Plantains … These banana lookalikes are crazy-amazing and pretty much have AIP Super-Powers!

This is probably the one food item I’m most grateful to have discovered on the AIP. Depending on their stage of ripeness they’re used in all kinds of dishes – from savory to sweet – from potato salad and potato chip substitutes to waffles, pancakes, cake, rice, nacho replacements and so much more! They’re basically the McGyver of the AIP world.

You’ll find LOTS of recipes that call for them below – well over 150 of them in fact (these recipes are also posted in the AIP Recipe Collection Facebook Group where members share their reviews on them, so be sure to check in there if you’re not sure about a recipe), but first, here are a few more details about them since you may not be all that familiar with them.

More About Plantains

With so many health benefits and ways to enjoy them, I encourage you to take a few minutes to learn a little more. I wasn’t kidding when I said they basically have superpowers! They’re a great source of potassium and magnesium, help regulate the digestive system, reduce harmful free-radicals, support the immune system and promote healthy brain function!

According to Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, Pioneer of the Autoimmune Protocol and creator of the Nutrivore food scoring system, green and yellow plantains rank in the top 500 Nutrivore Foods! (Click the preceding links to learn more.) Unripe plantains contain resistant starch is an important fiber type for a healthy gut microbiome and are high in the RS2 form of resistant starch. (As plantains ripen, their resistant starch content decreases while their sugar content increases.) Plus, plantains are rich in polyphenols, vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin B7 (biotin), copper, vitamin B5, carotenoids, magnesium, and potassium

Check out this article from Dr. Axe – Plantains: 7 Reasons to Add to Your Diet – there’s so many amazing details and tips about plantains and how they’re used at various stages of ripeness, I couldn’t hope do as good a job to summarize it all (NOTE: The recipes linked at the bottom of Dr. Axe’s article are not necessarily AIP compliant so be mindful to only use those suitable for your stage of the AIP).

Purchasing & Storage

You can find plantains year-round in most grocery stores in North America. If you have a challenge finding them, you might need to try Asian markets.

When shopping for plantains, be careful not to inadvertently pick up green bananas – they’re not the same thing but can often be mistaken. Typically plantains are much larger and displayed as individual plantains instead of in bunches.

I recommend purchasing them when they’re really green so you have more options of what you can make.

As with bananas they will ripen when stored at room temperature out of direct sunlight. If you aren’t ready to use them when they’ve reached the desired stage of ripeness, you can peel and freeze them for up to three months.

My Top Tip: Once your plantains reach their desired ripeness, simply refrigerate them (in their peel) to halt the ripening process. I find them to be completely useable even after a couple of weeks and there’s no need to worry about remembering to thaw them out. NOTE: once they’re in the fridge for a while the skins will turn black, but rest assured they’ve not ripened to that level, and you can verify that just by giving them a quick squeeze – they’ll still be firm.

Equipment & Instructions

Peeling plantains (especially really green ones) can be a little tricky, so here’s a quick video – How to Peel Green Plantains

Below you’ll se a LOT of recipes for wraps, tortillas and tostones, and while you can certainly make these things at home without any special equipment, you might consider purchasing a tortilla press and/or tostone maker if you’re planning to make these a regular part of your AIP diet. You can find recommendations here in my AIP Amazon Shopping resource (USA, Canada & UK recommendations included).

Special Note

One quick work about recipe round ups … if you’re a member of my AIP Recipe Collection Facebook Group you’ll know that for every recipe I post I include reminder notes about tricky ingredients that you need to watch for on your AIP journey. With round ups I’m not able to make specific notes for each recipe here so please be mindful and watch for the following that I typically remind members about:

“Ensure your coconut milk is additive free (water and coconut only), use quality pure organic vanilla or vanilla powder – not flavoring, ensure bacon is compliant (read more about that here and where to buy – click here), ensure nutritional yeast is non-fortified (learn more about why that’s important – click here) … and so on.”

You can stock up on lots of AIP Pantry items, plantain chips and so much more in my AIP Recipe Collection Amazon storefronts in the snack category – USA / Canada / UK (sorry – at present I haven’t found compliant plantain chip options in the UK on Amazon as of yet).

Let’s Get Cooking!

Below you’ll find my enormous round up of AIP plantain recipes sorted by the ripeness, and even as segment of recipes that use plantain flour or plantain chips. Once you start using plantains you’ll realize how useful it is to have them organized in this manner.

Okay folks, that’s it! I hope all the above details and the following recipes inspire you to start enjoying plantains regularly!

Green Plantains

When plantains are green, the pulp is fairly hard and they are very difficult to peel (see instructions above for this). At this stage, they are starchy and not very sweet, similar to a potato.

