May 20, 2019 · 30 Comments

Fried Green Tomatoes

Name: Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 8 people
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; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; pinch ground cayenne pepper; avocado oil (or other high heat oil, for frying); flaky sea salt (such as Maldon, for finishing)

Filed Under: Appetizer, Fall & Winter, Party Food Ideas, Side Dish, Spring & Summer, Vegetarian Recipes

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Crispy on the outside and tender in the middle, these Fried Green Tomatoes are addictive! Serve them as an appetizer, 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.

Fried-Green-Tomatoes-Stacked on a white plate

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.

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 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!

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.)

https://pinchandswirl.com/pasta-e-fagioli/

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!

Flipping Breaded Green Tomatoes while Frying

Simple, right?

Fried-Green-Tomatoes served on a white plate

The next time you find yourself with the happy dilemma of too many green tomatoes you’ll know just what to do.