Easy Oven-Fried Plantains

Difficulty level: Easy

I enjoy eating fried plantains, but the frying and cleaning part? Not so much. After many botched attempts at frying them myself, I finally decided to give oven-frying a try. After reviewing a few different recipes to see whose plantains looked the tastiest, I decided to try this blogger’s technique. If you’ve never cooked with plantains before, she has helpful instructions (pics included) on how to best peel and slice them.

It’s not often that I’m so satisfied with my first attempt at a new recipe or technique. But this one’s a winner—the plantains came out sweet, with a soft interior and a lightly crisped exterior. The key was letting the plantains ripen until the skins are at least equal parts black and yellow, and sometimes almost completely black*. (Note: if your plantain already feels soft when still mostly yellow, go by softness). Most recipes, including the source, will instruct you to bake/fry the plantains when they are yellow with a few black spots, but they are usually still very firm at this stage, resulting in a starchier, denser end-product instead of caramelized gooiness.

*I never find them this ripe at the store. I try to plan ahead and buy them early. (And more often, I buy them and remember only a few days later that I want plantains.)

Some notes:

• I scaled up the recipe for four servings, omitted the broiling step. UPDATE: Use parchment paper in place of foil…. the plantains release so much more easily than when using foil.
• Some people add cinnamon, sugar, etc to their plantains. You could, too, but if you cook the plantains when ripe, you really don’t need any other seasoning.

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Easy Oven-Fried plantains

4 servings

Ingredients

• Three large, ripe plantains (skins mostly black)
• 2 tablespoons neutral-flavored cooking oil
• Non-stick cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Move an oven rack to the middle of the oven.
2. Peel and slice the plantains: slice off the tips, then make two lengthwise scores on each plantain’s skin. This makes them easy to peel. Slice the peeled plantains on the diagonal into pieces about ½ inch thick (it’s okay if the pieces are a little thinner, avoid making them any thicker).
3. Toss sliced plantain pieces with two tablespoons oil.
4. Spread the plantains on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet.
5. Place the plantains on the middle rack of oven. The total bake time is 25 minutes, but set your timer for the fifteen minute mark.
6. After fifteen minutes, take the sheet out of the oven (and close the oven door so the oven’s temperature doesn’t drop too much). Use tongs to turn the pieces.
7. Return the tray to the middle rack of oven, and bake for another ten minutes.
8. Let the plantains cool for about five minutes after removing from the oven, then enjoy warm! They should be sweet, soft on the inside with golden-brown, lightly crisped edges.