Air Fryer Tostones – What Great Grandma Ate
Allergy Friendly Waffles – Don’t Eat the Spatula
Apple Cider Donuts – Created Delicious
Baked Plantain Chips – Downshiftology
Baked Plantain Chips – Unbound Wellness
Baked Turmeric Plantain Chips – The Open Cookbook
Blueberry Muffins – Created Delicious
Blueberry Plantains – (yellow OR green) – The Health Nut Mamma
Breakfast Sausage Biscuits – Sanora in Bold
Burger Buns – Whole Food Saga
Caramelized Plantains with Cinnamon and Honey – Whole Food Saga
Carob Brownie Bites – Eat Beautiful
Cauliflower Risotto – It’s All ABout AIP
Chewy Lemon Ginger Cookies – The Primitive Homemaker
Chicken, Asparagus & Plantain Breakfast Bowl – Unbound Wellness
Chicken Taquitos – Meatified
Chimichurri Chicken, Plantain & Red Slaw Meal Prep – Unskilled Cavewoman
Chocolate Cake with Banana Avocado Frosting – A Clean Plate
Churros Inspired Tostones – A Dash of Dolly
Cinnamon Butternut Squash & Plantain with Apples – Nutrivore
Cinnamon Plantain Fritters – Grazed and Enthused
Crackers – Sanora in Bold
Crispy Plantain Home Fries – Kristina Risola
Crisply Plantain Tots – Grazed & Enthused
Crusty Loaf – Created Delicious
Cuban Plantain Soup – Casablanca Cooks (for AIP omit black pepper)
Curly Plantain Fries – What Great Grandma Ate
Dinner Rolls – AIP Recipe Collection (Previously Posted on The Paleo Mom)
Dinner Rolls – The Paleo Mom’s Recipe Adapted for Thermomix on Grainfree Living
DIY Plantain Flour – Immaculate Bites
Duck Fat Plantain Fries – Don’t Eat The Spatula
English Muffins – Castaway Kitchen
Falafel – Sanora in Bold
Fried Plantain & Sausage Breakfast Bowl – Clean Eating Veggie Girl (use coconut oil, omit egg and black pepper)
Garlic Rosemary Plantain Crackers – Autoimmune Wellness
Grain-Free Cornbread – Sanora in Bold
Green Plantain Crackers – Traditional Cooking School
Green Plantain Fritters – Cook 2 Nourish (for AIP follow omissions as noted in the ingredient list)
Green Plantain Pancakes – Curious Coconut
Green Plantain Sunday Brunch Pancakes – Hormones Balance (for AIP use coconut oil or lard, not ghee)
Grilled Plantains – The Domestic Man
Hamburger Buns – Empowered Sustenance
Healing Ginger Chicken Soup – Grazed and Enthused (for AIP omit black pepper)
Hearty Plantain & Yuca Stew (one green and one yellow) – The Open Cookbook
Honey Glazed Plantain Chips – Jan’s Sushi Bar
Honey Graham Crackers – Beyond the Bite
Instant Pot Beef Chili – Cook 2 Nourish
Instant Pot Cilantro Chicken Chili – Grazed & Enthused
Italian Herb Breadsticks – AIP Recipe Collection
Loaded Tropical Plantain Nachos (green or slightly yellow) – Fed and Fulfilled
Mango Sticky “Rice” – Bon AIPpetit
Mangu – Mashed Plantains – Food Courage
Mexican Crab Cakes – Beyond the Bite
Monfongo with Garlic Sauce – Steph Gaudreau (for AIP ensure pork rinds are compliant, omit cumin and red pepper flakes)
Morning Glory Cookies – Eat, Heal, Thrive
Morning Glory Muffins – Lichen Paleo, Loving AIP
Nightshade Free Instant Pot Chili – Grazed & Enthused
Novolone Cheese – Real World AIP
Orange & Rose Honey Cake – Autoimmune Wellness
Orange Scented Plantain Bites – AIP Lifestyle
