For some reason, I haven’t been able to get my hands on brown plantains in a while. And whenever I buy yellow ones, they never ripen quite the same as when I find brown ones at the store. So when I saw brown plantains at Whole Foods recently, I bought 8 of them. Screw anyone else who wants plantains!! Plantains are one of my favorite starches, especially ripe ones. They are sweet, they are savory and they are damn freaking good! Just FYI, if you try to cook unripened plantains (yellow ones), you won’t get the same texture or sweetness. They will come out more tough. Keep that in mind when you’re making this recipe! Make sure they are turning brown or brown!! Just trust me and do as I say, ok?! And when you cook them in the air fryer, they come out crispy on the outside, and sweet and soft in the inside. If you haven’t used an air fryer yet, just a heads up that every air fryer cooks a bit different. I’ve owned two and cooked many of my recipes in both of those air fryers, and I usually have to tweak the cooking time and temperature just a little bit. So keep that in mind depending on what air fryer you get. I LOVE the air fryer I have now and highly recommend it! It’s not quite as big as my old one but it cooks things up really well!
Dude. I can’t believe it’s already Thursday. And I REALLY can’t believe it’s already the end of April. This month has been one of the best months in quite a while and it’s all because my husband took a huge step and quit his job that he’s been at for 14 years. His last day was last Friday and we celebrated all weekend long. And now that he’s kicked off his first week without his job, it’s finally the first week I’ve been able to hang out my husband. Before he was working Monday-Saturday, he would normally leave at 6am and not get home until 7:30 or later. Which meant we barely spent any time with each other. He was never around to help with chores or to help me with running errands. And we could never do anything spontaneous. But that has all changed now. I finally have a real husband and it’s f*cking awesome.
Just last night we headed out so he could help me with some work then decided to grab Quiero Arepas at their new brick and mortar. If he was still working at his normal job, we could never do that. That time was spent chatting, eating and reconnecting. And it was all done over sweet plantains at Quiero Arepas. Quiero Arepas was my first introduction to plantains and I’ve never looked back. Last night I had them covered in cheese and guasacaca, which is similar to chimichurri. I think I’ve eaten plantains every single day this week. And hung out with husband every single day this week. 2019 is so damn awesome! I can’t wait to see what the next few months with him have in store for us!
Air Fryer Plantains
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2-3 1x
Ingredients
- 2 brown plantains, peeled and cut in 1 inch slices
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- coconut oil spray
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Peel plantains, slice them, then add them to a mixing bowl. Add coconut oil and toss to completely coat.
- Spray coconut oil in the basket of your air fryer. Add plantains to your air fryer in one layer (not overlapping) then press temperature to 360 degrees F and time up to 10 minutes. Once 5 minutes has elapsed, use a fork to flip the plantain over then cook for 5 more minutes.
- Once the time is up, spray the plantains with a bit of coconut oil spray then turn the temperature up to 390 degrees F and timer up to 5 minutes. When the plantains are finished, sprinkle with salt and cayenne pepper!
Notes
*For the creamy chimichurri, make chimichurri sauce and mix with 3 tablespoons of almond milk greek yogurt!
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I can never cook my own plantains which may be a good thing but may have to get an air fryer just so I can make them! I need to just come visit and eat curry, plantains, and work out with you!!!
yes you do!!
My grandma and mom would always put unripe produce in a brown bag, usually peaches because you can seem to only find them uneatably hard or rotten. Per science, the bag traps the off gassing and it helps to speed up the ripening process apparently. Works SO good on peaches, maybe it would work with plantains!! AND I am just about to get an Air Fryer and never thought about cooking plantains in them! You so smart Juli.
i’ve tried that a million times with plantains and it NEVER works for me. so many people have recommended that but it won’t seem to work. i don’t know why!
I love arepas! Would you ever do an arepa recipe here?
since arepas are made from corn, i won’t be making an arepa recipe sadly! people would be PISSED lol
I’m so glad to hear your husband quit his stressful job!! I quit the corporate world 2.5 years ago and I haven’t regretted it one day (though I’ll admit I’ve had days where I’ve questioned wtf was I thinking lol). I look forward to hearing about his journey! For what it’s worth, my first choice post-corporate didn’t pan out, and neither did my second choice. The verdict is still out on the third lol. But I’ll keep trying!!
that’s definitely how life goes sometimes! excited to see what pans out for him in the future!! I’ll definitely keep you updated!
The air fryer is my BEST FRIEND for EVERYTHING. I have yet to try plantains in the air fryer, but your recipe looks stunning and freaking delicious! Plantains are always an amazing side dish–or for me, a great dessert!
air fryers are seriously the best thing ever! hope you like plantains in it, too!!
Hey Juli,
So, for this recipe you don’t have to pre-heat the Air Fryer?
nope!