Plantain Chips

Make these garlicky chile-lime chips at home to go with jerk chicken, barbecue, or for snacking anytime.

Plantain Chips Recipe
Photo:

Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Barrett Washburne

Active Time:
40 mins
Total Time:
50 mins
Servings:
4 servings

If you regularly buy bags of plantain chips at the store, you’ll want to try this recipe to make them at home. All you need are green plantains (make sure they are green; ripe plantains will not work here). Use a mandoline to cut the plantains to 1/16-inch thickness. When you are ready to fry them up, be sure the frying oil is heated to 350°F; the oil temperature will drop when the plantains are added, and then slowly heats up again. 

Season the plantains as soon as you remove them from the oil so the seasoning sticks to the chips, but let them cool before eating so they get extra crispy. The seasoning mix includes sea salt, sugar, Tajín chile-lime seasoning, paprika, and garlic powder, making these chips just slightly sweet, with lots of chile, lime, paprika, and garlic balancing the flavors.

Ingredients

  • Canola oil

  • 4 large (2 1/2 pounds total) unripe green plantains

  • 1 tablespoon fine sea salt

  • 1 3/4 teaspoons granulated sugar

  • 1 teaspoon chile-lime seasoning (such as Tajín)

  • 3/4 teaspoon paprika

  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

  1. Pour oil to a depth of  2 1/2 inches in a large Dutch oven; heat over medium until a deep-fry thermometer registers 350°F.

  2. When oil is close to temperature, trim ends off of plantains. Cut skin lengthwise, being careful not to slice into plantain underneath. Peel plantains, discarding skins; halve plantains crosswise on an extreme diagonal. Cut plantains into 1/16-inch-thick rounds using a mandoline slicer.

  3. Whisk together salt, sugar, chile-lime seasoning, paprika, and garlic powder in a small bowl until combined.

  4. Add about one-fourth of plantains to hot oil, quickly dropping them 1 at a time to prevent clumping. Fry, stirring and flipping plantains often, until crisp and very lightly golden, 5 to 6 minutes. (It’s okay that temperature drops as low as 325°F after adding plantains; adjust heat as needed for temperature to climb towards 350°F while frying. Return temperature to 350°F before frying next batch.) Transfer to a large bowl using a spider strainer or slotted spoon; sprinkle with about 1 1/2 teaspoons salt mixture, tossing to coat evenly. Transfer to a large plate lined using a paper towel, and repeat process with remaining plantains and salt mixture. Serve immediately. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

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