Fried Green Tomatoes
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Today I’m gonna teach y’all how to make fried green tomatoes, a traditional Southern side dish. Each slice of crisp tomato is fried to perfection in a crunchy cornmeal coating.
If you’re looking for a classic Southern side dish that’s both crispy and tangy, then you can’t go wrong with this fried green tomato recipe. This timeless recipe has been passed down for generations and it’s easy to see why it remains a staple in Southern cuisine. The dish features slices of unripe green tomatoes that are dipped in a savory batter, fried to a golden-brown crisp, and then served with a zesty dipping sauce.
This recipe is quick, easy, and oh-so-simple. All you need is four ingredients: green tomatoes, cornmeal, flour, and Season All. The instructions are as easy as cutting the green tomatoes, dredging each slice in milk and then the cornmeal batter, and then deep-frying each slice until crispy and golden brown.
Whether you’re looking for a quick appetizer, a tasty side dish, or even a main course, fried green tomatoes are sure to satisfy your cravings. I just know you’ll love the combination of the crisp and juicy tomato slices with the crunchy and flavorful coating. If you have too many green tomatoes to count, you may also want to make fried green tomato Caprese stacks or green tomato relish.
Alright, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get ready to fry up a batch of these irresistible Southern delights!
Serve these delicious Fried Green Tomatoes with Southern Fried Chicken, Baby Back Ribs, Southern Fried Catfish, Easy Southern Salmon Patties, Pan-Seared Pork Chops, Chicken Fried Steak With Gravy, and Crock Pot Black Eyed Peas With Smoked Turkey Leg.
What You’ll Need to Make Fried Green Tomatoes:
- Flour (self-rising flour or all-purpose flour, it doesn’t matter).
- White cornmeal
- Season All
- Green tomatoes
- Oil for frying
- Milk for dredging
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make Fried Green Tomatoes:
Cut your tomatoes into thick slices.
When cutting tomatoes, we highly recommend using a serrated knife! Here’s a serrated knife that we love that is perfect for getting these green tomato slices.
Combine flour and cornmeal in a small bowl.
The flour acts as sort of a “glue” to help hold it all together.
Next, add Season All to the bowl.
If you don’t have Season All, feel free to season the mixture with salt and black pepper or the seasonings of your choice instead.
Dip both sides of each tomato slice into milk in a shallow dish.
Then dip into your cornmeal mixture.
Press down and coat both sides well.
So it looks something like this.
Next, you want to fill a skillet with enough oil that the slices are about halfway covered (about half an inch).
The key here is hot oil (375 degrees to be exact). That ensures the fried green tomatoes aren’t greasy. Because when you drop the slices into hot oil, it instantly sears. Whereas if the oil isn’t hot enough, the slices will absorb the oil while it continues to heat.
Cook the breaded tomato slices over medium to medium-high heat.
You want to flip them just once so they’re golden brown on both sides (about 3 to 5 minutes on each side).
If you flip the slices more than once, you might find that the delicate coating starts to slip.
Drain your fried green tomato slices on a paper towel-lined plate.
Then you’re ready to go! These are delicious!
They have a twang to them that ripened tomatoes don’t have.
Storage
- While these are best served immediately, you can store leftover fried tomatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days. Reheat them in an oiled skillet, oven, or air fryer. Don’t use the microwave as it will just make ’em soggy!
- I don’t recommend freezing fried green tomatoes.
Recipe Notes
- Instead of cornmeal, you can use cracker crumbs, bread crumbs, or panko breadcrumbs. Or use a combination of both!
- Make sure your oil is heated to 375 degrees before adding the green tomato slices.
- Speaking of… peanut oil and canola oil are also good frying oils. For authentic Southern flavor, you can even swap the oil for bacon grease.
- Make sure you don’t overcrowd the pan either!
- Besides Season All, some other seasonings that work include a tablespoon of Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, or Creole seasoning, or a teaspoon of paprika with salt and pepper.
- Besides milk, you can add a little flavor by using buttermilk instead.
Recipe FAQs
Which country is famous for fried green tomatoes?
Fried green tomatoes hail from down here in the Southern United States.
Are fried green tomatoes just unripe tomatoes?
Yes, green tomatoes are just unripe regular tomatoes. Because they’re less mature, this means they’re also firmer and tarter in flavor.
Why do we fry green tomatoes and not red?
Green tomatoes are firmer than regular tomatoes, so they’re better to deep-fry in oil.
Can you eat green tomatoes without frying them?
Yes, you can eat green tomatoes as-is, without frying them.
Can fried green tomatoes be reheated?
Yes, you can reheat them in the oven, on the stovetop, or in the air fryer.
