Coconut Oil Fried Cinnamon Sugar & Ginger Plantains

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When in Rome, do as the Romans.

When in the Caribbean

Overlooking aruba sea

…Make plantains.

Bowl of plantain slices

Never had a plantain?  I’d describe it as a heartier banana that almost borders on the texture of a sweet potato, sliced and fried similarly.

In fact, plantains are often used as the potato or pasta of the Caribbean because they are starchy.

The way I prepared them was a little sweet from the cinnamon and sugar and the flavor of the coconut oil seeped into them perfectly.

Bowl of plantain slices with banana

So the next time you see these in the market, don’t fear them.

Plantains with green peel

Know that the inside is lovely and you can wind up with these.  And they are so good.  Just trust me on this one.

Bowl of plantain slices

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Coconut Oil Fried Cinnamon Sugar & Ginger Plantains (vegan, gluten free)

2 plantains

Coconut Oil

2 tbsp white sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

Directions:  Peel the plantains and slice the flesh about 1/8th inch thick.  Add enough coconut oil to the bottom of a skillet, heat it up, and fry the plantains about 90 seconds on each side.  Remove plantain slices from the oil and lay them on paper towels to blot excess oil.

While the plantains are cooling, combine sugar, cinnamon, and ginger in a small bowl.  Add the plantains to the bowl, tossing with your hands to coat the slices before serving.

Extras will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for a day or two.  Not necessarily “ideal” but still okay a day (or two) later.

Optional:

Omit cinnamon-sugar-ginger coating and try a savory coating

Dip them in something (based on what kind of spices you used in your recipe) such as: a yogurt-based dip, ketchup, honey, ranch or Blue Cheese dressing, or smear them with extra coconut oil or butter, or make honey butter or honey coconut oil.

I suspect a agave or honey-cream cheese-cinnamon-sugar dip would have been perfect with the recipe I used today (1/4 c cream cheese, 2 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon; stir to combine & dip the slices in)

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Here’s a chart that highlights a few of the differences between plantains and bananas

Plantains Bananas
  • Starchy
  • Used as a vegetable
  • Longer than bananas
  • Thicker skin
  • Resemble green bananas, but may be green, yellow or black
  • Sweet
  • Eaten as a fruit
  • Shorter than plantains
  • Thinner skin
  • Color is green when not fully ripe, yellow when ripe

You don’t have to make the plantains with cinnamon and sugar.  But that would be crazy.  Why make something savory when you have a raging sweet tooth and can satisfy it with some cinnamon and sugary and still say that you’ve eaten your vegetables.

You could make plantains with garlic and onions or any number of spices from cumin to turmeric to curry to just fry them in vegetable or olive with salt and pepper or no seasonings at all.

Bowl of plantain slices with banana

And yes, that’s a banana in the picture with the plantains.  Just to keep you on your toes.

For those who don’t “love” bananas (I like bananas in things, like in one of these, but am not really that keen on bananas just on their own), plantains don’t taste all that similar to bananas.

A few hours later the extra plantain slices we didn’t inhale immediately were almost cake-like.  Okay, cake is a stretch, but bread-like.  Chewy and starchy and full of texture.  Not mushy like a banana.

If you’ve ever had dehydrated bananas, plantains have a similar texture.

Stacks of dehydrated banana slices

They make for a great snack and I served them as a side to our dinner but I don’t even bother taking dinner pictures here anymore because the lighting is so atrocious.

And with the cinnamon, sugar, and dusting of ginger at the end, good stuff.

Bowl of plantain slices with banana

But a dusting of cinnamon and sugar will always make things better for me.

Case in point, Coconut Cinnamon Sugar Roasted Almonds

Coconut Cinnamon Sugar Roasted Almonds

Questions:

Have you ever had plantains?  If so, where and how were they prepared?

Would you like to try them sometime?

And if you want to get your hands on some free Coconut Oil (maybe to fry up some plantains), enter the Coconut Oil Giveaway that I have going on.

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Please note: I have only made the recipe as written, and cannot give advice or predict what will happen if you change something. If you have a question regarding changing, altering, or making substitutions to the recipe, please check out the FAQ page for more info.

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Comments

  1. I love LOVE plantains! I like them every which way you can prepare them- but honestly, I think my favorite is to just cut them into semi-think chunks and bake the so that they’re crispy on the outside and mushy on the inside… my tummy is rumbling just thinking about it.
    Guess I’ll be picking up some plantains this weekend now…
    Question: have you ever had the mini red ones? I don’t know if mine weren’t ripe or what, but when I bought some, they were horrible!

  2. Oh you’re making me miss good ol’ fried plantains! Every island in the Caribbean does them a bit differently but they’re all just the same caramelized fried goodness. Soooo yum and the perfect comfort food!

  3. I have never tried plantains before, but you have a way of making anything look delicious.
    “Why make something savory when you have a raging sweet tooth and can satisfy it with some cinnamon and sugary and still say that you’ve eaten your vegetables.” <– you are so a woman after my own heart! Hear hear!

  4. OMG! I love plantains! So smart frying them in coconut oil too! If you could just package those up and ship them up to Oregon, that would be great!!

  5. I am madly in love with plaintains but have never prepared them at home. I guess I just wasn’t thinking of how easy they could be!!!

  6. Why? Why do this to me? You know I’ll have to make these now. They look waaaay too good not to. And then I’ll eat them all. Is that a bad thing? I hope not.

    I’m off to fry me up some plantains!

  7. YES! I had plantains when we were in Puerto Rico, of just about every variety. Sweet, savory, fried, you name it. Loved them. And I am just dying at your beachy pictures. *sigh*

  8. I love plantains! Never tried making them myself, though, but they sound easy enough! And the addition of cinnamon sounds fabulous.