Air fryer tostones with Cuban black beans
Green plantains smashed and air-fried into crispy golden tostones, piled with garlicky Cuban-style black beans, avocado and lime-pickled onion, a crunchy Caribbean dinner with very little oil.
- 40 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.97 a serving
- 530 calories
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 3 plantains, green
- ½ red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 limes, juiced
- ½ yellow onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cans black beans, 1 drained, 1 not drained
- 1 avocado, diced
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1¼ tsp salt, divided
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp dried oregano
Each serving has about 530 calories, 16 g protein, 88 g carbs and 16 g fat, and costs about $1.97 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No red onions? White onions work.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No yellow onions? White onions work.
- No black beans? Pinto beans or kidney beans work.
- No avocados? Guacamole works.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the red onion with the juice of one lime and of salt. Set it aside to turn pink.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Cut the ends off the plantains, score the a few times, and pry it off with your thumb. Cut them into 1-inch rounds.
Peel. Peeling means removing the skin with a vegetable peeler or a small knife. It takes off tough or bitter skins, though potato and carrot skins are fine to leave on unless the recipe insists.
How you’ll know: The color underneath is even all over, with no patches of skin left behind.
Lengthwise. Lengthwise means cutting along the long side, from stem to tip, which gives long pieces. Crosswise is the other way, straight across the middle, which gives short, round ones.
How you’ll know: Lengthwise halves of a zucchini look like two little canoes; crosswise pieces look like coins.
Dolly’s tip: Green plantains are stubborn. Scoring the peel is what gets it off.the rounds with 1 tablespoon of the oil and air fry at 375°F for 8 minutes, until tender and pale gold.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Timer: 8 min
Set each round on a board and press it flat with the bottom of a glass or mug to about ¼ inch thick.
Dolly’s tip: Press straight down, slowly. They smash neatly while they’re still warm.Brush with another tablespoon of oil, sprinkle with salt, and air fry at 400°F for 8 to 10 minutes, until and .
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 9 min
Meanwhile, heat the last tablespoon of oil in a over medium heat and cook the yellow onion 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cumin and oregano for 1 minute.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 4 min
Add the beans, with the liquid from the undrained can, and ½ teaspoon salt and 6 to 8 minutes, mashing some, until thick. Squeeze in the other lime.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
Pile the beans on the tostones and top with avocado, pickled onion and cilantro.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
More dinners like this
Black beans and rice
40 min
Mexican red rice with black beans
40 min
Smoky black bean soup
40 min
Black bean and sweet potato tacos
45 min
Vegetarian dinners ›Easy Caribbean dinner recipes ›What to make with black beans and avocados ›