This Banana Slush Punch has been a family favorite for generations! A frozen blend of bananas, pineapple, and citrus concentrates creates a thick, scoopable base that turns perfectly slushy when topped with fizzy soda. The texture is cold and refreshing with just the right amount of sweetness and sparkle. It’s colorful, crowd-friendly, and made to be ladled into cups and enjoyed ice cold.
We had this slushy punch at every Easter party that I can remember from my early childhood, and I want this to be one of the recipes my kids take with them in their own lives.
Ingredient Needed
- Ripe Bananas – When I say ripe, I mean it! They should look brown all over and ready for banana bread, but some good spots on the peel indicate your bananas will be nice and sweet, with a good texture for this punch.
- Juice Concentrates – This punch uses lemonade and orange juice concentrate and also calls for pineapple juice. Since the frozen pineapple juice concentrate will be right there in the freezer aisle, it’s the easiest to grab that. But if you prefer, many stores now sell fresh pineapple juice in the produce section by the fresh juices and smoothies.
- Sprite or Ginger Ale – Take your pick between the two of these. There are so many other flavors in this punch, that either one will provide a satisfying sparkle to the finished product. Diet soda is fine.
How to Make Banana Slush Punch
This is a simple overview of the recipe, you’ll find a full printable recipe below!
- First, you’ll place some ripe bananas and water in a blender and sprinkle them with some sugar. Blend until smooth and then set aside.
- Then, in a large bowl or pot, you’ll combine some pineapple juice, orange juice concentrate, a can of lemonade (pink or yellow) concentrate, and some more water. Mix well. If you didn’t think ahead (like me) to thaw out the concentrates, pop an immersion blender into the mixture and mix until it’s smooth. Add the banana mixture and mix well.
- Pour the banana mixture into 3 separate freezer-safe containers or gallon-sized Ziploc bags. Freeze several hours or overnight (at least). When ready to serve, place one frozen bag of banana mixture into a punch bowl or serving jar and pour 1 liter of Sprite or ginger ale over the mixture.
- Break up with a spoon or ladle (or whip out that immersion blender again) and serve. You can garnish it with frozen raspberries or frozen sliced strawberries if you want.
Storage & Other Tips
- Freezing: The base is meant to freeze into a slush. Once it’s in the freezer, cover the punch base tightly with plastic wrap or a lid to prevent freezer odors and ice crystals from forming. It can stay frozen for several days before serving.
- Add Soda Just Before Serving: Add ginger ale, Sprite, or other fizzy soda right before you’re ready to serve so it stays fizzy and slushy.
- Serving Suggestions: This punch is great as a stand-alone refreshment on a hot day. It could also be served along side some easy desserts or a fruit or veggie platter. Its tropical flavors would pair well with other island-inspired dishes like Huli Huli Chicken, Hawaiian Macaroni Salad, Kalua Pork Sliders, or Hawaiian Style BBQ Ribs with Grilled Pineapple.
Frequently Asked Questions
Freezing time depends on your freezer, but it generally needs several hours or overnight to reach the right slush consistency.
This is one drink that is perfect for prepping ahead! Those frozen bags will keep well in the freezer for several weeks. If you need to transport them to an event, pack the frozen bags in a cooler and pop your soda in there as well. They should blend up perfectly if used within a couple of hours.
Let it sit on the counter for a few minutes, and stir or break it up before adding the soda so it softens into a scoopable slush.
This yields about 7 1/2 quarts (about 40 8-ounce servings to 60 4-ounce servings), so feel free to cut the recipe in half if you’re not interested in feeding a small army!
Yes. It will be less sweet, but still fizzy and refreshing.
Banana Slush Punch
Ingredients
- 6 cups water divided
- 4 bananas very ripe
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- 6 cups pineapple juice 48 ounces
- 2 12-ounce cans orange juice concentrate
- 1 12-ounce cans lemonade concentrate pink or yellow
- 3 liters Sprite or ginger ale
- berries of choice for garnish, if desired
Instructions
- In the jar of a blender, combine 3 cups water, bananas, and sugar. Blend until smooth and set aside.
- In a large bowl or pot, combine remaining water, pineapple juice, orange juice concentrate, and lemonade concentrate and mix well or blend with an immersion blender. Add banana mixture.
- Divide the mixture evenly among 3 freezer-safe containers or gallon-sized zip-top bags and freeze for several hours or overnight (at least).
- When ready to serve, place 1 container of banana mixture at a time into a drink bowl or jar and pour 1 liter of chilled ginger ale or Sprite over the banana mixture. Mix with a spoon (or immersion blender) and serve immediately.
- If desired, you can garnish with frozen berries.
Notes
- Makes about 30 8-ounce servings to 60 4-ounce servings. Feel free to cut it in half if needed, or simply prepare just one bag and 1 liter of soda and save the rest for another occasion.
Questions & Reviews
I don’t know about canned grape juice lemonade, but the Ball Blue Book has a recipe for canned grape juice where you put one cup grapes in a hot quart jar, add 1/2-1 cup sugar and fill the jar with boiling water. Process for 15 minutes. That’s the way my mom always makes it. I just thought it was the lazy way you did it if you had lots of jars to spare as it isn’t concentrated like the other methods are.
Oooh, I’ll have to check it out! Thanks for the heads up!
This reminds me of my grandma’s slush, which I was lucky enough to have at her house at Christmastime. It’s a recipe I’ll always remember, too! By-the-way, my mom cans grape juice with the grapes in it. Do you want me to see how she does it? I don’t know if it would be similar to what you had at your grandma’s, but I could send it if you want! Email me if you’re interested!
This was a recipe we used for our wedding. The college I attended used it often for catered events, and I grabbed the recipe from their kitchen. Yumm!
We had this in our freezer in some sort of metal cannister every summer – my fav!
We make this EVERY Christmas! Love it! We don’t put frozen lemonade in though.
This post got me thinking about my grandmother as well. She had the most amazing tomato juice/shrimp cocktail drink EVER! We always had it at Christmas, with her homemade wassail. It might not sound good, but it was amazing.
Looks good! Similar to my Mom’s punch recipe. Kate, where’d you get the big glass serving jar? (I think you may have mentioned it in another post, but I can’t remember which one!)
I just got it at Walmart in the housewares section. I have one big one and two little ones and I cannot BELIEVE how often I use them!
The linoleum stairs were as steep as you remember! Grandma was the BEST old-fashioned cook–everything from scratch. You’ve brought back so many memories.
Yummmmm:) Just in time for open house season!
Oh this punch is such a memory here, too. My husband’s family calls it banana tropicana, and my family calls it banana slush. Although, my dad sometimes lovingly calls it fly-speckled punch (because of the banana seeds). I swear, every food we ate had to be called some weird name by my dad.