These ripe plantain empanadas are stuffed with cheese. They are perfect for appetizer, snack or side dish.
If you’ve never made Empanadas de Plátano Maduro stuffed with cheese, promise me you’ll give them a try sometime soon! For those with a bit of a sweet tooth, these empanadas can be made even more amazing by adding guava paste to the filling. The combination of guava paste and cheese makes everything better in my world 😉
Empanadas de Plátano Maduro Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 very ripe plantains
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons of butter at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese grated
- Oil spray for cooking
Instructions
- Wash and cut the plantains in half. Cook them with the skin on over medium-high heat in a large pot with water, until plantains are cooked and soft, about 10 minutes.
- Peel and mash the cooked plantains with a fork or a potato masher until you get a soft mixture. Let it rest for 5 minutes.
- Add the egg, butter, flour, vanilla extract and sugar and mix well.
- Form the dough into a ball and let rest in a bowl at room temperature for about 20 minutes. Form 12 balls with the plantain dough and press down each ball to make a disc with the palm of your hand. Add cheese in the middle, fold it in half and press to seal with your fingers, or use a fork to help seal the edges, so the cheese is sealed and does not melt out. Spray oil on a baking sheet or cover with wax paper. Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Place the empanadas on the baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, then turn the empanadas and cook for about 15 minutes more or until golden. Serve warm.
Nutrition
Oh, and for those healthy eaters, myself included as of late, did I mention my empanadas are baked, not fried? Usually Empanadas de Plátano Maduro (Ripe Plantain Empanadas) are fried in vegetable oil, but I baked them and the result was fantastic, without the hassle and health concerns that come from deep frying!
Whether you are having a casual party, friends over to watch a game, or just want a snack for a Netflix binge session, these empanadas are a delicious option!
More Ripe Plantain Recipes to Try
Aborrajados de Plátano (Ripe Plantain Fritters)
Arroz de Pajarito (Rice with Plantain)
Buñuelos de Maduro (Ripe Plantain Balls)
Liese
Woops! Don't bake on wax paper, use parchment paper instead.
Asya
Sounds divine. Is there anything special to keep in mind when boiling plantains? Does it matter which direction you slice them? Can red plantains be used as a well as yellow?
Josie
What's a red plantain? I must know
Traci
These were so sticky and soft, it was impossible to make a ball much less to fold over. I added more flour but it didn’t help. Any idea why?
Erica Dinho
Did you used VERY ripe the plantains?
cynthrea
I used very ripe plantains - and had to add probably a cup or more of flour and cornmeal. It barely formed a ball then, and I still had to add 1/4" flour to roll the dough in so it wouldn't stick.
Obviously, this was not the type of dough it was supposed to be, but it worked fine and tasted good. (And I used taco cheese as that was what I had already open. That tasted good, too.)
My advice if you air fry it rather than bake it: used a good air fryer that you know works. Fry at ~350 for 4 minutes each side.
Anonymous
Wet your hands with warm water, that’s how I do it when I make arepas, it might help.
Michael
I am having the same issue with the texture of the mix. Not solid enough to make into a ball or flatten out into empanadas. I'm adding more flour, but I hate to double the amount of flour and I'm almost there.
Michael
And, my plantains were VERY ripe. Lots of black peel. But still solid.
Alesha
I went exactly by your recipe and had no problem making a ball. Create the first ball in the bowl just by using a spatula . After setting for 20 min , don’t over handle the smaller balls in your hand. It is not a bread dough! One trick I did do was place the ball on Saran wrap which was very lightly floured, fold the Saran wrap over the ball , press the ball down until flat. Gently pull back the top piece of Saran wrap , place as much cheese as desired, then using the the opposite sides of the Saran wrap, fold the plantain over itself. Flatten again just enough to seal the edges . Peel back the Top of the Saran Wrap and slide your hand under the bottom and flip over the uncovered side of the plantain onto your greased pan removed the Saran Wrap and cook as instructed. Delicious!!!!
Meg M.
Perhaps use coconut flour instead, and less of it because it will absorb more moisture.
Michael
Well?
Even though the dough still remained too wet, I went ahead and baked one. It never firmed up even though it did brown on top. It took about twenty minutes on each side to look like it was done, and I managed to transfer it onto a plate in one piece!
It tasted FANTASTIC. Ugly as my sister, but so yummy.
I would really like to figure out the dough consistency. I also pan fried one in butter today and it was almost as good. Just having another baked/broiled one now. I set the toaster oven on broil this time. Both sides browned the same and at about twenty minutes on each side did not burn.
Thanks for the recipe. If you think of anything else I may change to get the dough right, please let me know. I'd include a photo, but I don't see any place to do that.
Beverly Molly
MIcrowave the plantains for 2 minutes.
Rosemary
Just made these using VERY ripe plantains, coconut flour, and cashew-based mozzarella. Very good! I did not boil my plantains first, as I had no trouble peeling them and I felt they were sweet enough. Yes, they dough was not very maleable, but I divided it into balls, flattened them on the counter using plenty more coconut flour, and carefully filled, folded, and transferred them to the baking sheet using a spatula. The finished product had an excellent, bready texture! I'm betting these would be great stuffed with meat or beans as well. Thanks so much for sharing this idea!
Andrea
Rosemery!! Do you remember how much coconut flour you used? Did you also use AP flour? Your idea sounds amazing! Thank you
Rosemary
Hi, Andrea. It's been quite a while since I made these, as organic plantains are a rare treat here in Vermont. I don't remember for sure, but I probably used an equal exchange of coconut flour for AP flour and used no AP flour, as I am gluten free. Then there was the additional coconut flour I used for rolling (and saved in the freezer for the next possible way of using it, like coconut flour pancakes). Hope that helps!
Jay
Nice..! Except this a batter, not a dough. An equivalent recipe uses 1 1/2 cups of AP flower. I doubled it and it was technically a batter.
Kind of messy... will report back on taste and texture....
Anonymous
Perfect! They turned out exactly like the recipe indicated. I used a different type of cheese and guava jelly. Strongly recommend.
Staci
Hi how long are these freezable for??
Judith
I made these twice now and had very different outcomes.
On my first try the plantains I used came from a local organic farm and they were very small. They didn't soften evenly and mashing them was a pain! However the product was delicious.
So on the second try I used random grocery store plantains. They became soft and easy to handle but I had the same problem others described: I had to add several times the amount of flour to turn them into a useable dough. As a result the didn't bake well and had a rubbery texture.
I will try once more, however I think it would be helpful if the recipe included the weight of plantain material rather than a number of plantains. That might help getting the plantain flour ratio !
Nevertheless, I'm so glad I came across this blog. We made several different things now and are not done yet!!
Matty
Easy to make. Dough is sticky. I added more flour before reading the comments. I did use Saran wrap. Sprayed it with a little oil spray and used an ice cream scooper to scoop. I put saran over flattened, filled, and am ready to bake. Looks amazing!