Meaning & use
tostones
Last updated
Meaning
nounplural
Slices of unripe plantain that are fried, flattened, and fried again until crisp, eaten as a snack or side dish.
Grammar: Almost always plural in English: we ordered tostones. For one piece, some speakers say 'a tostón'.
Patterns
- a plate of tostones
- fried tostones
- serve something with tostones
We ordered a plate of tostones with garlic sauce.
She served the grilled fish with tostones and salad.
The tostones were crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.
Word forms
| singular (rare) | tostón |
|---|
Common combinations
- a plate of tostones
- A plate of tostones arrived before the main course.
- crispy tostones
- The crispy tostones went perfectly with the dip.
- serve with tostones
- They serve the pork with tostones and rice.
- garlic tostones
- Garlic tostones are a popular side dish on the island.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fried plantains
- A general description of cooked plantain slices; 'tostones' specifically means the twice-fried, flattened green ones.
- patacones
- The same dish under a different regional name, common in parts of South America.
Word family
- plantain noun
- The starchy fruit that tostones are made from.
- maduros noun
- Fried sweet ripe plantains, the sweet counterpart to savory tostones.
Commonly confused: tostones or tostada?
tostones vs tostada
A tostada is a toasted or fried tortilla topped with food, a Mexican dish, not fried plantain slices.
Practice
What are tostones made from?
Choose one answer.
Tostones are twice-fried slices of green, unripe plantain. Ripe bananas are too soft, potatoes make fries, and corn tortillas are used for tostadas, a different dish.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tostones”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.