Turon (Filipino Banana Lumpia)

Learn how to make Filipino turon that’s crispy and crunchy whether fried or baked. Serve with ice cream and caramel sauce for a delicious turon dessert that will transport you straight to the tropics.

(Love bananas? Try maruya and banana con yelo. Both are delicious and wonderfully tropical!)

When I was new in Canada all those years ago, I was homesick all the time (I still am, though not as often) and food helped me deal with that. I cannot begin to describe to you the euphoria I get when I take that first bite of something, anything and it tastes like the ones from home.

Which brings me to this Filipino turon recipe (some people like to call it banana lumpia).

Ironically I’ve never been a big fan of it. My mom would buy half a dozen from the local market and I would mostly ignore it.

But now, turon and I – we’re tight. It’s a simple snack but topped with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with salted caramel sauce – I would serve this to our most important guests at our fanciest dinner party in a heartbeat.

What is turon?

Turon (pronounced too-ron) is a popular banana snack in the Philippines.

There’s no direct english translation but it’s usually made of sliced bananas (ideally the saba variety), a piece of jackfruit and sugar, then wrapped in spring roll wrapper and deep fried.

You can find it everywhere – in your local sari-sari store (think: bodega but more grassroots), on the street from your favourite street vendor and, in recent years, in fancy restaurants.

But it’s really very easy to make from scratch.

Here in North America, the only challenge is finding the right ingredients but once you have everything you need, there’s nothing to it.

You just dunk the plantain in cinnamon sugar, wrap the turon, fry (or bake) and enjoy!

What is it made of?

So what are these magic ingredients? You would need:

• Bananas
• Sweet jackfruit (optional)
• Spring roll wrappers

After that, the rest are easy: sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch and oil for frying (or butter if baking).

Right. Let’s talk ingredients.

How to choose plantains

First there’s the banana.

Like I said, traditionally, turon is made of saba bananas but in all the years I’ve lived here I haven’t once seen saba anywhere. They are available frozen but they look sketchy so I’ve never even tried.

So I always go with plantain. Which is more widely available and close enough to saba in taste and texture IMO.

Note that when choosing plantains, the uglier the better.

Unlike bananas, you want bruises on your plantain. You want a dull yellow plantain that’s semi-soft with patches of black (or mostly black). That means they’re ripe and ready to use.

You don’t want perfect green ones because they are unripe and unripe plantains are bitter and just nasty.

How to cut plantains

There are many different ways to cut a plantain and this is how we prep and portion it.

First we cut the ends off, then cut the plantain in half lengthwise.

Next we peel each portion to reveal the ripe flesh inside. Then we cut that in half again.

Can I use regular bananas?

I would steer away from regular bananas when making turon because they tend to turn to mush and are too sweet.

On the other hand, plantains retain their shape and is perfect for this recipe.

(Gina over at Running to the Kitchen has this delicious recipe for air fryer bananas you might want to check out!)

How to make turon with langka or jackfruit

Traditionally, turon is also made with sweet jackfruit. We don’t particularly like jackfruit though so we left it out in this recipe.

If you like it, you can easily buy it canned; just put a sliver of jackfruit with the plantain before you roll it.

What kind of spring roll wrappers to use

Next are the spring roll wrappers. You can usually find spring roll wrappers in Asian stores or at the international aisle/frozen section of your local supermarket.

Don’t buy the rice paper kind. You need the ones that can also be used for wontons.

How to fold turon

Folding turon is not rocket science. Just make sure to wrap it tightly and try to make equal-sized pieces so they cook evenly.

Recipe FAQs

Other delicious Filipino recipes

Are you throwing a party? Try these delicious Filipino dishes and wow your guests.

• Start with no-cook, no-bake, easy and refreshing apple buko salad. Made with tender young coconut and crisp apples, it’s sweet and light!
• For your main course, try sweet and salty spaghetti. It’s a welcome change from traditional Italian-style pasta. Plus it has hotdogs in it!
• As a side to your Filipino-style spaghetti, bake some homemade pandesal or Filipino bread rolls. Crusty, fluffy, sweet and salty in one.
• End the meal with easy, refreshing, delicious mango sago.

Happy frying (or baking)!

Did you make this turon recipe? How’d it go? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.

If you’re looking for more Filipino desserts, check out this delicious collection of Filipino desserts that you absolutely must try.

And if you have extra plantains, try making some delicious baked plantains.