22 Plantain Recipes That Prove You Should Always Have the Fruit on Hand

Taryn Pire

February 7, 2023, 8:00 p.m.·8 min read

You decided to bake your famous banana bread this weekend. You make a beeline to the produce section, only to find the thickest, biggest bananas you’ve ever seen on shelves. Before you hesitantly add them to your cart, let us fill you in: They’re plantains. For the uninitiated, plantains are related to bananas, but they’re much different from them, due to their starchy, almost potato-y flavor and texture. They can be eaten underripe or ripe and are cooked in a multitude of ways across many cuisines, most commonly Latin and African. To get acquainted with the underrated fruit, read on for 22 plantain recipes to cook at home.

Plantain vs. Banana: Um, What’s the Difference? Asking for a Friend

How to Choose Ripe Plantains

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First thing’s first: Decide if you need unripe or ripe plantains. If you want them to be sticky, caramelized and sweet—like you would when making maduros—you’ll need to buy them ripe, or buy them unripe and wait for them to ripen at home. If you want them savory and starchy (let’s say you’re making tostones, for example), go with an unripe plantain.

Here’s how to spot the difference between unripe and ripe plantains. Unripe plantains have green peels. As they mature, the peels turn yellow and eventually dark brown or black once they’re overripe. Unlike bananas, which seem to rot in a flash, plantains can be used before, while and after they’re perfectly ripe. They also take longer to mature than bananas, so they’re unlikely to go bad before you use them.

Also called cooking bananas or green bananas, plantains are generally used more like a vegetable than a fruit. They can be boiled, fried, baked or sauteed, but not eaten raw. If you don’t want to wait days for your green plantains to ripen and sweeten, you can resort to using frozen ones instead (although we should note that plantains are in season year-round). You’ll mostly find maduro (meaning matured) plantains in the frozen aisle; most frozen green plantains are already smashed and fried and labeled as tostones. You can also find frozen green plantain dough to make dishes like plantain empanadas or plantain dumplings.

1. Plantain Subs with Quick Pickles

Chris Terry/Nadiya’s Everyday Baking

Time Commitment: 40 minutes
Why We Love It: dairy free, beginner-friendly, make ahead

These sammies may seem meager, but plantains are actually pretty filling, since they’re so starchy. Use vegan mayo on the subs to make them vegan and prepare the pickled veggies ahead to save time.

How to Choose Ripe Plantains

1. Plantain Subs with Quick Pickles

2. Sweet and Spicy Plantain Salad

3. Cauliflower and Plantain Tacos with Lemony Pesto Dressing

4. Roasted Plantain and Sweet Potato Rice Bowls

5. Sweet Fried Plantains

6. Jerk-Inspired Fish Tacos with Plantain Fried Rice and Pineapple Salsa

7. Black Bean and Plantain Arepa Sandwiches

8. Chile- and Cocoa-Spiced Snack Mix

9. Sweet and Spicy Bacon-Wrapped Plantains

10. Roasted Plantain & Black Bean Vegan Bowl

11. Pomegranate Guacamole with Fried Plantain Chips

12. Tatale (Plantain Pancakes)

13. Halibut Ceviche with Mango and Avocado

14. Jerk-Inspired Chicken, Fried Plantain and Coconut Macadamia Fried Quinoa

15. Black Bean Plantain Enchilada Bake

16. Vegetarian Plantain & Black Bean Taco Cups

17. Fried Plantains with Hot Pepper Sauce

18. Island Bowls

19. Plantain and Black Bean Tacos with Chimichurri Sauce

20. 3-Ingredient Plantain Tortillas

21. Creole Shrimp Mofongo

22. Coconut Sugar Caramelized Plantains

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