This Caribbean vegan plantain curry is filling, delicious and made in one pot. It's packed with sweet potatoes, spinach, kidney beans and fragrant spices. An overall award winning dinner that is great for bulk cooking or weeknights for the family.
Here in the UK I think it's safe to say that British people love their curry dishes. Whenever people think of a curry, they immediately think of Asian cuisines.
Little do people know that the Caribbean has a monopoly on their own rendition of a good old curry - whether it's curried shrimp, beef or Pumpkin Curry
We have a unique vibrant spin on things and this vegan plantain curry (aka curry plantain) is everything you could need on you dinner table - it's plant based, packed with flavour and filling too.
What's the difference between bananas and plantains?
Now that plantains has become a trendy health food, so many people still don't know the difference between a plantain and a banana so let's cover this topic briefly.
In short, plantain derives from the same family as a banana, however, it behaves like a vegetable despite it growing on a tree like a fruit. Plantains can boiled, fried, mashed or even roasted just like potatoes.
It is relatively larger in size with robust skin and has a low sugar content (when not fully ripen) and starchier then it's banana counterpart. For that reason, it is considering a cooking banana that cannot be eaten raw.
On the contrary, bananas are small in size, sweeter with less starch and can be eaten on the go just like a snack!
How to cut a plantain
The good news is that it's fairly simple to cut and remove the skin from a ripe to over ripe plantain
All you need to do is......
- Lay your plantain preferably horizontally.
- Then cut off each of the ends from the plantain and discard,
- Next you then use a knife to score a long the skin of the plantain (you will see where the skin separates from the flesh, just like a banana.
- Use your hands to remove the rest of the skin.
Ingredients you will need
- Ripe plantain
- Sweet potato
- Cooked kidney beans (or peas as English Caribbean islands refer to them as)
- Onion
- Scallion
- Bell peppers
- Coconut milk
- Spinach (or use callaloo if you can source it)
- Tomato
- Curry powder
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Black pepper
- Pimento berries (all spice)
- Thyme
- Ground coriander
- Himalayan pink salt
- Water
- Coconut oil
- Scotch bonnet
How to make plantain curry
- Grab a sturdy non stick casserole pot/dutch pot/large skillet and melt the coconut oil on low-medium heat.
- Saute the scallion, onion and garlic until soft and translucent (picture 1)
- Once the onions and so fourth are sauteed, add the bell peppers and ginger and cook for roughly 5 minutes until the peppers have become soft. (picture 2)
- Add thyme, chopped tomatoes, coriander, pimento berries, black pepper and curry powder. (picture 3)
- Stir all of the spices into the vegetables for about 2 minutes until they become fragrant.
- Add the kidney beans, sweet potato and plantain (only add the plantain now if it is firm, not over ripe) along with the scotch bonnet, coconut milk and water. (picture 4-7)
- Bring the pot to a rolling boil, cover with a lid, reduce the heat to medium/low and simmer for about 25 minutes.
- Carefully fold in the spinach 5 minutes before the given cooking time and sprinkle in the pink salt. (picture 8)
- If your plantain is soft and over ripe it's best to add them 5-10 minutes before the curry is ready or else they will turn to mush.
Notes and tips
- For convenience use a can of cooked red kidney beans make sure it is in water, not salt water.
- If using dried beans make sure to cook them ahead of time. If you have an instant pot/stove top pressure cooker that will hasten the cooking process
- If you don't like kidney beans, feel free to use any other legume.
- If you want overly sweet plantain, use extra ripe (skin is almost black) but add them towards the end of cooking. I used moderately ripe (with high yellow skin) plantains that are subtly sweet.
- Use white or orange sweet potatoes depending on where you live/availability
- Pimento berries are a whole version of allspice. Use ¼ teaspoon of ground allspice if you cannot obtain the whole berries.
- Callaloo makes this recipe more Caribbean, it's a type of spinach. If you can't get hold of it, use spinach or even kale works too.
- Scotch bonnet is optional, use a habanero or chilli or ¼ teaspoon chilli powder if you can't obtain it
- Use light coconut milk if you want to decrease calorie intake
Frequently asked questions
Where can I buy plantains?
