3-Ingredient Spicy Plantain Chips Recipe

Give your snack routine a new life with our crunchy and flavorful 3-ingredient plantain chips. Rather than reaching out for that bag of Doritos, try making your own crispy and spicy chips from this wonderful starchy fruit.

According to Ksenia Prints of At the Immigrant's Table, plantain chips are a popular snack across Latin America, the Caribbean, and even parts of Africa. In this recipe, the cousin of the banana offers a slightly sweeter, piquant alternative to potato chips that packs a satisfying crunch and soaks up all the flavor of its paprika and cayenne seasoning.

The best part of this recipe is how easy it is to put together. With minimal ingredients — green plantains, neutral frying oil, and a simple spice blend of paprika, cayenne, and salt — the success of this recipe comes down to how thinly you slice your unripe, firm green plantains. We love using a mandoline slicer for this, but you can also use the slicing attachment on your food processor. These homemade chips are perfect for game night, movie night, or a party where you're looking to serve something with a touch of panache.

To make these plantains, you'll need large green plantains that are unripe and very firm, sweet or smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, and salt. You'll also want to use enough neutral oil, like Canola or vegetable oil, to fill your chosen pot up to two inches deep.

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot to 350 F. The oil should be at least 2 inches deep.

Using a knife, cut off the ends of the plantains and make long vertical slits along the peel.

Peel the plantains and slice them into paper-thin rounds (¹⁄₁₆ inch) using a mandoline for consistent thickness.

Pat the plantain slices completely dry with paper towels. Let them air dry for 5 minutes to remove excess moisture.

Working in small batches (don't overcrowd), carefully add the plantain slices to the hot oil. Fry them for 2-3 minutes until they're golden brown and crispy.

Remove the chips with a slotted spoon and immediately transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate to drain the excess oil.

While still warm, sprinkle the spices evenly over the chips and toss them gently to coat.

Cool the chips completely for maximum crispiness, for about 5-10 minutes.

Serve the plantain chips, and if you have any leftovers, store them in an airtight container.

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Plantains are a fruit that are popular around the world, specifically in Latin America, Africa, and the Caribbean, but are somehow lesser known in North America — and we think it's time to change that. Plantains are a starchy fruit of the banana family, though they're larger, firmer, and less sweet than dessert bananas.

Native to Southeast Asia, plantains spread to Africa through slave and trade routes and later arrived in the Caribbean and Latin America during the colonial period. Today, plantains are grown throughout tropical regions and serve as a primary carbohydrate source in many countries, similar to potatoes in Western diets.

The snag with plantains is that, unlike bananas, plantains must be cooked before eating. They are most often deep-fried or fried, like in these plantain chips or in patacones, but you can also grate, mash, or boil them.

Plantains can be cooked and eaten in various stages of ripeness, each corresponding with a different color and set of features. For this recipe, it's crucial that you use the most unripe, green, and firm plantains you can find.

Green plantains are the first stage of the plantain fruit. They are starchy and firm, making them perfect for savory applications like chips, twice-fried plantain slices, and mofongo. As they ripen and turn yellow, plantains develop a slightly sweeter flavor, but can still hold their shape. Fully ripe black plantains become sweet and soft, ideal for desserts or sweet side dishes.

Plantains of different stages of ripeness are not interchangeable. Each color is associated with a different texture and sugar quotient, which means a different colored plantain is often not usable for recipes that need either a firmer shape or a more mashable consistency.

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