Description
Tostones are made with green (unripe) plantains and are a very popular side dish in many Caribbean and South American countries. The traditional method is to twice-fry the plantains in oil, but this air-fried version of my Puerto Rican family’s recipe is much lighter as it uses olive oil spray instead of deep-frying.
Ingredients
- 2 green (unripe) plantains
- olive oil cooking spray
- 3 cups water, or as needed
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat an air fryer to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Slice tips off the plantain. Make a vertical cut in the skin from end to end
- making sure to cut only through the thick skin and not into the plantain flesh. Cut plantain
- still with the peel
- into 1-inch chunks. Peel the skin off each chunk starting at the slit you made.
- Place the plantain chunks in your air fryer basket and spray them with olive oil spray. Air fry for 5 minutes. Meanwhile
- prepare a bowl of salted water.
- Remove the plantain pieces from the air fryer with tongs. Smash to about 1/2-inch thickness using a tostonera (plantain smasher). Soak the smashed tostones in the bowl of salted water while smashing the rest.
- Remove the tostones from the salted water and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Return tostones to the air fryer in batches
- filling the basket with a single layer each time. Spray the tops with olive oil spray and season with salt; air fry for 5 minutes. Flip with tongs and spray the other side with olive oil spray. Season with salt. Air fry until golden brown and crisp
- 4 to 5 minutes more.
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
Servings: 4