A healthy plantain breakfast is a satisfying and nutritious way to fuel your day. This easy recipe combines the sweetness of ripe plantains with the savory goodness of fried eggs, creating the perfect breakfast or brunch.
If you're looking for a vegan option, try topping the plantain with alternatives like nut butter, coconut yogurt, nuts, or seeds. You only need a few ingredients and 10 minutes from start to finish.
This microwave-steamed plantain topped with runny eggs, healthy fats, and seeds is my favorite plantain recipe, next to my Plantain Waffles and Plantain Pancakes because it's so satisfying and quick to make.
I often pair it with healthy proteins such as eggs and seeds for a sweet and savory combo. But you can easily switch things up to keep your morning meals (or even lunch) interesting with crunchy, nutty, and creamy toppings. Let's make it!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Quick & Easy: This plantain breakfast comes together in under 10 minutes—perfect for busy mornings!
- Customizable: Enjoy with fried eggs or go vegan by adding your favorite toppings.
- Packed With Nutrients: Plantains are a good source of fiber and vitamin C, and when paired with healthy fats and protein, this breakfast will keep you full for hours.
- Savory & Sweet: A delicious combination of sweet plantains and savory eggs makes this dish the best of both worlds, similar to my Bone Broth Breakfast.
- Great for Any Time of Day: Whether you're looking for a quick breakfast, a brunch dish, or a hearty lunch, this plantain breakfast is a great option.
Ingredients & Notes
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Here's what you need from the grocery store:
- Ripe Plantain: Avoid green plantains. Instead, go for yellow ones with a lot of brown streaks or spots that are slightly soft when placing some pressure on them with your thumb. Get extra to make my Plantain Bowl.
- Extra Virgin Coconut Oil: To add some healthy fats. You can also use extra virgin olive oil, avocado, or macadamia. I'm also using some to fry the eggs.
- Eggs: To add savory, healthy proteins. Omit if you want to keep it vegan-friendly.
- Optional Toppings: Hemp seeds, nuts of choice, sunflower kernels, cottage cheese, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Apple Butter, Rhubarb Compote, Homemade Granola, and (coconut) yogurt are all great options.
How To Make It
See the full recipe with measurements in the recipe card.
To make this plantain breakfast, I quickly microwave this fruit in its peel and wrapped with a wet paper towel.
The whole thing is ready in minutes, and it's a perfect way to cook a plantain for mornings when you want something substantial without spending too much time in the kitchen. Then, you choose your favorite ways to dress it up. Here's what to do:
Step One (Picture 1 above) - Briefly microwave the plantain until tender and cooked through.
Step Two (Picture 2 above) - Carefully remove the peel and place the fruit on a plate. Coat the inside with coconut oil and garnish with sesame seeds.
Step Three (Picture 3 above) - Top it with your favorites like scrambled or fried eggs and cottage cheese, or make it sweeter by adding yogurt of choice, nuts, and Crunchy Steel-Cut Oats Granola.
Top Tips
- Eggs: Cook your egg to your liking, but I prefer the runny yolks to ooze over the plantain.
- Paper Towel Tip: If you carefully unwrap, you can reuse the wet paper towel to microwave other plantains. Always slightly wet it again. I sometimes reuse the same paper towel to microwave up to 4 plantains.
- Plantains: If the fruits are already super ripe, microwave them for only 1-2 minutes, like black plantains.
- Safe Time: If making eggs, scramble or fry them while the plantain is cooking in the microwave to save time.
Variations & Substitutions
- Vegan Version: Replace the egg with a vegan-friendly topping like a dollop of nut butter for healthy fats, fruits, seeds and nuts, or coconut yogurt.
- Add Beans: For a savory vegan breakfast, top it with black beans, reheated refried beans, sautéed bell peppers, and red onions.
- Sweeten It Up: If you want something sweeter, drizzle the cooked plantain with a tad of honey before adding your favorite toppings.
- Make It Lunch Worthy And Protein-Rich: You can also replace the egg with leftover Shredded Roast Chuck Beef, similar to my Leftover Pot Roast Beef Sandwich, and serve it with a Healthy Cucumber Salad on the side for a quick lunch.
Recipe FAQs
Plantains are starchy fruits that look like bananas. Although both fruits stem from the same plant family, plantains are larger, feel heavier, have thicker skin, and are more challenging to peel than a regular banana.
It's also a fruit that you should not eat raw. But it tastes delicious when fried, pan-fried, cooked, boiled, steamed, or baked.
