Tostones (Fried Plantains)

As a Latina I need to clarify for everyone the types of fried plaintains because a lot of people are getting it all confused. There's TOSTONES which you fry using green plaintains. Cut them staight down into 1 inch circles & then proceed with above recipe.Use the bottom of a mug to mash.These are salty & usually with some garlic in a bit of oil. THEN there's PLATANOS which you cook with ripe or yellow plaintain. Those you slice sideways and pan fry untill golden brown. These are the sweet kind. Hope this helps everyone. ENJOY!

I used green plantains & butter vs. oil. They turned out perfect! Also, I had no wax paper, so I just pressed each slice between 2 plates to smash them. Sprinkled with course salt. Mixed together ketchup, lime, mayo, & 2 sliced/toasted cloves of garlic for a dipping sauce. Yum!

I made these tonight, they came out perfectly fine. I must warn the first timers that tostones are not sweet they are rather BLAND and need a good sauce to jazz them up. It is a good recipe if you like them, I tried them cause I had them a few times before but could take it or leave it. A helpful idea might be to use half ripened plantains or slightly ripe at least. Thanks for the recipe.

This is exactly how I make mine with a few exceptions. Just for safety reasons, I would not dip the tostone in water then return to oil, can cause severe grease splattering. Also, I mince fresh garlice and at the end of frying the tostones, I take some of the hot oil, 2-3 tablespoons and poor over garlic which cooks it a bit and use the garlic as a topping.

Just remember... for tostones plantains need to be very green.

These are delicious. I served them with a dinner of veggie burritos and black beans with home made guacamole. I had read elsewhere that soaking the incredibly starchy, sticky rounds in water first was a good idea, and I did that. Seemed to remove some of the stickiness.

I really just wanted to find out the calorie count for this but then read the other ratings. I am puerto rican and this is a part of just about every meal so naturally I find them deicious. Sometimes for more flavor I will use garlic mojo. For someone who wants a sweet plantain, there are maduros which can only be made with ripe plantains and they are not crispy.

These were outstanding! Soooo delicious!! My husband helped make these (he's a Tostone expert). We topped them with the garlic powder and coarse sea salt. Served them with Brazilian Chicken with Coconut Milk from this site...that was yummy too, but these were definitely the best part of the meal! Try these!

these taste just like the ones I had at cuban restaurant. I served these with the mojo marinade for "grilled mojo chicken with asparagus" on this site. The mojo makes a great dipping sauce.

These are ok like like this, however, My family is puerto rican and I have grown up on these when made with overly ripe plantains. This gives them a sweet instead of bland taste. I don't season them with anything and just use a little butter so that they don't stick to the pan. Made this way I give them a 5 star!

These were delicious!!!! Irresistible! I scaled this down to 2 servings because i only had one plantain, which had just turned yellow.It's best to use a ripe plantain because the green ones will be bland. When they were finished, i also sprinkled some paprika on them. They were so delicious, i ate 6 of them before i knew it!

I've had these in Miami and also made them with my spanish class a long long time ago and was happy to find this recipe again here.....I did make a few changes to make this like the fried plantains my boyfriend had when he was in jamaica. I fried them in peanut oil and used Seasoned Salt and just a tiny tiny bit of cayenne pepper to season them. Next time I might do a touch of flour with that same seasoning. It was very very good and the cayenne added just that extra season I think it needed. Thanks for this recipe!

First of all, these are not tostones, these are platanos fritos. The difference is tostones are green plantains that are fried and smashed and then refried again, sprinkle some adobo on it and fua!!! Fried plantains are when they are yellow, soft and sweet. You frie them from side to side and they stay soft, eat it sprinkled with cinammon or even as is and you have a side dish good for everyone.

absolutely excellent: ...to make them like our local family owned restaurant...spiced with cumin, garlic powder and salt...used a hamburger press to get the flat chip shape...now a family favorite!

This is a perfect treat served with cream cheese! For the sweetest (best) flavor, your plantains should be completely ripe - skin should be black!

We're trying to be heart healthy in our family. I omitted the oil and salt and sprayed the plantains with non-fat cooking spray before sprinkling on the garlic powder. Then I sprayed our outdoor grill basket and cooked the plantains at about 350 degrees for about 3-5 minutes per side (until they were golden brown). I was surprised they were delicious (but healthier than traditional tostones).

i had 2 long plantains & for i used probably 1/3 cup of veg oil altogether. my intention was not to "fry" them per se. so im aware of the difference in taste & texture! however, my pan sautee worked out great! i just covered the pan in veg oil & followed the rest of the instructions! delish!