The best place is from a market that stock African/Latino/Caribbean groceries. Also if you frequent a neighbourhood with this demographic, you will find supermarkets that stock it too.
Can I use a banana instead?
No, the two are NOT interchangeable
Can I freeze the plantain curry?
Yes, this is a freezer friendly meal
Can I make this recipe in my slow cooker?
No, the plantain will breakdown over a course of several hours. It's best to make this recipe on a stove top.
More plantain recipes you may like
- Spicy Shrimp and Plantain
- Pastelon
- Vegan Caribbean Breakfast
- Baked Hake Fillets with Mashed Plantain
- Baked Plantain Chips
- Plantain Pie
- Dominican Mangu
- Boiled Plantains with Kale
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Vegan Caribbean Plantain Curry
Ingredients
- 2 ripe yellow plantains sliced and halved
- 1 medium sized sweet potato chopped
- 1 4 oz can of kidney beans or 1 cup/200g, drained
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 Scallion chopped
- 2 mixed bell peppers chopped
- 1 can of coconut milk 2 cups/400ml
- A handful of spinach or use callaloo if you can source it
- l medium tomato chopped
- 1 tablespoon of curry powder
- 1 tablespoon of ginger grated
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper
- 4 pimento berries all spice
- 6 sprigs of thyme
- 1 teaspoon of ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon of himalayan pink salt or to taste
- 1 cup of water 250ml
- Scotch bonnet optional
- 2 tablespoon of coconut oil
Instructions
- Grab a sturdy non stick casserole pot/dutch pot/large skillet and melt the coconut oil on low-medium heat.
- Saute the scallion, onion and garlic until soft and translucent.
- Once the onions and so fourth are sauteed, add the bell peppers and ginger and cook for roughly 5 minutes until the peppers have become soft.
- Add thyme, chopped tomatoes, coriander, pimento berries, black pepper and curry powder.
- Stir all of the spices into the vegetables for about 2 minutes until they become fragrant.
- Add the kidney beans, sweet potato and plantain (only add the plantain now if it is firm, not over ripe) along with the scotch bonnet, coconut milk and water.
- Bring the pot to a rolling boil, cover with a lid, reduce the heat to medium/low and simmer for about 25 minutes.
- Carefully fold in the spinach 5 minutes before the given cooking time and sprinkle in the pink salt
- If your plantain is soft and over ripe it's best to add them 5-10 minutes before the curry is ready or else they will turn to mush.
Notes
- For convenience use a can of cooked red kidney beans make sure it is in water, not salt water.
- If using dried beans make sure to cook them ahead of time. If you have an instant pot/stove top pressure cooker that will hasten the cooking process
- If you don't like kidney beans, feel free to use any other legume.
- If you want overly sweet plantain, use extra ripe (skin is almost black) but add them towards the end of cooking. I used moderately ripe (with high yellow skin) plantains that are subtly sweet.
- Use white or orange sweet potatoes depending on where you live/availability
- Pimento berries are a whole version of allspice. Use ¼ teaspoon of ground allspice if you cannot obtain the whole berries.
- Callaloo makes this recipe more Caribbean, it's a type of spinach. If you can't get hold of it, use spinach or even kale works too.
- Scotch bonnet is optional, use a habanero or chilli or ¼ teaspoon chilli powder if you can't obtain it
- Use light coconut milk if you want to decrease calorie intake
I’ve made this twice and the family loves it. Very different flavours from what we normally use. Goes great with a dollop of coconut yoghurt!
You are very welcome Craig, I gotta try with a dollop of coconut yoghurt when I make it next.
I laughed when I first saw this recipe, saying are they crazy??? Then I decided to try it since my husband is trying to eat vegan/vegetarian but still wanted caribbean flavour. I am so glad I came back to this recipe. It turned out fabulous and I think it is probably the best curry I have ever prepared!
Hi Odel, Thank you so so much for your positive feedback. I'm so glad to hear that you were able to overcome your skepticism of the recipe to the point where you made it and loved it. No offence taken, I'm just happy that you loved the curry!
I honestly had no idea what this would taste like but I’m so glad it made it! It’s so good!!
