In our ripe plantain air fryer piononos, savory cheese and ham form a stunning pairing when rolled in the sweet ripe plantain and grilled to golden perfection. You'll love these little bites of combined sweet and savory, the perfect dish for get-togethers. The best part: no frying!
Why we ❤️ it
One of my favorite creative exercises is finding ways to adapt our favorite recipes to the various diets our readers request. This is one of those.
Piononos is one of our favorite ripe plantain recipes, but many people don't like, or shouldn't eat fried food. For those people, here is this delicious and easy option: plantain piononos without frying. A dish based on the Dominican and Puerto Rican pionono that is perfect for your next friends or family gathering.
Traditional piononos
The traditional way of making sweet plantains piononos is to roll around minced beef stuffing (a type of picadillo), drench them in eggs, and fry them in abundant hot oil. I love them, but I also wanted to be able to eat them more often: enter air fryer piononos. No messy frying, no excess oil.
If you want the traditional pionono recipe treat yourself to it, you'll love that too,
Oven or air fryer piononos.
Serving suggestions
You can serve air fryer piononos as a snack, or serve them as a part of a larger appetizer platter alongside other classic picaderas like kipe (Dominican kibbeh), and pastelitos.
If you're looking for more air fryer recipes, check out our whole collection of recipes. Another air fryer plantain recipe I love is this of air fryer tostones, which has become one of our family favorites. We love it served with air fryer chicharrones, another popular recipe in our collection.
If you want some air fryer fried chicken, try that, or this air fryer drumsticks recipe.
Top tips
- The amount of rolls you get depends on the type and size of plantain you use. Doubling the number of servings is just a matter of doubling the amount of ingredients.
- Since they are supposed to be served hot, you can place them unbaked in the fridge, then bake when it's time to serve them.
- For this recipe you can bake the pionono in the oven, or use the air fryer. For the oven I use a small cupcake mold, which keep the pionono round and corrales the melting cheese.
- If you want to make them in the air fryer, line the bottom of the basket with parchment paper because the cheese will leak a bit.
- You can swap mozzarella cheese for the cheddar cheese if you want.
- If you're looking for a lighter choice, swap turkey bacon for prosciutto.
About our recipe
For this recipe you can bake the pionono in the oven, or use the air fryer. For the oven I use a small cupcake mold, which keep the pionono more round and corrales the melting cheese.
This recipe has flavors that are similar to our pastelón de plátanos, a lovely dish that combines ground beef in tomato sauce and cheese between layers of sweet plantains. It's one of our favorite casserole recipes. Some say it's the perfect casserole dish.
Video
Recipe
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Air Fryer Piononos [Recipe + Video] No Frying Ripe Plantain Rolls
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying
- 2 ripe plantains, (sweet plantains, yellow plantains)
- ¼ pound Prosciutto or Serrano ham, very thinly-sliced [110 g]
- ¼ pound cheddar, very thinly-sliced [110 g]
- 1 tablespoon minced parsley, or cilantro, for decoration (optional)
Instructions
Preparing
Peel the plantains (see how to peel plantains). Pre-heat the air fryer or oven to 450ºF [230ºC]. Grease two mini-muffin baking trays with the vegetable oil.
Making rolls
- With a sharp knife, cut the plantains into thin long strips. Cut the ham and cheese into strips roughly the same size as the plantain slices.Place a plantain slice on top of a slice of ham, then top with a slice of cheese. Roll as tightly as possible. Place in the cupcake mold, or hold with a toothpick if you're cooking them in the air fryer.
Baking
- Cook in the air fryer or oven for 20 minutes or until the rolls turn golden brown. Sprinkle with the parsley. Serve hot.
Tips and Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated automatically based on ingredients listed. Please consult your doctor if you need precise nutrition information.
Published Oct 25, 2011, revised
