How to Cook Plantains

Plantain! The larger, starchier & less sweet brother to your everyday banana. A great versatile addition to a grain-free life and I’m going to show you how to cook plantains.

Table of Contents

How to Cook Green Plantain

These are great to use as you would a potato. Ideal for frying and crispy foods. When the plantain is green it is at its least sweet point & firmest. uses for it are mariquitas, also known as plantain chips & tostones (fried smashed plantain).

The peel is hard to remove, one should use a sharp knife to create a slit down the side and peel outwards. A green plantain can be peeled in advance and kept in cold water with lime juice to prevent discoloration.

How to make Mariquitas:

• 1 large green plantain
• 2/3 cup coconut oil
• Sea salt

1. You can slice your plantain 2 ways:
   Lengthwise with a potato peeler or in very thin circular slices. I’m partial to circles.
2. Heat oil in a heavy skillet, I use cast iron- to 365F. You can check temperature readiness by inserting a wooden spoon in the oil, if it crackles, it’s ready.
3. Add your plantain to the skillet, do not overcrowd, you may have to work in batches.
   Use tongs to turn them a few times while frying.
   They will become golden/yellow when done.
   You might have the extra thin slice (you know the one!) go a little brown.
   They will be done in 1-2 minutes. This moves fast folks!
4. You can slice your plantain 2 ways:
   Lengthwise with a potato peeler or in very thin circular slices. I’m partial to circles.
5. Heat oil in a heavy skillet, I use cast iron- to 365F. You can check temperature readiness by inserting a wooden spoon in the oil, if it crackles, it’s ready.
6. Add your plantain to the skillet, do not overcrowd, you may have to work in batches. Use tongs to turn them a few times while frying. They will become golden/yellow when done. You might have the extra thin slice (you know the one!) go a little brown. They will be done in 1-2 minutes. This moves fast folks!

*Yes, you can bake them too. Sheet pan, thin sliced. Lots of coconut oil spray over and under. Spread them out in one layer. 400F for 5 minutes.

Mojo (pronounced Moe-hoe) is a dip made from mashed garlic, salt & pepper, made in to a smooth paste with mortar & pestle. Whisked with sour orange juice, oregano & olive oil. You can put that stuff on anything. It’s amazing!

A second very popular use of green plantain is Tostones!

Fried, smashed and fried again, these crunchy plantain rounds are great for dipping into eggs, topped with pulled pork or served as an appetizer or party dish.

How to make Tostones:

• 3 green plantain (the wider the better, technically Cuban’ use a different, shorter/fatter plantain for this, but it’s a lot harder to find)
• 1 cup coconut oil (have more ready in case needed)
• Sea salt

1. Peel plantain, cut into 1-2 inch rounds. Heat oil to 365F in a heavy, large skillet. Place plantains rounds in oil, don’t crowd skillet.
2. They won’t be submerged, when bottom halves are yellow, turn them over. When also yellow, remove them from oil.
3. Cook them approximately 2 minutes per side, checking that the bottom isn’t turning brown.
4. Place on a large cutting board or flat surface.
5. Unless you have a tostonera (a press made to flatten plantain)- use a small soup pot or bottom of espresso maker- something not breakable and flat to smash your plantains down.
6. You’re not going to squish them to hell. You need to press down firmly but slowly, just until they are about ¼ inch thick.
7. (Note: it’s easier to flatten when warm so don’t let the rounds cool too much). Then fry the next batch of rounds and flatten. Once all your plantain is flat.
8. Re-fry in the same skillet, a minute on each side, they will be a deep golden color and be extra crispy around the edges. Set them on a lined plate to cool off a bit. Salt. Enjoy!

You see a theme here with the green plantain- fried works! So they make great French fries etc. More modern use for the green plantain that does not include frying is Tortillas… get my recipe HERE.

How to Cook Yellow Plantain

These are a little softer than green and a little sweeter. It’s nice to play on that sweetness with contrasting flavors like salty pork, spicy garlic, or a spicy chimichurri.

Although not traditionally used this way, yellow plantain has become popular for slicing in 1/2 inch diagonal slices and pan-frying. These tender, semi-sweet slices make a great side dish. It’s also perfect for blending into plantain pancakes!

When you boil yellow plantain, you cut it with the peel on into 2 inch pieces and boil it submerged in water. When the plantains expand and the peel parts to show the plantain, it’s ready to eat. Carefully remove hot plantain peel, and mash it up. A whisk will work nicely.

A classic Cuban dish– Fufu is made by boiling plantain in this fashion then mashing it with mortar & pestle with whole garlic cloves, rendered pork fat & sea salt. Then served with freshly made pork rinds crumbled on top. For research’s sake I made this recently, pork rinds and all (holy batman delish!).

This consistency of plantain is also great for soups! Boiled plantain can be mashed and rolled into balls, then set out to dry (30 minutes will harden them) & later added to soup or stir-frys. They are also popular for being baked into tortillas (not the taco kind, a Spanish baked egg pie). Baking the plantain whole, with the peel on is yummy too! Just pop it on the rack, bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Then carefully open to a soft sweet plantain.

Plantanos Pinton

Rippening plantains, but not maduro. These are yellow-green plantains, regular plantains between green and on their way to ripening. So if you’re green plantains begin to ripen, don’t despair!

I work with this kind a lot. They can go either way and what I use to make plantain pancakes or plantain flatbread! 

Maduro, The Brown Plantain

That’s right- you can let them ripen until they are black! They will look practically bubonic on the outside and still be edible. This is how the original sweet plantain is fried, we call them maduros (which means ripe!). It’s really nature’s candy. Check out this Dominican recipe.

My Plantain Recipes

• AIP Plantain Pancakes
• Paleo Plantain Pancakes
• AIP Plantain Tortillas
• AIP Castiron Flatbread
• Decadent Chocolate Cake
• Plantain Crusted Burgers