Easy Paleo & Gluten-Free Plantain Chips

If you’re paleo and wish you could enjoy a nice, crispy chip with some guacamole or salsa, here’s a quick and easy potato-like crisp you can make at home with green plantains and a little coconut oil… 

Plantains – not to be confused with the regular yellow “dessert” bananas – are a staple in Latin America, Central Africa, India, Asia, and Caribbean cuisine. When green plantains are cooked, they taste amazingly like a regular white potato. That’s because the starch inside a green-skinned plantain hasn’t turned to sugar yet.

Plantains are a rich source of vitamins, minerals, and fiber – in fact, they contain more vitamin A, C, and potassium than regular bananas! And while green plantains are starchy, they’re low on the glycemic index – pretty much on par with a sweet potato.

So let’s get to making these yummy plantain chips, shall we?

First, you want the green plantains for this recipe…the yellow- and black-skinned plantains are riper and best saved for sweeter dishes.

Green plantains have a tough outer skin and don’t peel anywhere near as easily as a banana. Here’s how to do it: First cut off both ends of the plantain. Next, score the skin with your knife lengthwise in at least three different places. Now grab the skin sections and peel them off.

If you’re still having a tough time getting the skin off after scoring them, soak the scored plantains in very hot water for a few minutes and try again. Remove any stubborn bits of skin left behind with a potato peeler.

And don’t worry if you slice through the skin and into the plantain flesh – I did that a few times and they’ll still fry up just fine.

Once you get the plantains peeled, cut each diagonally into thin slices. Now you’re ready to quickly fry them up in a skillet with a shallow layer of hot coconut oil. (See full instructions in the recipe below.)

Be sure and salt these little guys as soon as you get them out of the pan and onto the paper towel – otherwise, the salt won’t stick to them.

Try your plantain chips with these Paleo Newbie recipes:

Paleo Mexican Layered Dip

Recipe here

Pumpkin-Spiced Granola

recipe here

Easy Paleo Nachos

Recipe here

Note too, the crispiness of your plantain chips will disappear pretty fast, so if you’re going for chips and salsa or a similar dish, you’ll want to enjoy these pronto. They’ll still taste fine later on, but they’ll definitely be on the limp side.

(You can bring the crispiness of these back the next day with a few minutes in a 450º F oven if you really need to.)

Besides whipping up a bowl of healthy plantain chips for a paleo snack, I used some of these chips in a new paleo granola recipe I’m excited to share with you later this week…so stay tuned for that one!

Hope you enjoy this quick and easy paleo plantain chip recipe!

Print

Paleo Plantain Chips Recipe

Easy paleo and gluten-free recipe to cut and fry your own plantain chips at home.

Course Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword plantain, plantain chips, chips

Author by Trina

Ingredients

• 2 green plantains — peeled
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil — you may need more or less depending on the size of your frying pan
• Sea salt to taste — or another seasoning of your choice such as chipotle powder or paprika

Instructions

• Peel each plantain by first cutting off the ends and scoring the plantain skin lengthwise in several places, then peel
• Take each peeled plantain and cut diagonally into thin slices
• Heat a shallow layer of coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat
• Carefully place the slices in the hot oil (don’t overcrowd the pan). The slices should gently sizzle and move around if the temperature’s right
• Fry the slices 2 minutes or less per side – when they turn a golden color and have a little brown around the edges, they’re done
• Remove chips with a spatula or perforated spoon, and place on paper towels to drain
• SALT IMMEDIATELY after removal to assure the salt sticks to the chips
• Enjoy soon after cooking for maximum crispiness