Easy Tostones And Garlic Sauce Recipe

Have you ever noticed the pile of green or black, bruised looking bananas at the grocery store off to the side, sitting with a bunch of other fruit you don't recognize? You're actually looking at plantains, a common fruit in Latin America that is in the banana family but has many differences. You can buy plantains either green or black and the taste will be completely different. The green type that we're using in this recipe are firm, starchy, and taste like they belong in the potato family, whereas the black plantains are on the sweeter side.

Recipe developer Miriam Hahn brings us this recipe for easy tostones and garlic sauce and says, "Tostones are a fun little snack to make and may be the original food that started the current smashed potato trend that has gone viral on social media. I like to mix up my diet with a variety of produce items and love using plantains to incorporate other cultures into my cooking." Plantains offer several health benefits including being packed with fiber, resistant starch, and a wide variety of vitamins and minerals. Read on to learn how to make this tasty snack!

To make this recipe, we of course will need some plantains. You'll want to grab green plantains for making tostones because we're going for savory and potato-like. As plantains continue to ripen, they will become brown or black on the outside and on the inside they will be sweet. While you are in the produce aisle you can pick up some garlic, a lime and a lemon. "If you prefer to use bottled juices, they will work fine," Hahn shares. Then we'll need some mayonnaise, olive oil, and salt. "Any type of mayo will work here without a taste difference, so if you are avoiding eggs, you can use a vegan mayonnaise," Hahn remarks.

Peeling a plantain is quite different than peeling a banana. You'll want to cut off the top and bottom of each one, then make a long vertical cut through the peel from top to bottom of each plantain. The skin is fairly thick but be careful you aren't cutting too deep into the plantain flesh. Once you have sliced the peel, go ahead and separate it from the flesh and discard. Then cut each plantain into 1-inch chunks.

Pour the oil into a large skillet and bring the heat to medium high. "If you have a cast iron skillet pull that out because this will help char the surface and make the tostones even more crispy and delicious," Hahn shares. Place each plantain chunk into the hot oil, flat side down and cook for 4 minutes on the first side and 3 minutes on the other side. When they are done, remove with tongs and place on a plate, lined with a paper towel. "If you prefer to use less oil in this recipe you can use about 2 tablespoons and saute the plantains on high heat instead of deep frying," Hahn says.

Now place the plantains on a large cutting board and using a glass, press down on each one to smash it. When they are all smashed, put them back into the frying pan that has been reheated and cook for 1 minute on each side. After cooking, place them on the plate with a fresh paper towel. "If you have chosen to make this recipe with less oil, at this stage you can put the smashed plantains on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper and bake for 20 minutes at 400 F," Hahn tells us.

Our final step is to make the garlic sauce which only takes a few minutes. You'll need a small blender or food processor. Put the garlic, mayonnaise, olive oil, lime juice, lemon juice, and salt into the blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a dipping bowl and serve with your warm tostones. For some added color, add chopped parsley. This tasty snack or appetizer pairs will with steak, chicken or even ham and bean soup. If you have leftover tostones, they will last fine in a sealed container in the fridge for 3-4 days. To heat them up, you can put them under the broiler or pop them in an air-fryer if you have one. You just might be frequenting that newfound section at the grocery store with the unknown fruit!