5 Fun Green Plantain Recipes

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A quick list of plantain recipes you can bake- or fry!

It can be so frustrating to find ripe plantains in the middle of America (trust me, I know- I live in Denver!)

So that’s why I put together this quick list of recipes you can make by baking, boiling, or frying green plantains.

If you want to ripen a plantain quickly though, you can always put it in a dark spot like a paper bag. I have also just given it a pretty good pounding (enough to see bruises, not enough to make it flat.) After pounding wait a few days and generally, you will find the plantain pretty ripe.

Wondering about other exotic fruit in Costa Rica? Check out our fruit guide.

Green Plantain Recipes

Plantain Chips

You can bake or fry these- either way they are amazing. Why buy storebought when you can simply finely slice green plantains and either bake or fry them to crispy perfection.

I love to sprinkle with salt or even garlic salt. We dip them in chimichurri sauce, black bean dip or pink sauce.

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Patacones/Tostones

Simply boil green plantains, mash them down and lightly fry. These function as chips, and can make great nachos when layered with shredded beef, guacamole, sour cream and cheese.

Boiled Plantains

Once you boil plantains in salted water, the sky is the limit to what you can do with them. We pair them with chicharrones, vigorones (a favorite Costa Rican street food)

Related post: 30+ Foods To Try In Costa Rica

Plantain Ceviche

I can’t wait to make this recipe from Que Rica Vida- it’s a super cool vegan take on traditional ceviche. We definitely eat this in Costa Rica, although it is more of a food you find in people’s homes than in restaurants.

You might also like: Green Banana Ceviche

Platanos Maduros

This food is a Latin American staple. You’ll just peel the plantains, cut them, and fry them until golden brown. I love how the caramelize as you fry them, and they become super sweet plantains everyone will adore.

Enyucados

I just love these little fried yucca nuggets. You’ll just take boiled and mashed green yucca and add some cheese. Then fry them up and eat them with pink sauce. These are basically yucca croquettes.

Jibarito

This recipe is a favorite in Puerto Rico- and a favorite of mine too! Just make patacones long instead of round, and you can bind them together to basically make a thick slice of bread. This is a great paleo meal option, I like to suff mine with carnitas, guacamole and chimichurri.

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