Plantain substitute

Best substitute

Green (unripe) bananas

Use the same amount by weight, for green plantain only as the plantain you are replacing

Best for boiled plantain and ampesi

Close match

It depends entirely on which plantain the recipe wants. For green plantain, in tostones, chips, boiled dishes or fufu, use green unripe bananas 1:1, or waxy potato or cassava at 1:1 by weight. For ripe plantain, in dodo, kelewele or maduros, sweet potato at 1:1 by weight is the least-bad option because it holds its shape and caramelises; a very ripe banana gets the flavour right but collapses in the pan. Check the skin colour in the recipe before you pick a substitute, because swapping a green plantain answer into a ripe plantain dish will not work.

Other plantain substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Cassava (yuca)
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight, for green plantain
A dense tropical root with even more starch, used interchangeably with green plantain across West Africa and the Caribbean.
What changes
Best for
fried plantain-style fritters, boiled sides, stews and soups, ampesi and swallow dishes
Starchier, drier and more fibrous than plantain, with a faint sweetness. Fritters come out crunchier on the outside and denser inside, and boiled cassava has a waxier, more solid bite than boiled plantain's slightly mealy one. You must peel it thickly, cut out the woody central fibre, and cook it all the way through; cassava is never eaten raw or undercooked.
3Waxy or all-purpose potato
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight, for green plantain
The supermarket answer for green plantain in stews, chips and fried snacks.
What changes
Best for
plantain in stews and soups, fried chips and crisps, boiled sides, hash and breakfast dishes
Potato is fluffier and less dense, and it has none of the faint green-banana tang that plantain carries, so the dish tastes plainer and more neutral. It also breaks down much faster in a simmering pot, so add it fifteen minutes later than you would add plantain and stir gently. For frying it browns more readily, so drop the oil temperature slightly.
4Sweet potato
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight, for ripe plantain
The most practical stand-in for sweet fried plantain, because it holds its shape while caramelising.
What changes
Best for
dodo and fried sweet plantain, kelewele-style spiced fried cubes, roast and baked dishes, sweet plantain in stews
This is the honest best answer for ripe plantain, because it is the only common vegetable with enough sugar to caramelise and enough structure not to disintegrate. It is earthier, drier and orange rather than golden, so fried sweet potato reads squashier and less fruity than dodo does. Add a pinch of sugar if the plantain's sweetness was central, and fry a shade slower since sweet potato needs longer to cook through.
5Very ripe banana
Different texture
Use the same amount but only where softness is acceptable
Right flavour, wrong structure, and worth understanding why.
What changes
Best for
baked or mashed sweet plantain dishes, puddings and fritter batters, plantain in a sauce
A banana has far less starch and far more free sugar and water than a ripe plantain, which means it collapses and scorches in a pan instead of holding a cube. The flavour direction is genuinely close, which is why people try it. If you must, use a firm just-yellow banana rather than a spotty one, cut thick pieces, fry over medium rather than high heat and do not crowd the pan. Expect something closer to a caramelised mash than to dodo.
6Taro, breadfruit or green jackfruit
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight, for green plantain
Other starchy tropical staples that fill the same role in a stew or a boiled side.
What changes
Best for
boiled and pounded dishes, soups and stews, fried chips
All three are dense, starchy and mild, and any of them will do the structural job green plantain does in a pot of soup. Taro is slightly sweet and can be a little slippery, breadfruit is drier and closer to bread than to potato, and green jackfruit is fibrous and shreds. None has plantain's specific faint fruity note, so the dish tastes cleaner and less distinctive.

What is Plantain?

Plantain is A plantain is a large starchy cooking banana that is always eaten cooked, and it behaves like two completely different ingredients depending on ripeness: firm and potato-like when green, soft and sweet when the skin has turned yellow-black.

Cooking tips

Ripeness is the whole ingredient. Green skin means firm and starchy, good for boiling, chips and tostones. Yellow with black patches means sweet and soft enough to fry into dodo. Fully black means sweetest of all, almost jammy, and best baked or mashed rather than fried in neat pieces. A recipe that specifies colour is not being fussy.
Peel green plantains with a knife, not your thumbs. The skin does not strip like a banana's: top and tail it, cut a shallow slit down the length, then work the peel off in strips. The sap stains fingers, clothes and knives, so oil your hands or the blade first, and rinse the peeled fruit.
Tostones need two fries. Fry thick green rounds at moderate heat until pale and just tender, lift them out and smash them flat, then fry again hotter until crisp and golden. Skipping the first stage gives you something crunchy outside and raw inside.
Ripen plantains on the counter, never in the fridge, where the cold stops the process and blackens the skin without sweetening the flesh. A paper bag with a banana in it speeds things up, and a fully ripe plantain will keep a few days at room temperature.
Plantain always has to be cooked. Raw green plantain is chalky and astringent and raw ripe plantain is unpleasantly gummy, which is the main difference between a plantain and a dessert banana in practice.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use a regular banana instead of a plantain?

Only in some dishes, and with care. A green unripe banana is a good substitute for green plantain in boiled, pounded and fried-chip dishes at 1:1. A ripe dessert banana is a poor substitute for ripe plantain in anything fried, because it has far less starch and much more water and sugar, so it collapses and burns rather than holding a browned cube. Sweet potato is the better choice for fried sweet plantain.

What is the difference between a plantain and a banana?

Plantains are starchier, larger, thicker-skinned and much lower in sugar, and they are treated as a vegetable and always cooked. Dessert bananas are sweeter, softer and eaten raw. Even a fully ripe plantain has more starch and holds its shape far better under heat than a banana does, which is why the two are not simply interchangeable.

Can I leave the plantain out of a stew or soup?

Yes, if it is one component among several. Plantain is there for starchy bulk and a little sweetness, so potato, sweet potato, yam or cassava will all fill the gap, or you can leave it out and serve more rice on the side. If the plantain is the dish, as in dodo, kelewele or tostones, then no, and you need one of the substitutes above rather than an omission.

How ripe should plantain be for dodo?

Yellow with substantial black patches, soft enough that it gives when you press it but still firm enough to hold a slice. Fully green plantain will not be sweet and will fry hard and starchy; fully black plantain is delicious but so soft that the pieces tend to fall apart in the pan. Kelewele uses the same stage, cut into chunks and tossed with ginger, cayenne and spices before frying.

Why did my fried plantain turn out soggy instead of caramelised?

Almost always oil temperature or crowding. The oil needs to be hot enough that the pieces sizzle immediately, around 175C, and the pan needs enough space that steam escapes rather than pooling. Also blot the slices dry, since ripe plantain is wet, and resist turning them more than once. If you swapped in banana, sogginess is more or less unavoidable regardless of technique.

Related substitutes

More vegetables & aromatics substitutes

Plantain substitute

Other plantain substitutes

2Cassava (yuca)

3Waxy or all-purpose potato

4Sweet potato

5Very ripe banana

6Taro, breadfruit or green jackfruit