Patacones (Twice-Fried Green Plantains)
Green plantain rounds fried until tender, smashed flat and fried again until golden and crackling at the edges. Salted while hot and served with hogao or guacamole — the essential Colombian side.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Peel and cut
Cut off both ends of the plantains, slit the skin lengthways with a knife and peel it off. Cut the plantains into rounds about 4cm thick.
- 3 green plantains
Fry the first time
Pour the oil into a medium pot or deep pan about 20cm wide and heat it to 160°C (325°F). Fry the plantain pieces for 5 to 6 minutes, turning now and then, until soft all the way through and pale golden; drain on paper towels.
- 3 green plantains
- 500ml oil
✅ Done when: soft all the way through and pale golden
Flatten
While still warm, press each piece flat to about 1cm thick using a , the bottom of a plate, or two sheets of baking paper. For extra flavor, dip them briefly in the garlic water, then pat dry with paper towels.
- fried plantain pieces fried plantains from step 2
- 250ml garlic water
Fry again
Reheat the same oil in the same pot to 185°C (365°F) and fry the flattened pieces for 2 to 3 minutes until deep golden and crisp at the edges.
- 500ml oil from step 2
- flattened plantains flattened plantains from step 3
✅ Done when: deep golden and crisp at the edges
Salt and serve
Drain the patacones, sprinkle with salt right away, and serve hot with or guacamole.
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup or guacamole
- fried patacones patacones from step 4
Peel and cut
Cut off both ends of the plantains, slit the skin lengthways with a knife and peel it off. Cut the plantains into rounds about 4cm thick.
- 3 green plantains
Fry the first time
Pour the oil into a medium pot or deep pan about 20cm wide and heat it to 160°C (325°F). Fry the plantain pieces for 5 to 6 minutes, turning now and then, until soft all the way through and pale golden; drain on paper towels.
- 3 green plantains
- 500ml oil
✅ Done when: soft all the way through and pale golden
Flatten
While still warm, press each piece flat to about 1cm thick using a , the bottom of a plate, or two sheets of baking paper. For extra flavor, dip them briefly in the garlic water, then pat dry with paper towels.
- fried plantain pieces fried plantains from step 2
- 250ml garlic water
Fry again
Reheat the same oil in the same pot to 185°C (365°F) and fry the flattened pieces for 2 to 3 minutes until deep golden and crisp at the edges.
- 500ml oil from step 2
- flattened plantains flattened plantains from step 3
✅ Done when: deep golden and crisp at the edges
Salt and serve
Drain the patacones, sprinkle with salt right away, and serve hot with or guacamole.
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup or guacamole
- fried patacones patacones from step 4
The Story Behind the Dish
Plantains arrived in the Americas with the Spanish and were embraced along Colombia's Caribbean and Pacific coasts, where Afro-Colombian cooks made them a staple. Twice-frying turns starchy green plantain into something crisp and irresistible.
Today patacones appear beside fried fish on the coast, under toppings as 'patacón con todo', and next to almost every lunch plate in the country.
⭐ Why It's Famous
They're the Colombian answer to fries — crunchy outside, soft inside and endlessly versatile.
💡 Fun Fact
The tool used to flatten them, the pataconera, is a common gadget in Colombian kitchens — but a heavy plate works just as well.
Caribbean coast & Pacific region
10.39°N, -75.48°W
Related recipes
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!