Plátanos maduros fritos

Name: Plátanos maduros fritos
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Cuba
Ingredients: 4 plantains with black skins; 200 ml neutral vegetable oil; Fine salt; 1 pinch chilli powder; 1 lime, cut into wedges; White rice and black beans, to serve

Local name: Plátanos maduros fritos

Blackened ripe plantains fried until their edges caramelise, the sweet and salty side dish of the Cuban table.

Published on 18 April 2026·Updated on 10 September 2026

VeganGluten-free#plantain#fried#sweet-savoury#cuba#side

AI-generated image, not a photograph of the dish

Prep: 5 min
Cook: 15 min
Total: 20 min
Serves: 4
Difficulty: Easy

Method

Pick plantains whose skin has gone black over more than half its surface. Yellow skin gives firm, bland fruit.
Trim both ends, score the skin along its length and peel it away.
Cut each plantain on a slant into pieces 2 cm thick.
Heat 1 cm of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. A test piece should sizzle without browning in ten seconds.
Fry the slices for 3 minutes a side, until the edges turn mahogany and the centre stays soft.
Drain on kitchen paper, salt them and serve hot with rice and black beans.

Plantain sugar caramelises around 160 °C. Oil that runs hotter blackens the surface before the centre softens. A slanted cut widens the face that meets the pan, so every slice gains two caramelised edges.

The techniques this recipe uses

Drain and rinse
Canning liquid clouds a sauce and salts it blind: rinse until the water runs clear.

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Nutrition per serving

Calories: 657 kcal
Protein: 2.7 g
Fat: 46.7 g
Carbohydrate: 65.8 g
Fibre: 3.8 g

An estimate computed from the recipe quantities and the USDA food composition database. Real values vary with the products used.

Frequently asked questions

My plantains are yellow, can I use them?

Better to wait: you want the skin black over more than half the fruit. A yellow plantain is still firm and barely sweet, so it stays bland and will not caramelise. Leave it at room temperature for a few days and it will darken.

What frying temperature keeps the slices from burning?

Medium heat: a piece dropped in should sizzle without browning in the first ten seconds. Plantain sugar caramelises fast, and oil that is too hot blackens the surface before the centre has time to soften.

Why cut the slices on the diagonal?

An angled cut increases the surface touching the pan and gives each slice two caramelised faces rather than a narrow rim. About two centimetres thick keeps the middle tender while the edges colour.

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