Craving fries sans the potatoes? Green bananas fried until crispy, salty, and totally addicting to the rescue. You won't believe these are actually AIP when you taste them.
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A lot of people who can't tolerate gluten also can't tolerate white potatoes. Yet, potatoes are seared into our cultural food memories as the quintessential American side dish.
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Unripe Banana Fries Are the New AIP Potato Side
What makes green banana fries a fantastic potato-free alternative is you-guessed-it: the starch and total lack of sweetness. When fried or air-fried, unripe banana strips get golden, crispy and will rock your AIP world.
Pure magic.
Now, I could push sweet potato fries at you but let's face it, they're too dang sweet. Sometimes a girl just needs a savory side.
Plantain or cassava fries are decent savory (not sweet) options but can be tricky to source for some people and are slightly more difficult to process.
Green bananas on the other hand are reasonably easy to source and easy enough to work with.
🍌 Ingredients
You only need 3 ingredients to make this recipe:
- 4 unripe, green bananas (*must be completely green): If you don't see green bananas, ask your grocery store if they have any green bananas in the back.
- avocado oil, olive oil, refined coconut oil, lard, or tallow are great AIP-friendly choices
- fine sea salt: I always salt at the beginning of the cooking process and then make adjustments at the end; that way, you get the best flavor and less salt is often needed
🔪 Instructions
Unripe bananas are about as difficult to peel as yellow plantains. You want to take the tip of your knife and make vertical cuts lengthwise (after removing either pointed end) every quarter turn (so 4 slices total per banana). These sections give you more leverage to work your way around the banana, hopefully without causing too much damage to the part we want to use.
To cut into fry shapes, you simply cut into planks approximately ¼-inch to ½-inch thick, then cut those planks into batons (picture a French fry shape) about 4-inches long (see process shots).
🧂 Seasoning
Just salt, baby.
If you want to get fancy, I think it would be fun to play with finishing flavors like minced garlic, parsley or maybe a good quality truffle oil or truffle salt.
🍽 Equipment
You can make these fries easily in the oven or air-fryer. If you like your fries more crunchy, I'd recommend a thinner fry shape (or thicker for a softer fry).
Air Fryer - Note that you will need to work in batches as the fries require space to brown evenly. Preheat to 400F then air-fry for 10 minutes, flipping halfway through (if using a tray) or use a basket so you don't have to flip.
Oven - Preheat the oven to 400F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper (for easy clean-up). Spread fries out in an even layer on the trays. Roast for 20 minutes, turning with tongs halfway through.
While I'm all about an AIP snack, my favorite fry companion award goes to these Crispy Chicken Nuggets with Vegetables {AIP, Gluten-Free, Paleo} and this Healthy Ranch Dressing {Dairy-Free, AIP}.
Please, if you experiment and try a good nightshade-free ketchup, let us know all the details. While I've never actually purchased AIP ketchup, I made an extremely delicious nomato ketchup out of rosehips that we collected from our property.
📋 Recipe
In the past, I've always worked with green plantains but have had an easier time finding green bananas where I currently live in the Pacific Northwest. Unripe bananas remind me of green plantains or regular potato fries, which is great because I was extremely sensitive to potatoes for the first 6 months of doing the AIP diet.
Green Banana Fries {AIP, Nightshade-Free}
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 green bananas (must be completely green/unripe)
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil or other high-heat oil
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt plus more to taste
Instructions
- How to remove the green peel: Trim both ends of each green banana and score lengthwise every quarter turn (so 4 slits per banana). It will be tough and difficult to remove but do your best to remove the peel.
- Cut into batons. Slice the banana lengthwise into thin fries of roughly equal sizes (about ¼-inch thick by about 3-inches).
- Season well. Place in a large bowl and drizzle with avocado oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Toss gently with your hands to coat evenly.
Cook the fries then serve hot.
- Air Fryer Instructions: Place the first batch of fries into a lightly oiled basket. Fry at 400F for 10 minutes, turning halfway through. Repeat with remaining batches. While hot, sprinkle with more salt until you like the taste. In chef vernacular, you want your fries to be "salty like a potato chip."
- Oven Instructions: Preheat oven to 400F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and spread the fries in an even layer. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping with a spatula halfway through. Remove the fries from the oven and immediately season with salt to taste.
Video
Nutrition
FAQs for Green Banana Fries
You can. We actually could only find green bananas that had some slight yellowing for our photos. As you can see, the starch converts more to sugar when you see yellowing and it's the sugars that brown more quickly. Try your best to select bananas as green as in the photos or 100% green for the very best golden, savory results.
I did test this method for you and here are my notes: Increase the amount of fry oil (about ½ cup) and use medium heat. Banana fries are more fragile than potatoes which is the reason I recommend baking or air-frying. Pan-frying works ok, but you might break some fries when flipping. Instead of tongs, use an offset spatula to flip because it's gentler.
You can but the plantains will be even more difficult to peel and you will have to use a bit more oil and cook them slightly longer.
1) Potatoes convert to sugar in the body and elevate your blood sugar and 2) The body treats potatoes like gluten and so how sensitive you are to potatoes depends a lot on whether you currently have leaky gut.
🥗 Side dishes
- Crispy Chicken Nuggets with Vegetables {AIP, Gluten-Free, Paleo}
- Crisp AIP Chicken Tenders and Kale Slaw
- Vanilla Bean Ice Cream {AIP, Dairy Free, Egg Free}
- A pan-seared, oven-finished ribeye for steak frites!
- A burger in an iceberg lettuce bun
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