Boiled Plantain Recipes You’ll Love–Warning!
Did you know you can boil plantains and eablt them? I’d never heard of boiled plantains until I was older. You see, I grew up eating plantains all of my life, but my mom always either fried them or baked them with some honey and cheese. If you love plantains as I do, you’ll be happy to know that there are so many boiled plantain recipes out there from different countries around the world! If you’re interested in learning more, be ready to learn about some of these recipes in the article below.
There may be affiliate links in this post. Read my disclosure policy to learn more.
Boiled Plantain Recipes FAQs
We’ll go into more detail later in the article, but here are just a few answers to some frequently asked questions related to boiled plantain recipes.
What can I eat with boiled plantain?
African Recipes
- Beans Curry
- Abenkwan (Palm Nut Soup)
- Coconut Shaki Soup
- Minced Meat Stew
- Beef Carrot Stew
- Fish Pepper Soup
- Catfish Pepper Soup
- Nigerian Fish Stew
- Obe Ata Dindin (Fried Pepper Stew)
Jamaican Recipes
- Jamaican Jerk Chicken
- Curry Chicken
- Jamaican Oxtails
- Rice and Peas
- Gungo Peas Soup
How long do you boil plantains for?
Most recipes ask for you to boil plantains for about 15 to 20 minutes if they’re ripe and 25 to 30 minutes if they’re green.
Check out this video by YouTuber Let’s Get Cooking With Lamise O to learn more about how long to boil plantains:
Do you boil plantain with the skin?
You can boil plantains with or without the peel (or skin).
However, if you choose to boil plantain with the skin, make sure to rinse it first to wash away the germs from so many people handling it at the stores.
Also, I would recommend that you cut the ends off first and cut the plantains into halves or chunks, and cut slits into the skin to decrease the cooking time.
Also, you can definitely remove the skin if you want to cook the plantains faster.
Is boiled plantain healthy?
Yes, boiled plantains are a lot healthier than fried plantains because you’re not adding unnecessary fats.
However, if your aim is to consume the most amount of nutrients from the plantains, it’s probably best to roast or steam them since nutrient loss can occur when you boil them.
Related Articles:
- All About Sweet Fried Plantains (and Green Ones, Too)
- 24 Plantain Breakfast Recipes From Around the World
- 13 Amazing Boiled Cassava (Yuca) Recipes You’re Love
Boiled Green Plantain Recipes
Ok, so now for some boiled plantain recipes for green (or unripe) plantains.
Jamaican Boiled Plantain Recipes for Unripe Green Plantains
1. Jamaican Plantain Porridge by A Younique Journey
This is a breakfast recipe that is super easy to make and very popular in Jamaican households.
One of the reasons so many people enjoy making it is because, as mentioned before, it’s simple but it’s also cheap compared to other food recipes.
To make this boiled green plantain recipe, you would need to first boil some water with a cinnamon stick.
Then, you would peel the unripe green plantains, slice them up, and use a blender to blend them (with oatmeal) in some water set aside for blending.
Next, you would add this mixture to the boiling water, add some coconut milk, and cook it while making sure to stir frequently to prevent clumping.
Lastly, you would add some more spices, vanilla, and sweetened condensed milk.
I’m telling you, you’ve GOT to try this recipe! Make sure to click on the link above to access it!
African Boiled Plantain Recipes for Unripe Green Plantains
2. Sese Plantains By Immaculate Bites
If you’re looking for an easy one-pot meal, this recipe will be perfect for you!
Sese plantains, also known as turning plantains, are a popular meal in Cameroonian and West Africa. It’s a very flavorful dish that includes plantains, meat, and spices.
In this recipe, you’ll be using palm oil, crawfish, onions, and kale.
Take a look by clicking on the link above!
3. Coconut Milk Stewed Matoke By Kaluhi’s Kitchen
Do you love coconut milk as much as I do? If so, this can be the perfect recipe for you!
What’s interesting about this recipe is that the recipe developer uses original ingredients instead of using ground spices. For example, instead of garlic powder, she uses garlic.
This adds so much more flavor to the recipe!
More specifically, this recipe requires the following ingredients:
- Green plantains
- Green bell pepper
- Onion
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Tomatoes
- Rosemary
- Coriander
- Soy sauce
- Coconut milk
- Vegetable oil
4. Nigerian Plantain Porridge by All Nigerian Foods
So, this Nigerian plantain porridge recipe serves 4 people and takes a total of about 40 minutes to make.
One of the benefits of eating this dish is that it is lower in carbohydrates compared to many American porridge options.
Also, Nigerian plantain porridge is VERY filling as it has a lot of protein (mainly from fish) and fiber, too (from the vegetables).
