Stuffed Baked Plantains Canoas De Plátanos Maduros

You are about to learn how to create this delicious Puerto Rican recipe, Stuffed Baked Plantains or Canoas De Plátanos Maduros.

Let's get started!

Plantains are very popular in Puerto Rican cultures. Mofongo and many other plantain dishes are also very popular in the Caribbean.

Plantains are my favorite things in the world. I have written about it before and have shared some fantastic recipes with them

One of them is Tortillas de Platanos or Plantain Tortillas, one of my favorites.

How to Cook Plantains

When it comes to plantains, you can:

• Boil them
• Mashed them
• Grilled them
• Fry them
• Bake them

Plantains are members of the banana family and are very starchy. However, you can eat them at any growth stage, meaning you can eat them “green” or “yellow” for a sweeter taste.

Related posts:

• Top 5 Recipes For Plantains
• Leftover Ham & Plantain Soup (Sopas de Platanos)
• Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: 33 Meals To Love

However, you can't eat them raw you must cook them before consuming them as they are not regular bananas.

Plantains are super affordable, and you can find them in just about any area of the USA.

Even Aldi!.. mmhmm!

How to Make Stuffed Baked Plantains

Before we begin, I want to ensure that we fried the plantain in vegetable oil. However, you can skip frying the ripe plantains and bake them instead. I will get into this later.

Ingredients to make Puerto Rican Stuffed Sweet Plantains

To make this delicious Canoas De Plátanos Maduros, you are going to need the following ingredients:

• ripe plantains
• ground beef (we use lean)
• sofrito
• garlic
• onion
• green pepper
• a packet of Sazon with achiote
• sauce
• water
• olives without seeds
• grated Mozzarella cheese or American cheese  (or favorite cheese)
• Oil
• Green onions (garnish)

Now that we have our ingredients let's begin!

Step 1 – Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2 – Over medium heat, place the meat in a pan and cook for a few minutes.

Step 3 – Add sofrito, garlic, onion, and peppers, and stir. Cook for about 4 minutes until everything is blended well.

Step 4 – Add the tomato sauce and water and cover.

Step 5 – Continue to cook on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes.

Step 6 – Peel the bananas and cut out a small portion of the outer curve of the plantain. Make sure you cut in a deep oval shape, not the edges. Remove an amount of plantain from the center to allow room for the meat. You want it to resemble a canoe.

Option to Bake Stuffed Baked Plantains

You can skip the frying of the sweet plantain and go to the baking part instead. I have done it both ways, depending on how ripe the plantains are and how fast I want them done.

The frying ways seem to give it an extra taste, and my parents prefer the baking way.

Below are the instructions for baking, and after that, we will go into frying them.

Step 7 – Once you have cut and looked like a canoe, place the plantains on a baking sheet and spray cooking spray.

Step 8 – Place the plantains in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes until plantains are tender.

How to fry Sweet Plantains

Step 7 – Heat a frying pan with oil for about 350F.

Step 8 – Once it is heated, fry the whole plantain over medium-high heat until each side is brown. This will take a couple of minutes.

Step 9 – Place the plantains on a plate with paper towels to absorb the grease.

Step 10 – Let them cool.

How to Fill Plantains

Once the plantains are cool, fill each one with the same amount of meat. Then, top them with your favorite cheese.

Place the stuffed sweet plantains in the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Your Puerto Rican Stuffed Sweet Plantains are done!

Now print the recipe with the exact measurements.