Hola Mi Gente,
I feel like this is something that I don’t highlight enough on the blog, so here it goes: I love plantains. I love these delicious starchy fruits. So versatile and fruitful throughout their entire lifespan. From completely ripened, fried plantains (best cooked when the peel is almost completely black), to these beauties: tostones. If you’re at all familiar with Paleo or Whole 30 lifestyles, you’ll know that tostones are as close as you get to making homemade chips without any kind of alternative flour. These crunchy crisps are delicious on their own, as a snack during a movie, or after a meal, but they’re also great as an alternative to tortilla chips for nachos.
Perhaps their most wonderful quality though, is that tostones only require three ingredients, and they can be ready in as little as 20 minutes! And because most grocery stores sell plantains before they’ve started to ripen, it’s pretty easy to grab a few green plantains at the store and make some snacks for the week!
Many rich cultures from West Africa, to the Caribbean and South America eat and enjoy tostones. Also known as Patacones, or just Plantain Chips. I was introduced to them by Puerto Rican family friends. In Guatemala we often just eat the ripe and sweet plantains (sometimes served as dessert, covered in Guatemalan crema and sugar), but that is one of the many, many gifts of growing up surrounded by a rich Latinx community: we get to share and exchange the way our countries’ have uniquely flavored a lot of the same foods.
To make tostones there are a few tools that are helpful (but not necessary!) to have. I really love using my Presto Electric Griddle to make my tostones on, because it heats evenly through, and allows me to make big batches at a time (one day I WILL have a griddle insert on my stove 😭). It’s also helpful to have a meat tenderizer to smash your plantains, and turn them into little flattened disks (as an added bonus, it counts as a little stress relief, too). Jacobsen Pure Kosher Salt, I know it seems silly, but when it comes to salt, this is just as perfect a match you can find for tostones. You won’t believe it till you’ve tried it, but using good quality salts really does enhance the flavor of your food. These perfect crystals are a little larger than regular table salt, and pack enough flavor so that they’re all you need on tostones!
I hope you enjoy these easy tostones! I love to load mine up with carne asada, or dip them in guacamole! Let me know what you’d eat and enjoy them with in the comments–it’s always fun to hear other people’s pairings.
Love, love, love,
Tostones
Ingredients
- 3 Green Plantains
- Grapeseed, coconut, or avocado oil enough to cover the bottom of your pan or griddle + additional as needed
- Kosher Salt To Sprinkle on finished tostones
Instructions
- Heat your griddle or pan with enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan over medium-high heat. While the pan is heating, slice your plantain in 1/2 " rounds. Add to the griddle and cook until a golden sear is reached (about 1.5 minutes), flip and cook the same on the other side. Remove plantain rounds, and flatten in a meat tenderizer or a rolling pin. Add a little more oil to the pan and add in the plantain disks, cooking on each side for another minute. Remove tostones, and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and enjoy!
Mary-Beth Johnson
Mary-Beth is a creative, food-obsessed, Georgia transplant living Chicago. She is proudly and fiercely Latina, and more specifically Chapina. In her day to day she is a food educator to students around Chicagoland aged 3 to 80+, both virtually and in-person. She is passionate about cultivating the truth that every person has an understanding of food that deserves being brought to the table, and that time in the kitchen can be sacred, passionate, and an act of love for self and others. Outside the kitchen you can find her at the intersections of infertility, chronic illness, and a deep love for the dignity of all humans. She hopes to create a space that is holistic about the role of food in the social, political, relational, and physiological dynamics of our world.
