By Plantain Fufu – If you like plantains, you will love this fufu recipe. It’s tasty and easy to make. Try it with traditional African soup and stews like egusi soup, okro soup, or efo riro.
Plantain fufu
Plantain fufu is a traditional West-African dish made from green plantains. It is very similar to the traditional West African fufu and can be used as a replacement for it. Plantain fufu is an excellent choice for those looking for a slightly lighter version of the traditional fufu recipe.
Plantain fufu belongs to the food group we call solid/swallow food because they are doughy in consistency so we use our fingers to cut out morsels and use the morsels to scoop the soup/stew before swallowing.
Why Plantains?
Plantains are grain-free and gluten-free and they are a good source of Magnesium, Calcium, and many other nutrients. In fact, it is recommended as a healthy food for diabetes and also helps to improve general body wellness.
Plantain fufu is one you should try out from time to time if you’re looking for an excellent alternative to the traditional fufu recipe made from cassava. You can check more plantain recipes here.
How To Make Plantain Fufu
This meal is really easy to prepare. All you have to do is to peel and cut the plantains into small chunks – this will make blending a breeze. Pour the blended plantain inside a pot and continue to stir until it becomes doughy and stretchy enough to roll into balls or any other shape you desire.
Though, this recipe can also be made using plantain flour – which is flour made by drying the green plantains and grinding it into a fine powder.
I choose to use the green plantains today because that is what I have at home at the moment but if you like you can also use the plantain flour for this recipe. It works just as well. However, I will advise you to buy one that has no preservative in it.
Variant names of fufu include Foofoo, Fufuo, Foufou, Foutou, and many more depending on the part of Africa.
What is Plantain Fufu made of?
Plantain fufu is made with unripe (green) plantains and water.
What does plantain fufu taste like?
Since the plantain used is green and unripe, it is starchy and the flavor is somewhat subtle. That is why you don’t eat it by itself, you need a form of soup or stew to pair with it.
Soups and stews like egusi soup, okro soup, ewedu, ogbono soup, or efo riro pair so well with fufu.
Can I use ripe plantains?
I will not recommend using ripe plantains because the starch has been converted into sugar therefore it will be hard for the plantain to form a doughy solid consistency when cooked.
How long does it take to make plantain fufu?
It takes about 5 minutes on average. A little more time may be required if the plantains you use are on the bigger side.
BELOW IS A VIDEO DEMONSTRATION OF PLANTAIN FUFU:
Preserving the green plantains
Sometimes, we plan to use the green plantains in our recipes but all of a sudden, they go ripe on us. The best thing to do in order to prevent this is to store them and you will be able to use them anytime you choose to.
Green plantains can be best preserved by freezing them. Simply peel them then put them in a ziplock bag and freeze them. When needed, simply thaw and use as needed.
HOW TO MAKE PLANTAIN FUFU
Ingredients
- 2 Plantains green
- ½ to ¾ Cup water
Instructions
- Peel the plantain and cut it into small sizes.
- Throw in the cut plantain pieces in a blender and blend until smooth
- Pour the batter inside a pot and cook on medium heat stirring constantly until a stretchy and dough-like consistency is formed.
- Leave it to cool for few minutes before eating. This will make the Fufu a little firmer.
Notes
When the fufu is done, cover it or wrap it in a plastic wrap in order to prevent it from forming a crust. Leave it to cool for few minutes.
Nutrition
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Very nice and well presented….
Thanks.
Thanks, Osarieme.
Thanks for these recipes.
Very educating, informative and enlightening
You are welcome 🤗
Hi Lola! I’m excited to try this recipe. Any tips for rolling the fufu into the little “roll ups” in the picture?
Allow the fufu to cool slightly so it’s easier to handle, but not so much that it becomes too firm. Divide the fufu into portions, depending on how large you want the rolls to be. With lightly oiled or wet hands, shape each portion into a roll. You can make them cylindrical or oval, depending on your preference.
How do I make the rolls like you did?
Hi, the recipe doesn’t say when to use the water. Is it used in the blender with the plantain or folded into the plantain in the heated pot?
Jeep, the water is used in the blender to make the plantain batter. After this, you can pour the batter into the pot and stir. I hope this helps.
I come from Trinidad and we have a dish called “pong plantain”actually “pounded plantain” in non Trini English. We boil the plantain in it’s skin, green or half ripe and then mash it while still hot with a potato masher or in this day and age I put mine in the food processor. No water required. It looks amazingly like Fufu and since the ingredients are the same I imagine must be either identical or very similar. I have never used Fufu powder, but saw some from Jamaica in the grocery today and was curious as to what it was.Thank you for this, and will try this version, although I love Trini Pong Plantain.
Thanks for sharing, Kathryn. It’s interesting how so similar some cultures from opposite sides of the world can be. I will definitely be exploring Pong plantain now.
How can i use the plantain flour to make fufu, am I going to prepare it the way semo is being prepared or the way amala is being prepared
Make exactly like amala. 🙂
Good morning,
Greetings from the Bahamas.
Thanks for your recipe. Seems easy enough to make however prior to finding your recipe today I had purchased a box of plantain fufu flour from my local supermarket
I checked the ingredients
(after you mentioned to avoid the ones with preservatives) and unfortunately it does have preservatives….should I not use it?
And what are the cons if I do? Thanks
I wouldn’t recommend throwing it away. The preservative is just like the ones you see in your box of cereal and so many other boxed food. You can use it and just watch out some other time when shopping for it.
I can not wait to try to make fufu with my daughter. I tried while I was in Ghana a few years ago now we gonna try to make some our selves.
I was very surprised to see plantain with yuca/cassava recipe and technique.i will try very soon. I am the cassava cake King.
I’m sure you will love it! I will be happy to hear your feedback!!
I’m so excited to try this recipe. I love plantains and never thought about making it as a fufu!
Can I make fufu with unripe plantain peels flour?
I haven’t tried doing that before so I can’t say if it will work or not.
I never knew I can make fufu with fresh blended green plantain. I will give it a trial. Thanks.
Glad you now know 😄 I’ll love to know what you think once you try it!
Thank you for this delicious recipe. I really love to eat Fufu but I would normally get the boxed one. So when I was unable to get it because the supermarket that usually sells it closed, I was just forced to figure out how to do it myself. Thank you. I will do my very own from now on, not having to depend on the supermarket anymore. 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗 this recipe was very easy. I thought it used flour but I didn’t need it. Thanks again.
Thanks for d good work keep it up
I enjoyed cooking the plantain fufu freshly cooked plantain thank you for the ideas and sharing of the information
Thanks for the feedback! I’m glad you found the post helpful 🙂
Keep up the good work. How can I advertise on your site?
You can email me directly at cheflola10@gmail.com or send me a DM on Instagram.
Thanks for the good work
It’s a pleasure 🙂