We’ve used this combo before, and we’ll use it again I’m sure. Pork and plantains are just meant to go together, and this pork and plantain bowl is simple, easy and delicious.
Few Ingredients + Big Flavor
Excluding avocado oil, salt and pepper, this recipe only calls for about 10 ingredients – three of which are spices. You get the drift! This pork and plantain bowl is not complicated, and it is easy to throw to together. It is great for dinner or breakfast, too!
Ripe Plantains
We usually use green plantains or unripe plantains to achieve a starchy, french fry like flavor and texture, but for this recipe we love ripe plantains. If you aren’t familiar with plantains yet, they look like oversized bananas and range in color from green to yellow and brown. Ripe plantains are the yellow and brown ones. They are softer, easier to peel and have a sweeter taste.
Baking Plantains
For this pork and plantain bowl we decided to minimize the amount of skillets needed and multitasking required and tried baking the plantains. The ripe plantains bake well! They get caramelized and tender in the middle and go great with the pork and spices used in this recipe. If you aren’t already a huge fan of this flavor combo, we hope this recipe sways you!
Your Turn To Try Our Pork And Plantain Bowl
Go ahead and get to the market to pick up some ripe, sweet plantains and make this pork and plantain bowl! Add a runny egg on top and you’ll be craving this all the time! Let us know how it goes by leaving a comment below. Also, take a photo and tag us on Instagram @realsimplegood, so we can check it out!
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Pork And Plantain Bowl (Paleo, Whole30 + Dairy-Free)
Ingredients
For the plantains:
- 2 ripe plantains, (look for the yellow and brown ones)
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- sea salt
For the rest of the bowl:
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 1.5 lbs ground pork
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- Sea salt and pepper, to taste
Toppings:
- 2 avocados, sliced
- 4 cups greens, (spinach, kale, chard, etc.)
- 1 cup salsa
- 4 eggs, (optional)
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Score plantains lengthwise and peel. Then, cut them into rounds about a 1/4 inch thick and place on baking sheet. Drizzle with avocado oil and season with salt. Place in the oven to bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and flip them over and season with more salt. Place back in oven and bake for another 10 minutes until the tops have browned.
- While the plantains are baking, prep onion and bell pepper as noted.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add oil, onion and bell pepper. Cook until onions soften, about 4-5 minutes. Then, add ground pork to pan. Break it apart and cook until browned, stirring occasionally.
- Add oregano, cumin and chili powder. Stir to mix in. Taste and season with salt and pepper to your liking. Turn heat to low until plantains are done.
- While plantains are finishing, slice avocado. If you'll be topping your bowls with eggs, cook them to your liking so they are done at about the same time as the plantains.
- Once the plantains are done, remove from oven and assemble bowls. Start with a bed of greens, and then add the pork mixture and plantains. Top with optional egg, avocado and salsa. Enjoy!
I’m not usually a breakfast person but these recipes have made me EXCITED to wake up and eat! I’ve never eaten plantains before, and wow, the way they said to cook them was spot on! The combination of everything together was phenomenal! Y’all are the best for making these recipes available to us! Thank you so much! I can’t wait to try out all the other recipes!
Plantains are so tasty! Glad you are enjoying the recipes and this one in particular 🙂
Another fantastic recipe! We made the pork mixture and plantain chips the night before, so just had to reheat and adjust flavour in the morning, then add the eggs. We added a little garlic powder and increased the other seasonings to punch up the flavour, otherwise kept as is. Used a sunnyside up egg, but want to poach next time. Yum!
Sounds good, glad you enjoyed this one :).
I came to this site looking for something new and flavorful and this was exactly perfect! Such an easy and delicious twist to Taco (bowl) Tuesday, and the whole family enjoyed it!
Glad to hear that Jenni!
Made this Pork and Plantains bowl last night and it was amazing!!! Really easy to make however the plantains gave me a bit of a fight when trying to peel them, the peel is almost like bark on a tree. I let the plantains get really ripe & black before cooking them, I wasn’t sure what I’d find when I peeled them as this was my first time cooking with them and what came out of the oven was a delicious bite of caramel with a faint taste of plantains (very light banana taste). I’ve never tried ground pork and it was so good in this recipe. Worth trying something new, I’m working on eating myself thin and if this is the way to do it then bring on bikini season!
Glad you liked the recipe! Sometimes plantains can be tough to peel, even if they are ripe. They taste sweet when ripe and are more potato-like and starchy when green. We like them either way and they also go great with pork either way :).