Plantains. Do you love them? Do you hate them? I actually love them— even though I loathe bananas. I didn’t love them growing up, but they weren’t a regular item in our house either. I mean, I had definetely been introduced to them, passed, and then moved on. We eat plantains pretty often around here— and even though it’s incredibly easy to prep them, I figured I should mention it here— just in case– because it’s like one of those things, that are easy to be confused by if you were never taught (like cutting a mango or prepping an artichoke). If you’ve never actually cut one or watched someone do it, theres a good chance you’re going to make it more complicated than it needs to be. So tada, a simple how to to bring a bit of summer to your winter—- sort of perfect for all you people in the snow and perfect for today here, on this incredibly grey and rainy day: how to cut and peel plantains 🙂

you’ll need: 
-One incredibly ripe plantain. The blacker, the better.
-A sharp knife.how to:
1. cut the tip off your plantain.
2. carefully insert the very tip of a sharp knife into the peel of your plantain— just enough to the the skin and not so that it cuts through the flesh.
3. make your cut through the skin of the plantain from the very top, all the way to the bottom.
4. carefully peel plantain. if the plantain was very ripe, there’s a good chance it’s going to be super mushy, thats good! just don’t squeeze it 😉
5. remove skin completely.
6. slice plantain on a bias*, about 1/2 inch thick slices.

tada! now you have a plantain ready for cooking! You can fry these bad boys up for ultimate crispiness, bake them, use em in stews, whatever!

*So why do you want to cut the plantain on a bias and not as rounds? Well, because when you cook your slices, the edges become extra crispy this way! And the crispy part is the best part 😉


see more food how to’s HERE.

Happy plantain eating! Happy wednesday! Happy spring is coming!

9 Comments

  1. We called them "amarillos" and we fried them in butter! And when they're green you can make "tostones" or "mofongo". Obviously you can twist the " mofongo" to make it vegan. 😉

  2. I've only ever had plantain chips from places before, never even bought one butttttttt now I might have to 😉

  3. i tried fried plantains for the first time last year and i love them! a local taco place does a vegan taco that is plantain fried in jerk sauce which this cabbage slaw and it is SO GOOD

  4. I love fried plantains ever since I saw them on your blog. We only have them occasionally – they're not widely available here, but we do like them. Thanks for the peeling tips. CJ xx

  5. I'd love to see a recipe on what to do with them once they're cut! I want to like plantains, but haven't found a way that I really enjoy them yet. Your stew suggestion sounds interesting. As always, thanks for sharing Drea!

    Madelyn
    http://onebluebicycle.blogspot.com