Yellow plantain porridge recipe - kick start your morning with this delicious Caribbean energy boosting breakfast bowl of porridge made from sweet plantain.
Plantain is certainly ranking high in the culinary world with so many diets incorporating it. If you're looking for a healthy hearty breakfast to sustain you until lunch time, then this yellow plantain porridge is your thing. Using a small handful of ingredients and made within 15 minutes.
This yellow plantain porridge is like the big sister to its unripe plantain porridge counterpart. It's sweet, tasty and darn right delicious if I do say so myself. Green plantain porridge is far more favoured and represented within the Caribbean community.
Although I do enjoy the taste of savoury porridge (I make mine with green banana) I feel that ripe plantain porridge is considerably grossly underrated. As a result I felt the need to embrace it via this recipe post so it hopefully gains more recognition.
I tried and tested this recipe several times over using my trusty plantain lovers. Trust me if it didn't meet their seal of approval then I wouldn't dare share this recipe. Thank goodness for honest and favourable feedback which helped to perfect the porridge.
In the Caribbean plantain is pretty much a dietary stable - it's fried, baked, roasted, boiled, stuffed you name it and each island has their unique way of preparing it.
Today I'm going to show you just how tasty preparing sweet plantain in a breakfast bowl can be.
How to cook plantain porridge
The recipe is very very simple and as mentioned previously, isn't time consuming so it's perfect to whip up before you head out the door. Plus it's incredibly filling too so you probably won't need to eat until lunch time (bonus)
Ripe plantain - the darker the plantain the sweeter the porridge, it's that simple. Since yellow plantain has it's own naturally occurring sugar (complex). The great news is you don't need to use a great deal of sugar/sweetener. It's a matter of preference which is why I haven't specified an amount.
Plantain puree - the plantain needs to be sliced up. I used two big ones and pureed them in a high speed blender with water to help ease the process.
Cooking the porridge - once the plantain is pureed you'll need to transfer the mixture into a saucepan
Milk and spices, sweetener (if required) - I used almond milk which isn't typically Caribbean but I've grown to enjoy the taste of almond milk more in my porridge. You can of course use coconut milk, it tastes equally as nice and add your spices - cinnamon, nutmeg and a splash of vanilla extract.
In terms of sweetener coconut condensed milk if you need it or even coconut sugar work well.
Texture of the porridge - once the porridge has all of the above ingredients added, it needs to cook which takes no more than 10 minutes to achieve. It's VERRRRRRY important to STIR THE PORRIDGE throughout the given time or else it will become lumpy.
As the porridge cools down it will thicken up a great deal so don't be tempted to add any starch because it's really not necessary.
Notes
- Vegan friendly
- Gluten free and contains no dairy
- Great Caribbean breakfast option
- Paleo approved
The steps
Place the plantain slices in a blender with the water then transfer to a saucepan with the nut milk of your choice.
Stir in the spices - nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla extract, sweeten if needed!
Other porridge recipes to try
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Yellow plantain porridge
Ingredients
- 2 ripe plantains
- 1 cup of warm water
- 2 cups of almond milk or coconut milk works too
- ¼ tsp of cinnamon
- ¼ tsp of nutmeg
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- condensed coconut milk or coconut sugar - as needed see post
Instructions
- Cut the ends off the plantain and then score each one length ways with a paring knife (not too deep).
- Peel the skin from the plantain and discard
- Slice both plantain and then place in a blender with water then puree.
- Pour the mixture into a medium sized saucepan in medium/low heat
- Proceed to stir in the nut milk and add the spices along with the vanilla.
- Stir for roughly 10 minutes until the porridge is cooked through, do not leave or stop stirring because the porridge will quickly turn lumpy.
- Add your sweetener - condensed or coconut sugar according to your desire
- Serve and enjoy!!
I made the recipe with 3 ripe plantains, 1 1/2 cups water to puree, plus 2 cups of almond milk and the porridge never thickened. I think next time I will only use 1 cup of water and 1 cup of almond milk to see if that works. Maybe my plantains are smaller than yours.