Other Caribbean and Latin American Boiled Plantain Recipes for Unripe Green Plantains
5. Blaff de Bananes Vertes (Green Plantains Blaff) by Caribbean Green Living
This is a very popular dish in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. People make it by cooking the green unripe plantains in water, herbs, garlic, hot pepper, and lime juice.
Check it out!
6. Sopa de Plátano (Plantain Soup) by Cook 2 Eat Well
This is a very popular soup in Cuba and Colombia. This recipe, however, is a Cuban-style plantain soup recipe.
For this recipe, you’ll first need to peel the unripe green plantain and chop it into chunks.
Then you’ll need to sautee diced onions, carrots, and celery with garlic and other flavorings.
Next, you’ll saute the green plantains with the flavors and add chicken broth.
Once it’s done cooking, you can mash the plantains with the back of a cooking spoon or an immersion blender.
Interested in learning more? Check out the link above by Cook 2 Eat Well!
7. Labouyi Bannann (Haitian Plantain Porridge) by Savory Thoughts
This recipe is very similar to the Jamaican porridge recipe above. It’s easy to make and does not require a lot of ingredients. However, one of the main differences is that this recipe adds carrots and uses evaporated milk instead of sweetened condensed milk.
I recommend you check it out!
8. Pong Plantain From Trinidad
The English translation of pong plantain, a popular dish from Trinidad, is pounded plantain.
Many people in Trinidad enjoy eating this dish alongside callaloo or stewed chicken.
(You should note that this dish is also called pong plantain in Guyana).
Interestingly, other Caribbean countries make a similar dish but with different names. For example, people in West Africa call this dish plantain fufu while the Puerto Rican mofongo and Cuban fufu are very similar (mofongo is one of my favorite Puerto Rican dishes!!!).
What I like about this recipe is that it is very easy to make! Take a look at the YouTube video below by WhaToCook Trini Recipes And More to see what I mean:
9. Mangú (Dominican Mashed Plantains) by Dominican Cooking
This is a mashed plantain breakfast dish that is very similar to the dish above, except it’s from the Dominican Republic. It’s SO POPULAR, that many people think it might as well be their official breakfast dish!
Many Dominicans enjoy eating this dish alongside a common breakfast dish consisting of fried Dominican-style salami, fried eggs, and fried cheese (they call this Los Tres Golpes).
More specifically, mangú consists of boiled mashed green (unripe) plantains, salt, and oil or butter.
See, it’s very similar to the pong plantain recipe above. However, the one difference is that the recipe developer tops the mangú with a red onion garnish (yum).
Check it out! And check out the Los Tres Golpes recipe on their page while you’re at it!
10. Green Plantain Empanadas with Cheese Filling {Empanadas de verde} By Laylita’s Recipes
So, this specific green plantain empanada recipe is from Ecuador.
(If you’re unaware of what an empanada is, it’s basically a kind of pastry (or turnover) that’s very popular in Latin American cuisines.)
Many people in Ecuador enjoy eating these empanadas for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and of course as a snack since they’re so easy and convenient to eat with your hands.
Also, although you can make these at home, many Ecuadorians enjoy buying them already made at restaurants and coffee shops (not that they’re difficult to make – it’s just very convenient to buy them already made).
Anyway, the basic ingredients for this recipe include:
- Green plantains
- Butter
- Salt
- Grated or crumbled cheese
- Onion
- Oil
That’s it! You GOTTA take a look for yourself! Just click on the link above!
11. Haitian Bouillon (Beef and Veggies Soup) By Caribbean Green Living
As the title implies, this is a one-pot meal that’s very common in Haiti. Traditionally, people would normally make this dish on Saturday.
Since the meat takes the longest to cook, the seasoned meat is the first thing to get cooked. Then, you would cook the vegetables and dumplings in a separate pot with spices.
Check it out for yourself!
Boiled Green Plantain Recipes From India
Yes, Indian cuisine uses plantains, too! Check out the boiled plantain recipes below for unripe green plantains.
12. Avial Recipe by Hebbars Kitchen
This is a South Indian coconut-based curry dish that incorporates a good amount of vegetables and is usually served on rice.
People normally eat avial for special occasions such as for sadya, which is a vegetarian feast in Kerala.
Some of the vegetables in this dish include:
- Potato
- Cucumber
- Long beans
- Tindora (ivy gourd)
- Cucumber
- Plantains
- Carrot
- Suran (elephant foot yam)
- Drumstick vegetable
- Curry leaves
Check out the video below by Hebbars Kitchen to learn more:
13. Raw Banana Salan By Vah Reh Vah
This is a dry curry that you make with green plantains and lots of spicy ingredients.
You can learn more about it by watching this YouTube video below by Vah Reh Vah:
Boiled Yellow Plantain Recipes
Ok, so the recipes below ask for yellow plantains.
[In case you’re not aware of the differences, plantains with a green peel are not sweet, plantains with more black on their peel are super sweet, and plantains with a yellow peel are sweet but not as sweet as the ones with more black on their skin.]
