Dominican Mangú Recipe - Mashed Plantains with Sauteed Onions

A recipe for the classic Dominican Mangù, or mashed plantains with sauteed onions. Mangu is typically served for breakfast, this mashed plantains recipe also makes a great side dish for dinner. Try this Mangù recipe tonight!

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What is Dominican Mangu?

Mangù, or mashed green plantains, is a traditional Dominican dish that is eaten for breakfast. The mashed plantains are typically topped with sauteed onions that are flavored with a bit of lime juice.

Mangu is typically served with fried salami slices and fried cheese alongside with eggs for breakfast. Well, that sounds like an AMAZING breakfast to me!

Mashed plantains remind me of mashed potatoes, so Aldo and I often make this mangu recipe as a side dish for dinner. Green plantains are sort of like a 'meatier' denser potato, if that makes any sense at all.

This Mangù recipe is also prepared in a similar way to mashed potatoes - boil the plantains, reserve some cooking liquid, and mash to your heart's content.

We had our mangù with steak and roasted asparagus, and it was an awesome dinner.

Want to learn more about Green Plantains?

Green plantains are unripened plantains. They are very starchy, which makes them excellent for mashing and frying (just like potatoes). Green plantains are not sweet at all. They turn sweet as they ripen, but don't worry you'll never accidentally get a ripened green plantain. The ripened sweet plantains usually have brown skin - there's no way to mix up green and sweet plantains. 

When picking out green plantains at the store, look for plantains that are firm and don't have too many blotches on the skin. 

Green plantains are found in most grocery stores, though you'll get a much better price at a small local Latino-owned store than a large supermarket chain. Unless you're shopping at Aldi - Aldi usually has great prices on plantains. 

Plantains are pretty calorie-dense (just like bananas), but they are very filling and nutritious. They contain more potassium than a banana, and I get very excited about potassium. When I used to run and train for half marathons, I always had to make sure I was getting enough electrolytes for my long runs. Plantains also have a lot of vitamin C.

I don't watch my carb intake or anything like that, but I do try to make sure that a lot of my carbs come from things that grow naturally, such as plantains or sweet potatoes, as opposed to pasta or bread.

How to peel green plantains:

Green plantains are kind of a pain to peel because their skin is much tougher than a banana. I actually always make Aldo do the peeling. 

The plantains are easier to peel when they are room temperature, or after they've soaked in hot water for a while, but Aldo just peels them straight out of the fridge. I guess it's his Dominican pride coming through. Or maybe his man ego. One of those. 🙂 You can experiment and see which way you prefer.

To peel the plantains, carefully use a sharp knife to cut off the ends.

Then slit the peel along the length of the plantain, all the way to the plantain.

Remove the peel by wedging the knife between the peel and the plantain. Use the knife to remove any bits of peel from the plantain.

How to make mangu:

Once the plantains are peeled, it's quite easy to make mangu! Chop the peeled plantains into 3-4 pieces, and add them to a large pot with salted water. Bring the pot to a boil, then lower the heat and allow to simmer for about 30-40 minutes until the plantains are fully cooked and are easily pierced with a fork.

Next, you'll drain the water, reserving a little bit (just like you would for mashed potatoes or pasta sauce). Use a potato masher (this one is the best) to mash the plantains until they are as smooth as you like them. Add some of that extra water if the plantains are too thick and dense. Some people like their mangu to be extra smooth. Some like the unmashed plantain chunks. It's your choice! Season the mashed plantains with some salt and pepper.

While the plantains are cooking, you'll want to prepare the sauteed onion topping. You can use a yellow or a red onion for this.

Add the sliced onion to a preheated skillet with some butter, and saute slowly over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes. This will ensure the onions are cooking and caramelizing nicely and will keep them from burning.

Towards the end of the 15 minutes, you want to add some butter and freshly squeezed lime juice over the onions and continue sauteing for a few more minutes. You definitely want to use freshly squeezed lime juice instead of the bottled stuff, for the freshest flavor. This lemon/lime squeezer makes it easy-squeezy to get fresh lime juice. Season with salt and pepper, of course.

The salty buttery lime flavor of the sauteed onions is so tasty on top of the mashed plantains. You're going to LOVE this mangu recipe for breakfast or as a dinner side dish.

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