What do you eat with fried green tomatoes?
Fried green tomatoes are frequently served with a dipping sauce, like remoulade, honey mustard, hot sauce, comeback sauce, or ranch dressing.
But seeing as this is a popular side dish, here are some main meals that go perfectly with them:
- Southern Fried Chicken
- Baby Back Ribs
- Southern Fried Catfish
- Easy Southern Salmon Patties
- Pan-Seared Pork Chops
- Chicken Fried Steak With Gravy
- Crock Pot Black Eyed Peas With Smoked Turkey Leg
- BLT
Add a vegetable side dish like fresh green beans, turnip greens, or cucumber salad, and you’ve got a winning Southern dinner right there!
Check out these other Southern side dish recipes:
How To Cook Collard Greens With Hot Pepper Sauce
Hush Puppies Recipe, Southern-Style
Southern-Style Fried Okra Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 green tomatoes
- 1.5 cups cornmeal
- 4 tbsp flour (either self-rising or plain flour)
- 2 tbsp Season All
- vegetable oil for frying
- milk for dredging
Instructions
- Cut your tomatoes into thick slices.3 green tomatoes
- Combine flour, cornmeal, and Season All in a small bowl.1.5 cups cornmeal, 4 tbsp flour (either self-rising or plain flour), 2 tbsp Season All
- Dip both sides of each slice into milk and then the cornmeal mix.milk for dredging
- Fill a skillet with enough oil that the slices are about halfway covered (about half an inch).vegetable oil for frying
- Cook slices over medium to medium-high heat, turning halfway so they're golden brown on both sides (about 3 to 5 minutes on each side).
- Drain your tomatoes on a paper towel-lined plate and then serve immediately.
This was something my momma made every year, since she couldn’t garden in later years, she would get green tomatoes in the store, as they were of course shipped in from away and picked green. You took them home and ripened them up, and of course made fried green tomatoes (cooked in bacon grease of course in the cast skillet) green tomato preserves which is a sort of chutney, and I actually found a green tomato pie recipe which is super good, tastes like apple pie. I have friends who have a market garden, and grow tomatoes, so can actually get green and ripe tomatoes at the same time, I asked for some green ones (they had never heard of using them) and Kev laughed at me when I told him I was going to make pie with them, he said it was the best one he ever ate, so then I took him the ripe tomato pie, and he was flabbergasted!
It sounds delicious Eva!!
Hi, another recipe I can’t wait to try.. I have had fried red tomatoes but they were just done in bread crumbs and seasoned with s&p so lookin’ forward to it.
I like fried zucinni . We got some pretty big ones and sliced them and breaded them then fried them. Have you tried that? I do have a question…howdo you prepare your ‘greens’ andwhat kinds do you use? Ihave used beet greens but thats it. Also, just one more question/comment…Christymas???? tell me please.
Have a great day.
I have tried fried zucchini and even fried red tomatoes and both were delicious, I used this same recipe for each. I use turnip and collard greens and prepare them both the same way. Here is the traditional way: https://www.southernplate.com/2008/12/collard-greens-with-hot-pepper-sauce-the-dish-that-might-make-you-rich.html
and here is the quick way : https://www.southernplate.com/2014/05/quick-fried-turnip-greens.html
both ways have their merits 🙂
Christymas is what my family sometimes calls Christmas because Christy (that’d be me) absolutely loves everything about the season. It is not meant as any form of sacrilege or disrespect, of course. And by the way, only 20 more Fridays until Christmas!
Christy I love you and all of your recipes, and all of the cute stories you add along with them ! My only question is how come I can’t save this recipe to my Recipe Box thru ZipList ? I desperately need it there. Please help.
I am eagerly awaiting having my name selected for a prize. Thank you.
Would you believe I’ve never had fried green tomatoes!? It’s truly sad and pitiful, since I am a “southern wannabe.” :::wink::: I can’t say that I’ve ever seen green tomatoes at the grocery store in CA. I’m going to have to remedy this. I’ll be putting in my request to the produce manager ASAP, and hope that my wish will be granted, lol. 😀
P.S. I do have green tomatoes in my garden, but they’re cherry tomatoes and Roma; not the right kind for this. What variety do you suggest that I plant next year, so that I have my own supply of green tomatoes? Thank you! 😀
Any medium to large sized tomato will work Michelle!
Thank you! 🙂
HI: What happed to the printable recipe?
Love your website. Thank You. Ollie
This would really be great. Thanks again.
When you have an abundance of green tomatoes they can be frozen. Just fix to where you drenched them then flash freeze them. After that package them to cook another day.
Great idea Sue!! Thanks for sharing!!