3-Ingredient Paleo Plantain Chips

2/5/2019

3-Ingredient Paleo Plantain Chips

You ready for the ultimate snack to cure your salty, crunchy cravings? Plantain chips! They're beyond easy to make (just 3 ingredients!) and they're a great homemade swap when you're craving a big bag of potato chips. To be honest, I'm not even a potato chip fan, but plantain chips... yes, please! They're super versatile and would pair well with pretty much any dip, but in my opinion, using them as a vehicle for guacamole would be a pretty ideal situation!

Ok, if you're anything like I was before making this recipe, you've probably walked by plantains in the produce section a hundred times and never gave them much thought. So let's start with a few details on plantains... how to pick them, what color you want, how to slice them, etc, and then we'll get into the recipe that you'll be totally addicted to! First of all, these are plantains...

They may look a lot like underripe bananas, but don't try to eat a plantain like you would a banana. They don't have that same banana sweetness and they're much harder and starchier. Think banana-meets-potato and you've got a plantain. And that starchiness is why they're such a great option for crunchy chips!

Color - go green for chips!
Like bananas, plantains are green when they're not yet ripe, then they turn yellow, then brown, getting sweeter and softer as they get riper. It's best to use green plantains for chips because they're much easier to slice (especially if you're using a mandoline)!  

Peeling
The one thing I'll mention is that when they're super green (like mine were), they can be hard to peel! If you can find lighter green plantains, they'll be a little easier to peel, but either way, you'll just want to slice the two ends, then run your knife down, scoring the plantain along a few of the ridges (careful not to get into the flesh of the plantain) and that way you have a few "panels" that you can use for peeling. 

Slicing
For chips, I'd definitely recommend using a mandolin to make sure all of the slices are the same thickness and will cook evenly. This will also cut your time way down since you can slice up a whole plantain in a matter of seconds! You can definitely use a knife, but unless you have expert knife skills, it's hard to get the slices thin enough and perfectly even. I'll admit, I'm a bit scared of my mandolin after a little slicing incident that we won't get into right now 🙈, but it's worth bringing out for these chips. Just be careful when you use it, and stop slicing when you have a good inch or two of plantain left and to spare your fingers! Btw, this is the one I use! 

Ok now that we got all of the deets out of the way, we can get into the super simple recipe!

Ingredients
2 green plantains, peeled
Avocado oil spray (my fave) or 1-2 tbsp avocado oil
Sea salt

Yields 4 servings 

1. Preheat oven to 375˚. Line a large baking sheet (you may end up needing two) with parchment paper. 
2. Carefully slice plantains using a mandolin slicer, set to 1/8" or to your mandolin's thinnest setting. 
3. Place sliced plantains on the prepared baking sheets, spreading the slices out so they don't overlap, and spray with avocado oil spray. If you don't have avocado oil spray, you can toss the slices in a bowl with 1-2 tbsp avocado oil and then place them on the baking sheet. 
4. Sprinkle each slice with sea salt. 
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crispy and golden. Halfway through, make sure to rotate the baking sheets.
6. Serve with your favorite dips! 

If you happen to have any chips leftover (unlikely because they're so addicting, they'll still be good stored in a container for another day or two.)

Still can't get over how easy these are to make! What will you serve yours with?