Oven Roasted Plantains – It’s All About AIP
Pasta, Hand Rolled – Heal Me Delicious
Plantain & Kale Hash – Adventures in Partaking
Plantain Beef Stew – Lichen Paleo, Loving AIP
Plantain Buddha Bowl – Grass Fed Salsa (for AIP omit egg, use an AIP mayo or dressing)
Plantain Chips – Fed and Fit
Plantain Chips & Avocado Dip – Grazed & Enthused
Plantain Chips & Easy Guacamole – Gutsy by Nature
Plantain Chocolate Chip Cookies – Created Delicious (for AIP use coconut sugar and homemade carob chips)
Plantain Cookies – Pure Simple Nourishment (for AIP use gelatin egg)
Plantain Crackers – Nutrivore
Plantain Croquettes with Pancetta – Food Republic (for AIP ensure pancetta is compliant or use compliant bacon)
Plantain Empanadas – A Girl Worth Saving
Plantain Flatbread – Zesty Paleo
Plantain Fries – Don’t Eat the Spatula
Plantain Hashbrowns – Real Simple Good (for AIP omit black pepper)
Plantain Like Bread – It’s All About AIP
Plantain Pancakes – Pure and Simple Nourishment
Plantain Pizza Crust – Fed and Fulfilled
Plantain Pizza Crust – The Primitive Homemaker
Plantain Potato Salad – Fed and Fulfilled
Plantain Rice with Cilantro – Farmstead Chic
Plantain Soup – The Food Network (for AIP omit cumin and black pepper)
Plantain Stuffing – A Saucy Kitchen
Plantain Taco Shells – Tessa the Domestic Diva
Plantain Tortillas – Fresh Tart
Plantain Tortillas – with Tutorial – Intellectual Wellbeing
Plantain Tortillas – Minimalist Baker
Plantain Tortillas – Tasty Yummies
Plantain Tortillas (green/slightly yellowing) – The Castaway Kitchen
Plantain Tortillas – Grass Fed Salsa
Plantain Tortillas – Whole Lifestyle Nutrition
Plantain Rice – Food by Mars
Plantain Socca with Fresh Herbs – Zesty Paleo
Plantain Waffles (yellow & green) – Merit & Fork (for AIP use avocado or coconut oil not ghee, omit almond extract, use mace not nutmeg)
Plantain Wraps – Autoimmune Wellness
Puerto Rican Mofongo Relleno (Green Plantains Stuffed with Meat – Curious Coconut
Puerto Rican Plantain Sandwich (Jibarito) – Autoimmune Wellness
Pumpkin Eggnos – Vibrant Life Army Wife
Roasted Garlic Plantain Buns – Our Food Fix
Rosemary Olive Oil Plantain Chips – Strictly Delicious
Sage Plantain & Butternut Squash Hash – Don’t Eat the Spatula
Salmon Tourtiere – Nutrivore
Savory Plantain Soup – A Clean Plate
Soft & Fluffy Plantain Buns – Curious Coconut
Savory Mashed Plantains (Mangu) – Honest Cooking
Shepherd’s Pie – Food Courage
Shrimp and Green Plantain Curry Soup – Cook 2 Nourish (for AIP omit chilies and chili powder)
Smashed Plantain Pulled Pork Sliders – Real Simple Good
Sour Cream and Onion Plantain Chips – A Clean Plate
Sourdough Sandwich Bread (light green) – Eat Beautiful (for AIP ensure sauerkraut juice is compliant)
Sweet Plantain Waffles (yellow & green) – AIP Recipe Collection
Sweet Potato Flour Cinnamon Cake – Beyond the Bite
Tigernut Waffles – Dr. Amy Myers
Tostones – Nutrivore
Tostones – A Clean Plate
Tostones – Jen, Party of 7
Tostone Carnitas Nachos – Unbound Wellness (for AIP omit black pepper)
Turmeric Tortillas with Lamb Liver Pate – Whole Food Saga
White Chicken Chili – The Emancipated Epicure

