This vegan banana bread made with applesauce is a delicious and soft, quick bread recipe you'll want to make over and over. It's tender, moist, and just as great cold as it is fresh from the oven!

Having a recipe on hand that is egg-free and that doesn't require butter means that I can whip up a hot loaf of banana bread whenever I want and without a trip to the store.
This moist banana bread with applesauce is so delicious that it's easy to forget it's vegan. Which is perfect for sharing with friends and family without hearing complaints. My family would never notice a difference between this eggless banana bread with applesauce and one of my usual loaves.
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🥘 Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Applesauce
- Vegan milk
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Vanilla extract
- Mashed Bananas
For the exact amounts needed, please see the recipe card below.
🍽 Equipment Needed
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🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make banana bread with applesauce with these simple step-by-step instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and lightly flour your bread pan and then set it aside.
In a mixing bowl, mash your bananas.
Add in the applesauce, and vanilla, and mix together.
Add in the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
Mix well to combine.
Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 50 min-1 hour or until a toothpick can be inserted into the center and comes out clean.
Let the bread cool for 10 minutes in the pan before removing and transferring to a wire cooling rack.
Slice and serve as desired.
🍴 Recipe Tips
Don't over-mix the batter, too much overmixing can result in a more "gummy" texture. Just mix enough to combine everything and you should be good.
Let the bread rest in the pan for 10 minutes after it finishes cooking, this gives it a chance to finish baking and set up. After that, you can remove it to the wire rack for cooling. Leaving it in the pan may result in overcooked bread.
🍌 Add-Ins
Absolutely! I personally think 1 teaspoon of cinnamon or a handful of chopped walnuts would be incredible with this loaf. Even some dairy-free chocolate chips would be great!
💭 FAQs
Absolutely! Frozen bananas work great in this recipe! Just make sure to have them thaw completely before using. Also, you'll notice that your frozen bananas will be sitting in several inches of liquid/juice- use it too! Just toss the bananas and the juice into the recipe and follow along as directed, and you'll be good!
While you could- you probably won't want to. Green bananas have a harder crunch and less sweet flavor to them. Ripe bananas are yellow and spotted, or even mostly black. Those are the ones so soft and sweet that they can make banana bread taste amazing.
You can use any kind that you prefer. Personally, I like the unsweetened and unflavored applesauce when I bake because I like to taste what I'm making and because keeping that applesauce on hand means that I can have more versatility with my cooking.
Homemade banana bread lasts about 3-5 days depending on how it's kept but it always tastes better when fresher. Keep your banana bread stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
Other tasty vegan-friendly recipes to try
- Vegan 6 Layer Rainbow Cake
- How to Roast Frozen Green Beans
- Vegan Mug Brownie
- Instant Pot Zucchini
- Microwave Yellow Squash
- Oven Roasted Broccolini
📖 Recipe
Vegan Banana Bread with Applesauce
Ingredients
- 3 large ripe bananas (about 1 ½-1 ¾ cups mashed) ($0.75)
- ⅓ cup applesauce ($0.15)
- ¼ cup vegan milk of choice ($0.05)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ($0.02)
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour ($0.14)
- ¼ teaspoon salt ($0.02)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder ($0.04)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda ($0.02)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar ($0.07)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and then grease and lightly flour your loaf pan. Set it aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, mash your bananas.
- Add in the applesauce, vegan milk, and vanilla.
- Add in the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Mix well (but don't overmix! It's okay if the batter is slightly lumpy).
- Pour the bread batter into the prepared loaf pan and then bake for 50 min-1 hour or until a toothpick can be inserted into the center and come out clean.
- Let bread rest for 10 minutes in the pan before removing it and transferring the loaf to a wire cooling rack.
Notes
Recipe Tips
- Don't over-mix the batter. Too much overmixing can result in a more "gummy" texture. Just mix enough to combine everything and you should be good.
- Let the bread rest in the pan for 10 minutes after it finishes cooking, this gives it a chance to finish baking and set up. After that, you can remove it to the wire rack for cooling. Leaving it in the pan may result in an overcooked bread.
- You can use any type of applesauce but I prefer the unflavored and unsweeted applesauce variety. Make sure that you use ripe bananas (yellow with spots) and not green bananas. The riper ones are sweeter and much easier to mash, giving us a stronger flavor too.
- It is okay to use frozen bananas in this recipe, just use any thawed liquid in the bag with the bananas.
Add-Ins
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon or a handful of chopped walnuts would be incredible with this loaf. Even some dairy free chocolate chips would be great.
Storage
- This bread can last in an airtight container for up to 3-5 days at room temperature or you can wrap it well and keep it stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Jane says
i made this today and it was fantastic! i added a splash of soy milk because my mixture was a bit dry, but otherwise delicious!
NicoleDurham says
I'm so glad you liked it! Thanks for sharing!
Claudia Harbourt says
Can I substitute additional applesauce or blueberry jam for the vegan milk?
Nicole says
I believe you could, but i have not personally tried, so I'm not 100% sure