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Golden pan-fried bolón de verde, Ecuadorian green plantain dumplings, served with coffee
Prep15 min
Cook45 min
Serves5 balls
CuisineEcuadorian
Latin America & Caribbean

Bolón de Verde: Ecuador's Green Plantain Breakfast Dumplings

A recipe for bolón de verde, the coastal Ecuadorian breakfast. Boil green plantains, mash them with lard, salt, and cheese, shape into balls, and pan-fry until golden. Includes its Montubio roots, the coffee habit, and tips for round balls that do not crack.

Total: 1 hrLevel: Beginner

Cooking flow

Cooking steps

STEP 11 / 6

Peel the plantains

Slitting and peeling green plantain skin, then cutting into thirds
Peel the skin back from the slits and cut into thirds

Cut about 2 cm off both ends of each plantain and make 3–4 lengthwise slits in the skin, not deep enough to reach the flesh. Slip a finger into a slit and peel the skin back little by little. The skin of a green plantain clings tightly to the flesh, so lift stubborn spots with the tip of a knife. Once peeled, cut each into 3 equal lengths. Allow about 5 minutes per plantain.

STEP 22 / 6

Boil the plantains

Boiling green plantains in a pot and checking tenderness with a fork
A fork slides in easily and the flesh turns a pale yellowish white

Put the plantains in a pot with enough water to cover and a little salt, and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce to medium heat and boil for 20–25 minutes. They are done when a fork slides in easily and the flesh turns a pale yellowish white. If they stay firm, lumps remain when you mash and the dough will not hold together.

STEP 33 / 6

Mash while hot

Mashing hot boiled plantains with lard and salt and working them together
Lumps nearly gone, sticky and cohesive

Drain the plantains into a bowl and mash them quickly while hot with a potato masher or pestle. Add 2 tbsp lard and 1 tsp salt and work them in with a wooden spoon. Plantains harden as they cool and become hard to mash, so finish within 3–4 minutes. It is enough once the lumps are nearly gone and the mixture is sticky and cohesive.

STEP 44 / 6

Work in the cheese

Adding cheese to the plantain dough and kneading it in by hand
Cheese spread throughout, dough holding together without sticking to the hands

When the dough has cooled slightly, add the cheese and knead it in well by hand. Knead for about 2 minutes, until the cheese is spread throughout and the dough holds together without sticking to your hands. If the dough is crumbly and cracks, adjust by adding 1 tsp of the cooking water at a time.

STEP 55 / 6

Shape the balls

Shaping plantain dough into balls 7 to 8 cm in diameter with the palms
A ball 7–8 cm across with no cracks in the surface

Divide the dough into 5 equal portions and press each firmly between your palms into a ball about 7–8 cm in diameter, taking about 30 seconds per ball. Cracks in the surface make the ball likely to split while cooking, so roll it in your palms to keep the surface smooth. A little water on your hands keeps the dough from sticking.

STEP 66 / 6

Fry in lard

Rolling bolones in lard in a skillet until golden
Golden and crisp all over

Heat 2 tbsp lard in a skillet over medium heat and arrange the bolones. Turn them occasionally and cook 8–10 minutes until browned all over. They are done when the surface is golden and crisp and gives a hard sound when tapped lightly. High heat burns only the outside and the cheese inside does not melt, so keep the heat at medium.

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Ingredients

Ingredients

1 / 2

Dough

Ingredient Amount Substitutes & notes
Green plantains 5 Skin should be green and hard. Ripe yellow ones are unsuitable
Lard 2 tbsp Butter also works, but the flavor changes
Salt 1 tsp Adjust according to the saltiness of the cheese
Cheese 225g In place of queso criollo, use mozzarella and grated hard cheese in a 3 to 1 ratio
2 / 2

For frying

Ingredient Amount Substitutes & notes
Lard 2 tbsp Vegetable oil also works
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Morning in Guayaquil. On a street stall's griddle, balls the size of tennis balls sizzle. The surface is a deep golden brown, and when you break one open, steam rises and melted cheese shows inside. Hold a cup of hot coffee in one hand and bite in: crisp outside, soft and chewy within. This is bolón de verde, the green plantain dumpling that is a staple breakfast on Ecuador's coast. "Verde" means green: it is made with plantains picked before they ripen.

A coastal breakfast eaten with coffee

A morning street stall in Guayaquil with bolón de verde and coffee laid out

Bolón de verde was born on Ecuador's Pacific coast. The Guayaquil newspaper El Universo reports that there is no record that shows its exact origin, but that several historians agree it is a traditional dish of the Montubio people of the coast. The Montubio are the people who have lived in the rural areas of Ecuador's coast.

According to the same article, bolón spread from Manabí province to the north of Guayas province and then to Guayaquil. In the past, wealthy households drank coffee with bread and cheese, while ordinary people started the morning with plantain dishes. The historian Rodolfo Pérez Pimentel says that before wheat arrived in Ecuador in 1852, coastal people drank their coffee with patacones, yuca bread, and bolón.

Did you know?

The plantain is not native to South America. According to El Universo, Fray Tomás de Berlanga is said to have brought it there in 1516, and bolón is thought to have come centuries later. The Cuban ethnologist Fernando Ortiz considers it, like the Cuban fufú de plátano of boiled mashed plantain combined with fried pork skin, a dish with African ancestry.