Yay! Another happy tummy! A lot of people are apprehensive but they end up loving this curry which always makes me smile, so thank you so much.
Thank you for this delicious recipe, I've made it twice now and think it'll become a regular! I live in the Caribbean so am lucky enough to be able to use local ingredients. (The only thing I did differently was to add a tsp of sugar to sweeten it a bit more, because I use the firmer yellow plantains).
No problem Rachel. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I really want to get into Ital Rasta cooking but can’t find scotch bonnet peppers where I live. What do you think about habanero pepper as a substitute? Or is there another pepper that would be better?
Hi Linda, thanks for reaching out to me. Yes, you can substitute habanero if scotch bonnets aren't available where you live. They are very similar in terms of their heat. Only scotch bonnets yield a slightly sweetness to them compared to habaneros but this won't impact the overall results of whatever recipe you use them in. I hope that helps!
Hello,
I accidentally bought spring onions instead of scallions at the store. Can I use these in the recipe or will it dramatically change the taste?
Hi there, don't panic spring onion/green onion and scallion are virtually interchangeable so it won't have an impact on the overall taste/results. Enjoy your curry when you make it!
LOL! You must’ve sensed my panic through the screen. Thanks so much for answering! I just finished cooking/eating this dish and it was DELICIOUS. I had to use spinach and a habanero because my local Asian market didn’t have callaloo or a scotch bonnet pepper but it turned out so deliciously creamy and decadent with just enough kick from the pepper. This will definitely be a repeated meal!!!! Thank you so much for this amazing recipe 😊
You are very welcome, yes I could sense the panic but no worries I got you. I will always endeavour to answer comments/emails as soon as possible. I'm so glad that you liked this recipe, it's very very popular with lots of positive feedback, thanks again! Hope you make more of my recipes and don't hesitate to reach out to me with any questions or concerns.
This is amazing
It is such a shame that I have lived my whole life up to now without trying this. Thank you so much for rectifying that!
I made the curry powder from your recipe too and it made soooo much so I am now forced to try more of your food! I’m super excited
Thank you so much Jason. Please do check out some of my other dishes, you will love them!
Oh man!! This curry is amazing! I love plantains and was looking for a new dish to try. This turned out great. The flavors are lovely and complex and meld so well. I didn’t have a scotch bonnet so ended up using crushed red peppers and home grown rainbow chard instead of the spinach.
Hi Narayani, I'm so happy that you enjoyed the curry and most importantly made your own adaptations to suit. Thanks for the feedback!
This recipe has now been added to my family classics! Although it took me way more than 10 minutes to prep all the ingredients (maybe cuz I made it for 6 people), once all the chopping was done, wow did all the ingredients come together so heavenly. I've cooked riz collé from Hatian cuisine before and I can see that you remained faithful to the authentic Carribean flavors (fresh thyme, pimento berries, scotch bonnet, etc...). Thank you Charla for making vegan cuisine an absolute delight!
Thank you so much Celeste for your wonderful feedback. I'm so glad that you enjoyed the curry!!
I tried this recipe on Sunday. It came out wonderful. Good flavors put together for this recipe. I did have over ripped plantains and I did exactly as you suggested and added those much later in the cooking process. They came out very good, not mushy. The only change I had to the recipe was using Red Small Beans instead of Kidney Beans. That's all I had on hand. I also had black beans. I thought those would be able to mesh well with everything. Thanks for the recipe. My family loved it.
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback. I'm so glad to hear that you were able to enjoy the recipe even with the use of different legumes (black beans are a great addition anyway) and I'm also happy to hear that you followed the instructions to the tee for using over ripe plantain.
This recipe was amazing! The flavours were beautiful. My Italian husband said this was the best things I’ve ever cooked for him. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so so much Adelina for your wonderful feedback. I'm so glad that you and your husband enjoy this dish 🙂
Made this for lunch and it was so so good. Substituted pimento berries with 3 cloves, 1/8 tsp cinnamon powder, 1/8 tsp nutmeg powder and instead of fresh thyme I used 1/4 tsp dried thyme. Cooked it in my instant pot for 3 minutes on high pressure, it was perfect.
Is there a side dish that goes with it? I had it as a soup.