Very ripe plantains are primarily black with some yellow spots, but they should still feel slightly firm.
Sometimes I go for plantains with yellowish skin with brown spots here and there.
As long as they have the sweet aroma of bananas and are slightly soft when placing some pressure on them with your thumb, they're sweet enough for a plantain breakfast and will hold their shape well when cooked.
You can still enjoy completely blackened plantains. They are very sweet, but I find them too mushy for this recipe.
If you only find green or yellow plantains in-store, ripe them at home by placing them in a large brown bag at room temperature.
A fair warning: It can take a few days to a week or more before plantains are ripe and wonderfully sweet. It all depends on the season and temperature. Lately, I have been adding some apples to the bag, which speeds up the process. Usually, local Asian or Latin markets carry already ripened plantains if you are in a hurry.
More Plantain Recipes To Try Next
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📖 Recipe
Healthy Plantain Breakfast
Mariska RamondinoEquipment
- Frying Pan (optional) to make scrambled or fried eggs
- 1 Microwave-safe plate to quickly steam and cook the plantain
Ingredients
- 1 large and ripe microwaved plantain
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin coconut oil or olive oil plus more to coat the pan (you can also use avocado or macadamia oil)
- 1 teaspoon roasted and unsalted sunflower kernels optional
- 1 large egg or two or more
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon hemp seeds or nuts of choice optional
Instructions
- Briefly microwave the plantain until tender and cooked through—3 minutes.1 large and ripe microwaved plantain
- While plantain is in the microwave, take a small frying pan. Coat the bottom with a small amount of coconut or olive oil and heat over medium heat.
- Gently crack open the egg above the skillet, letting the egg pour into the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low—season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook the egg until the white has set, but the yolk is still runny (sunny side up egg).1 large egg, Salt and black pepper to taste
- When done, carefully remove the plantain from the microwave, unwrap, peel, and place it on a plate, creating a boat form. Coat the inside with coconut oil and garnish with sesame seeds. slide the egg on top, allowing the yolk to run over the plantain.1 teaspoon extra virgin coconut oil or olive oil, 1 teaspoon roasted and unsalted sunflower kernels
- Top with hemp seeds, nuts, and extra sunflower kernels.1 teaspoon hemp seeds or nuts of choice
- Enjoy with your favorite cup of coffee, tea, or Yerba Matte!
Notes
- Eggs: Switch the toppings up with scrambled eggs or the way you like them.
- Other Toppings (optional): Nut or seed butter, sesame seeds, raisins, crushed nuts, pumpkin seeds, a drizzle of homemade jelly or Instant Pot Apple Butter, your favorite yogurt or coconut yogurt, Homemade Nut-Free Granola or Crunchy Steel-Cut Oats Granola are all great options.
- Plantain: Choose a ripe, sweet plantain to get the desired soft consistency once microwaved.
- To Microwave An Unpeeled Plantain: Cut the ends and create a crosswise opening with a knife, not cutting all the way through. Wrap the unpeeled plantain with a paper towel and wet it. Place in the microwave for 3 minutes.
- Alert: Be careful when taking the plantain out of the microwave. It's really hot. So let it sit for a few seconds to a minute.
- Note: Double or triple the ingredients for large portions! If you carefully unwrap, you can reuse the wet paper towel to microwave other plantains. Always slightly wet it again. I sometimes reuse the same paper towel to microwave up to 4 plantains.
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Nutrition (% Daily value)
Disclaimer: This nutritional data is calculated using third party tools and is only intended as a reference.
Meggie says
What a clever idea this is! Such an accessible cooking method. Thank you for sharing! I enjoyed mine with yogurt, walnuts, flax seeds, cinnamon, and maca.
Mariska Ramondino says
Thank you, Meggie and I appreciate the recipe rating, too. That combo sounds delicious—my kind of breakfast;)
Samantha U says
This was delicious!! It will definitely be in my weekly breakfast rotation. Thanks so much!
Mariska Ramondino says
Thank you, Samantha!
I appreciate your feedback and I am so glad you liked it!!!
Silvy - Belgium says
Hi there, I was looking for a breakfast idea including plantains and I found your website. Microwaving the plaintain is a great idea! And the combination with the egg and seeds works well 🙂
I also included coconut sugar in the seed mix, and some bacon with the egg, just because 😀 and the saltyness works great well!
thank you for sharing this recipe 🙂
Mariska says
Hi Silvy, so glad you stopped by and liked the recipe. I so love the bacon idea, and why not? I am going to try that next time myself;) Have a great week!