Tostones

Name: Tostones
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 3 plantains, green and firm, peeled and cut into 2.5 cm slices; 500 ml neutral vegetable oil; 1 tsp salt; 2 cloves garlic, crushed into a little warm water or oil as a dipping mojo (optional); 1 lime, cut into wedges (optional)

Vegetarian

Green plantain slices fried, smashed flat and fried again until crisp outside and tender within, then salted. A savoury side across the Spanish-speaking Caribbean.

Tostones is a Caribbean side dish, ready in about 25 minutes and made with plantain. It serves 4 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking

Appetizing seafood platter featuring prawns, fish, tostones, and rice with lime garnish. — Photo: Jesus Cabrera / Pexels · Pexels License

Prep: 10 min
Cook: 15 min
Total: 25 min
Serves: 4
Level: Easy
Calories: 264

Ingredients

4 servings

3 (540 g) Plantains (opens in a new tab), green and firm, peeled and cut into 2.5 cm slices
500 ml Neutral vegetable oil (opens in a new tab)For frying; about 45 g is absorbed.
1 tsp (6 g) Salt (opens in a new tab)
2 cloves (8 g) Garlic (opens in a new tab), crushed into a little warm water or oil as a dipping mojo (optional)
1 (67 g) Lime (opens in a new tab), cut into wedges (optional)

Equipment

Method

1
Step 1
Heat the oil in a deep frying pan to about 160 °C. Fry the plantain (opens in a new tab) slices until pale golden and soft inside but not browned. Drain.
- 5 min
- 160°C
- medium heat
- Frying pan / skillet (opens in a new tab)
- Food thermometer (opens in a new tab)
Food safety: Keep children away from the hot oil and never leave it unattended.
How it looks · Photo: Riya Roy on Pexels
2
Step 2
While still warm, flatten each slice to about 1 cm thick with the bottom of a glass or a tostonera.
- 3 min
Dip the glass in salted water first so the plantain doesn't stick.
3
Step 3
Raise the oil to 180 °C and fry the flattened slices again until crisp and golden at the edges. Drain, salt immediately and serve with the garlic (opens in a new tab) mojo and lime (opens in a new tab).
- 6 min
- 180°C
- medium-high heat
How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin: Caribbean and Latin America · Origin uncertainEaten in Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and much of Latin America (as patacones); no single country of origin is established.Also popular in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Venezuela
Dish: Lunch · Dinner · Snack · Side dishes · Finger food
Cooking method: Deep-fried
Taste: salty, savoury, mild
Diet: Vegan · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients
All labels
Vegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · DASH-style
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Budget-friendly · Child-friendly · Street food
Cook more with: Plantain
Techniques: Deep-frying

Allergens

None of the 14 major allergens appear in the listed ingredients.

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

264 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 148 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

Protein 3%
Carbohydrate 61%
Fat 37%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g*
Energy	264 kcal	179 kcal
Protein	1.8 g	1.2 g
Carbohydrate	43.1 g	29.1 g
Net carbohydrate	40.8 g	27.6 g
Sugars	23.6 g	16 g
Added sugars	0 g	0 g
Fibre	2.3 g	1.6 g
Fat	11.7 g	7.9 g
Saturated fat	0.8 g	0.6 g
Trans fat	0 g	0 g
Cholesterol	0 mg	0 mg
Sodium	588 mg	398 mg
Salt equivalent	1.5 g	1 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 658 mg
Calcium: 4 mg
Iron: 0.7 mg
Magnesium: 49 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 76 µg
Vitamin C: 25 mg
Vitamin D: 0 µg
Vitamin B12: 0 µg
Folate (DFE): 30 µg

How these numbers were made

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
*Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
Optional ingredients are not included: garlic, lime.
“—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

Hold the fried slices in a bowl of salted water for a few seconds after smashing for extra-crisp, seasoned tostones.

Common mistakes

Using ripe plantains — they turn sweet and soft (maduros) rather than crisp.

Serve with

Serve with ropa vieja and black beans, or as a snack with garlic sauce.

Storage

Best eaten immediately.

Reheating

Re-crisp in a hot oven or air fryer.

Variations

Patacones (Colombia): The same twice-fried plantain, often larger and topped with shredded meat or cheese.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 26 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Sauces, chutneys & dips for this dish

Cuban mojoSauce

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Compare with

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Plantain, green and firm, peeled and cut into 2.5 cm slices3 piece · 540 g

Used in step 1

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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