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Crispy on the outside and tender in the middle, these Fried Green Tomatoes are addictive! Serve them as an appetizer or side dish, a party snack, or make them the main attraction piled high on a BLT! This recipe for Fried Green Tomatoes is a variation of Southern Cooking’s version: skipping the sugar, adding a bit of cayenne for kick and finishing with flaky sea salt for extra flavor and crunch.
If I’d known how easy it was to make Fried Green Tomatoes, I would have done it years ago. The growing season here in the High Desert of Oregon is short and when the weather begins to cool it means business. We’ll have freezing overnight temperatures within days and that means that all of those green tomatoes on the vine must be picked.
But I’m getting ahead of myself here because, before we met Parker, we didn’t have tomatoes to pick, green or otherwise.
Table of Contents
About Parker
Parker is our neighbor, a brilliant horticulturist and a new entrepreneur. He’s also a 7th grader. It was a school project to grow plants from seed that ignited his interest in growing plants. His success with the project gave him the idea to create his own plant start business and that’s how Parker’s Plants came to be. Over many months he started over 400 plants from seed – cultivated in his family’s garage and house. (Nice parents, right? It must have been a jungle over there!) He was able to sell enough plant starts to buy a greenhouse and, to me, he looks pretty excited about filling it. Look out world!
A couple of days ago, Parker harvested 15(!!) pounds of green tomatoes to protect them from the coming frost and was kind enough to share some of his best slicing tomatoes with us. Hmmm…what to do with a batch of firm and gorgeous, shiny green, unripe tomatoes? Make Fried Green Tomatoes of course! They’re more than a poignant and funny movie from the early 90s and well worth trying. They’ll taste better from your kitchen then they would fresh from The Whistle Stop Cafe. 😉
The process is quick and easy. I recommend serving these with Remoulade Sauce for dipping or, for a classic Southern combination, with Shrimp Remoulade!
More Must Try Tomato Recipes
More of My Favorite Southern Recipes
- Homemade Biscuits
- Skillet Cornbread
- Sweet Potato Bread
- Cornbread Pudding
- Corn Maque Choux
- Cajun Potato Salad
How to Make Fried Green Tomatoes
1. Start with medium-sized firm green tomatoes sliced into 1/4-inch thick circles.
2. Follow a classic breading style: dredge in plain flour, dip in egg wash, dredge in a seasoned mixture of cornmeal and flour. (Some recipes call for panko in this mixture, but I prefer the traditional breading where cornmeal crunch is the star.)
3. Shallow fry for 3 to 4 minutes in 1/4-inch of high heat oil like avocado oil, sprinkle with flaky salt and serve!
Simple, right?
The next time you find yourself with the happy dilemma of too many green tomatoes you’ll know just what to do.
Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 3 medium green tomatoes about 12 ounces
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour divided
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt or 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- pinch ground cayenne pepper
- avocado oil or other high vegetable heat oil, for frying
- flaky sea salt such as Maldon, for finishing
Instructions
- Slice tomatoes into 1/4-inch thick rounds.
To Make Breading Mixture:
- Whisk egg and buttermilk together in a shallow bowl.
- Scoop 1/4 cup flour onto a medium plate.
- To a second medium plate add remaining flour, cornmeal, salt, pepper and cayenne; combine thoroughly with fork or small whisk.
To Bread Tomatoes:
- Dredge a tomato slice in plain flour, shaking off any excess; dip in egg mixture; dredge in cornmeal mixture until evenly coated and transfer to plate. Repeat with remaining tomato slices.
To Fry Green Tomatoes:
- Line a plate with paper towels; set aside.
- In a heavy skillet (ideally a cast iron skillet) heat 1/4-inch of high heat oil to 375°. (It's important for the oil to be very hot to keep tomatoes from absorbing it. Be sure to reheat between batches!) Carefully place tomatoes into hot oil and cook 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side, until golden brown. Transfer to paper towel lined plate (keeping tomatoes in a single layer so they don't get soggy) and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Repeat with remaining tomatoes. Serve hot.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Once these are coated can you freeze them? I would love to have them year around. Thanks for the recipe and the information.
