These Paleo Tostones (twice-fried plantains) are cooked in coconut oil and served with a Whole30 friendly Avocado Ranch Dip that no one will guess is Paleo! Crispy, savory, and out of this world delicious!
It’s day 2 of my crispy carbs + dipping weekend. Not clever, I realize. I couldn’t wait to finally share the tostone recipe I’ve been making constantly lately though!
I admit that I was waiting for the perfect dip-idea to come along, because somehow just sharing the tostone recipe felt unoriginal.
There are tons of great how-to-make-tostone recipes on the internet, which is (DUH!) how I came to develop my own in the first place. When it comes to plantains, I’m all about experimenting to figure out the PERFECT texture, flavor, etc. I love plantains. Love them and live on them, or at least sometimes it feels that way.
I mean, I’ve been known to whip up a few of these tostones as a random after school snack before heading out to the kids’ activities. I’ve been known to make them all hours of the day just because I feel like it. Once you get the hang of peeling plantains, they’re easy-peasy and flipping delicious. TOO delicious, I think sometimes.
And by “too delicious” I mean that I’m sometimes tempted to forgo all other carb sources just to eat plantains all the time. BIG LOVE! Plantains are the new…bagels? I used to live on bagels.
If you’re not used to peeling green plantains, it will seem strange at first. As you can see in the photo with the green peel, I chop off the ends and score the sides all the way down. That makes it easy to dig your thumb between the peel and plantain and slide it down to remove each section of the peel. Sounds complex, but once you’ve done it, the entire process takes just 30 seconds. BOOM!
My ideal tostones start out in about 1.5 inch chunks. You fry those chunks for about 5-7 minutes in coconut oil to soften them, until they look just like the photo below.
Then it’s time to smash! For a long time I simply smashed them slowly and carefully underneath a large wide serving spoon, but I now have this fancy schmancy – yet only $10 – tostonera which I love so much. Believe it or not, I wound up finally getting one after a cashier at my grocery store convinced me THAT I NEED ONE! I swear, I have more conversations about the plantains I’m buying when I check out than about anything else that enters my cart.
I always smash between two sheets of parchment to avoid any sticking, and subsequent crying on my part. Actually, if you happen to mess up a “smash” you can be like me and just fry the little bits at a later point. I don’t like waste!
If all goes well with smashing, you fry them again, drain on paper towels, and they wind up looking like the magical little disks above. YUMMY! And then comes the dip 🙂
Since I have a major ranch dressing obsession, I decided to make an avocado ranch to go with my tostones. It’s basically just my homemade ranch dressing recipe blended with an avocado, plus some added lime and cilantro for fun. This dip is seriously a lot of fun, trust me!
Just as with my chipotle ranch dip, this avocado ranch is good for basically anything – burgers, topping a taco salad, chicken, roasted veggies, raw veggies, and really whatever else your little heart desires. It’s good stuff, and I can’t wait for you to try it out! I hope you have a couple a plantains around because things are about to get really crispy around here if you do. In a good way, a very crispy, dippy good time. Let’s get started!
Paleo Tostones with Avocado Ranch Dip {Whole30}
Paleo Tostones with Avocado Ranch Dip {Whole30}
Ingredients
For the Avocado ranch
- 1 med ripe avocado
- 1 cup homemade mayo or store bought Paleo Mayo
- 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp lime juice
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp dried chives
- 1 tsp water to thin out if needed
- A squeeze more lime and salt to taste
For the Tostones:
- 2 green plantains
- 3/4 - 1 cup coconut oil divided
- Coarse sea salt to taste
Instructions
For the Avocado Ranch:
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You can use a traditional blender or an immersion blender - if using an immersion blender, place all ingredients in a tall container and blend until creamy. For a traditional blender, simply add all ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Scrape all the dip into a lidded container and store in the refrigerator until read to serve.
For the Tostones:
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Begin with smooth, green, unblemished plantains.
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Cut both ends off the plantains and score the sides of the peel from top to bottom, 2 or 3 times around the plantains. Get your thumb underneath the peel and slide it down to neatly remove the peel.
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Cut the plantains into 1.5 inch chunks as shown in the above photo. Heat a large deep skillet over medium heat and add 3/4 cup coconut oil. Once the coconut oil begins to sizzle, add the plantain chunks to the skillet.
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Fry the plantain pieces in the coconut oil, turning to evenly coat, over med heat (adjusting to avoid browning) until bright yellow and just beginning to turn light brown - about 5-7 mins. Remove from pan and turn the heat off.
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Drain on paper towels, and allow to cool enough to handle. Then smash between 2 sheets parchment paper using a flat surface (such as a glass or large serving spoon) - or with a tostonera - slowly to about 1/4 thickness.
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Heat coconut oil again adding a bit more if you need to, over med heat until it sizzles.
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Fry the smashed plantains (tostones) until first side is golden brown, then flip and repeat - about 2-3 minutes for each side.
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Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Serve hot with the avocado ranch dip as an appetizer or side dish. Enjoy!
What I Used to Make My Paleo Tostones and Avocado Ranch Dip:
Want more plantain recipes? Try one of these!
