You’ve just found the easiest grain-free bread recipe made with just five simple ingredients and only 15 minutes of prep time! This quick bread recipe makes a great breakfast or lunch item, or a dinner side. And making this plantain bread is easy for novice bakers since this recipe has no kneading or special techniques – just blend everything up, toss it in the loaf pan, and you’re set!

For those dealing with dietary restrictions, finding good bread can feel like a never-ending challenge. This healthy plantain bread is one solution—a recipe that speaks to both my love of green plantains, and many of our needs for gluten free breads that actually taste good.

And for this type of bread, you wont need any special type of gluten free flour. It’s made with wholesome ingredients, like whole green plantains and eggs, just blended together. And because it comes together in a blender, it’s so easy to make, even for someone making it for the first time.

If you’re into this recipe, you might also like my recipe for cheesy, stretchy yuca arepas! They’re an easy cheesy flatbread.

What Are Green Plantains?

Green plantains are sometimes mistaken for bananas and are in the banana family, but they’re eaten pretty differently and have a different flavor. These starchy, less sweet cousins of the banana are sometimes called a cooking banana or plátano verde. They’re a staple in many countries in the tropical Americas and Africa, particularly in countries in like Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Congo, and Ghana.

Unlike ripe yellow bananas, green plantains are firm, not sweet, and primarily used in cooking rather than eaten raw. They’re incredibly versatile and create delicious parts of many savory dishes, like fritters, soups, stews, and mashes. This green plantain bread wont taste anything like banana bread, it has the unique and delicious flavor of green plantains.

You man also have seen plantains that are yellow or partly black – these are sweet plantain or overripe plantains. This recipe uses unripe, green plantains that can’t be substituted for another ingredient. There’s such thing as sweet plantain bread or plantain cake, but that’s a different recipe. 

Nutritional Powerhouse: The Green Plantain Advantage

Green plantains are more than just a tasty ingredient—they’re packed with nutrition. Rich in complex carbs and packed with essential nutrients, this versatile ingredient offers several potential health benefits:

• High in dietary fiber
• Excellent source of potassium
• Contains vitamin A and vitamin C
• Provides important minerals like magnesium
• High in resistant starch

Understanding Resistant Starch: A Nutritional Marvel

Resistant starch is a unique type of carbohydrate that behaves differently from other starches in our digestive system. Unlike typical starches that break down quickly, resistant starch resists digestion and travels to the large intestine mostly intact. This provides several potential health benefits:

• Can support gut health by feeding beneficial bacteria
• May help improve insulin sensitivity
• Could aid in weight management
• May help inflammation

Plantains are particularly high in resistant starch, especially when they’re in their unripe, green state. This makes green plantain bread not just a delicious alternative, but a strategic choice for some focused on digestive health.

How to choose green plantains at the grocery store, and how to store them:

Make sure you choose plantains with fully green peels, with no yellow spots or large black spots. Fully unripe plantains will make the best plantain bread, so ensure you cook the bread while the plantains are still firm and green everywhere. They can get yellow quickly, especially when exposed to sunlight, so use them within a couple days of buying them and store them in a dark place.

My favorite ways to enjoy green plantain bread:

This bread has the distinct flavor of green plantains, which pairs with so many savory or sweet foods and can be turned into toasts and sandwiches. I recommend serving it warm.

You can add a variety of toppings, fillings, or pairings, making it perfect for any meal of the day. Here are some of the ways I’ve enjoyed green plantain bread:

As avocado toast

As sardine toast

Other ways to enjoy green plantain bread

• Topped with crunchy peanut butter and brown sugar
• As a ham and cheese sandwich
• Topped with butter and flaky sea salt 
• As a side to any saucy dish, like stewed chicken

You’ll need the following ingredients:

Green plantains:

The star of the bread, fresh green plantains, form the base of this recipe. I haven’t tried this recipe with any kind of flour.

Large eggs

This will act as the binder, adding structure and crumb to the bread. 

Baking powder

This will help the bread rise. I haven’t tried using baking soda in this recipe.

Salt

This will bring out the flavors of the plantains and can’t be skipped.

Extra-virgin olive oil

This will add moisture to the bread. I haven’t tried using any other oil like coconut oil, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.

How to make the plantain bread:

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare your loaf pan

After preheating the oven, choose a 9×5 inch loaf pan. Either line the loaf pan with parchment paper, or lightly oil the pan on the bottom and sides inside the pan.

Step 2: Peel and chop your plantains 

Peel the plantains by chopping the ends off first, then make 3-5 slits lengthwise along the edges of the peel.

Carefully lift the green peel in between the slits by using the knife to push the skin away from the plantain. You should do this on both sides of each chunk of skin you want to remove but putting the knife in both slits and pushing the skin away from the plantain. It will be easier to remove the skin once you’ve pushed it away from the plantain on both sides.

Once the peels are removed, the plantains should look like this.

Once they look like the above photo, chop the plantains into small pieces and put the chopped plantains in a large or medium bowl if you’re going to use an immersion blender, or put them straight into the food processor or blender if you want to puree them using one of those.

Step 3: Add the rest of the ingredients to your blender of choice

Crack all the eggs, and add your salt, baking powder, and oil. There’s no need to separate wet ingredients and dry ingredients in this recipe, just throw everything in the same bowl, food processor, or blender.

I prefer an immersion blender since the cleanup is the easiest for me, and I can easily target different areas where the plantains haven’t blended yet. But you can use other types of blenders or food processors.

Step 4: Blend your ingredients using your blender of choice.

Make sure the batter is well-blended and well-mixed. You do not want any chunks of plantains in this bread, so take care to ensure it’s fully puréed all the way through.

The plantains will be too hard in their raw state to use something like a potato masher, so you’ll definitely need some kind of blender for this recipe. You may need to blend for a few minutes to get the consistency right. Don’t fret if it looks like this in the beginning, just keep blending.

Here’s what the batter should look like when it’s fully blended:

Step 5: Pour the batter into the pan

Carefully pour the batter into the lined loaf pan, ensuring you get as much batter as possible into the pan. Don’t be afraid to use your hands or a spoon to get everything into the pan. 

After pouring cut off the edges of the parchment paper that are sticking out the top of the loaf pan.

Step 6: Bake your bread

Put the bread into middle of the oven and bake for 60-65 mins, or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Step 7: Enjoy!

After removing your plantain bread, allow it to cool for 5 minutes before digging in. You can cut it into individual slices like any other loaf of bread.

How to store your gluten-free plantain bread:

After letting your bread come to room temperature, you can store your plantain bread in an airtight container, or you can leave the loaf in your loaf pan and cover it in plastic wrap or aluminum foil. You should refrigerate the bread since there are eggs in it. When you eat it again, it’s best eaten warm. I recommend slicing it and putting it in a toaster oven or the microwave.

I haven’t tried freezing this bread for longer storage, but if you do, I recommend slicing it first. 

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