But I do have the abstract memories–the way their house smelled and the steep linoleum steps (which seemed much steeper than they probably were in reality) and the graham crackers. My grandma always had a “back to school” party for each grandkid when they went to kindergarten–all the cousins and aunts and uncles would bring backpacks and school supplies for the kindergartner and we’d have a party in their backyard. Whether it was back to school parties or Thanksgiving or Easter, there were always lots of old-fashioned, incredibly delicious treats (like homemade, home-canned grape juice lemonade with real grapes in the canning jars–never seen it before or since but if it’s half as delicious as I remember it, I’d die of happiness if I ever found a recipe for it). And like Banana Slush Punch. It’s probably been, oh, 25 years since I had my grandma’s Banana Slush Punch, but I can still taste it.
With Easter coming up, I’ve been thinking a lot about food and traditions and the kinds of food memories I have and what I want to share with my own kids. We had this slushy punch at every Grandma Randle Easter party that I can remember from my early childhood and even though I don’t have tons and tons of memories of my grandparents, I want this to be one of the recipes my kids take with them in their own lives.
Ingredient Notes
- 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
- 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.
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!
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.
If you’re interested in other beverages, consider some of these:
FAQs
- How far in advance can I make this Banana Slush Punch? 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.
Did You Make This?
I’d love to hear from you! Snap a picture and tag me on Instagram, and then come back and give this recipe a rating!
Banana Slush Punch
- Total Time: 4+hours
- Yield: 7.5 quarts, serves 40-60
Description
This slushy tropical punch is refreshing and beautiful. Perfect for large gatherings, as it serves a small army!
Ingredients
6 cups water, divided
4 very ripe bananas
1 1/2 cups white sugar
6 cups (48 ounces) pineapple juice
2 12- ounce cans orange juice concentrate
1 12-ounce can lemonade concentrate (pink or yellow)
3 liters Sprite or ginger ale
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 Ziploc 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.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Freezer time: 4+ hours
Questions & Reviews
Dear Kate, I love this recipe. My Mom, Vola, used to make this for us and for her ladies luncheons. She would serve it in little glass tea cups, saucers,ice cubes made of the banana fruit mixture and a small spoon. With the Ginger Ale it all made a wonderful slush. LOVE, LHRandle
We call that wedding punch because that is what we served at my wedding. We made a lot.
Grape juice with grapes in the jar is a snap. Really. The year I had a tiny baby at grape time, the 10 and 8 year old did everything but put it in the water bath. Different varieties of grapes will give it a little different flavor.
In the bottom of a quart canning jar:
1 cup juice/wine grapes, washed and pulled off the stem
1/2 cup sugar
Fill the jar to the ring at the neck with water.
wipe jar lip, add lid and screw ring on hand tight.
Process in a water bath canner for 30 minutes.
Let sit for 2 months before you drink it.
This sounds delicious, Kate! And I always have brown bananas on my counter that need using up! 😉
I preserve/can an AMAZING Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate, which I’m sure can be adjusted for grapes! It is also, BTW, fan-friggin-tastic with vanilla vodka too! Check out my post:
http://www.justtherightsize.blogspot.com/2010/01/strawbery-lemon-concentrate.html
Thanks for sharing such a special memory and recipe. I love the idea of a back to school party!
I’d love to see that canned grape/lemonade, if you ever found something!!!
i can grape juice all the time. I do about 80 -100 qt. of concentrate each year. But i have done the grapes in a jar, its more like a punch. someone gave the recipe above. hope you can enjoy this great treat with great memories again.
Back about 50 years ago my parents, from rural New York, made something similar to this. I thought it came from a plaid cookbook it was called, something punch. My how it brings back memories. Hope you can find the actual recipe. You ladies make my day.
My mom still makes banana pineapple slush for special occasions. There is bucket of it in their deep freeze from over a year ago!
My mother in law does the grape juice, but I made her toss out 20+ jars that were brown from the decade of storage, I never got to try it, thank goodness.
My Mom made home canned grape juice with the grapes in the jar too! One time she shared some with my sister in law who had never seen this before and she drained off all the juice and made a “cherry” pie with the grapes! LOL
What a unique recipe! It looks really good, you don’t often see banana in drinks (other than smoothies). I totally get you on the grandparent thing. My grandparents were all alive when I was born, but both sets lived thousands of miles away and both sets had a ton of other grand kids living near them. My brother and I were basically the forgotten grandchildren. Oh well, at least our parents were loving!
How long could I keep the mixture in the freezer if I didn’t use it all at one time? Oh, btw- I love your turquoise immersion blender!
This looks so good! Such a sweet and luscious drink for a hot day!
My favorite is this stuff with canned peaches and pears, fresh strawberries and bananas. Fruit cup! Yummy! Thanks
What a great idea for using ripe bananas. This punch is perfect for spring days or Easter:) Thanks for the great post.
What fruit could I use besides bananas? Would strawberries work?
My first instinct is to say mangoes because they have similar sugar content and texture, so you’d wind up wit a similar texture. I bet you could use strawberries, you’d just have to play around with the sugar proportions. Even after it’s frozen, it won’t be frozen SOLID because of the sugar and texture of bananas, so you’ll want to achieve something similar with whatever fruit you use.
My grandmother totally used to make something like this. Thanks for reminding me and the fond memory!
Could you recommend a substitute for pineapple juice? We’ve got some allergies, but this sounds so good!
I bet any citrus juice would be tasty. Or coconut milk (depending on allergies, of course! :))
My grandma totally made this when I was a kid! It seems like she always had several Cool Whip containers in the freezer with slush in them.
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.