Lately, I’ve added a twist to my Panamanian roots and changed up my mom’s traditional plantains recipe in favor of using my air fryer. Things are just a bit healthier with the air fryer, you know? And not nearly as much mess to clean as when dealing with a pan of used cooking grease. My air fryer sweet plantains (platanos maduros as is said in Panama) in the air fryer recipe is going to be on rotation a lot in this house!
Serve air fryer plantains for breakfast, for appetizers, or for a side dish at lunch or dinner. They are so versatile!
Many people confuse plantains with the non-cooked banana. Plantains need to be cooked. Plantains also have many nutritional benefits – though different from those of bananas.
If you’ve never had the pleasure of enjoying platanos maduros, I hope to help you with that issue! I grew up eating plantains on the regular. My mom, being from Panama, cooks platanos a few times a week. Sometimes we have platanos tajadas (double-fried in several inches of cooking oil) and other times Panamanian platanos maduros (pan fried). Other times, we enjoy plantains as more of a dessert – with my mom’s platanos en tentacion. Check the links below!
They are all amazing!
What Color Plantains Do I Get for Air Fryer Sweet Plantains?
Plantains are cooking bananas, and the stage they are in with regards to ripeness determines the type of plantains recipe you use them for.
You will typically find plantains in three different color ranges: green, yellow, and black. Sometimes you find the plantains in various stages of change from yellow to black so they will have both colors.
For this recipe for air fryer plantains, you need to go for the yellow ones that are starting to turn black.
These are ripe sweet plantains for platanos maduros (fried sweet plantains). They should still be somewhat firm enough that you can slice them easily and flip them easily in the air fryer.
How To Peel Plantains?
You will peel plantains differently than a typical banana. You can put a plantain on a cutting board to start. With a small to medium knife, slice off the ends of the plantains. Then, carefully cut a line down the peel lengthwise, and just peel the peeling away using your fingers.
Be careful not to actually cut into the banana. (I sometimes cut a shallow line into the plantain while doing this on accident. It is fine. Not a big deal as long as the plantain doesn’t fall into pieces.)
How Many Slices of Plantains are in One Plantain?
After the plantain is peeled, slice the plantains into slices on the diagonal. If your slices wind up more rounded than oblong (as some of mine did in these pictures), it is fine. But try to aim to get them on the diagonal so they are oblong.
A goal is to try to slice the platanos maduros between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick. Typically, I get anywhere from 15 to 18 slices per plantain. However, some plantains are larger than others – just like in typical bananas.
Do I Need To Use Any Oil for Air Fryer Plantains?
Compared to traditional fried sweet plantains which are cooked in a skillet of oil, cooking plantains in air fryer machines calls for much less oil. You will need to spritz a bit of cooking spray – olive oil spray or Pam spray – onto the air fryer basket before you add in the plantains. This helps prevent sticking – especially if you are working with softer (mushier) plantain slices.
Then, you will spritz just a touch more cooking spray to the top of the plantain slices to help them evenly brown.
How Long Do I Cook Sweet Plantains in the Air Fryer?
After you spritz the cooking oil onto the basket, add the sliced plantains, being careful to not overlap them. You may have to cook in batches. My air fryer is on the smaller side. It does not fit all of my slices at once. But some people have much larger air fryers that should fit one entire plantain at once.
I cook my sliced plantains a total of 10 minutes, flipping them after the first five minutes. However, each machine is different. You may need up to 11 or 12 minutes, depending on your machine. But the worst thing would be to dry out the plantains by overcooking them. They become tough and hard to chew. Keep an eye on them if you go past 10 minutes.
How Do you Serve Platanos Maduros?
As soon as I pull the air fryer sweet plantains out of the air fryer, I layer them on a large plate or serving dish. Then, I sprinkle salt on them. I use course sea salt or table salt.
Additionally, I like to whip up a spicy dipping sauce. My favorite one is sriracha mayo. But you can use any type of spicy sauce you like. The spicy sauce against the sweetness of the sweet plantains is really dynamite!
Again, you can serve plantains at breakfast alongside eggs and carne. Or you can serve these as an appetizer for guests to nibble on. Most often, my family enjoys them as a side dish at dinner. They are great alongside any Latin-inspired main dish. Try them alongside arroz con pollo or these sheet pan blackened tilapia Baja fish nachos for a delicious dinner!
Make Two Ingredient Sriracha Mayo
Can you guess which two ingredients are in this quick sriracha mayo? Haha! You guessed it!
This quick sauce couldn’t be more simple. I just put a little mayo in a bowl and mix in a bit of sriracha. When I am making air fryer plantains for the four of us, I just do a small serving because my daughters won’t touch spicy sauces. Two tablespoons of mayo to two teaspoons of sriracha fills my little condiment bowl and is plenty for my husband and I to use as a dipping sauce.
If you want to keep the dip vegan like the plantains, you can always buy a vegan sriracha to pair with a vegan mayo.
Air Fryer Sweet Plantains
Equipment
- 1 air fryer
Ingredients
Sriracha Mayo Sauce (Optional)
- 2 tbsp Mayonnaise This makes enough for two people to dip. You might wish to double or triple the sauce.
- 2 tsp Sriracha Sauce
Air Fryer Plantains
- 1 Plantain
- Pam Cooking Spray
- 1 tsp Salt
Instructions
Make Sriracha Mayo Sauce
- In a small bowl, stir mayo and sriracha sauce together until well blended.
- Keep chilled until ready to use.
Cooking Sweet Plantains in the Air Fryer
- Peel plantains and slice into diagonal slices – 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.
- Lightly spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray.
- Add plantains in batches, careful to keep them from overlapping.
- Lightly spritz the tops of the plantains with more cooking spray.
- Cook at 375° for 5 minutes.
- Flip and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Check for doneness. Add 1-2 additional minutes if necessary. Do not overcook.
- Add salt to your desire and serve plantains with the sriracha mayo sauce.
Nutrition
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