How many calories are in a plantain?
One medium plantain weighs 270 g and carries 329 calories. Per 100 g the raw yellow fruit runs 122 calories, and almost all of it is carbohydrate — 86.1 g in a single plantain, 31% of a day's worth. That is a big number for something people treat as a side, not a main.
You'd need to walk about 66 minutes to burn the 329 calories in one medium plantain (270 g).
How long does it take to burn off plantain?
One medium plantain (270 g) is 329 kcal. Enter your weight and the amount you ate to see how long it takes you to burn that off:
lb
| Activity | Time to burn 329 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 1 hr 6 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 41 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 47 min |
| Jogging | 39 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 1 hr 13 min |
Times are for a 155 lb adult at a steady pace; change the weight to see yours. The amount is set to the portion in the text (270 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Plantain quick facts
- US servings from one ounce to a whole plantain
- Six ways to cook a plantain and what each costs
- Potassium is the row to watch
- How does a plantain compare?
- Most popular plantain brands
- Plantain FAQs
Plantain quick facts
The record on this page is SR Legacy 169130, "Plantains, yellow, raw" — the ripe, brown-spotted fruit you pick up at the store and peel at the counter. That is deliberate. Most people search for the calories in a plantain before they decide what to do with it, so the honest starting point is the fruit itself, not a pan of maduros.
USDA also carries a newer Foundation measurement of ripe raw plantain at 136 calories per 100 g, about 14 above the figure below. It was calculated with updated Atwater factors and does not report sugars or saturated fat at all, so the older record stays as the main one and the newer one sits alongside it rather than being averaged in.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 medium plantain (270 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 122 | 329 | — |
| Total fat | 0.35 g | 0.9 g | 1% |
| Saturated fat | 0 g | 0 g | 0% |
| Carbohydrate | 31.89 g | 86.1 g | 31% |
| Dietary fiber | 1.7 g | 4.6 g | 16% |
| Total sugars | 17.51 g | 47.3 g | — |
| Protein | 1.3 g | 3.5 g | 7% |
| Sodium | 4 mg | 11 mg | 0% |
| Potassium | 487 mg | 1315 mg | 28% |
% Daily Value is based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
Verified nutrition data
Numbers on this page come from USDA FoodData Central, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food composition database, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified September 2026. How we verify our data →
There is no added sugars row here, because the SR Legacy edition never measured it — in a raw plantain every gram of the 47.3 g is the fruit's own sugar. Cholesterol is zero, as it is in every plant food, and the 11 mg of sodium in a whole plantain is far less than you would get from a single pinch of salt in the pan.
US servings from one ounce to a whole plantain
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28 g | 34 kcal |
| 1 cup sliced | 148 g | 181 kcal |
| Half a plantain | 135 g | 165 kcal |
| One medium plantain | 270 g | 329 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 122 kcal |
Two of those are USDA's own household measures: the medium plantain at 270 g and the cup of slices at 148 g. The ounce and the half plantain are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not USDA servings.
Note how far apart the cup and the fruit sit. A cup of sliced plantain is 181 calories, barely more than half of the 329 in the whole thing, because a medium plantain fills roughly two cups once it is cut up. People who log "1 cup" when they actually ate the whole plantain are under-counting by about 148 calories, and that gap is the single most common plantain mistake we see.
Six ways to cook a plantain and what each costs
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow plantain, raw | 122 kcal | one medium, 270 g | 329 kcal |
| Green plantain, raw | 152 kcal | one plantain, 267 g | 406 kcal |
| Green plantain, boiled | 121 kcal | 1 cup, 137 g | 166 kcal |
| Yellow plantain, baked | 155 kcal | 1 cup, 139 g | 215 kcal |
| Fried green plantain, tostones | 309 kcal | 1 cup, 118 g | 365 kcal |
| Fried ripe plantain, maduros | 236 kcal | 1 cup, 169 g | 399 kcal |
| Plantain chips, salted | 531 kcal | 1 oz, 28 g | 149 kcal |
Ripeness moves the number in the direction most people do not expect. Green plantains are the heavier fruit at 152 calories per 100 g, against 122 for ripe yellow ones. Ripening does not add anything; it pulls in water and converts starch to sugar, which is why sugars jump from 2.29 g to 17.51 g per 100 g while the calorie count drops.
Boiling is the cheapest thing you can do to a plantain. Boiled green plantain lands at 121 calories per 100 g, down from 152 raw, because the fruit takes on water as it cooks. Baking goes the other way: yellow plantain baked comes to 155 per 100 g, since the oven drives water off and concentrates what is left.
Frying is where the arithmetic breaks. A cup of tostones is 365 calories, more than a whole raw plantain of 270 g at 329 — a small bowl of fried chips of green plantain outruns the entire fruit it came from. Maduros are gentler per gram at 236 against 309, because ripe slices soak up less oil, but the cup is bigger and lands at 399.
Bagged plantain chips are a different food again at 531 calories per 100 g. On US shelves the packaged frozen products sit far lower: Goya's tostones run 200 calories per 100 g and 170 per 85 g pouch serving, and Goya Maduros 174 per 100 g. Fried strips are the outlier — Puka Plantain Strips label 557 per 100 g, 156 in a one-ounce handful.