Cheese, pork cracklings, or both

A comparison of bolón split open, filled with cheese, with pork cracklings, and mixed

There are three main fillings. Bolón de queso has cheese worked in, bolón de chicharrón has fried pork skin mixed in, and the mixto contains both. The Ecuadorian magazine Vistazo presents bolón as a traditional coastal dish and writes that it comes in varieties such as chicharrón, cheese, and mixed.

Today bolón is sold everywhere in Guayaquil, at street stalls, kiosks, and diners. It is common to serve a hot baked or fried bolón with a fried egg or a beef steak for a hearty breakfast. In 2025 it was chosen to represent Ecuador in the "Breakfast World Cup," a popular-vote tournament of breakfasts hosted by the Spanish streamer Ibai Llanos. Ecuador's Ministry of Tourism even called for votes on social media, making this a breakfast the whole country backs.

Did you know?

For this vote, the Ministry of Tourism introduced a character called "Don Bolón" as the country's food ambassador. Bolón reportedly advanced as a pair with encebollado, the fish soup from the same coast.

The biggest obstacle in a home kitchen is green plantain. You will rarely see it in an ordinary supermarket, but it is available from specialty grocers and online. Dessert bananas are soft and sweet, so they are no substitute. For cheese, in place of the salty white fresh cheese of Ecuador called queso criollo, you combine cheeses that are easy to buy.

Ingredients (makes 5)

Ingredients for bolón de verde: green plantains, cheese, lard, and salt

This formula is based on the recipe in El Universo, adapted to ingredients that are easy to get. One plantain makes about one bolón, roughly the size of a tennis ball.

Tip

Choose plantains whose skin is deep green and firm when pressed with a finger. Those with a slightly yellowish tint are usable, but ones ripe enough to show black spots are sweet and soft, and the balls lose their shape easily.

Caution

The skin of a green plantain is hard, and a knife slips easily when peeling. Steady it on the cutting board before making the cuts. The sap from the skin can leave dark stains on hands and cutting boards, so wear rubber gloves if that bothers you.

How to make bolón de verde

Allow about 15 minutes for prep and about 45 minutes to boil, shape, and fry. Plantains are easiest to mash while hot, so move on to the next step as soon as they are boiled.

Caution

The cheese inside a freshly cooked bolón is very hot. Let it cool a little before breaking it open or serving it to children.

Tips for balls that do not crack and are crisp outside

A comparison of a cracked bolón and a bolón with a smooth surface

The most common failure in making bolón is cracking during cooking. The cause is mostly mashing the plantains after they have cooled. In cooled plantain the starch sets and there is no stickiness. Mashing and kneading while hot is the foundation of a dough that does not crack.

Tip

When shaping, do not just roll the dough; press it firmly with both hands to push out the air inside. If air remains, it expands during cooking and cracks the ball.

You may also deep-fry them. According to the Ecuadorian newspaper El Mercurio, frying is the usual method in Guayaquil, but in the highland city of Cuenca some shops make them without frying for health-conscious customers. At home, pan-frying with a little lard while rolling is simpler.

Tip

If you make extra, you can wrap the shaped balls in plastic wrap before cooking and keep them in the refrigerator. When cooking, let them come back slightly toward room temperature, then cook the same way over medium heat while rolling.

With pork belly and a fried egg: ways to vary it

Bolón with crisp-cooked pork belly mixed in, topped with a fried egg

For a chicharrón bolón, substitute pork belly. Cut 225 g pork belly into 1 cm cubes and cook in a skillet until the fat renders and the pieces are crisp, then work them into the dough in place of the cheese. Using half cheese and half pork belly makes a mixto. Using the fat rendered from the pork belly in place of the lard worked into the dough adds more savory aroma.

For a proper breakfast, top a freshly cooked bolón with a fried egg and serve a thin beef steak alongside. A longtime bolón maker in Cuenca also told El Mercurio that the favorite with customers is a mixto plate with a fried egg and meat.

How to eat it

Freshly cooked bolón de verde with coffee and a fried egg for breakfast
A freshly cooked bolón with hot coffee and a fried egg

Bolón is best eaten freshly cooked, held in the hand and bitten. With hot coffee beside it, it is the very picture of an Ecuadorian coastal breakfast. It is also good split in half with butter on top or with hot sauce.

For another staple morning dish of the same coast, try pairing it with the fish and cassava soup encebollado. It is the bowl that teamed up with bolón in the Breakfast World Cup. For another dish that mashes plantain, compare it with Puerto Rico's mofongo and the differences in what the same green plantain becomes are easy to see.

Frequently asked questions

A comparison of green plantain, ripe plantain, and dessert banana

Can I make it with ordinary bananas?

No. Dessert bananas are soft and sweet, so they turn to paste when mashed and cannot hold their shape when rolled. Bolón needs green plantains, which have plenty of starch and little sweetness.

What cheese should I use?

Ecuador's queso criollo is a salty white fresh cheese. A combination of stretchy melting mozzarella and a salty, savory grated cheese is easier to use.

Can I deep-fry them?

Yes. Fry in 170 °C oil for 4–5 minutes until golden. When frying, smooth out any cracks in the surface carefully, or the balls tend to split in the oil.

Can I make them ahead?

Cooked bolón hardens as it cools, so it is best cooked just before eating. If refrigerated, reheat thoroughly in a toaster oven or skillet until warm through. I cannot give a firm number of days for storage, so finish them soon.

Sources

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