Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the physicochemical and sensory properties of fish patties added with banana peel powder (BPP), Musa balbisiana. Design/methodology/approach Four different fish patty formulations were produced containing 0 per cent (BPP0) (Control), 2 per cent (BPP2), 4 per cent (BPP4) and 6 per cent (BPP6) of BPP (M. balbisiana). Findings The addition of BPP was shown to improve the hardness, cooking yield, water holding capacity (WHC) and redness (a* value) as well as the dietary fibre (DF) content (p<0.05). The BPP, however, also turned the fish patties darker (lower L*) (p<0.05). Sensory evaluation showed that fish patties with a concentration of 2 per cent BPP had the highest overall acceptability, whereas the concentration of 6 per cent BPP was found to be unacceptable compared to that of control sample (p<0.05). The declining sensory acceptability of fish patty with 6 per cent BPP is related to the harder texture and the darker color of the patties compared to the control sample (BPP0). Originality/value The addition of BPP can potentially improve the quality of fish patties in terms of textural properties (hardness) by increasing their WHC, reducing the cooking loss and enhancing the DF content.