Vegan Pulled "Pork" Sliders With Banana Peel

Yep, you’ve read that right—we have used banana peels and converted them into “pulled pork”. This budget-busting recipe has kept me wondering why I’ve kept tossing away all those banana skins all my life! In my family and culture, we love steaming our traditional Filipino desserts in banana leaves. We also sauté banana heart (blossom) with coconut milk and chili as a savory side dish. But I’ve never thought that we could recreate something out of the skin itself, until now. Although not popular as a food source (in Western countries), banana peels are not only safe to eat, but also nutritious. It's high in Vitamin B6, B12, Vitamin A, magnesium, potassium, polyphenols, carotenoids, and fiber. The natural sweetness from the banana balances with the savory spices and sauce. Try it out here:

finished banana peel pulled pork slider with side salad on a white plate

Vegan Pulled “Pork” Sliders With Banana Peel

Recipe Type: Hearty Entrees Sandwiches

YIELDS 4–5 servings

PREP TIME 10 min

COOK TIME 10 min

TOTAL TIME 20 min

Banana peels
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
Salt and pepper (to taste)
¼ cup BBQ sauce
Coleslaw (for filling)
(Mini) burger buns
Drizzle of Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

Directions

1. Before peeling the banana skins off, I’d usually clean them first with some baking soda, vinegar and scrub them with an end of a lemon with salt to help scrub the skin. On a bowl, simply just sprinkle some baking soda over the skin and pour some vinegar to let it fizzle out any dirt. Then using the end of a lemon as a scrubber, sprinkle over some salt as if you were exfoliating the skin. Then cut off the ends of the banana and save the fruit flesh in the freezer for either a smoothie or if I want to use them to bake banana bread. I would do this when I buy a whole bunch of bananas (usually with about 5–6 bananas) to save time and be more sustainable.

2. Now you’ve got your banana peels, scrape off and dispose the inner white parts then use a fork to shred the skin to make them look like pulled pork.

3. On a hot pan, drizzle some EVOO then sauté your “pulled pork” until soft.

4. Add in the BBQ sauce, your choice of spices. I used paprika and chili powder. Then some salt and pepper for taste and combine well.

5. Toast your burger buns. I used mini ones to make them into sliders but feel free to use the burger buns if you prefer. Add your vegan “pulled pork” filling, top with some coleslaw and any choice of additions that you desire such as vegan cheese, lettuce, etc.

6. Relish it with a side of more coleslaw or any salad of your liking. 🙂

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Photo: Bel Faustino