Perfect oven baked plantain chips

If you are looking for the best plantain chips recipe, look no further. These baked plantain chips are the perfect snack when you are craving something healthy to snack on.

Why should you make them?

Though you can easily buy tasty plantain chips from Trader Joe’s or any nearby supermarket, making fresh plantain chips at home using a good quality oil is far more satisfactory, delicious and healthy. This is a perfect healthy guilt-free snack for kids, friends and family.

These chips:

1. require less than 5 ingredients
2. take less than 30 minutes to make
3. are baked in the oven and are healthy
4. are gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan
5. and, they taste delicious!

Which plantains should you use for this recipe?

Though plantains belong to the banana family, they differ greatly from Cavendish or ripe bananas.
Plantains are starchy, less sweet and are usually cooked before serving. Plantains are also called green bananas due to their colour. If allowed to ripen, they turn yellow and eventually dark. Plantains are native to South and Central America, Africa, and Asia, where they are important food sources. They are high in potassium, fiber and resistant starch – which is great for gut health.
Plantains come in various shades of colour – from green to yellow to black. Green being unripe, yellow being moderately ripe and black being ripe.

For this recipe, I recommend using green unripe variety to get a crispy texture.

Step by step instructions

To start off, preheat your oven to 175 degrees C (350 F).

Use a knife to score the plantain lengthwise, just through the peel, in order to peel it. Since they are unripe, they don’t peel easy like a banana.

Use a mandolin slicer to slice the plantain into thin chips. Although you could use a knife, I recommended using a mandolin slicer to ensure all slices are even and cook consistently.

The slicing process is very quick with a mandolin slicer but please stay safe when using it to prevent accidents.

Once you have the slices, transfer them to a mixing bowl and season well with coconut oil and salt.

Next, line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Place the plantain slices on the parchment paper, making sure the slices are not touching each other. Otherwise, they won’t cook evenly and will not crisp up.

Bake them in the oven at 175 C/ 350 F for about 22- 24 minutes till crispy. Rotate the baking tray at the halfway point to achieve even cooking.

Once they are out of the oven and are still hot, sprinkle a pinch of salt and any additional seasoning of your choice.

We like:

paprika powder for a sweet and peppery taste,

cayenne pepper for a bit of spice,

or, lime zest for a fresh citrusy taste.

Mix well and enjoy.

Top tips

1. Use unripe green plantains. Yellow and black plantains are relatively ripe and are not suitable for making crispy plantain chips.
2. Use a mandolin slicer. Unless you have excellent knife skills to cut perfectly thin and even plantain slices, I highly recommend using a mandolin slicer.
3. Make sure the plantain slices on the baking tray are not touching each other. If the slices overlap, you might end up with soggy chips.
4. Rotate the baking tray at the halfway point to achieve even cooking. 
5. Season while the chips are still hot. Otherwise, the seasoning won’t stick to the chips.

Serving suggestions

You can eat them as is or with a flavoured dip such as our garlic aioli, hummus or guacamole.

Storage instructions

They taste best when consumed on the same day. But, you could store thoroughly cooked chips in an airtight container once they are completely cool. They stay good for 2-3 days.

If you try this recipe, please let me know in the comments and don’t forget to leave a rating. I love hearing from you! 

Recipe