AIR FRIED SWEET PLANTAINS

These Air Fried Sweet Plantains are crisp, caramelized, and oh-so-simple to make! All you need is just two ingredients and an air fryer.

Jump to:

• 🍌 WHAT ARE PLANTAINS?
• 🌎 FRIED PLANTAINS AROUND THE WORLD
• 💡RECIPE TIPS
• ❤️ WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE
• 👩🏽‍🍳 RECIPE

Fried plantains are the perfect accompaniment to just about any dish. Deep or shallow frying is the traditional cooking method for plantains. But we are obsessed with our air fryer around these parts. Air frying allows us to cook our food in less oil, avoid oil splatter burns and is generally speedier than traditional frying! All you’ll need for this recipe is a neutral-flavored oil, ripe plantains and an air fryer. That’s it!

🍌 WHAT ARE PLANTAINS?

Plantains are a delicious staple crop in tropical regions of the world including Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and South/Southeast Asia. In fact, they are the tenth most important staple food in the world! 

Bananas are classified into two groups: dessert bananas and cooking bananas. You’re probably more familiar with dessert bananas, which are the sweeter peel-and-eat variety. Compared to dessert bananas, plantains contain more starch and less sugar and are more typically cooked—fried, boiled or roasted, most commonly. This is why plantains are also known as cooking bananas. You can eat both green and ripe plantains. Flavor wise, plantains are more on the savory side, but are used in both sweet and savory dishes.

🌎 FRIED PLANTAINS AROUND THE WORLD

Fried plantains go by many names all over the world. Here are a few:

• West Africa: Dodo
• Latin America/Caribbean: Patacones, Maduros, Chifles, Tajadas, Tostones
• Indonesia/Malaysia: Pisang Goreng
• Philippines: Bananacue

Growing up as a first generation Filipino-American, my mom often made bananacue for dessert. She fried up ripe plantains coated in brown sugar—so simple, but mouthwateringly good! We’ll share my mom’s recipe for bananacue soon.

But since we’ve been eating a lot of West African and Caribbean food lately, we’re going to show you how to make plantains West African/Caribbean/Latin American style!

💡RECIPE TIPS

SELECTING RIPE PLANTAINS

When you see a mostly black dessert banana, you throw that mushiness away, right? Not so with ripe plantains. A plantain is ripe when it has many black areas or is mostly black. Your best bet is to choose a plantain that is at least fifty percent black with some areas of yellow. But make sure to gently press on the plantain first. You want the plantain to be firm but not mushy.

HOW TO PEEL RIPE PLANTAINS

Plantain peels are thicker than dessert banana peels. You’ll need to come equipped with a knife to peel these bad boys! First, slice off both ends of the plantain. Then make a shallow incision down the center of the plantain, just deep enough to slice through the peel. Now you can peel your plantain with ease.

***Check out our recipe video below!***

1. Peel the plantains.
2. Slice the plantains into half-inch thick slices on a diagonal.
3. Toss, brush or spray the plantains with oil.
4. Air fry them.

Love,

Val

❤️ WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE

• Sweet
• Crispy
• Super simple

DID YOU MAKE OUR AIR FRIED SWEET PLANTAINS?

Did you make this recipe? We’d love to hear about it! Please comment and leave a 5-star🌟 rating below. Share your dish with us on Instagram and tag us @plantbased.passport. We would love to seeing your delicious creations! Still hungry? Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest for more global vegan recipes and travel tips!🍴✈️

💕 MORE AFRO-CARRIBEAN RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE:

👩🏽‍🍳 RECIPE

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