4 Diana's Bananas Flavors, Ranked

Diana's Bananas began in 1984 at the annual Taste of Chicago food festival. While chocolate-covered strawberries were the original draw, chocolate-covered bananas quickly overtook them, creating a sensation that launched a small empire. The key was to find the best bananas in the world, and careful research led Diana's to farmers in Ecuador. Once the company launched retail sales in Jewel grocery stores around the Chicago metropolitan area, its reputation rapidly spread. Its chocolate-covered banana halves and bites can now be found in freezer sections of grocery stores nationwide.

Something even more exciting about this brand is its commitment to ending food waste. Bananas that are not uniform in shape or size, that have blemishes, or are not attached to a bunch often get discarded. Diana's bananas rescue these fruity misfits and upcycle them by dipping them in the finest premium chocolate at peak ripeness. And leftover banana peels are composted to eliminate waste, making these a treat that not only tastes good but helps you feel good about eating them. 

Though we have listed Diana's bananas flavors from least to most favorite, this ranking is somewhat arbitrary. We loved all of them and were hard-pressed to choose one over another, particularly knowing that we were eating something somewhat healthy. That said, we did factor in the balance of coating to banana, taste, texture, and our unique preferences in our rankings to provide some meaningful criteria.

The only reason the Milk Chocolate Halves ended up at the bottom of our list is that we prefer dark over milk chocolate. We generally find milk chocolate a bit too sweet for our taste buds. With that, this was a well-executed milk chocolate that was not overly sugary and exquisitely balanced with the perfectly ripe banana.

We thought the ratio of chocolate to banana was spot on. There was not too much to mask the flavor of the banana, but enough to both taste and give it a nice snap on the exterior of the frozen fruit. We also felt that the banana had a nice mouthfeel as it began to warm up on our tongues. It wasn't starchy, and there were no residual tannins, which are higher in slightly under-ripe bananas and can leave a lingering bitterness in your mouth. We also appreciated the slight irregularity of the banana, which made it seem more homemade.

Each banana half contains just 130 calories and 220 milligrams of potassium. We should also note a soy and dairy allergen warning on the container. Additionally, this item gets produced on equipment used for processing peanuts. This product is also available in bite-sized pieces packaged in a resealable zip-top bag that are just 80 calories for three pieces, making them a great snack or quick sweet treat.

As we noted, we are dark chocolate fans. The darker, the better. We even enjoy bittersweet high cocoa percentage chocolate. The chocolate used on these bananas was fabulous. It was smooth and bitter but not overly acrid, making it a great pairing with the perfectly ripe banana half.

Again we noted that the balance of chocolate coating to the banana was ideal. Crisp without distracting in any way from the banana. One thing we didn't mention before was how convenient these treats are. Each is packaged individually and comes on a stick, like a popsicle. This flavor is maybe more ideally suited to a grown-up palate because of the slightly bitter chocolate, but we think the whole family would enjoy them. They also come in bite-sized portions, just 80 calories for three pieces.

Each serving is 140 calories with 240 milligrams of potassium, a tad higher than the milk chocolate variety. They are also a bit higher in fat and lower in sugar than their milk chocolate cousins, presumably to help achieve the correct texture for the chocolate coating. Though there is no milk allergen, these do contain soy. They also are produced on equipment used for processing peanuts.

Once in a blue moon, we come across a salted caramel flavor that isn't overly salty. These milk chocolate and salted caramel-covered banana halves would be one of those times. They had just a hint of salt without overpowering the chocolate and caramel. The ratio of caramel to chocolate was virtually even, making each shine individually and as a harmonious team surrounding the ripe banana half. This variety does not come in bites, although that's something we hope they add at some point, as they would be dynamite.

As expected, these treats are slightly higher in calories, fat, and sugar than the plain chocolate flavors. Each serving has 220 calories and 24 grams of sugar. It also has 55 milligrams of sodium, conferred by the salted caramel, and 320 milligrams of potassium, 6% of the recommended daily value. Because of the potassium levels, we consider these a healthy food, and nobody can change our minds about that.

Allergens in these treats include milk and soy. They also get produced on equipment shared with peanuts. One unusual ingredient we noted was paprika oleoresin or paprika extract. We were curious about what purpose this ingredient served and learned that it gets used as a natural food colorant with a long shelf-life where red or orange hues are needed, as in caramel.

Our peanut butter cup-loving biases led this flavor to victory on our rankings. The only thing that could have made it better was if the chocolate was dark instead of milk. Either way, it was a sweet treat that perfectly suited our palates. The balance of chocolate to peanut butter was harmonious, with the peanut butter providing a slightly savory and salty juxtaposition to the sweetness of the banana. The coating was crunchy without being too challenging to bite into, yielding to the barely soft frozen banana underneath. Again, these do not come in bite-sized portions, but if they ever did start making them, we would be first in line to buy them.

At 270 calories a bar, 17 grams of fat, 60 milligrams of sodium, and 18 grams of sugar, this is the richest variety of these banana treats, an expected by-product of nutrient-dense peanut butter. Yet again, there are 310 milligrams of potassium, which we will take as a win. This flavor comes with milk, soy, and peanut allergen warnings. Though we might not make this an everyday habit, it is a unique option for an after-dinner sweet tooth. We give it an enthusiastic A++ because a higher ranking is unavailable.