Plantain Nachos (Whole30 Approved)
Eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring! Replace tortilla chips with baked sliced plantains, a healthier alternative that still give you a great crunch and taste fantastic (and they are Whole30 approved!). Although they look like bananas, plantains are actually NOT sweet when green. They are more starchy which makes them a nice substitute for chips as they taste more like a potato than a banana. You should be able to find plantains at your mainstream grocery store – I was able to find them at my local Albertsons for under $1 per pound.
Plantain Nachos
yield: 4 SERVINGS
prep time: 15 MINUTES
cook time: 40 MINUTES
total time: 55 MINUTES
Easy plantain appetizer for any event! These yummy and paleo friendly nachos will be a hit with any protein!
Ingredients
- 2 green plantains, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- 1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey
- 1/2 white onion, chopped
- 3 Tablespoons homemade taco seasoning
- 1/4 cup water or broth
- Toppings of choice: Pico de Gallo salsa, avocado, guacamole, jalapenos, lettuce, tomatoes, etc.
Directions
1
Preheat the oven 400 degrees.
2
For the Plantain Chips: Peel and cut plantains into super thin slices. The easiest way to peel a plantain is to first cut the ends and then make about 3 or 4 cuts in the peel lengthwise down the plantain. Do not cut down through the meat – just the skin. Then start at one end and peel the skin down. The key to crunchy chips is slicing the plantain really thin. It’s helpful to use a mandolin vegetable slicer to get super thin slices.
3
Melt coconut oil and stir in a bowl with the chips to coat evenly. Arrange on a baking sheet in one layer. Salt & Pepper to taste.
4
Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes until crisp. I like to use a metal rack on top of a baking sheet to ensure they come out nice and crispy.
5
For Meat: Brown meat in a skillet on the stove with chopped onions. Drain any excess fat. Add taco seasoning and broth or water. Stir until well combined. Serve on top of plantain chips along with desired toppings. Makes about 3-4 servings.
These plantain chips didn’t last long in our house! Next time, I may even slice them lengthwise for a longer chip. I topped mine with lots of Pico de Gallo and chopped avocado. Enjoy!
These look delicious! A quick shortcut for anyone who might be intimidated by the plantains is that Trader Joes sells plantain chips for about $1.75 per bag. Same result- quick & easy. 🙂
Thanks for the tip, Beth!
Thanks!
No problem. 🙂 Just a quick note though- if you do have a specific intolerance to certain oils, etc- you may want to double-check the label at Trader Joe’s to be sure you can tolerate the type of oil they use for frying. My dd is on auto-immune paleo though and does great with these. Super yummy for dipped guac.
Beth, my dd is being evaluated for a probable auto-immune disorder and our research suggests grain free diet to avoid inflammation. I am so grateful for all of the info and comments as I had always wondered why this diet. I can see now the whole family will be eating a whole lot better!!!
This looks so good!
This looks great!!! 😍👏👐
This looks so yummy. I love plantain chips. You can sprinkle seasoning on them if you plan to eat them plain. I also love to cook ripe plantains with a bit of butter and honey in a pan. So good.
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Thank you so much Lina! I began the Whole30 last week after Collin posted about it. I’m completely new to eating healthy, so this has definitely been a challenge. On top of that I’m from the Dominican Republic and we eat plantains almost everyday (sometimes twice a day). I hadn’t cooked plantains thinking they are not “whole30 approved”!!! Thank goodness!! I know what I’m having for dinner!
yay!! it’s great to see a fellow dominican on this blog!!
We eat a lot of plantains too, my dad is Jamaican! Though we usually fry them, this recipe seems like a nice alternative. I can’t wait to try!
Yes! My grandma always made plantains for us growing up. (She was Puerto Rican) And i think they makes excellent chips too! Yum
Wepa!!!
: )
That looks realllly good. I was stumped on what to fix for dinner on Saturday. We aren’t doing the whole30 but have eliminated mostly high carb stuff like rice, pasta, bread and absolutely no chips/cookies/crackers. Saturdays have been tough b/c it’s usually po boy sandwichs or hot dogs or pizza!! TY for these great alternatives.
Oh, are these like bananas, in the sense that they need a day or 2 to soften a bit (I don’t like hard/greenish bananas!) or are they good to go to bake after purchasing? I just want to plan accordingly, I usually make my grocery run on Saturday, but I might have the hubbs stop at work on his way home tonight.
No you will want to use them green if you don’t really want a flavor or sweetness. You can use them yellow but in all the recipes I’ve used green plantains for the greener and more solid the better. We use them cut into strips for fries we also use them to make waffle batter! I have been wanting to try the pizza crust but have not yet.
Ooooh! Rae, I’m hoping you see my comment! – Do you have a recipe for the plantain waffle batter? On the autoimmune paleo protocol I cannot have flour, rice, grains, nuts, (and lots more). But plantains are ok.