Hi, Linda! Yes, absolutely. Just arrange the breaded slices in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet (to avoid sticking) and freeze. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer bag or other freezer safe container. When you’re ready to fry them, there’s not need to thaw first. Fry them straight from frozen, they’ll just take an extra minute or two.
one of the most tasty and delicious green tomato recipes i have tried.
I always thought sugar was needed but it was not missed. The sea salt was
an unexpected ingridiant,that I thought really put taste over the top. I served
these with crock pot cooked spare ribs and found them to be an evxcellent
side dish, I wish I had made more.
This is so great to hear, Jeff! Thank you for coming back to let me know.
I made these for the first time in my life(86)! My daughter was asking for some and we loved this recipe. I froze some up but have not tried them yet will wait until the snow flies here in Maine!
Great recipe and super easy.
I served the green tomatoes with fresh tomato sauce from the last ripe tomatoes. What a lovely way to celebrate the end of tomato season.
Thank you for the story about Parker. Hope for the future.
I’m so glad you enjoyed these, Claudis, and what a great idea to serve them with fresh tomato sauce. Thank you for your kind comment.
Hi there, if I don’t have cornmeal, is there a recommended substitute?
Hi there, Jamila! Do you happen to have polenta or corn grits? Either would make a good substitute. You can bread them with just flour and they’ll taste good, but they won’t have the same crunchy crust.
Marissa, We had tomato plants and potatoes volunteer this year so I just harvested green tomatoes and purple potatoes this afternoon. Thank you so much for publishing the fried green tomato recipe and the remoulade sauce one too. I look forward to having a yummy dinner with my family!
Colleen
It’s my pleasure, Colleen! How wonderful to have volunteer tomatoes and potatoes!! Hope you and your family enjoy!! 🙂
Can these be sliced and dipped and ready to fry a few hours early and kept in the refrig?
Hi there, Sally. I wouldn’t recommend breading them that far in advance. I’m concerned that the cornmeal will become soggy and they won’t crisp up properly when you fry them.
Hi Marissa!
I bought some tomatoes the other day. This maybe a stupid question, but are they same as green tomatoes?
As a kid my Mama used to fry green tomatoes with a little bit of red pepper, salt with no breading and serve it with Sunnyside up (2 eggs). It tasted really good.
Thanks my dear for your time!
Blessings,
Mallika
Hi there, Mallika! Not a stupid question at all!! Green tomatoes are unripe tomatoes so they are more firm and will hold up to frying. Red ripe tomatoes would fall apart. Hope that’s helpful! 🙂 p.s. Your mother’s tomato and egg dish sounds delicious!
Absolutely delicious! A keeper, and am going to try this breading mix for onion rings too, think it would be fantastic!
So glad you enjoyed these, Vicky! Great idea to use the batter for onion rings!
I am definitely making these tomorrow after shopping. I have really missed these staples! My wife is Canadian and I moved here about 10 years ago. I lived in the American South for over 20 years and love the cooking. I’ve been converting my Canadian wife into a “food rebel” since we got married and she’s never had these. She’s totally in love with cornbread and hush puppies. She will kill for a second helping of sausage, gravy and biscuits. She won’t let me buy Pillsbury any more since she had my biscuits.
Our growing season is relatively short, even though we’re 100 Kn south of Detroit on the map (Guelph, Ontario – home of the invention of the “Yukon Gold” potato from University of Guelph) My mother-in-law just returned from vacation and brought me about 10 Kg of green tomatoes from her garden which overgrew while they were gone.
Hi there, Walker! You’ve named some of my favorite comfort foods! What a great gift from your mother-in-law. I love that you’re going to add these Fried Green Tomatoes to the list – I hope that she loves them!
Thank you, I didn’t know you can freeze them! It will be a treat to eat fried green tomatoes in the winter!!!
My pleasure, Miriam!