Grilled Plantains: A staple of street affairs in West Africa. It’s a very simple, straightforward, and satisfying recipe. If you’ve never tried grilled plantains, let this recipe be a sweet introduction.
Grilled Plantain
Grilled plantains are cheap to make, healthy, and delicious. I like having them with peanuts, cashew nuts or spicy sauce, and fried fish. They can even be eaten on their own as well.
They are starchy enough to keep you satisfied until dinner without any problem, but not so heavy that it makes you sleepy during work hours. It is a simple, straightforward, and satisfying dish.
If you haven’t tried grilled plantains, you should give it a try.
When you grill a plantain, it caramelizes, becoming sweeter. This adds a whole new level of flavor to an already amazing fruit. But that’s not all that happens—the nutrients in the fruit come out in their most potent form, making it easy for your body to break down and absorb them. That means that eating grilled plantains is one of the best ways for your body to get essential vitamins and minerals like iron, calcium, and vitamin A!
Grilled plantain is also known as “boli” in Nigeria. It is made with ripe plantains and roasted without oil, salt, or any other seasoning so that the sweetness can shine through. We often buy them on roadsides where they are perfectly grilled on an open charcoal grill.
It is a healthy comfort meal with a delightful and sweet melty taste. On weekends, you can make it easily in an oven or air-fryer. Grilled plantain can serve as a dessert, a side dish, or snacks.
What’s The Difference Between Plantains & Bananas?
Don’t make a mistake; plantains are different from bananas. The first difference that comes to mind is that plantains are larger, have tougher skins, and have to be cooked before eating. On the other hand, bananas are smaller in size, their skin are softer and easy to peel, and doesn’t need to be cooked before eating.
You only need one ingredient to make this recipe and that is Ripe yellow Plantains!. No oil, no, salt, no seasoning is needed.
How to make Grilled Plantain
There are different ways of making grilled plantains. They can be made on the outdoor grill, oven-baked, or air-fried. Today, I’ll be showing you the oven and air fryer method.
Oven-grilled method
You can make the perfect grilled plantains by following these simple steps:
Preheat the oven to 400F
Cut off the top and bottom of each plantain half. Score peel lengthwise and curl back peel. Remove white flesh from the peel.
Place the slices on the grill and cook for about 10-15 minutes per side until golden brown.
Serve hot with a side of your favorite dipping sauce, such as pepper sauce, sour cream, or ranch dressing.
Air-frier method
Preheat the air fryer to 400°F
Place the plantains in the air fry basket for 10-12 minutes.
Then, flip to the other side and air fry for another 10-12 minutes or till golden brown on all sides.
Tips:
The Cooking time may take a little longer depending on the size of the plantain and the degree of ripeness.
Avoid overly ripe plantains that are too soft; they don’t maintain shape after baking and get burnt easily.
Don’t use unripe plantains for this recipe, it wouldn’t taste good. If you need a recipe for unripe plantains, check this plantain fries recipe.
How to Choose Plantain
Depending on the level of ripeness, plantain can be green, yellow, brown, black, yellow with black or brown spot. The level of ripeness will determine the sweetness. You can choose based on what you intend to use it for. For my grilled plantain, I like to use ripe yellow plantain.
You can buy unripe plantain and leave it to ripe at home before you use it.
How To Peel Plantain
There is no way you can grill your plantain without peeling it first.
To peel the plantain:
Get a knife and cut off the top and the bottom ends of the plantain.
After this, use the tip of the knife to slit the peel.
Remove the peel of the plantain and dispose. You can now use your plantain as you want.
Grilled Plantains: A staple of street affairs in West Africa. It’s a very simple, straightforward, and satisfying recipe. If you’ve never tried grilled plantains, let this recipe be a sweet introduction.
Cut both ends of the plantain with a sharp knife. Make a slit down the plantain skin and remove the plantain from the skin.
Place plantains directly on the oven wire rack in the middle and bake for about 15 minutes. Then flip to the other side and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown on all sides.
Serve with pepper sauce and grilled tilapia fish, guacamole, fried eggs, or peanuts.
Air fryer method
Preheat the air fryer to 400°F.
Place the plantains in the basket of the air fryer and air fry for 15 minutes. Then, flip to the other side and air fry for another 10 minutes or till golden brown on all sides.
Note: Cooking time may take a little longer depending on the size of the plantain and the degree of ripeness.
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