Potassium is the row to watch
A whole plantain delivers 1,315 mg of potassium, 28% of the FDA Daily Value of 4,700 mg. That is more than the fiber row (16%) and the protein row (7%) put together, and it is the reason plantains show up in eating patterns built around produce. MyPlate counts them in the fruit group even though nobody eats them like an apple.
Saturated fat is zero in the raw fruit and stays zero when you boil it. Fry it and the picture changes: a cup of tostones carries roughly 4.4 g of saturated fat, about 22% of the Daily Value — our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure of 3.69 g, not a USDA serving.
Sodium is the surprise that runs the other way. Salted plantain chips are seasoned enough to taste salty, but 202 mg per 100 g works out to about 57 mg in a one-ounce handful, roughly 2% of the Daily Value, again our own scaling. If you are watching sodium, the chips are not the problem in that bag. The 531 calories per 100 g are.
How does a plantain compare?
| Fruit | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plantain, yellow raw | 122 kcal | one medium, 270 g | 329 kcal |
| Mamey sapote, raw | 124 kcal | 100 g | 124 kcal |
| Persimmon, native, raw | 127 kcal | 100 g | 127 kcal |
| Avocado, Florida, raw | 120 kcal | 100 g | 120 kcal |
The three neighbors are shown per 100 g because USDA's gram weights for their household measures are not in this sample, so a like-for-like piece comparison would be invented rather than measured.
Our take: per gram, a plantain is unremarkable — of these four tropical fruits only Florida avocado is lighter, and the spread from top to bottom is seven calories per 100 g. What makes a plantain different is that you eat 270 g of it in one sitting and you almost never eat it raw. For weight loss, boil it and keep the portion to half a fruit, around 165 calories. For fullness on a plate, a baked cup at 215 calories buys more food than any fried version at the same cost, and the fiber comes along with it.
Most popular plantain brands in the United States
Ranked by how widely each product appears among foods sold in the United States, from the BodyPal food database of over 3.3 million products. Calories are the figures printed on each Nutrition Facts label, checked against USDA FoodData Central.
| Product | Calories (per 100 g) |
|---|---|
| Goya Tostones Fried Plantains | 200 cal |
| Goya Fried Plantains Tostones | 202 cal |
| Puka Plantain Strips | 557 cal |
| Goya Baked Ripe Plantains | 159 cal |
| Artisan Tropic Sea Salt Plantain Strips | 467 cal |
| Goya Maduros Ripe Plantains | 174 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Plantain FAQs
How many calories are in one plantain?
One medium plantain of 270 g is 329 calories, based on USDA's raw yellow plantain record at 122 calories per 100 g. Half a plantain is about 165 calories. Peel weight is already excluded, so weigh the fruit after peeling if you want the number to match.
How many calories in fried plantains?
A cup of fried green plantain (tostones, 118 g) is 365 calories and a cup of fried ripe plantain (maduros, 169 g) is 399. Per 100 g that is 309 and 236, against 122 for the same fruit raw. The oil, not the plantain, does most of that.
Do green plantains have fewer calories than ripe ones?
No, green plantains are higher, at 152 calories per 100 g against 122 for ripe yellow ones. Ripening pulls in water and turns starch into sugar, so sugars climb from 2.29 g to 17.51 g per 100 g while the calorie count actually falls. Cooking method matters far more than color.
How many carbs are in a plantain?
One medium plantain carries 86.1 g of carbohydrate, 31% of the Daily Value, of which 4.6 g is fiber and 47.3 g is sugars. Per 100 g the raw yellow fruit is 31.89 g of carbohydrate. Green plantains are higher still at 36.66 g per 100 g, almost all of it starch.
How much potassium is in a plantain?
One medium plantain holds 1,315 mg of potassium, 28% of the Daily Value — more than the fiber and protein rows combined, at 16% and 7%. Per 100 g that is 487 mg. The FDA sets the potassium Daily Value at 4,700 mg for a 2,000-calorie diet.
Are plantains good for weight loss?
For weight loss, boiled beats fried by a wide margin: a cup of boiled green plantain is 166 calories against 365 for a cup of tostones and 399 for a cup of maduros. Half a raw plantain is 165. The fruit itself is not the problem, the frying oil is.
Can you eat plantains raw?
Yes, and USDA's main plantain record is the raw yellow fruit at 122 calories per 100 g. Ripe plantains with brown-spotted skin are soft and sweet enough to eat uncooked. Green ones at 152 calories per 100 g are dense with starch and are almost always cooked first.
How many calories in a cup of sliced plantain?
A cup of sliced raw plantain weighs 148 g and comes to 181 calories, which is USDA's own cup measure for the yellow raw record. That is a little over half a medium plantain. A cup of boiled green plantain is 166 calories and a cup of fried maduros is 399.
Similar foods
- Shrimp Lo Mein — 242 cal per cup
- Egg Foo Yung — 108 cal per patty
- Olive — 26 cal for 5 large olives
- Snow Cone — 256 cal per snow cone
- Masoor Dal — 207 cal per cup cooked
- Mexican rice — 279 cal per cup
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the plate and BodyPal counts the plantain for you, fried or boiled.
