Tostones

Name: Tostones
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Puerto Rico
Ingredients: 3 very green plantains; 500 ml vegetable oil, for frying; Fine salt; 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 4 tbsp olive oil; 1 lime, juiced; 1 tbsp chopped coriander; 1 pinch chilli powder

Green plantain slices fried twice, flattened and salted, served with a punchy garlic and lime dipping sauce.

Published on 5 January 2026·Updated on 10 September 2026

VeganGluten-free#plantain#fried#snack#garlic#caribbean

AI-generated image, not a photograph of the dish

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 15 min
Total: 30 min
Serves: 4
Difficulty: Easy

Method

Make the sauce by mixing the garlic, olive oil, lime juice, coriander, chilli and a pinch of salt. Leave it to infuse while you cook.
Trim the ends of the plantains, score the skin lengthways and peel it away. Cut the flesh into 3 cm chunks.
Heat the oil to 160°C in a deep frying pan. Fry the chunks for 3 to 4 minutes a side until tender and barely golden. Drain.
While still hot, flatten each chunk to about 1 cm thick with the base of a glass or a tostonera press.
Raise the oil temperature to 180°C and fry the flattened rounds again for 2 minutes a side until golden and crisp.
Drain on kitchen paper, salt immediately and serve hot with the garlic sauce.

The plantains must be properly green and firm; a yellow one gives soft, sweet tostones. A quick dip in salted garlic water between the two fryings makes them even crisper.

The techniques this recipe uses

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

This recipe also appears in

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 420 kcal
Protein: 2.5 g
Fat: 25.9 g
Carbohydrate: 51.2 g
Fibre: 3.2 g

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

Frequently asked questions

Why flatten the pieces while they are still hot?

Once cool, the plantain flesh firms up and cracks apart instead of spreading into an even disc. Take them straight out of the first fry and press them to 1 cm with the base of a glass or a tostonera.

Can I get ahead before guests arrive?

Yes, by splitting the recipe: do the 160 °C first fry and the flattening hours in advance and keep the discs covered. Only the two-minute second fry at 180 °C is left for serving, which should happen immediately.

When should they be salted?

The instant they leave the second fry, while the surface is still oily: salt clings then, whereas it slides off a cooled toston. The garlic sauce, by contrast, is best mixed at the start so it infuses while you cook.

Chilli peppers, from mild to Scotch Bonnet
How Caribbean and African cuisines harness the perfume and heat of Scotch Bonnet, and how others pair chilli with palm sugar, tamarind or pomegranate.

Have you cooked this dish?

No ratings yet.

Give it a rating

More recipes from Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico⏱ 55 min

Arroz con gandules

Puerto Rican rice with pigeon peas, tinted by achiote oil and seasoned with sofrito, olives and capers.

Medium·655 kcalVeganGluten-free

Recipes in the same spirit

PataconesColombia
ClacloIvory Coast
Tempeh gorengIndonesia
Bollo LimpioColombia