Baked ripe plantains with cheese {Plátanos asados con queso}
Easy recipe for making homemade baked ripe plantains stuffed with cheese – also known as plátanos maduros asados con queso.
Who can resist these delicious baked ripe plantains stuffed with cheese? One thing you may have noticed about Ecuadorian food – and Latin food in general – is that there is a lot of frying going on. There are a lot of healthy options also, but yes a lot of things are fried, which can be very tasty and is fine as long as there is a balance. My mom was always concerned about keeping us healthy when we growing up and was very focused on healthy food, so she tried a lot of different ways to prepare foods that were typically fried and either bake them and/or use less grease.
We loved having fried ripe plantains with cheese for breakfast, but sometimes my mom would bake them instead, and they were just as good. She would rub a little bit of butter or oil on the plantains, bake them and then stuff them with cheese – or for a quicker version you can slice the plantains, bake them and then sprinkle grated cheese on top.
These baked ripe plantains with cheese are great for breakfast or brunch. You can eat a whole one or cut in half or smaller pieces to serve as appetizers or as a side dish. I love to eat these baked ripe plantains with aji criollo, a spicy Ecuadorian hot sauce, the combination of sweet plantain, melted gooey cheese and spicy cilantro hot sauce is just perfect. So, if you love plantains but want to try a healthier alternative to frying ripe plantains, or just want to try a new twist on them you should give these a try.
Baked ripe plantains with cheese
Ingredients
- 6 ripe plantains whole
- 1-2 tbs melted butter or oil use as little as you want
- 6 thick slices of mozzarella
Optional garnish:
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 F
- Peel the plantains, place them on a baking sheet and rub them with butter or oil.
- Bake the plantains for 30 minutes, then turn each one and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until golden on both sides.
- Remove the plantains from the oven, made a horizontal slit on the middle of each plantain, and stuff them with the cheese slices.
- In a few minutes the cheese will have melted, serve immediately, with or without hot sauce.
Step by step preparation photos for baking ripe plantains with cheese:
Hi! This is about the 5th time I have made thesse platanos. I love them like this. My dad always just fried up slices, but he never baked them and stuffed them with cheese! I love it.
Ay Dios mio, platanos?!?!!?!?!?!?!!?!?!? con queso?!?!?! que delicia!!!!!!!!!
OMG, I am drooling!!! I miss Platanos :( where I live now I find platanos IF I am LUCKY :(
Back in Colombia, we would literally be eating them daily.
Thanks for the recipe, will have to try it, WHEN I get to find Platanos, LOL! :)
HI LAYLITA
Your recipes pictures look so delicious, especially these ones.
When I buy green plantains I put them in a paper bag, place them in a dark cool place and let them ripe, ussually in about a week they are yummilly ripe and ready, (when the skin is dark). Before I serve them, I sprinkle a lil bit of cinnamon powder.
Enjoy them with a tall glass of fresh cold milk. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Bon appetit.
This is the best… is a really delicious..!
These were amazing! I tried the queso fresco option and it was very tasty. What a great brunch dish! The website is wonderful, thank you for putting up these great recipes, I can finally have something new to cook for my grandmother, who although may know everything there is to know about Peruvian food, will hopefully find something refreshing about these new dishes.
–Pam
Laylita,
I happen to be dating a native of Quito for the past year (June 16…so sad I know that) anyway, I’m American-Southern-I knew very little about his culture (Galapagos? Really? Rain Forest? Really? Will I stand out there? Do they even have black people-yes, I’m famous for my quotes), even less about his food but I found you and this website and how excellent it is. You should have seen my face when on our first date he told me his favorite food (I’m a foodie) was soup–he was this close to not getting a second date (soup, before I found this site, I thought was like hospice food). I learned its a culture thing and soup is not just soup-it’s intense!
He now makes requests. He has a little cold today so I told him I-and by I, I of course mean you :), was making my(your) famous chicken and rice soup for him and these plantains. Anyway, I didn’t think it was fair to take all of the kisses for the soup AND take the credit. So you can have the credit-I’ll take the kisses :)
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PICTURES AND STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS!!!! :*
I thought it was only proper to say hi and thank you, I’ve been on your site “borrowing” for months :)
With much appreciation,
Lorin
I just tried a modified version of these that replaced the cilantro sauce with roasted poblano peppers and they were pretty yummy. Next time, I’d definitely go for queso blanco, though. I agree with the commenter who wanted a bit more of that salty flavor.
i need to get my hands on some plantains soon so i can try these.
I found your website because I searched Ecuadorian Recipes. I love it!!! I feels great to see that I am not the only one that loves Ecuadorina Food.
I was actually looking for a recipe for Muchines (fried Yuca stuffed with cheese) – I didn’t find it : (
Maybe some time in the near future you will post one?
Keep up the great work!!!!
I have the muchines on my list of recipes to make and post (I just don’t seem to have much time these days, but eventually I will get that recipe posted).
I landed up on your site searching for Empanadas. You have a wonderful site with beautiful pictures. I am from Seattle too. I have lots of bananas at home which my husband stored them for the snow storm. I have a New Year party at home and I am going to try them. Looks very good to me.