I don’t know what did it friends, but goodness we were on a Mexican food kick this past week.

We had a Mexican fiesta night two nights this past week. And I am ready for round three!

As we were planning out our little Mexican fiesta I remembered a gem of recipe. Plantain chips. They. Are. Yummy. They are so easy and they are the perfect vehicle for your guacamole.

Now, plantains. They seem to be confused about their identity. In fact if you haven’t seen a plantain before, well, you probably have. And you may have made the mistake I made and thought, “That poor overgrown and too-green-for-its-own-good banana.”

They fooled us! They are not an under-ripe banana, although they do belong to the banana family. And in the culinary world they are sometimes referred to as cooking bananas. Because you have to cook a plantain – they are not very delicious raw.

Whenever I am in South America I find them in abundance and they always make their appearance in most meals.

The thing is, they are not super sweet like a banana. And they are not super soft or mushy either. They are more firm. Perfect for cooking with. Perfect to turn into a chip 😉

Making plantain chips are simple and it takes no time at all.

Making Plantain Chips

Grab one plantain. (This made enough chips for the two of us. Use two plantains if you are feeding 4 or more.)

Remove the plantain peel and slice it thinly. This will allow them to crisp up nicely.

Heat 3 tablespoons of coconut oil in your fry pan. Once it heats up (you will see ripples in the oil when you slightly tip the pan) start adding the sliced plantains. It took me two batches.

Now, here is where you have to find what you prefer. Beau and I love our plantain chips extra crispy – so I tend to let them get a deep brown color.

A good rule for the first go around is to let them fry on each side for about 1 ½ to 2 minutes or flip them when they turn golden brown on the edges.

As soon as they are done remove them to a plate covered in paper towels and salt them. You must salt them right away so the salt will grab on!

Looking at that extra crispy one. I cannot believe Beau waited long enough to take a picture before he snatched him up!

Taste a few and see what consistency you like. Extra crispy? Crispy on the outside but still a little soft on the inside? Let your taste buds be your guide.

And then HIGH KICK! Look at those delicious, crispy, salty-goodness chips. Now, on our second batch we lightly sprinkled them with some paprika and cayenne powder for a kick. We loved them! Just another option…

Once you are done serve them immediately with your guacamole.

Now, I said immediately. Do you hear me? The downside to plantain chips is they do not keep long. After about an hour we noticed they started to lose their crispiness and began to soften up. And they definitely did not farewell overnight. So, you eat all of those right now. Immediately. That is all.

Enjoy!

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