I have to get better at this. I think my plantains were under ripe. I cooked as directed but they were still a bit stiff and well, not that tasty.

I prefer my Tostones sweet, so I used yellow plantains. I did not have waxed paper so I used a freezer bag and a flat bottom measuring cup to smash the plantains after the initial frying. The Tostones came out perfect!

Yum! These were delicious sprinkled with kosher salt, garlic powder and paprika. Made a good sauce of ketchup/mayo/lime juice to dip, muy delicioso!

I prepare mines just as recipe instruction and it turn out great, with 1 exception,half ripe plantains instead of completely green

My uncle is from Columbia and used to make these for us. But, he served them sweet. They were really yummy like this, though. Served them with black beans and rice. Definitely use the ketchup with garlic in it for dipping--I am looking forward to having this dish again tomorrow.

My husband was very curious about the plantains, but did not care for them. While I personally did not love them, I thought I would give the recipe 5 stars as it was super easy to follow, and the end result was perfect.

I first had tostones in New York out of a food car and I LOVE these things!!! They are so good. We aways eat ours with ketchup, kind of like fries. Dfinitely something for everyone to try. Remember when making these to use the GREEN (unripe) plantains.

LOVE these. My boyfriend taught me to make them. We use a shot glass to flatten/smash them. When they are done we sprinkle with salt, and serve with minced garlic mixed with a little olive oil. YUM!

This is a very easy and delicious recipe. I had a plantain which was very ripe with skin that was a dark brown color. According to a previous reviewer, the ripeness of my plantain made this a Plantanos recipe. I used 1 tablespoon of oil for 1 plantain and may try less oil or cooking spray to make this recipe healthier. After pan frying on each side for 3-5 minites, until golden brown. Then I sprinkled a little mixture of sugar and cinnamon on the fried plantains and they disappeared in less than 3 minutes. My husband and I thought these were delicious, will definitely make these again.

Wonderful, but I would suggest cooking them a bit longer during the first go round so they aren't too raw and crumbly when you smash them. Other than that, they were very similar to what I had in Ecuador. Amazing, even w/o the garlic powder and salt!

oh my gosh, 2 cups of oil for 3 plantains?Lordy. Anyhow I made with less grease using Saflower oil and they are good .Plantains are anything but bland, people .You just need to sprinkle salt when they first come out pan. Garlic butter sauce makes great dipping sauce.

I wanted to try these for so long, (I'm a banana freak) but held off because the deep frying part I wasn't too keen on. Well, then I started to wonder how pan frying would work out. No one is going to believe me, but it's actually possible to fry 3 plantains in about 2 TB of oil! They still end up marvelous and are so much better. Try it, I'm sure you'll be amazed that you don't have to use so much oil. First off you save a lot of oil, secondly it's so much healthier. To do it, it's essential that the oil doesn't spread out in the pan and instead just stays in a little pool. That way, when you plop the slices of plantain into the pool of oil, they're still completely covered by oil on all sides, mimicking deep frying. I prefer thicker slices of plantains cause then they end up crispy on the edges and soft in the middle at the same time, exactly like french fries. In fact, the whole time I was eating them I could have sworn that I was eating french fries! I loved them with salt and ketchup and next I'm trying them with sugar. Such an awesome snack!

These are pretty easy and quite yummy!

loved it!!

I used green plantains, which I understood to be the correct ones for tostones and they were so goooood! I used a some garlic in the oil and seasoned with salt. I never had one before and I can't wait to make more.

I made these for the 1st time and LOVED them!! I made exactly as stated except I didn't have any garlic powder so I added some fresh garlic to the oil as it heated. I served them with warm chocolate syrup as a dessert and they were fantastic!!!

I had these years ago in Costa Rica with a spicy black bean spread. I was able to replicate the experience almost exactly with this recipe! It was so easy and delicious it was almost criminal.

I served them with spicy Mojo pork tenderloins and they were delicious. thanks

Yum-o- licious I really enjoyed this! I soaked them 30 minutes and patted them dry before frying. Instead of using wax paper I just used paper towels and flattened them a little using a plate with a paper towel between them and the plate. I salted lightly and cobbled them up before the rest of my family could get them. I'm sooo wrong!!! :)

These were great! Growing up near Miami, Fl., I had both tostones and platanos. Love them both. And this recipe is truly an authentic one. Make the tostones as a side to a dish. The platanos are definitely more of a dessert because of the sweetness. I'm making tostones tonight because I can't wait for the 3 or 4 days for them to ripen!