Crispy Plantain Bacon Kale Skillet
Plantain Apple Bacon Breakfast Hash
On the web:
Tostones (Twice Fried Plantains)
Tell Me!
Have you tried cooking green plantains?
Favorite plantain recipe that you’ve tried?
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This totally reminds me of my favorite Cuban restaurant from back home. And it is closed,so it makes me want these even more!
I hate when favorite restaurants close!
Yummy! Looking at…I actually want to eat immediately. Its color is very attractive. I like…
Wow these look like a PERFECT treat for Whole 30 or anything else for that matter! 🙂 Thanking the Lord for plantains this morning.
Definitely don’t have to be doing Whole30 to love these 🙂
I want to eat ALL of these!!!
You’ll love them 🙂
These look so delicious. I’m buying plantains today so I can make them. I’m a little concerned about the amount of coconut oil used. Is it all absorbed in the tostones or is there a lot left in the pan?
These are sort of “half-deep-fried” if that makes sense, so yes a decent amount is left over. You can also use less for the first round of frying and simply add as much as you need for the second, they will still be delicious 🙂
Can I use avocado oil instead of coconut? Ty!
Yup that should be fine!
Just made these. Heavenly! It was my first time using and eating plantains. So happy I tried it. Thanks for the awesome and easy to follow recipe!
I actually made these tonight too! They’re such a staple, so glad you liked it 🙂
Can I use yellow plantains? I saw the green ones and thought that meant they weren’t ripe!
Unfortunately yellow ones won’t work for this recipe, but yellow ones are great for pan frying in coconut oil! They come out perfectly sweet/savory with a bit of sea salt.
We made these tonight and I was super happy with the results! I was a little worried since we have only worked with plantains once or twice but everything went just as you described. What a nice, crunchy, indulgent-feeling recipe! Better than french fries and I love that it’s simple, healthy ingredients. I loved the sauce too which I made with my homemade mayo. I’ll be adding the sauce to my repertoire to go with other things as well. Adding this duo to my favorites! Thank you!
That sounds great! So happy you loved the tostones as well as the sauce, and that the recipe was easy to follow 🙂
Hii these were SOOOOOOO yummy!!!! My toddler ate them all up!!! The dip was easy and delicious too! So glad I found your page! I was just wondering, are these “bad” at all, I can’t wrap my head around the fried part, but it is coconut oil….so! 🙂
Glad you liked them! They’re Whole30 compliant (they don’t fall into any of the technically compliant categories) so if that’s how you’re judging bad versus good then you’re good to go 🙂
Do these keep well if made ahead and reheated, or do they need to be served right away? Thanks!
They’re definitely best served right away!
This looks amazing. Trying this right now! Silly question, but can you reuse used coconut oil?
I sometimes do – same as I would with rendered bacon fat 🙂
I made these and the dip (minus the mayo, I live in South America and we don’t have “compliant” mayo and I’m too lazy to make it) and they were great. Thanks for the post. I also used these (we call them patacones here) as “buns” for pork sausages and, to be honest, the pork sausages kinda sucked but the patacones saved them!
Haha well sounds good – glad you enjoyed!
I live in Colombia right now and tostones are a staple here. Traditionally, we also top them with hogao. So yummy and my favorite breakfast. Hogao could easily be made whole30…it’s just diced tomatoes and onions, simmered and cooked for a while in oil until it is a delicious mushy topping.
That sounds so delicious I’d love to try it!
Soo yumm!
Do the plantains have to be green?
I share your LOVE for tostones! I have made these many times! My mother was from Cuba and she called them platanos fritos (fried plantains). When smashing them, she would put a little crushed fresh garlic in the wooden mortar and pestle she used and the garlic gives the fried plantains the most delicious taste and enticing smell! Try it! I think you’ll LOVE it! She cut the raw plantain into 1″ slices and you might try that too as it may make the smashed ones less likely to break into pieces. Broken or not, they taste awesome!
Love these!! Never tried tostones before, and have been keeping you recipe in my saved file for ages. Well, guess they’re gonna be a new regular thing in my Bangkok kitchen.
I made them with a few green Nam Wan bananas, which are everywhere here in T-land, though significantly smaller than plantains.
I had homemade mayo on hand + an avocado. Since my mayo was already spiced up I did not add in the ranch seasonings. Like the idea of a chipotle mayo too as you suggested, or even just serving with some Frank’s red hot sauce…
Thank you, thank you for introducing me to the wonderful world of tostones!
These!! Are!! Delicious!! Made them last night, and everyone loved them! That sauce, tho – so good! I didn’t have dried chives, so I used fresh – still amazing! I will definitely keep these in my appetizer repertoire! We love your recipes – thank you!!
I’ve made “tostones” several times over the years. Sometimes they didn’t turn out so well. I followed your recipe closely and these definitely were the very best. Sweet, a little caramelized around the edges and wonderfully chewy. Yum! Thanks!
OMG, just tried these Tostones with Avocado Ranch Dip and I’m in flavor heaven! 🥑💚 The crispy tostones paired with the creamy avocado ranch dip are a match made in snack paradise. Seriously, I could eat these all day long! 😋 Plus, it’s such a refreshing twist on traditional chips and dip. Perfect for parties or just a cozy night in. Definitely adding this recipe to my must-make list!