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In my family we celebrate Christmas, Easter, Dominicans mothers day, Dominicans fathers day, and Independence Day.

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My mom and dad (Mami and Papi) taught me to be the best version of me by teaching me to be kind, respectful, caring, and loving.

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I call my grandpa and grandma Mama and Papa. I call my mom and dad Mami and Papi.

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Our family eats rice, tostones, meat, and chicken. The most popular food in the country is sancocho, arroz, habichuella, and pernil.

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I'm so excited to share these crispy baked tostones with you! I discovered tostones a few years ago when I visited Costa Rica with my grandmother. Traditional tostones are fried green plantains, flattened and fried again until they're golden and crispy. You could almost call them Caribbean French fries, and I couldn't get enough on that trip.

I got a hankering for some tostones a few months ago and decided to learn how to make them. As I was typing up my perfected skillet-fried tostones technique to share with you, a little voice in my head asked, "Why didn't you try baking them?"

I hit pause on my post and fired up the oven. As it turns out, baked tostones are great. Compared to fried tostones, they're easier to make, use less oil, and yield a crisp result that tastes more like plantains and less like oil. Hooray!

These baked tostones are a fun little project. Make them for game days, afternoon snacks, or of course, serve them as a side dish with Caribbean meals. They're especially wonderful with a bold and creamy dipping sauce, like this Aji Verde. Please try them and let me know what you think.

What are plantains?

Plantains are a type of banana. Like bananas, they grow in tropical regions around the world. Compared to regular bananas, plantains are larger in size, more starchy and less sweet.

To make tostones, you'll need to find unripe, green plantains. Unripe plantains are more firm and less sweet than their ripe counterparts. You can't make tostones with ripe plantains-you'd end up with caramelized, soft, maduros (fried sweet plantains) instead.

Baked vs. Fried Tostones

Baked tostones are easier to make. They're more of a passive project, since they bake in the oven during two fifteen-minute intervals (the perfect time to prepare your dipping sauce). Baked tostones require 75 percent less oil. Baked tostones are crisp yet a little chewy, and the plantain flavor shines through.

Fried tostones require more babysitting, since you should never leave a skillet of oil unattended. Pan-fried tostones require a significant amount of oil (about one cup for just a few plantains), and leave behind about half that much oil in the pan. Fried plantains are extra crispy, but they taste less like plantains and more like ambiguously fried tasty things.
However you make them, tostones are delicious. I'm partial to the baked method, and here's why:
How to Make Baked Tostones

1. Peel and slice the plantains. Here's a helpful video from Melissa Bailey on how to peel plantains.

2. Toss the sliced plantains with oil on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Spread them in an even layer.

3. Bake for 15 minutes, at which point they will be tender enough to smash.

4. Here's the fun part: Gently smash each round into a flattened disc using the base of a liquid measuring cup or something similar.

5. Brush both sides of each round with additional oil. Sprinkle generously with salt.

6. Bake for about 15 more minutes, until the plantains are crisp and golden. Enjoy!

You'll find the full recipe below, but here's the gist:
Oil Notes

Avocado oil has a high smoking point and is generally considered the healthiest of the high-heat oils, so that's what I used. Safflower or grapeseed oils would work, too.

I also tried using extra-virgin olive oil, which is my go-to for roasted vegetables. My nose told me that the oil overheated when baking plantains, though, so that's why I'm recommending a higher heat oil.

Serving Suggestions for Tostones

These fried plantains make a fun snack or side dish. They're especially nice with a creamy dipping sauce like Aji Verde (shown here) or Creamy Chipotle Sauce or mayonnaise mixed with gochujang (Korean red chili sauce), to taste.

Serve plantains on the side with Caribbean or Latin American meals. I don't have many authentic Caribbean recipes on the blog, but here are some ideas:

Please let me know how your tostones turn out in the comments! I love hearing from you.

Crispy Baked Tostones

▸ Nutrition Information

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I'm so excited to share these crispy baked tostones with you! I discovered tostones a few years ago when I visited Costa Rica with my grandmother. Traditional tostones are fried green plantains, flattened and fried again until they're golden and crispy. You could almost call them Caribbean French fries, and I couldn't get enough on that trip.

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My family's symblos are quira, tabora, accordeon, and baseball to celebrate our culture

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When I was little my family's favorite book was " El chavo"

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For Independence Day we use a costume called "Roba La Gallina

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In my family, we speak Spanish.

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I moved from Ronkonkoam in 2015 with my younger sister. I haved moved from there when I was 2 years old and my sister 1 years old.

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family of 5 standing on the beach at sunset in dark

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In my family baseball is a big part of my family.

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In my family and my family we listen to "Merengue and bachata.

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Daniela Darcourt - Te Equivocaste Conmigo

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In my family we do movie night, game bords, play volleyball, and soccer.

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My ancestors went to visit Dominican Repblic and they started to live there. Then my great grandma started to live there and then they moved to New york but it is still our family's culture.