14. Guatemalan Rellenitos De Plátano By Growing Up Bilingual
This is a dessert recipe from Guatemala that’s extremely popular to make during the holiday season (although many people make it any time of the year and enjoy eating it for breakfast, too).
In this recipe, you’ll boil some ripe plantains, mash them and fill them with sweet black beans, and cover them with sugar!
AND an added bonus is it only takes about 30 minutes to make!
If you need a visual, you can watch this YouTube video by Plant Based with Chef Geannie.
[This is a different recipe from the link above].
**Warning: they use some curse words in this video**
15. Ginataang BIlo Bilo (Sticky Rice Balls in Coco Milk) By Foxy Folksy
This is a yummy Filipino dessert or snack recipe using ripe plantains OR saba bananas. Some of the main ingredients include:
- Glutinous rice balls
- Ripe plantains
- Sweet potatoes
- Tapioca pearls
- Coconut milk
- Jackfruit
What’s SO GREAT about this food is you can eat it hot or cold and you can eat it for breakfast, dessert, or as a snack. It’s very versatile!
I HIGHLY recommend you check out the page above and WATCH the video, too! It’s so mouthwatering!
16. Sancocho de Habichuelas or Sopión By Dominican Cooking
So, this is ANOTHER recipe that uses ripe plantains and sweet potatoes. (However, it’s not a dessert like the Filipino Ginataang Bilo Bilo recipe above).
Sancocho de habichuelas, also known as sopión or zambumbio, is basically a sweet and spicy red bean stew from the Dominican Republic.
Although the stew is not sweet, the ripe plantains and sweet potatoes are the sweet components of this sweet and spicy dish.
The spicy pork sausage, longaniza, is the spicy component.
Check it out for yourself by clicking on the link above!
17. Eto by Nanaaba’s Kitchen on African Vibes
This is a ripened mashed plantain recipe (mixed with palm oil) from Ghana.
(However, keep in mind that some people make eto with unripe green plantains, too).
Some of the main ingredients include:
- Ripe plantains
- Red onion
- Shallot
- Serrano chili
- Peanut butter
- Roasted peanuts
- Dawadawa
- Salt
- Palm oil
Check out the video on the page in the link above for more information 😉
Boiled Over-Ripe Plantain Recipes (Mostly Black Skin)
These recipes will use over-ripe plantains, which means the skin is mostly black instead of yellow or green.
I love eating over-ripe plantains because they are super, duper sweet when you cook them! Also, they’re very easy to use for desserts 😉
African Boiled Plantain Recipes for Over-Ripe Plantains
18. One-Pot Beans and Plantains (Bean and Plantain Pottage) by Recipes From A Pantry
So, this recipe uses palm oil, which is a very common staple in many African households, such as those in Sierra Leone.
More specifically, Bean and Plantain Pottage is a very common street food using black-eyed beans, fish, palm oil, and plantains.
You can eat this dish by itself or stuff it in bread for an even more filling meal.
I highly recommend you check it out!
Other Caribbean and Latin American Boiled Plantain Recipes for Over-Ripe Sweet Plantains
19. Empanadas de Plátano Maduro (Ripe Plantain Empanadas) By My Colombian Recipes
So, these Colombian cheese empanadas are similar to the Ecuadorian cheese empanadas mentioned above, except these ones are made with sweet ripe plantains instead of green plantains.
The only ingredients you’ll need for this recipe include:
- Ripe plantains
- All-purpose flour
- Mozzarella cheese
- Butter
- Egg
- Sugar
- Vanilla extract
You just HAVE TO check this recipe out! Click on the link above for My Colombian Recipes to get a better understanding of these ripe plantain empanadas.
(The pictures look sooooo appetizing, too)!
20. Chucula By Saveur
OK, so chucula is a sweet plantain pudding or thick drink (depending on how you make it) from Ecuador.
The only ingredients you’ll need include:
- Over-ripe plantains
- Whole milk
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Vanilla extract
- Sugar
Yup! That’s it!!
Take a look at the video below by KWA for a GREAT visual!
(What I like about this video is that they show us both ways to make chucula. The mashed plantain version is what you would make if you want to eat it while the version where you use the blender is the version you’d use if you want to drink it).
Disclaimer: This video is in Spanish. I had a hard time finding one that has English subtitles. Also, FYI, you don’t have to add cheese.
Final Thoughts On Recipes That Use Boiled Plantains
So, those are the boiled plantain recipes I have for you! As you can see from the list above, plantains are SO versatile, and boiling them is just one way to cook them. Actually, I’d say boiling plantains is one of the easiest ways and perhaps one of the healthiest ways to cook them, too.
Do any of the recipes above stand out to you? If so, please let me know in the comments below!