I didn't have nutmeg or vanilla so I just threw in some spices I had and adjusted. Different taste, but fine. Honey works nice as a sweetener.
My plantains were quite huge so you may need to reduce the volume of liquid the next time you make it. Also, the porridge does thicken up as it cools down in fact I often need to loosen it up before having some the next day.
Thanks. Have you ever weighed one? My plantain plants only grow smaller ones, not like midget bananas, but only about five inches long and one across. I wish I could find a plantain that would grow huge ones, but they aren't for sale in Florida. My porridge was really a soup, and it had a good taste, but it wasn't what I expected. Thanks for all the good recipes!
Hi Stan, No I haven't weighed them at all. I usually purchase them in a bundle here (that's how the vendors re-sell them). The size of the plantain will definitely determine the texture but I'm glad you enjoyed it nevertheless. I'm not sure whereabouts you are in Florida, but I have visited that state a few times and was able to get giant sized plantains in Miami and Fort Lauderdale if that helps. Thank you for your support, it's appreciated!
I made this and it was great! However, to get a smoother consistency, can I boil the plantain first, then puree, then cook in the saucepan?
It should work it's not something I have tried mayself although cooking the plantain may alter the taste. Blending the plantain into a puree should make it smooth but it depends on how powerful the speed of your blender is.
I just finished making the porridge it turned out pretty good..the only thing I forgot to do was add water to the pan first..I only added a bit of water when blending it in my blender. That's not a big deal right?
No, it sounds like it came out just fine.
Can this be made the night before and then eaten the next morning? Does it reheat well? Thanks for your help!
Yes, you can prepare the night before but keep in mind the porridge may thicken up as it cools so you may need to add a splash or milk/water to loosen it up upon reheating it.
Can this be done with ripe banana?
Plantain and banana derive from the same family but are different (plantain is a vegetable although it grows on the tree like a fruit and starchy enriched) most of the time they are not interchangeable however, with porridge you should be able to use a banana, never tried it myself!
The recipe was pretty good. I added some allspice, a pinch of salt and some evaporated milk at the end because I felt that I was missing that umami taste that I look for in a porridge.
Please don't tell people that plantains are vegetables though. They're fruit, just like bananas. Anything with seeds is a fruit, like pumpkins and squash.
Glad you were able to adjust the recipe to suit. In respect to your comment about referring to plantain as a vegetable. I am aware that plantains belong to the banana family. However, they behave like a vegetable because they are starch enriched, cannot be eaten raw and are prepared like their starchy vegetable counterparts i.e cassava, dasheen, breadfruit, yam etc....Thank you for your feedback.
This looks so tasty! I've been seeing plantains in the produce department more and more, and have yet to pick one up. This will work!
Suzanne you are missing out BIG time, get those plantains and get cooking!!
Never would have thought of this. I love plantains so much and i've just learnt a new way to make them. Thanks!
You are so welcome
Porridge is such a huge thing in the Jamaican culture and this plantain porridge looks amazing! Pinned!
Thanks for pinning Shanika
I'm lovin this one! Nice
I have had plantains before and I loved them! Excited to try this recipe!
You always introduce me to new and exciting foods. This recipe is no exception!
Thank you so much Jazz!!
LOVED IT! THANK YOU! I am trying to avoid sweeteners so I only added cinnamon and vanilla. I put a dollop of coconut cream and a sprinkle of vanilla powder. While it was cooking, it smelled like heaven must smell. Then when I tasted it, I was pretty sure I was there. Thank you for sharing. I have a lot of food allergies, am going on 68 next week, and ate a "good" SAD diet all those years. Recently I have developed more and more sensitivities to food (and pollens). So I thank you so much for taking the time to share foods that my body does not know, and my mouth loves. God bless you.
Aww you are very welcome Billie. I actually love adding some coconut cream to my porridge and stews too. It adds a subtle hint of creaminess. Thanks once again for your feedback.