When you try the recipe make one with cinnamon and raisins if you can have those things because it’s so awesome! But seriously check out thepaleomom.com or find the paleo mom on facebook because she has lots of uses for plantain. Her site has a search feature for the recipes and blog posts. At one time she has a guest post from someone who was like the plantain sub guru who had her own blog and tons of recipes too. What’s funny is a lot of plantain recipes are not new things they have been around a looong while in other cultures and have different names but that’s fantastic for me because that means variety!
The pancake/waffle batter was on her Facebook https://m.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=890422267648970&id=306461856045017
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Rae! I’m excited to try out some of the recipes! 🙂 Especially the pancake one! I used to make almond flour pancakes, but I can’t anymore, at least for a while. So this is a GREAT alternative! Thanks again! 🙂
No problem! Happy healing 🙂
Thanks Rae!
You are welcome 🙂
Is there an alternative to coconut oil that would still be “healthy”? I don’t like the coconut flavoring I get from coconut oil, but I would love to try this recipe!
I use avocado oil!
Grapeseed Oil?
Olive oil!
I felt the same way as you until i found out about the coconut oil that says refined and it has no taste whatsoever I love it!!
Look for the coconut oil that is refined. I always thought that refined was bad, period, but with coconut oil, even though it refined to eliminate the taste and flavor of coconut, it is still way better than a lot of other oils out there! I have both of the coconut oils. I use unrefined for anything I bake or that is sweeter. If I am cooking eggs or tortillas or something savory, I use the refined! I get my organic refined coconut oil from bountiful baskets. When it is available, you have to watch, it is sooooo much cheaper than any store or online retailer I have found.
TRY TRADITIONS COCONUT OIL…NO COCONUT SMELL OR TASTE! I THINK YOU CAN GET IT ON VITACOST.COM
These are also delicious with the sweet plantains (the yellow ones).
I was thinking the same thing 🙂
When the plantains are really ripe with a lot of brown spots, slice them about 1/2 inch thick and follow this exact recipe. They are so sweet and delicious baked!
Love it!!! Im going to try it!!! Thanks!!!
I’m thinking about this diet. I’m a big exerciser but my diet needs a lot of help! How hungry are you on this? Really!! I cant be dreaming of snickers bars every night!
If you read up on this diet, you are expected to have “food dreams”…lol. I kept dreaming that I was eating unapproved food (thought I was losing it), but after reading the website, its normal 🙂
Oh
And I was never hungry, just had wicked cravings for the first couple weeks.
My Dr applauded my weight loss and asked how I had done it. He had never heard of the diet whole 30 or paleo, he was confused and concerned and asked if I was hungry. No I am not hungry on this diet, but I do get cravings for things that I shouldn’t have. They are comfort and emotional attachments I have to flavors and textures of foods and breaking those attachments has been difficult. A “treat” of something non approved can be a helpful tool to keep you on track if you have the will power to limit them to rare treats. A lot of people find doing a 21 day sugar detox to be helpful in breaking bad habits. Also there are loads of recipes for treats using approved foods, they are still to be a rare treat but they can help break the conventional food habit.
When another of my Drs suggested I go on a low fat diet I was constantly hungry and trying to fit all the calorie puzzle pieces of the day together was a huge struggle for me. I was not well on that diet and looking at the sugar/added chemical content of prepared low fat foods terrified me so my list of okay to eat foods was short and I felt awful! That’s when loads of reading lead me to try whole 30/paleo.
Rae just started paleo for inflammation- but I think plantains are too high starch for our diet? I am rarely hungry but do miss grains. It’s a challenge but hoping it helps! I just read about primal (??) and still need to look up whole360. I am just guessing no dairy……
whole30, oops.
I love them sliced the long way, too. There’s a really fantastic equatorial restaurant in Minneapolis that has a delicious plantain nachos appetizer – Chino Latino’s nachos del sol.
Does this violate the “Do not try to re-create baked goods, junk foods, or treats* with “approved” ingredients” rule?
This is the best recipe ever! So much so that my husband asked me to make them two days in a row. Now (as I type) I am at the store getting ready to buy more ingredients to share this awesome recipe with our friends! Yummy! It makes doing the Whole30 a little more exciting when you find yummy recipes. Thanks for sharing!
That is so great to hear! Enjoy 😀 Thanks for sharing!
I just want you to know these nachos SAVED MY ENTIRE LIFE! I just started whole30 and was in desperate need of a treat that would be whole30 compliant (No swypo!!). I have always eaten sweet plaintains so this recope looked so weird to me at first, but when I tasted one of these plaintain chips? Heaven!! I topped the nachos with guac and pico de gallo and thought it was absolute decadence.
The extra chips left over that I can snack on tomorrow while running around with my kids to their various sports is an added bonus. Who needs a bag of chips or a large fry when you’ve got amazing plaintain chips?!
That’s awesome news! Thanks for sharing!