I also printed the recipe in case I lose it 😉
Thanks Zainab. I'm glad you were able to substitute and still make it taste just as good. I would pair it with cauliflower rice or brown rice.
Made this dish today and it was so flavourful and delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks for the feedback Michelle. I really appreciate it.
This recipe is absolutely amazing!! Thank you so much! Definitely a keeper ❤️
Hi Denise, thank you for your feedback and you are welcome.
This was very good! I didn’t have pimento berries and therefore added clove and a dash of cinnamon and also omitted the scallions and spinach. Other than that followed the recipe and was delicious. Thank you!
No problem Christina! Glad it worked out for you.
This was an easy recipe and it turned out great! I love curry and I like trying healthy alternatives to my favorite dishes. I added broccoli and carrots to mine because I had them on hand and it turned out wonderfully. Definitely adding it to my make again list!
Thank you so much Janean
This is an amazingly good dish. It's my first attempt at this type of curry. It's definitely a keeper!
Thanks for the feedback Sylvia!!
Hi there, I can’t wait to make this recipe! But I was actually wondering if you could tell me where you got that pot or what brand it is, I’m totally in love with it!
Thank you! I'm confident that you will love the curry. In terms of the pot, I actually brought 2 (small and large) from an Indian store. I'm not sure where you are based but I did a quick search on Amazon and believe you can get mine in black from there. I think the brand is called "Sterling". Here is the link https://www.amazon.co.uk/Marble-Coated-Non-Stick-Casserole-Tempered/dp/B07HFGZHGD/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=sterling+casserole+pot&qid=1590685167&sr=8-7
A flavourful burst of Caribbean flare! It honestly felt like transporting the experience of travels to the home. I made a few additions to this recipe, but the base one itself is still INCREDIBLE. I can't thank you enough for sharing.
Thank you Natalie. I'm always thrilled when my readers provide feedback (good or bad). Glad that this recipe impressed you, you are more than welcome!!
Vegan or not, this stew is Sooo tasty, I always love the taste of sweet and savory together in my mouth. We ate on this for 3 days!
Thanks for the feedback Jahmela
I can’t wait to make this!!! Just a quick question, for the plantain is it a soft yellow plantain or the green plantain?
Thank you!
Hi Summer. I'm excited for you because so many people have enjoyed this recipe. It's yellow plantain that you need. I've just updated the recipe card to reflect this
Hu Charla,
I just made this for my own Valentine's Day, cold rainy weekend. It tastes and smell like love. I'm currently looking over your site for a low sugar dessert.
May I make a suggestion. I use a lot of recipes and many of them have the ingredients listed in the order of use. It makes the recipe easier to follow, especially when there are a lot of ingredients.
Thanks for the constructive feedback, I will definitely keep that in mind for upcoming recipes.
For a low sugar dessert, I would recommend this Vegan Key Lime Pudding (Keto Option) one. I hope you enjoy the Plantain curry and Happy Valentine's day to you.
I’ve never made Caribbean food before, but my boyfriend and I loved it! We bought allspice and fresh thyme specifically for this recipe, and I’m glad we did bc the flavor blend was so unique and unlike anything I’ve ever tried. This is going into our meal rotation for sure and I can’t wait to check out more of the recipes here!
Thank you for the feedback. I can so glad to hear that you liked the recipe so much that it will be part of your mealprep.
This is an awesome vegetarian dish! So much flavor and so hearty!! Can't wait to try it!
I hope you like it Tisha
I love that this dish is naturally vegan and so full of flavor! I hadn't cooked with plantains before, and was excited to give this recipe a try. Delish!
Thanks Alison, plantains are so easy to cook with I promise you won't regret it.
Finally made this and it was so yummy!! I never knew plantains could be made into curry.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the dish Sara
What a delicious and savory soup! Everything a gourmet meal should be, and then some!
Thank you so much Sara
Wow, I love the idea of plantains in a curry! Great way to add some sweetness into it.
Yes! It adds sweetness to the dish for sure!!
Absolutely loved this curry, I had never tried plantain before until giving this recipe a try...simply delicious !!!
Yay! I'm so glad that you enjoyed the recipe Gemma.