I had no idea plantains were so good...my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our meal with the plantains as an accompaniment!

I fried them just like the recipe and they were wonderful!

Recipe worked well.

These are very simple to make. Our family loves this snack treat. We pick yellowish plantains that are beginning to turn black because they are sweeter. I just slice them at an angle to make oval like slices and fry them to a nice golden brown. Right after removal, while still on a paper towel, sprinkle just a bit of table salt to taste. Best eaten warm and alone on a long car ride or along with a meal like pork chops with rice.

Love these. Great side dish for almost any dish.

Excellent! Best with lime juice, salt, and garlic powder sprinkled on top after they're cooked

Very bland tasting. I will not make again.

Being Puertorican, I make fried plantains all the time. When I use green plantains (Tostones), I soak the slices in some salt water with a clove of garlic for a couple of hours, them pat them dry before frying. If I use ripe plantains (Platanos), I just slice and fry until golden brown and caramelized, then sprinkle with cinnamon.

Very easy to make. Delicious to dip in a cuban garlic sauce. I guess you can basically have with whatever sauce you like. They do burn easily, so watch them carefully! Will make again for sure.

This was awesome....only thing I did different was put a couple garlic cloves and some butter in the oil and cooked for a little while before adding the Plantains. These remind me the Plantains I had while visiting Porto Rico. If you decide to add garlic cloves be sure and remove before adding the plantains. Thanks for this wonderful recipe, will make these again and again!

EXCELLENT! I made this to pair with the Slow Cooker Tropical chicken dish, and the tostones were he star of the show. Most helpful advice I can give is when you smash the fried plantain in the wax paper, sprinkle the salt and garlc powder on the bottom, then on top and then smash. Othewise the garlic and salt doesn't really stick to the plantain and will just burn off in the oil. DELICIOUS!

These reminded me of my grandmother's cooking. My family loves them and I like that they are a fast and easy side for TexMex dinners.

Wonderful! I made a sauce with ketsup, mayo, lemon juice and garlic powder to dip them in. I served it with a spicy black beans and rice dish recipe I got from a friend. My husband couldn't get enough.

I'm sure my techniques need some work, since this is an unfamiliar dish to me, but I personally found these greasy.

These are soooooo good! They WILL be greasy but that's why you pat them with paper towels.

This was my first time making these. My husband did like them but he wanted a moister plantain. The ones we've had in restaurants seemed to have a glaze of some kind. These were good though and certainly easy enough. Just want to check out a few more versions .

These were tasty, but time consuming and messy to clean up. I used garlic salt instead of garlic powder. The tostones were gobbled up immediately, so 5 stars even though they took a lot of time and effort.

These are delicious with a mojito made with garlic crushed in a pilon, chopped cilantro, olive oil and salt to taste.

I have never eaten tostones, or plantains in any way, and just wanted the experience. They are easy to make and appear to have turned out the way they're supposed to. I have to agree with other reviewers that there isn't much taste, but the crunch is nice.

Yum. This was very easy to pull off! I didn't do anything differently. My green plantains had turned yellow. I'm not sure if green is better, but the sweet taste paired with garlic powder and salt was heaven for me.

I was positive I'd love these. I didn't. I think it was personal preference, though.

I use green plantains and fry them in corn oil fresh garlic instead of powdered and they are delicious.Also with a side of a mayo,ketchup and garlic sauce they are incredible!!!

Thank you! I am white and my husband is Dominican. I wanted to surprise him with a little taste of home and this recipe was a life saver! Easy and delicious. Cannot thank you enough :)

Delicious! However, when I drained the slices on paper towels, they stuck to the paper and I was unable to peel off the paper from many of them. I fried the plantains in butter instead of vegetable oil...maybe that was the problem - or maybe my brand of paper towel.

Love these! and I want to thank ~COLOMBIANA~ for her saying what the differences are: There's TOSTONES which you fry using green plaintains. Cut them staight down into 1 inch circles & then proceed with above recipe.Use the bottom of a mug to mash.These are salty & usually with some garlic in a bit of oil. THEN there's PLATANOS which you cook with ripe or yellow plaintain. Those you slice sideways and pan fry until golden brown. These are the sweet kind.

