the Whole Wheat Pancakes. Yum.
Vaishali
Antuanett, yes, you can definitely use another oil. You could use any flavorless vegetable oil or light olive oil, as one of the other readers (message above) did.
Vaishali
Anthony, glad you liked the banana bread! Using light olive oil is a great idea. Thanks for the feedback. 🙂
anthony stemke
I baked the banana nut bread today and it was a spectacle. My BW actually allowed it to cool in the pan 5 minutes, then I turned it out to cool 3 minutes, at her nagging, er, I mean urging, we sliced it right away. Yes you should let it cool a little more, but it was too tempting to wait. Used walnuts and light olive oil.
The flaxseed meal is fantastic, a great way to get good vegetable fat. Thank You.
anthony stemke
I an grateful for your time to respond, thank you. Am excited about using flaxseed meal, which I use for post workout protein drinksbut nothing else. Love eggs, but will stay true to your recipe, yours have not ever let me down. nut bread it is.
Vaishali
Anthony, If I had a choice and was one of those lucky people who don't have to worry about calories, I'd choose the nut bread. It's one of my best recipes and the molasses gives it a really rich taste. 🙂
anthony stemke
I am torn. I like a "bundt" pan but I like the Banana nut cake recipe too. I've got ripe bananas so I'll have to decide tomorrow. Do you know what? I bet either one will be wonderful, like the rest of your stuff. Thank You.
Vaishali
Sainila, you can just use all-purpose, or use half whole wheat and half all-purpose which would be more healthy and more flavorful too.
sainila
I dont have whole wheat pastry flour. can i make it with whole wheat flour? or all purpose flour?
Pearlsofeast
Vaishali,Great I found a nice eggless version of banana bread.Hey since I am traveling and we have a lot of transit time, My hubby insisted If i can whip up a cake and that can come handy.I have no eggs and I remembered u had mentioned about this in ur recent post.I just loved the ingredients.Will do it today.
Great I have some homemade applesauce.
Vaishali
Navami, glad it turned out well- I knew you could do it! Happy baking!
Navami
Vaishali's receipe was easy to follow for a first time baker like me and so tasty that my foodie friends requested I make some more the very next day!