Green or yellow, plantain is one of the most versatile staples in African and Caribbean kitchens — and one of the products our customers ask about most. Unlike bananas, plantain is starchy rather than sweet, and it changes character completely depending on how ripe it is when you cook it. Getting that right makes the difference between a good dish and a great one.

Green plantain: firm, starchy, savory

Green plantain is unripe and firm, closer in texture to a potato than a banana. It doesn’t soften much when cooked, which is exactly why it works so well fried, boiled, or pounded. If you’re making fufu, chips, or a firm boiled side dish, green is what you want.

We stock Plantain Vert (Green Plantain) fresh, and if you’d rather skip the prep, our Plantain Fufu flour gets you there in minutes.

Yellow plantain: sweeter, softer, forgiving

As plantain ripens, the starch converts to sugar and the skin turns yellow, then black-spotted. Ripe plantain fries beautifully — caramelized on the outside, soft inside — and it’s far more forgiving for first-time cooks than the green version. We carry Plantain Jaune (Yellow Plantain) for exactly this.

How to store it

Keep plantain at room temperature to ripen naturally — the fridge slows this down and can affect texture. If you’ve bought green plantain and want it to stay firm for a few extra days, that’s fine on the counter too; it simply won’t ripen as fast as bananas do.

Quick ways to use it

• Fried (green or ripe): Slice, fry in hot oil until golden. Green gives a firmer chip-like result; ripe gives a soft, sweet one.
• Boiled (green): Peel, boil until tender, serve as a side the way you would boiled yam or potato.
• Fufu: Traditionally pounded, or use our ready-made Plantain Fufu flour for a faster version.

Not sure which one your recipe calls for? Green if the dish needs it to hold its shape, yellow if you want natural sweetness. Either way, we bring both in fresh regularly — check our Fresh Vegetables for what’s in stock this week.