Yum! Simple and easy but delicious.

I agree with using ripe plantains, and no seasoning . Dip in guacamole .

Cool, I am so impressed that I was able to make these, thank you because I wanted to and had no idea how, thanks so much. Oh, and they were really good :)

great side! I use season salt instead of garlic powder, though. Make sure you mash 'em good!

My mother makes this receipe once a month. The "dip" we use is ketchup and mayonnaise.

I hate to be the only one not to give 5 stars, but these were pretty bland unless you use a lot of salt and garlic, they definitely need a sauce. My son and hubby thought they just tasted like potato. I'll need to compare nutrition info to fries but prob wont cook these again since they're fried.

fried twice is the real way to make these. any flavoring is optional even just plain salted, but always put Franks Red Hot sauce on them!

I am addicted! I did fry them in butter for the health benifits. They are really terrific.

I could eat these all day everyday!

Makes a great replacement for chips with your sandwich

I used green plantians and canola oil--I had these in a Cuban resturant once and was blown away. These are quite yummy, and surprisingly EASY to make. Thank you!

they turned out perfect.

I followed the recipe, but found these to be rather bland, even with the salt and garlic. Just not my thing.

Delicious!

I made these for the first time and they were AWESOME! Followed the recipe as instructed and they came out wonderfully. As suggested per another review, I mixed together 1 part ketchup to 1 part mayo for a deliciously easy dip!! I have one plantain left that I'm going to let ripen to make the sweet plantains. ¡Muchas gracias!

Made these tonight!! It was a huge hit with my 3 year old niece and my 7 year old. I did NOT deep fry the plantains, I lightly (pan) fried them in 1/4 cup of olive oil. After double frying them, I sprinkled them with kosher salt, garlic powder and smoked paprika. I will be making these again. Thank you for the recipe!!

I first had tostones in New York out of a food car and I LOVE these things!!! They are so good. We aways eat ours with ketchup, kind of like fries. Dfinitely something for everyone to try. Remember when making these to use the GREEN (unripe) plantains.

I thought this recipe was about perfect as written. This was my first try at cooking plantains and I really enjoyed these, garlicky and fried!

I did not like this. I was expectng it to taste like a bannana. I never had Plantains so maybe thats why I don't like this.

I'm living in Brazil right now and plantains are not a huge part of Brazilian cuisine like it is in other Latin American countries. Folks down this way are more likely to use yucca as a side with rice/beans. I decided to switch it up recently and now I'm on a huge plantain kick. What a nice and easy switch to go with rice and beans. Also tasty with a side of homemade aioli. Mm!

These are delicious. This was the first time I have ever made these and my kids loved them.

We recently moved to Puerto Rico from Utah and my husband and son love the Tostones we get at the local restaurants. I found this recipe, hoping to make them at home. I followed the recipe exactly except instead of using garlic powder and salt I just used garlic salt. They turned out just like the ones in the restaurants. We LOVE them with mayo/ketchup (what we call fry sauce in Utah).

Love these as good as ones we had in Puerto Rico Yum I did season with salt and a little cinnamon.

If you don't have wax paper you can use the same skin from the plantain to mash the maduro before refrying. My grandmother taught me that.

Mmmm! These are great! A Puerto Rican friend of mine taught me how to make a dipping sauce (consisting of crushed garlic and ketchup) to go along with these! They're still great plain.

Great recipe! If you do not have the wax paper, just use the bottom of a coffee cup to smash them and continue frying. Also try these with honey on top or with a bit of olive oil and coarse sea salt to dip them in! Yummy!!

Simple and perfect.

Make sure that the plantains are really ripe. I mean the skins are black. Sooo sweet. Yummy

Had these at my first Cuban restaurant visit and they were delicious! Thanks for this GREAT and EASY recipe! This was hubby's first taste and he was looking for more!

These are soooo yummy and really easy to make.

I add pepper and spice.

Followed recipe, we didn't think it needed any changes. However, I would have waited for the plantains to mature a bit for a richer flavor. But still very good!

I will make it over and over love it.

This was great! I really wanted to make plantains with tacos for taco night but had never done so before. Ended up getting yellow plantains and made platanos - didn't need to squash anything because we cut them into pretty thin pieces - and they were delicious. Everyone loved them! Thanks so much for helping me figure out how to cook them :$

Delish