By Melissa Pette

Alright, let’s talk about one of the crispiest, loudest, most addictive snacks you’ll ever throw down in your kitchen: patacones.

If you’ve had tostones before, you already know the vibe, but these? These hit different.

We’re talking golden, crunchy plantain rounds that snap like chips but taste way better. Straight-up dangerous once you start eating them. And when you dunk them into fresh guac? Yeah... it’s over.

Best part? This whole thing is ridiculously easy. No chef skills required. Just good vibes and hot oil.

Let’s get cookin’!

Here’s what you’re working with, and no stress, every single thing is easy to grab at any supermarket in Costa Rica.

For the patacones:

• 3–4 green plantains (not the sweet yellow ones, keep it firm and green).

• About 1 cup of oil for frying.

• Salt, to taste.

• 4 cups water.

• Juice of 1 lime.

For the guac:

• 1–2 serrano or jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped.

• ½ cup white onion, chopped.

• ½ cup tomato, chopped.

• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped.

• 3 ripe avocados.

• Salt to taste.

• 1 tablespoon lime (or lemon) juice.

First things first, peel those plantains and slice them into chunky 1-inch pieces. Nothing fancy.


Heat your oil to about 350°F in a sturdy pan. Once it’s hot, drop the plantains in (don’t overcrowd them, give them space to shine). Fry for about 8–10 minutes, flipping here and there until they’re lightly golden.


Pull them out, let them chill on paper towels for a minute, then comes the fun part: smash time. Grab a plate, glass, or whatever you’ve got and flatten each piece into a thick disk. Not too thin, you want structure.


Now here’s the low-key pro move. Mix your water, lime juice, and salt in a bowl, and soak those flattened plantains for about 4–5 minutes. This is how you get that extra light, crispy magic.


Drain them, pat dry, and get ready for round two.

Back into the hot oil they go. Fry again for about 5 minutes until they’re golden, crispy, and honestly kind of irresistible. Hit them with a little salt while they’re hot.


Grab a bowl, scoop out your avocados, and mash them with a fork. Don’t overdo it; you want a little texture in there.


Toss your tomato, onion, cilantro, and peppers into a blender or food processor and give it a quick pulse until finely chopped. Nothing watery, just nicely blended.


Mix that into your avocado, add salt, squeeze in that lime juice, and give it a good stir.


You can eat it right away, sure, but if you let it sit for like 20–30 minutes? The flavors link up and it gets even better.


Quick tip: if you’re buying avocados, go for Hass. If they’re green and hard, let them hang out on the counter. If they’re ripe, toss them in the fridge so they don’t go bad on you.


This combo? Straight-up elite. Crunchy, salty patacones with that creamy, fresh guac, it’s the kind of snack that disappears fast.


Serve it as a starter, a side, or just post up on the couch and crush the whole batch yourself. No judgment. It also goes hard next to grilled steak, seafood, or chicken.

And yeah... don’t forget to crack open a cold beer from Costa Rica while you’re at it.

Have a "Pura Vida" Weekend!

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Feel free to share your own recipes by emailing a horizontal photo of your dish to food@amcostarica.com. You can find more tasty Costa Rican recipes over on the AM Costa Rica Food page.

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