Paleo Plantain & Sausage Skillet Dinner

What can you make in 30 minutes that is paleo, healthy and probably nothing like you’ve tried making at home before? Look no further than this sausage and plantain skillet dinner.

This dish is sweet and spicy even though we only used salt and pepper – the sweetness comes from the plantain and if you keep reading we’ll help you figure out all you need to know to make this dish a success on your first try.

Carbing Up on The keto Diet

Are you on a Keto diet? Cool! Have you ever thought of doing carb ups? Personally, I felt best doing keto with carb ups, where I would eat up to 80 grams of carbs (NET)  in a day from whole foods like plantains, sweet potatoes, bananas… etc. (the wife said I needed potassium…) You can learn more about carb ups and the different styles of keto here.

Nowadays, Lea and I are more into cooking clean and eating more whole foods, so most days, we’ll make something quick and simple like this paleo dish.

Health Benefits of Plantains

We have the food philosophy of: eat a little bit of everything and you’ll be fine; which is the same for whole foods. By eating a bit of everything, you’re getting the specific nutrients each whole food is good for without having to worry about what’s a source of what and when to eat what. By exposing yourself to more foods, you will be hitting the boxes without knowing and maybe one day crave specific whole foods in consequence.

Plantains are paleo-friendly and keto-carb-cycling-friendly. They have some important antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. They’re high in carbohydrates and a good source of fiber. They’re about 200-300 calories per plantain, once cooked and depending on cooking method.

Like their relative, the banana, plantains are a good way to get potassium and magnesium into your diet. Plantains are starchier than bananas and are less sweet, and they’re typically consumed at different ripeness. “The main difference is that more of the carbs in bananas come from sugars, whereas more of the carbs in plantains are from starch.” Healthline

At the end of the day, they are still higher in carbs so we prefer to eat them at night or before a work out. We feel better that way. They’re a good choice for a carb-up on keto specifically for the electrolytes that they provide.

Ingredients You Will Need

There are few ingredients to this recipe and they’re ingredients we often have at home. For example, the sausage can be substituted for any protein you have at home, whether you prefer to make this with chicken, beef or even fish (like cod).

Here are the main ingredients

• Plantains : If your store only has green or yellow ones, get the yellow ones (they are a lot sweeter), separate them and let them sit on the counter for a day or two. The more ripe the plantain, the sweeter they are going to be and the more contrast in flavours we’ll have (the sweet and spicy) which is what we’re going for in this recipe. If you use green plantains, they will be like potatoes. It’s not a deal breaker, especially if you don’t want sweet, but it’s not where we wanted to go with this recipe.
• Sausage : This recipe would also go super well with deboned chicken thighs or any other protein you have at home! Feel free to substitute as you see fit and remember to cook your protein accordingly.  To keep this recipe gluten-free make sure to visit your local butcher for some gluten-free sausage. The more artisanal the butcher the more likely they are to stock gluten-free sausages. They also can be found in the grocery store.
• Onions : We’re going to cook them slowly so they caramelize and we can bank more on that sweet and spicy contrast that we’ll obtain with our pepper. Tip: If you want a stark contrast of sweet and spicy, you can use red onions or shallots instead of yellow/white onions. Go with the flow, man.
• Coconut milk: We always use full fat coconut milk. The brand doesn’t matter much in this case because we’re using the full contents so taste is what matters most here. If you have a preferred brand of coconut milk, go for it. But to be clear, we used coconut milk that comes in a can rather than the one you’d use for your cereal in the morning.

These days we’re not so fancy (wink wink) so we used freshly ground pepper. But if we had some of that Szechuan pepper left… YOU KNOW WE WOULD’VE HAD A PEPPER PARTY! And highly suggest you have a pepper party, yourself.

How to Make It

Start by lightly searing your protein. In this case we are using sausage, but you can substitute it for chicken, pork or any other cut of meat your prefer. Remove your sausage and add your  chopped onions. Let them cook and slowly caramelize in the sausage fat. Next, add your plantain along with your sausage and cover with coconut milk. Let simmer until the sauce thickens and top with some fresh basil. Voila! Enjoy

Great seasonal veggie additions to this dish would be:
– Broccoli
– Peas (especially this summer – can’t wait)
– Carrots
– Spinach

Any questions? Comment below!