By: Franchesca Livraghi | @breakthrukitchen

Canoas de plátanos maduros, also known as stuffed plantain boats, are a tasty way to enjoy the perfect balance of sweet and savory. To make them, sweet plantains are fried until golden brown and shaped into boats, or canoes, then filled with delicious beef picadillo and topped with cheddar cheese!

Picking ripe plantains

Start by picking ripe plantains—the ones with yellow skin and a few black spots are perfect. They’re sweet and soft, just right for shaping into boats. 

If the plantains are too green, they’ll be starchy and hard to work with, but when they’re ripe, they’re a lot easier to peel and handle, plus they have that delicious sweetness that pairs perfectly with salty fillings like picadillo.

You want them to be just tender enough that they can hold their shape after frying, so they’re perfect for making canoas. If the plantains are too ripe they will fall apart.

How to turn plantains into canoas

Making canoas de plátano is super simple. Start by peeling the plantains and slicing them lengthwise down the middle, but don’t cut all the way through. You want to create a little pocket for the filling. Then, fry them until they’re golden and tender. This makes them easy to shape into boats. 

Once they’re fried, carefully mold them into boats by using a spoon to widen the slit you made earlier. At this point, the plantains are ready to be stuffed and you can set them aside while you whip up your filling.

Picadillo is the classic stuffing for plantain boats

Picadillo is the go-to filling for canoas de plátano, and it’s easy to see why. It’s hearty, flavorful, and makes each bite of your canoas super satisfying.This savory mix of ground beef cooked with peppers, onions, garlic, tomato, and a blend of Loisa’s Organic Adobo y Sazón is just what the sweet plantains need. 

Some people like to throw in a handful of raisins or capers to add a little sweetness and tang, but I like to add a few sliced olives to the mix. If you want to go for a more tangy flavor, feel free to add in a spoonful of Loisa's Sofrito Rojo. Everything simmers together until it’s full of flavor and ready to stuff into your fried plantain boats. 

More stuffing ideas

Even though the classic filling for stuffed plantain boats is picadillo, there are many other options that work just as well. For a lighter choice, shredded chicken with sautéed bell peppers and onions works well. A vegetarian option like black beans, corn, and melted cheese also makes a delicious combo. Some delicious seafood filling options could be camarones guisados or camarones al ajillo.

Feel free to get creative with the filling, and mix things up every time you make canoas de plátano maduro.

Add two layers of cheese to make these super cheesy

I like to add a layer of cheese before adding the picadillo filling and after as a topper. This step ensures you have a good amount of cheese to balance out the picadillo, and you get a super satisfying cheese pull!