Oven Roasted Plantains

Last month, I did a post on Senegalese Chicken Yassa, where I also made a side dish of roasted sweet plantain. At the time, I wanted to make a good amount of plantain, but standing over the stove frying up a large batch didn't sound appealing, and I still needed to tend to the chicken and a pot of rice...so using the oven just seemed like a convenient solution.

In the past, I've baked plantains for more dessert-like dishes, but this time I wanted to mimic regular fried sweet plantains. Because of this, I approached roasting the plantains in the same way that I would stove-frying them, and then just stuck them in the oven. In hindsight, I realize that this was a mistake.

While the plantains didn't turn out that badly, they still weren't what I had in mind. They weren't as sweet as I'd hoped, and the texture was a little tougher than expected. So I knew a second attempt was in order...

Here's where I think I went wrong the first time:

1.) The plantains I picked weren't ripe enough for roasting. To get that nice melt-in-your-mouth texture using the oven, the plantains have to be softer from the start, so very blackened plantains are the safest bet.

2.) I cut the slices too thin and on the diagonal, so they ended up overlapping and crowding the pan which led to uneven cooking. For the plantains to be roasted properly, I think most of them should have some contact with the actual roasting pan.

The next time around, I made sure that all of my plantains were very ripe and I cut them into larger pieces...

...the end result was just what I was looking for:
Sweet and and soft plantains that weren't too oily or sticky...just right.

This is a great way to handle sweet plantains if you're cooking for a crowd, want to refrain from frying, or just have alot of things on the stove already.


Oven Roasted Sweet Plantain
serves 5-6

5 very ripe yellow plantains
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
fresh nutmeg
kosher or coarse salt


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the plantains into roughly 3/4-inch sized chunks and place them on a large baking tray or 9 x 13 pan.


Toss the plantain slices in oil until evenly coated. Sprinkle on the brown sugar and mix well.

Spread the slices out to an even layer so that most of them have direct contact with the dish/tray.


Dust fresh nutmeg over the top, to taste, then add a touch of salt.

Set the plantains in the preheated oven for about 50 -60 minutes, or until golden brown and tender.


Enjoy!
:o)