Ripe Sweet Plantain Banana Milkshake Drink

Sweet ripe plantain banana milkshake using sweet, ripe plantains (cooking bananas) and ice cream! So creamy and delicious milkshake which is also very calorie rich and filling & it’s perfect for a breakfast drink if you want a sweet derink that tastes like dessert for breakfast. Plantain bananas are especially good for kids and they are great source of healthy starch and calories. Plantain bananas can be enjoyed in a lot of ways including plantain fries, plantain roast, plantain fritters, plantain stir fry, plantain desserts or drinks like milkshakes.

If you have leftover ripe plantain bananas at home and want something quick and easy, do try this sweet plantain milkshake using sweet, ripe plantains.

The taste of ripe plantain banana milkshake is also different from other milkshakes like banana milkshake made from regular, ripe bananas or french vanilla banana milkshake and it is a very delicious drink with unique taste!

I have more plantain recipes in this blog like this sweet plantain banana fritters (pazham pori), green plantain banana stir fry with coconut, green plantain banana stir fry with spices, sweet plantains with coconut and cashews, sweet plantain dessert kaipola, plantain avial recipe, green plantain banana curry etc!

What Are Plantain Bananas Or Cooking Bananas?

Plantain bananas, also known as cooking bananas is a variety of bananas.

It is hight starch content and makes a good source of carbohydrates & protein for kids.

Plantain banana flour is also made from green plantain bananas which is a gluten free flour and is used to make porridge and food for babies.

Plantain bananas are great for cooking and make an excellent replacement for potatoes in many recipes including stews and soups.

Some recipes need green plantains for cooking, while some recipes need ripe plantains for cooking.

Ripe plantains are often used for making sweets and desserts while green plantains are used to make curry, stew etc though ripe plantains can also be used to make slightly sweet curry.

In this recipe for milkshake, of course we have to use ripe plantain bananas that are soft and sweet, to make creamy, delicious milkshake.

How Do Ripe Plantains Taste Like? Do Plantains Taste Like Bananas?

The taste of ripe plantain bananas is more strong and more flavorful and so the milkshake drink made using ripe plantain bananas is more creamy, rich and flavorful and also unique in taste.

The fruit part or flesh of ripe plantains is soft but more firm in texture, starchy and the taste is quite stronger than regular bananas.

Ripe plantain bananas are very sweet in taste once completely ripened and perfect to be used for cooking including desserts or drinks like this milkshake!

Keep in mind that the taste of green, unripe plantains is totally different from the ripe, sweet plantains.

The texture of green, unripe plantains is hard and firm and they are not sweet but they taste great when cooked and used in recipes like curry or fries!

The green, unripe plantains are edible when cooked but the ripe, sweet and soft plantains are edible and perfect to be enjoyed raw.

The ripe plantains can be enjoyed raw but they taste even more great when sprinkled with a little sugar for a quick dessert or you can boil the ripe plantains which makes it even lighter and easy on digestion than the uncooked fruit.

Plantain bananas are more starchy in texture than regular bananas and the taste is more stronger not mild like regular bananas.

They are also very filling due to the increased starch content and they have higher calorie content.

How To Tell If Plantain Is Ripe?

You can easily tell if a plantain is ripe from it’s appearance and also it’s texture.

The skin or peel of the ripe plantain will be deep yellow or slight orange in color with some black patches on it (remember the regular bananas often develop dark brown spots on the skin as they ripens).

Unlike ripe plantain bananas, the unripe bananas will have green skin.

As the plantain starts to ripen, the bright green color of the skin begins to fade and develops into a brighter yellow color, which means it is slightly sweet but not yet completely ripe.

As it ripens completely, the yellow color deepens often changing to a orange yellow color and develops black color patches on the skin when it is perfectly ripe and ready to be used in recipes.

With regards to texture, the completely ripe plantains will be soft when touched or pressed with your fingers. They will be soft in texture but not mushy.

When you remove peel, the flesh of the ripe plantain banana will be deep yellow orange in color and as I mentioned, the flesh of the fruit will be soft and you can enjoy it raw or cooked as you like.

The taste of the ripe plantain will be usually very sweet too and stronger in flavor than regular bananas!

So let us see how to make easy, delicious milkshake using ripe, sweet plantain bananas.

How To Make Ripe Sweet Plantain Banana Milkshake?

We use the following ingredients to make easy, delicious, creamy plantain banana milkshake at home.

Ingredients to make ripe sweet plantain banana milkshake

ripe plantain 1 large (make sure to use very ripe plantain that is sweet and soft in texture. They usually have very yellow peels with some black spots)

milk 2 cups

brown sugar 2 tablespoons (or sugar or another sweetener, adjust to taste)

vanilla ice cream 2 scoops

vanilla extract 1 teaspoon

Step by step instructions

Peel the ripe plantain and slice roughly, add to the blender (if you do not like the tiny black seeds in the plantain bananas, you may scrape them out before adding to the blender).

Also add the milk, brown sugar (or sugar or another sweetener as you like) and vanilla extract to the blender.

Blend the ingredients very well, then add the ice cream and blend again until it’s very smooth & creamy.

There could be some tiny black seeds of the plantain in the milkshake, you may filter through a fine mesh strainer if you wish to remove them.

I usually don’t filter this milkshake.

Transfer to serving glass cups, serve immediately for best results!

If you do not enjoy this milkshake immediately, you can store this in refrigerator for few more hours.

If you need to store this for more longer time, it’s a good idea to transfer the milkshake to ice cube trays and store in the freezer.

Can you make this milkshake without ice cream?

You may make this milkshake without ice cream too. When you do not add ice cream, the milkshake will have more banana flavor in it naturally.

The plantain bananas have more strong banana flavor, so if you do not like that flavor, it is good idea to use vanilla ice cream which will balance the banana flavor.

You may also use chocolate ice cream to make chocolate banana milkshake with plantain bananas for a unique, different variety of chocolate banana milkshake!

Can you make this milkshake vegan?

To make this milkshake vegan, just replace the milk with any plant based milk alternatives like oat milk, almond milk or coconut milk and replace the ice cream with any vegan ice cream substitutes.

I actually like using coconut milk in this recipevery much, since the flavors of coconut milk and plantain bananas go very well, making it a delicious tropical flavored drink.

Below you can get the detailed recipe for sweet plantain banana milkshake!