What Is the Difference Between Banana and Plantain?

A plantain is generally larger than a banana.

A plantain is generally larger than a banana. A mature plantain is dry and ripe, whereas a banana is usually slippery. Below are a few differences between the two:

They look distinctly different:

• Both fruits have thick outer peels that start green, turn yellow as they ripen, and turn dark brown to black once they’re overripe.
• However, plantains are much thicker, tougher, and bigger than bananas. We may need a knife to peel a plantain.
• Plantains also take way longer to go from green to black than bananas.
• Plantain leaves are similar in shape to the soles of shoes, whereas banana leaves are more tubular and longer.
• On maturity, bananas are yellow and about 6-inch long, whereas plantains are green or black and approximately 12-inch long.
• The main physical difference between plantains and greens bananas is that plantains have narrow and elongated ends that seem pointy, whereas green bananas have short, rounded ends.

Taste:

• Rather than being soft and sweet when ripe, plantains are starchy.
• In flavor and texture, they’re more similar to yucca, yams, or potatoes than they are to bananas.
• Plantains do get slightly sweeter as they ripen (and can caramelize when cooked once overripe) but never lose their vegetal flavor.
• Bananas are usually considered sweet compared with plantains, and they can be eaten raw.
• Plantains are thick and starchy; hence, they need to be cooked before they’re consumed.
• Bananas are very delicious when they’re ripe and yellow.
• However, plantains have multiple popular uses when underripe, ripe, and even overripe.
• For instance, tostones (aka plantain fritters, a common Latin side dish) are always made from green, underripe plantains, whereas maduros (caramelized sweet plantains, a Latin dish that translates to “mature”) are always made with ripe or overripe plantains.

Culinary uses:

• Because bananas are sweet, they’re commonly found in baked goods and desserts, as well as consumed raw in dishes such as smoothies, oatmeal, and peanut butter sandwiches or fruit salads.
• Plantains, although they’re fruits, are more similar to vegetables in terms of how they’re used. They’re usually eaten as a side dish after being boiled, fried, or baked.
• In Latin and African countries, as well as the Caribbean, plantains are a major staple of culinary traditions and appear in many recipes. In their native lands, a plantain is usually treated more like a vegetable than a fruit when cooked and is often found baked, roasted, or fried into a tasty, savory side dish.
• Bananas are higher in sugar, whereas plantains are slightly higher in calories and carbs than bananas, and those numbers tend to climb once they’re cooked.