Discover how to peel a plantain in just 5 minutes! This step-by-step guide makes the process quick and easy, allowing you to enjoy your favorite plantain recipes hassel-free. Whether they’re brown, yellow or green, with a knife and a few super simple steps!

A bunch of plantains.

Why Peel Plantains?

If you’ve ever tried opening this fruit, you know they have starchy, thicker peels than a banana. Don’t let this discourage you from enjoying delicious plantain recipes!

Most recipes I’ve made (especially Puerto Rican recipes) do not use this part of the fruit. This means it’s important to know how to peel them, so you don’t end up wasting any of the good stuff!

Plantains can be difficult to peel, especially if you’re working with green ones. Despite their banana like shape and makeup, this fruit is much starchier and will require a knife to open.

And once you’ve got your plantains peeled, consider making some tostones, maduros, or mofongo!

Step by Step Instructions

a brown plantain on a counter
Rinse & dry your plantain, remove any stickers & residue. This step is especially important if you plan on consuming the peel.
a brown plantain being sliced
Using a sharp knife, trim off the top and end piece of the fruit.
a brown plantain being peeled
Carefully insert the knife into the peel, just deep enough to lightly graze the interior of the fruit. Carry the knife at this depth lengthwise to create a slit along the peel. If you’re working with green plantains, you might need to do this on two sides of the plantain.
a brown plantain being peeled
Using your nails or the knife, pull up the peel until you can wedge your fingers underneath it completely. Continue this until the plantain is completely peeled.

Note: Green plantains usually require a bit more muscle to peel than brown and yellow ones.

How to Use Plantains in Puerto Rican Cuisine

Here are some of my favorite Puerto Rican recipes that use plantains:

Fried Sweet Plantains (Platanos Maduros)

Baked Pastelón (Sweet Plantain Lasagna)

Traditional Puerto Rican Mofongo (25 Minutes!)

Crispy Puerto Rican-Style Tostones

Homemade Alcapurrias (Puerto Rican Fritters)

Puerto Rican Piononos (Plantain Cups)

How to use the Peel

I’ve only tried the peel of this fruit once in a stir fry, but I know there are many recipes out there that manage to use it.

Here are some tasty looking low waste ideas:

You can also use them as a substitute in any of your favorite stir fry or pulled meat recipes. Just make sure to boil until fork tender, then shred.

hands cutting a plantain with a knife

Equipment

As mentioned above, you will need a sharp knife & cutting board to open your plantain.

More Recipe Ideas

If you can’t tell, I have yet to meet a plantain I didn’t love. Here are some more recipe ideas for this tropical ingredient:

30 Minute Mangu (Dominican Mashed Plantains)

15 Minute Plantain Fries

30-Minute Baked Plantain Chips

30 Minute Jibarito (Plantain Sandwich)

Ripening & Preservation Tricks

Last Winter I was hoping to make pastelón and needed brown plantains. Unforunately all of the near dozen stores I visited only had bright green (underripe) plantains.

Living in Washington state, plantains can be hard to find. And when you do find them, it’s hard to predict if they’ll be brown, green, or anything in between.

This led me down the rabbit hole of looking for a trick to ripen plantains quickly.

I tried leaving them on the counter, leaving them in a brown paper bag, in a plastic bag, and more. I even tried baking them in the oven (peels and all) at low temperature until soft.

Sadly, none of these tricks worked for me. I learned it just wasn’t the right time of year for this recipe (or ripening plantains) in my kitchen.

The best tool to ripen plantains? A few days on the counter in a warm & humid climate.

I will say, preserving green plantains to keep them from browning is quite easy: just pop them in the fridge!

plantains frying in oil

Storage Tips

Plantains can be stored on the countertop just fine.

Keep in mind that they act similarly to bananas in the sense that they will ripen quickly on the counter, especially in warmer climates.

If you want your plantains to stay green for a later date, you can store them in the fridge.

Buen Provecho,

Salima written in cursive

Step-By-Step Guide:

Time needed: 5 minutes.

Discover how to peel a plantain in just 5 minutes! This step-by-step guide makes the process quick and easy, allowing you to enjoy your favorite plantain recipes hassel-free. Whether they’re brown, yellow or green, with a knife and a few super simple steps!

  1. Rinse your plantain.

    Rinse & dry your plantain, remove any stickers & residue. This step is especially important if you plan on consuming the peel.

  2. Trim off the top & bottom.

    Using a sharp knife, trim off the top and end piece of the fruit.

  3. Slice along the peel, lengthwise.

    Carefully insert the knife into the peel, just deep enough to lightly graze the interior of the fruit. Carry the knife at this depth lengthwise to create a slit along the peel. If you’re working with green plantains, you might need to do this on two sides of the plantain.

  4. Pull back the peel.

    Using your nails or the knife, pull up the peel until you can wedge your fingers underneath it completely. Continue this until the plantain is completely peeled.