Yellow (Ripe) Plantains

Slightly sweeter than green plantains, yellow plantains are mature and most often made into fried plantains. They’re best fried, cooked, boiled or grilled.

Apple Cider Donuts – 50 Shades of Avocado
Bacon Herb Biscuits – Civilized Caveman
Bacon Plantain Fritters – A Girl Worth Saving
Bacon Wrapped Plantain Bites – Heal Me Delicious
Beef, Bacon & Plantain Casserole – Paleo OMG (for AIP omit black pepper)
Bison & Tostone Nachos with Pineapple Salsa – Unrefined Junkie
Black Forest Cake (yellow & black)- Wendi’s AIP Kitchen
Blueberry Zucchini Plantain Muffins – Jo Levine Nutrition
Blueberry Plantains – (yellow OR green) – The Health Nut Mamma
‘Brown Sugar’ Glazed Spice Cake – Sonora in Bold
Caribbean Plantain Casserole (yellow with a few brown spots) – Heal me Delicious
Carrot Cake with Creamy Cheesy Frosting – AIP Recipe Collection
Cassava Biscuits – Sonora in Bold
Cast Iron Plantain Flatbread – The Castaway Kitchen
Cauliflower Plantain Tortilla – Insane in the Brine
Chewy Plantain Apple Cookies – Lichen Paleo, Loving AIP
‘Chocolate’ Pancakes – Sonora in Bold
Coconut Plantain Snickerdoodles – Delicious Obsessions
Dill Pickle Plantain Chips – Lichen Paleo, Loving AIP
Easy Plantain Banana Bread – Unbound Wellness
Garlic and Lime Chicken Plantain Fritters (yellow & black) – Curious Coconut
Gingerbread Squares (yellow with black spots) – Heal Me Delicious
Hearty Plantain & Yuca Stew (one green and one yellow) – The Open Cookbook
Loaded Tropical Plantain Nachos (green or slightly yellow) – Fed and Fulfilled
Maple Cinnamon Plantain Cookies – Real Food Forager (for AIP use mace not nutmeg)
Pan Fried Plantain Patties (yellow or brown) – Do You EvenPaleo
Peaches & Cream Plantain Cookies – Lichen Paleo, Loving AIP
Plantain Bread – Bella Grace Wellness
Plantain Collagen Pancakes – Lichen Paleo, Loving AIP
Plantain Drop Biscuits – The Organic Dietician (Reintroductions required of Chia Seeds required)
Plantain English Muffins – Holistic Wellness
Plantain English Muffins – Real Everything (for AIP use egg-free version)
Plantain Pancakes – Allergyummy
Plantain Pancakes – Dr. Jill Carnahan
Plantain Poppers – Unrefined Junkie
Plantain Sandwich Rounds – Delicious Obsessions
Plantain Waffles or Pancakes – Eat Beautiful
Pumpkin Bread with ‘Chocolate’ Chunks – Sonora in Bold
Pumpkin Eggnos – Vibrant Life Army Wife
Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake (yellow with black spots or black) – Sonora in Bold
Salted Caramel Plantains with Coconut Cream – Meatified
Sandwich Rounds – Sonora in Bold
Shrimp Plantain Tacos – Afro Vitality Eats (for AIP omit peppers and use an AIP Mango Salsa – like this one)
Single Serve AIP Brownie (yellow with black spots) – Unbound Wellness
Southwest Spinach Salad – Wendi’s AIP Kitchen
Spiced Honey Plantains with Sweet Cream – Unrefined Junkie
Strawberry Glazed Donuts – Purely Twins
Sweet & Savory Fried Plantains – Fed and Fulfilled
Sweet Plantain Fritters – Cook 2 Nourish
Sweet Plantain Waffles (yellow & green) – Easy Gluten Free Recipes
Tropical Plantain Breakfast Bowl – Afro Vitality Eats
Yucan Plantain Flatbread – Real Plans
Zucchini Carrot Muffins – Heal Me Delicious

Black Spots/Black (Over-Ripe) Plantains

Despite their color, black plantains are still good to eat. They are the sweetest and softest at this point and are typically baked and eaten as a dessert.

Black Forest Cake (yellow & black)- Wendi’s AIP Kitchen
Cinnamon Plantain Pudding – Meatified
Garlic and Lime Chicken Plantain Fritters (yellow & black) – Curious Coconut
Orange Chocolate Cake – Strictly Delicious
Pan Fried Plantain Patties (yellow or brown) – Do You EvenPaleo
Paleo Plantain Bread – Empowered Sustenance
Plantain Ice Cream – A Clean Plate
Plantain Snack Bar – Real Food Forager
Shredded Pork over Mashed Plantains – Paleo OMG
Sweet Caramelized Plantains – AIP Living
Sweet Plantain Guacamole – Steph Gaudrau (for AIP omit jalapeno, paprika and pepper)
Sweet Plantain Mini Cakes – The Open Cookbook
Vanilla Plantain Cookies – Real Food Forager (for AIP omit stevia)
Vanilla Shake – A Clean Plate

Plantain Flour

AIP Ravioli with Pumpkin Filling – Kaley’s Take
Banana Plantain Pancakes – Cook 2 Nourish
Cat’s Head Biscuits – Curious Coconut
Fudgy Collagen Brownies – Rally Pure
Garlic Knots – Curious Coconut (for AIP use olive oil)
Grain Free Naan / Indian Flatbread – Cook 2 Nourish
Island-Time Lime Coconut Donuts – Rally Pure
Lemon Scones – Created Delicious
Plantain Flour Crackers – Curious Coconut (for AIP omit black pepper)
Plantain Flour Pancakes – Curious Coconut (for AIP follow recipe substitutions as noted)
Plantain Flour Tortillas – Kate’s Healthy Cupboard (for AIP use coconut oil instead of butter)
Pumpkin Pie – Little Bites of Beauty
Savory Plantain Waffles – Little Bites of Beauty

Plantain Chips

Baked Onion Rings – Unbound Wellness (for AIP omit black pepper)
Chicken Strips – The Emancipated Epicure
Chicken Tenders – Wendi’s AIP Kitchen
Lemon & Garlic Plantain Chips – Meatified
Plantain Chick Chicken Tenders – Beyond the Bite
Plantain Chips Crusted Chicken – Sweet Treats