Three Different Plantain Recipes
Plantain is one of the most widely eaten vegetables around the world. Although we often eat bananas raw, plantains can be cooked to make both sweet and salty foods. Keep reading and learn how to make three different plantain recipes, with plantain as the protagonist.
Meat stuffed plantain
The mix of flavors in this recipe will make you want to make it over and over again. It’s best known as plantain canoes and it’s a traditional dish in Latin American countries.
Ingredients (two servings):
- 4 ripe plantains
- 1 pound of ground meat
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 liters of fried tomatoes
- 1/2 glass of water
- 12 stuffed olives
- Grated fresh cheese
- Olive oil
Directions:
- Heat up a pan with some olive oil in it. When it’s hot, add the ground meat and cook over a medium heat. Stir as it cooks.
- Add the fried tomatoes, water, and the (minced) garlic. If you don’t like garlic you can remove it from this recipe. Cook over a medium heat for about 15 minutes.
- As the meat is cooking, peel the plantains and make a lengthwise cut on the inside curve. This will make it easier to stuff with the meat.
- In another skillet, fry the plantains. Do it carefully so you don’t break them.
- Let them cool and dry the excess oil with paper towels.
- Once they’re cold, stuff them with the ground meat. Sprinkle some cheese on top.
- Put them in the oven at 338 degrees F for 10 minutes.
Plantain chips
Plantain chips are super easy to make! This is a quick recipe that everyone loves. You can eat them with meat or fish. If you’re looking for a creative twist on your dish, plantain chips will definitely make the difference.
Ingredients:
- Plantains
- Sunflower oil
- Sugar
Directions:
- Start by preheating the oven to 248 degrees F. It will heat up as we prepare the plantains.
- Peel the plantains and cut them in really thin circular slices. The thinner they are, the crunchier they’ll be.
- Put the slices in the oven for half an hour on each side. Let them cool down and that’s it! Use these delicious chips as a snack or to decorate your favorite dishes.
You may also cook them in a fryer and sprinkle some sugar on the top when they’re still hot so that it melts. This alternative is not as healthy and we don’t recommend it if you’re planning on eating a lot.
Although in this recipe we cut them in circular slices, you may cut the plantain in half and make longer slices. When you make them like this, you can also dip the chips in your favorite sauce.
Plantain cake with almonds
From the three plantain recipes we picked today, this one is the most traditional one. This plantain cake with almond is perfect for breakfast or as a snack. Besides, it’s very moist and it keeps for days.
Ingredients:
- 2 ripe plantains
- 2 tablespoons of condensed milk
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 cup of water
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 cups of flour
- 1 envelope (or packet) of yeast
- 2.5 ounces of sliced almonds.
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 356 degrees F.
- Peel the plantains and crush them with a fork. If they’re ripe enough, they’ll be easier to peel and they’ll taste sweeter.
- In a bowl add the eggs, sugar, milk, oil, flour and yeast. Beat all the ingredients together, until you have a smooth mixture.
- Add the plantains that you crushed previously, with the condensed milk.
- Pour the mixture into a silicone mold. Sprinkle the sliced almonds on top. You may also add some extra sugar to make it sweeter.
- Put the cake in the oven for about half an hour. If the almonds begin to roast, turn off the top element and cook only using the bottom one. To see if the cake is cooked, you can stick a toothpick in it. If it comes out clean, then you can remove the cake from the oven.
Enjoy!