Mangu Recipe (Mashed Plantains) A Dominican Breakfast

A bowl of mangu with pickled red onions on top

5 from 3 votes

Mangu Recipe (Mashed Plantains) A Dominican Breakfast

Mangú is the national breakfast in the Dominican Republic, made by boiling and mashing green plantains and then topping them with red onions. This dish is creamy, briney, and so tasty! Try whipping it up for a unique and delicious Dominican Breakfast.

Course Breakfast, Side Dish

Cuisine Dominican, Dominican Republic

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Total Time 35

Servings

Calories 231kcal

Author Alexandria Drzazgowski

Equipment

Large Pot
Small Pot
Pilon/Mortar and Pestle/Bowl and Potato Masher

Ingredients

½ red onion cut into thin rounds
6 Tbsp White Vinegar
4 Green plantains peeled and cut into about 6 pieces each
2 ½ tsp salt divided + more to taste
¼ cup Vegetable oil
4-5 Tbsp unsalted butter or margarine softened

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine ½ a sliced red onion with 6 tbsp vinegar and ½ tsp salt. Then stir to combine. Allow this to sit for 20-30 minutes while you prepare the plantains.
Add the 4 sliced plantains into a large pot and cover fully with water. Add about 2 tsp of salt into the water. Bring the water to a boil, and boil until the plantains soften up and become fork tender (about 20 minutes from the boiling point). When the plantains are soft, remove them from the pot, but reserve the water.
Add ¼ cup oil to a small pot, then add the onions and vinegar into the pot while the oil is still cool. Saute for about 5 minutes until the onions become medium-soft. Remove from the stove and set aside, keeping the onion sauce that formed as well.
Place about ⅓ the plantains in a large bowl along with 2 tbsp of butter, about ¼ cup of the reserved water, and about 1 tbsp of the onion sauce. Mash until the plantains become rather smooth. Salt to taste
Repeat this again two more times until all of the plantains are mashed. Feel free to adjust the liquid measurements based on your desired end texture. You want your plantains to look like creamy mashed potatoes. Season with salt to taste.
Serve, often with fried cheese, fried salami, and the onions on top. Enjoy!

Notes

Recipe researched using ChefZeeCooks

Recipe Copyright The Foreign Fork. For educational or personal use only.

Red Onion: The red onion portion of this recipe is optional, and not a requirement to make Mangú, but I highly recommend it! The red onions are most traditionally cooked in vinegar, which gives the dish a delightful briney taste.
Vinegar: I chose to use white vinegar to lightly pickle my red onions at the beginning of the recipe. As a shortcut, you can also saute store bought pickled red onions instead.
Plantains: For this recipe, make sure to use plantains that aren’t ripe yet. The riper the plantain, the sweeter it is! Typically, ripe plantains are reserved for desserts, while non-ripe plantains are for savory dishes. If you love plantains, try this Homemade Tostones recipe I love! Stick with green plantains instead of yellow ones!
Salt: Use table salt. If you are going to use a larger-grained salt, you may need to add a bit more.
Vegetable Oil: I like using a neutral flavored oil for this dish. You can also use avocado oil or sunflower oil for a similar flavor profile. Olive oil will work just fine, but you may be able to taste it a little more than usual!
Butter or Margarine: This makes the plantain mash so much creamier and richer. Some recipes omit this or use oil instead, but I would recommend making the recipe with the butter! It truly affects the taste in a positive way.
Some Dominicans will season the water with Adobo before boiling the plantains for some extra flavor!
Try to get your plantain mash as smooth as possible! To make this easy on yourself, check to ensure that the plantains are fork tender before draining the water.
I cut the plantains into smaller pieces so that they cook faster when boiling. Feel free to cut them into smaller or large pieces, but keep in mind that the cook time will be affected.
Mangú will thicken as it cools. If you aren’t serving your dish right away, make it a little thinner than you prefer so that by the time you eat, it is the perfect texture!

Nutrition